Bennett Warren, an offensive tackle who spent the past two seasons at Tennessee, and Andrew Marshall, a linebacker who played for Eastern Michigan in 2025, announced Jan. 4 on the social media platform X that they are joining the Gophers out of the transfer portal.
Warren, 6-7 and 325 pounds, played in five games for the Volunteers in 2024, preserving his redshirt season. He played in all 13 games for Tennessee in 2025, including time at left tackle while also playing on special teams.
A four-star recruit out of Fort Bend Christian Academy in Sugar Land, Texas, Warren was the 22nd-ranked recruit in Texas and the 11th-ranked offensive tackle nationally in the 2024 class in the 247Sports composite ratings of major recruiting services.
Warren’s four finalists coming out of high school were Tennessee, Michigan, Oklahoma and Texas A&M.
Marshall, 6-2 and 235 pounds, played in 12 games for Eastern Michigan last season, finishing with 61 tackles, including 30 solo stops and three tackles for loss.
This will be Marshall’s fourth college stop. The native of Carroll, Ohio, played for Ohio University in 2023 and Lackawanna (Pa.) College in 2024, earning honorable mention All-America honors.
The addition of Warren and Marshall give the Gophers four players who’ve committed as transfers since the portal opened on Jan. 2. He joins former Purdue running back Jaron Thomas and former Liberty and North Carolina quarterback Michael Merdinger.
Gophers add defensive assistant
Bryan Nardo, who spent the 2023 and ’24 seasons as the Oklahoma State defensive coordinator, is joining the Gophers staff as a defensive assistant coach, a source with knowledge of the situation told the Minnesota Star Tribune on Jan. 4.
