It certainly didn’t take long for off-season drama to hit the Tennessee Football program. As of this writing, 15 scholarship Vols have either entered or expressed their intentions of entering the transfer portal.
In comparison, the Vols lost 10 scholarship players to the transfer portal in December of 2023. What makes this year’s Tennessee outgoing transfer activity intriguing is the number of receivers entering the portal.
Out of Tennessee’s 15 players in the portal, seven are receivers – six wide receivers and one tight end. In addition to the scholarship players in the portal, five walk-on players have entered. And are you ready…four of the five walk-on players in the portal are receivers – three tight ends and one wide receiver.
So in total combining the scholarship and walk-on Vols in the portal, 11 out of 20 Vols entering the portal are receivers. How can that be in a Heupel offense that has mostly been a recruiting magnet for receivers through the years? Why the big exodus this December? Or is this much ado about nothing?
Tennessee did have problems getting meaningful snaps for many receivers this year. The prized recruit out of the 2023 signing class, five-star Mike Matthews, is a good example. Matthews played in 11 of 13 games, only caught seven passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns. He returned one kickoff for 32 yards, a pretty decent number considering the team averaged 21 return yards per kickoff. So now, Matthews has said he is entering the transfer portal. Anyone shocked by his decision?
How much of the receiver transfer activity is driven by NIL money compared to playing time or possibly offensive scheme? I don’t believe anyone outside of the program can accurately answer that question.
We all know that NIL money has become a huge factor with the transfer portal as players decide to shop their talent to the highest bidder, and from the looks of the recent NIL 2024 school rankings, Tennessee came in seventh with funds of $11.6 million. Sounds pretty good until you look up the list and see top-ranked Texas at $22.3 million, second-ranked Ohio State at $20.3 million and third ranked Georgia at $18.3 million. Is Tennessee encountering difficulty being able to retain players due to not having NIL pockets as deep as other schools?
Another potential issue is the 2024 Tennessee offense. This year’s offense leaned heavily on the rushing attack and was almost completely void of explosive plays via the passing game as the season progressed.
A lot of the offensive approach was due to an offensive line that was better at run blocking than pass protection. In the end, though, you wonder if the Vol receivers took note and decided the 2024 Tennessee offensive approach just wasn’t what they signed up for.
I have no idea where this transfer portal merry-go-round stops, but I’m confident that Tennessee is going to fight hard to keep Mike Matthews in the program. Losing an elite five-star after only one season in the program is not a good look.
Nick Saban has suggested that given the current problems in college football surrounding NIL and transfer portal, schools must move to a contract approach with players going forward. As often is the case, Saban is probably spot on with that suggestion. Otherwise, there is no end in sight for the current transfer portal chaos in college football.
