Arkansas transfer defensive lineman Danny Saili has committed to Oklahoma, On3’s Pete Nakos reported. Saili will be playing his final season of college football in Norman for Brent Venables and the Sooners after receiving an extra year of eligibility.
Saili’s career began at Hutchinson (KS) CC, where he played from 2022-2023. He then transferred to BYU for the Spring 2024 semester, before subsequently transferring to Arkansas ahead of the 2024 season. Across two seasons at Arkansas, Saili played in 18 games and recorded 14 tackles and 2.5 TFL.
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The Topeka, Kansas native heads to an Oklahoma program fresh off an appearance in the College Football Playoff. He joins a Sooners defense that was tabbed as the best in the country by Crain & Cone heading into the 2026 season. Last season, Oklahoma ranked first in the SEC in YPG allowed (272.5 YPG) and PPG allowed (15.5 PPG).
Brent Venables opens up about Oklahoma’s defense
At SEC Media Days last month, head coach Brent Venables opened up about not taking his defense for granted this season. The Sooners are seeking their second consecutive College Football Playoff appearance in 2026, and their defense will be key in making that happen.
“Defensively I don’t take anything for granted,” Venables said. “I say that to remind certainly myself but everybody that every year there’s a new storyline when it comes to players emerging, players coming out of nowhere.
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“This is a line of scrimmage league, make no mistake about it. The margins are incredibly small. I would argue if you lose the line of scrimmage in any particular game, most of the time you’re going to lose the game. If you’re going to lose, it’s by how much you’re going to lose.
“That’s where it starts for us. It’s not only a mentality, you recruit to that, you nurture that. As we’re getting ready to start fall camp here, our training camp, you develop a tough physical team in fall camp. You want to play that way in the season. That’s what you have to develop during the course of fall camp. But I am excited about the group of guys that we have there up front on both sides of the ball. We’ve recruited well, developed well. The guys are eager to go prove their worth.”
To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and X (formerly Twitter) account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.
