. . . And Out With the Old: Harvard Football’s Graduates Find New Homes

After three straight Ivy League football championships stretching from 2023 to 2025, Harvard’s seniors stepped off the field in a Crimson uniform for the last time after the team’s heartbreaking loss to Villanova in the program’s first-ever FCS playoff game last December.

With the Ivy League restricting student-athletes from playing as graduate students, all of the team’s seniors ended their Harvard football careers at graduation, though some decided to take their talents elsewhere as graduate transfers. Several players cashed in on their experience and found starting spots in prominent Power Four FBS programs, including Texas Christian University, Stanford, UCLA, and the University of Central Florida.

Here is a quick overview of last season’s starters who won’t be returning, including their 2025 production and where they’re heading next.

Jaden Craig, QB; Transfer to TCU

2025 Season Statistics: 2869 YDS, 25 TDS, 11 games played

Craig is the biggest departure for Harvard’s program in recent memory, as the quarterback who may one day go on to the NFL leaves the Crimson for a starting role at 2022 CFP runner-up Texas Christian University. The two-year, full-time starter brought Harvard to the top of the Ancient Eight in each of his seasons leading the offense, and in his senior campaign led the team to the FCS playoffs before a first-round exit against the eventual semifinalist Villanova Wildcats.

Replacing his production and efficiency will be one of the biggest challenges of the season for third-year head coach Andrew Aurich, who, for the first time in his career, will begin the season with a quarterback who has yet to start a game in college. It is presumed that Harvard’s starter will be senior Dante Torres, who backed up Craig last season and appeared in seven games across the team’s 2025 campaign.

Ty Bartrum, S; Transfer to UCF

2025 Season Statistics: 83 TKL, 1 INT, 2 FF

The Crimson’s 151st captain led one of the best defenses in all of the FCS, shutting down opposing offenses on the ground and through the air as it allowed just 18 points per game in the regular season. Bartrum himself flew all over the field, collecting tackles, pass breakups, forced fumbles, and an interception en route to being named an All-American honorable mention.

The Pomeroy, Ohio native took his talents to Orlando, and he will play his redshirt senior season for the University of Central Florida as a rotational safety.

His captain duties have been assumed by senior running back Xaviah Bascon, and the defensive back room is filled with experienced players including seniors Damien Henderson, Austin-Jake Guillory, and Jack Donahoe, who will all look to follow in Bartrum’s footsteps.

Cam Henry, WR; Graduated

2025 Season Statistics: 32 REC, 410 YDS, 2 TDS

Henry — who also competed as a sprinter with Harvard’s track and field team — was a speedy slot receiver who consistently spread opposing secondaries, collecting a half-dozen receptions of 20+ yards, including a 69-yard touchdown against Princeton.

The graduate finished as the team’s second-leading receiver, though he leaves behind a young pass-catching duo of junior Brady Blackburn and sophomore Ryan Tattersall who will try to carry that production into the Crimson’s post-Craig era.

Dean Boyd, WR; Graduated

2025 Season Statistics: 31 REC, 394 YDS, 2 TDS

Boyd ended last season as the team’s third-leading receiver, starting most games opposite Blackburn on the split end. With multiple strong stretch receivers in this year’s receiving room, there’s plenty of hope for the starting quarterback as he looks to fill out his new corps.

Aidan Kilstrom, OL; Transfer to Stanford

2025 Season Statistics: 12 Team Sacks Allowed

Kilstrom started at center all season, leading a Harvard offensive line that allowed just 12 sacks — and didn’t allow its first of the season until week five. He’s headed to Stanford, where he started the season as the team’s starting center against Hawaii, though an early-season leg injury might keep him off the field for much of the 2026 campaign.

The offensive line is returning multiple starters, including senior blindside blockers Thomas O’Brien and Spencer Doan. With Aurich’s steadfast emphasis on the ‘next man up’ mentality, the unit is likely to recover well from the departures.

Derek Osman, OL; Transfer to UCLA

2025 Season Statistics: 12 Team Sacks Allowed

Osman bolstered the right side of the offensive line for the Crimson last season, and he’s currently the backup center for the Bruins this season. His departure as one of the flexible starters on the offensive line means that junior Enzo Agostini — who played multiple positions as a backup lineup last season — will step into a similar role for the group.

Alex DeGrieck, DE; Graduated

2025 Season Statistics: 6.0 Sacks, 7.5 TFL

DeGrieck led Harvard’s defense in sacks and tackles-for-loss last season, and with him graduating this spring, the defensive line will look to bolster its two in-game units. Last season, Aurich regularly switched out his entire defensive line between plays to keep fresh legs in the game, and if he looks to do the same this season, he will need more than senior Josh Fedd to step up in the rotation.

Xavier Agostino, DL; Graduated

2025 Season Statistics: 25 TKL, 1 FR

The Smyrna, Ga. native started all 11 games last season as a defensive tackle, and he was a part of the defensive line rotation the two seasons prior. Returning for next season at defensive tackle will be junior Christian Nwosu, who was second on the team in sacks and tackles-for-loss in his sophomore season.

—Staff writer Connor Castañeda can be reached at [email protected].