Transfer portal exit interview: How Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey’s Texas decision shaped him

One year ago today, Diamonte Tucker-Dorsey made a life-changing commitment.

The FCS All-America linebacker at James Madison had opted to transfer for his final season of eligibility. He bet on himself and chose Texas. At the time, we wrote this story about his decision and what it was like to be a coveted player in the portal aiming to make the move up.

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A year later, Tucker-Dorsey reached out to The Athletic because he wanted to share the rest of the story: how his transfer experience actually went, the lessons he learned and the unexpected way that one season at Texas ended up altering his trajectory in life.

Tucker-Dorsey did not have the kind of season he expected. The 5-foot-10, 219-pound senior recorded 44 tackles, 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble as a reserve and earned one start in the Alamo Bowl. But his brief time in the program opened so many doors for his future after football.

Instead of pursuing pro football, Tucker-Dorsey is getting started on a career in real estate. The 24-year-old is an agent partner for Keller Williams Realty’s Livian Texas team in Austin and has found a mentor in Gary Keller, the founder of the largest real estate company in the world by agent count.

“I want college athletes to understand and take advantage of the opportunities that are there for them because they give us so much,” Tucker-Dorsey said. “You go to college to prepare you for a better life. It’s not about one thing like football. I understand my purpose and, for me, it was an easy decision. Because football doesn’t define me. That was just something I did, and I was blessed to be able to do it at the highest level. You have to understand this is a marathon, and it doesn’t just stop because one thing didn’t work.”

Here’s what Tucker-Dorsey learned from transferring to Texas and how his decision paid off in ways he never anticipated.

Questions and answers have been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Tell me about how your year at Texas went. What was it like from the time you got there? How did you fit in when you joined the team?

Well, you know, in the beginning, everything was going how it was supposed to go. I got here, I got the NIL money, football was going well. It was a great summer as far as workouts go. We worked hard, and that Texas heat got to me a couple times.

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I think I added a lot of value because my football IQ was so high. I gained a lot of respect initially just because of the way I work and my knowledge of the game, I was giving them a lot of insight and a lot of different perspectives that they never got before because they were used to the coaching. If I see something that I think is off or weird, I speak up about it. I think that was good for the entire room, and (Texas co-defensive coordinator Jeff) Choate even told me: You keep me on my toes, you’re making me a better coach, I want you to continue to do that. So I fit right in. That was a great room with guys that were very unselfish.

What did they tell you going in about your role and how much you would play?

The original plan was for D-Mo (DeMarvion Overshown) to rush more and play outside at Sam and I was going to be starting at Will. The whole summer, that’s how it was going. And then camp got here and things went a little different. I was starting in base and he was starting in the nickel, but we really played nickel way more. It was kinda like I was a starter, but I wasn’t. We maybe got in base 10 plays a game, some games none, so I was more so a backup. But you can’t really not play D-Mo. And I knew that going in. I knew nothing was guaranteed and there was a possibility that even if I did go and play and everything went the way I wanted, I still probably wouldn’t have had a better chance of going to the NFL. I’m not a prospect. For me, the decision was about football first but understanding that with this network and the Texas community, I would be fine regardless. And then with the NIL money too, they gave me comfortability in knowing that, if nothing else goes right, I’ve at least got a head start on life.

How would you describe the NIL element of your experience?

Honestly, first of all, I didn’t ask for a dollar. I didn’t even believe in NIL, I had no idea they were actually giving that type of money out. When they told me the numbers, I was like, “What?” The first number they threw out, I was like, “Let’s do it.” And it was a crazy number to me. Coming here to Texas and seeing everything here, my perspective on life has changed so much and my mind has grown so much. I believe more is attainable, and I understand there’s so much more out there for me now.

I learned so much from coming here. That’s why I don’t regret my decision in any shape or form, because from the day I got here ’til today, I’m a completely different man. I’ve grown exponentially.

It’s hard to know how things might’ve gone differently if you had transferred to a different school, right?

You never could. You’ve got an idea, but you never know. That’s why it’s a risk. But the reward was worth the risk. I was leaving JMU regardless. There were no guarantees. But coming to Texas was a win-win for me. If I play well, there’s no way I don’t see myself getting drafted in the third or fourth round. If I play a full season, playing the starting minutes I’m supposed to play, I don’t see how I’m not getting drafted in the third or fourth round. On the other hand, I had an opportunity to go connect with a network of a million people willing to help me and look out for me. I understood it coming in, but I didn’t know the connections were as crazy as they are. But now? I couldn’t be in a better position now.

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A lot of players look at the portal as a way to help get them to the NFL. Was that your hope?

I started thinking, do I really want to do this? In my position, at my height — and really, by the time we were at like the eighth game of the season and I haven’t really been playing — the writing was on the wall. The reason I went there was to play against Alabama. I only played 11 snaps against Alabama. So for me, it’s like, is this going to be worth the time I put in? I’m gonna be on a practice squad in my best-case scenario. I already know I’m not fast. I already knew I wasn’t gonna run a good 40 that made anyone say, “Let’s draft him.” It’s gonna be strictly off game tape, and my concern was they were gonna say I can’t play at the Power 5 level. That’s not true. Every time I played, I made plays. That was never a question. But with my full body of work, that matters, and I understood that as well. I started weighing my options and wondering, is this what I want to do?

Coming to Texas blessed me because it gave me options. The money gave me peace of mind. I could make that decision knowing I had something to fall back on and knowing I would be fine and have a head start on life. That’s why NIL is important. Because now you create these opportunities to be able to explore and do other things. You don’t have to hang it all on the NFL dream. It’s a good dream to have. But if you’re not in those first three rounds, it could be hard out there for you, no matter who you are.

What sparked your interest in real estate?

I got interested in real estate while I was still in Virginia playing at JMU. During COVID, I was selling Cutco kitchen knives. I was the No. 1 rep in Harrisonburg and sold like 10,000 in a month. I wasn’t doing it door-to-door, I was doing it on Zoom. One of my teammates’ dads, a broker in Virginia, told me, “If you can sell knives, you can damn sure sell a house.” He encouraged me to get my license. When I came here, I had a talk with one of our NIL guys here and he mentioned he works for Gary Keller. He told me who he was and I asked if he could get me in with him. So me, Quinn (Ewers) and Roschon (Johnson) went to one of his leadership conferences and met him there. He was like, “If you want to get into real estate, I’ll definitely take care of you.”

In December, right before the Alamo Bowl, I texted the guy and asked what the real estate path would look like because I might need to use it sooner or later. A couple weeks later, I get a text message saying Gary is gonna take me through the process himself. That right there set off a light bulb in my head. Why did he say that? He’s going to take me through the process? I said, this is not happening by accident. This is happening for a reason.

We go play in the Alamo Bowl, and my heart is not in it at all. I’m not feeling well, I’m all in my head. My mom had cancer, and we actually raised $70,000 for her with a GoFundMe. I just wasn’t feeling it. I didn’t have fun when I played that last game, even though I played pretty well and had 10 tackles. For me, that was satisfying. It made me think if I played in all the rest of the games, I would’ve done exactly what I did at JMU. I know I can play. It was never a question of if I can play. It was just a situation that didn’t work out.

So I got invited to the Tropical Bowl and it’s on a Saturday in Florida. The guy I was talking to says Gary wanted to meet with me on that Friday. So I had a decision to make right there. God was telling me what I needed to do. I didn’t book my flight to Florida. I ended up going to the meeting with Gary and he sent me this assessment. We went over the results and he told me, “I see a lot of myself in you. I believe in you.” He wanted to sponsor me and be my mentor and help me get into real estate. He’s been my driving force. He’s very supportive. It’s been crazy. He has 190,000 employees and I have his phone number and we talk all the time. I couldn’t be in a better position.

Why do you think you hit it off with Gary Keller?

You know, I’ve asked him this. You know what he told me? He said, “Because you asked. I could see you wanted it. Everybody needs a helping hand.” It was literally that simple. I couldn’t believe it either. Gary is a person who wants to give back and help. I move the right way, I do stuff the right way, I’ve got a strong will and strong morals and principles and stated values. I know who I am. I think that’s really what it is. I’ve always been in positions in my life because of that and I’ve been a leader at every level. But I can’t say exactly why. That’s why I say it’s got to be God.

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How have the past few months gone as you get started on a career in real estate?

They told me I could probably get through my classes in six or seven weeks and go through the test and get my license. I put my head down and went to work and got my license in three weeks. I took six 30-hour classes and was done in February. I took my exam, passed it in early March, then another week of preparing and interviewing brokers and picked my team and now I’m just learning the business end. I actually had my first open house in my first week. There’s a learning curve that you have to get over. Gary actually gave me this 10-foot map that covers my whole wall in my house. He said, “You have to learn the city of Austin. Take this map and study it every night. Pick a neighborhood, circle it, go view the neighborhood and view the properties.”

When you look back, what would you say you learned from the transfer experience?

I had the best-case scenario. I had a lot of offers and a short window to decide. I would say get in there with time to make a completely informed decision. Get in there with time to take visits. If you go in, make sure you at least have some idea of where you want to go. That’s really the biggest thing. I definitely rushed my decision, but I just happened to luck out. It could’ve gone a lot worse. I had been thinking about going into the portal for the longest time. The day that I decided I wasn’t going to go, I got a call from a trainer I was consulting with and he was like, “I think you should do it, there’s a lot of opportunity out there.” That happened hours before I was planning to call him. For me, that was a sign. And now I couldn’t be in a better spot. I think the situation went how it went to prepare me for what’s to come.

I like to look at everything, good or bad, as a learning experience. Life doesn’t happen to you. It happens for you. What you do with it is on you. I chose to use it as a motivation and take it for what it was and close that chapter and go into something else. That’s how I’ve always looked at life. Since I was 10 years old, I’ve been thinking and living like this and it’s been working. So I’m just gonna keep going.

(Photo: Tim Warner / Getty Images)