He wasn’t even in the transfer portal, but Tennessee football defensive back Boo Carter announced his return to the Vols on X Friday night as part of an NIL partnership with The Volunteer Club. Barely an hour before that decision, however, ON3 revealed on X Squirrel White was entering the portal. Then just after midnight Sunday, Hayes Fawcett reported on X that Mike Matthews was entering the portal.
These decisions look connected.
Before Carter announced his return, Chattanooga Times Free Press reporter Stephen Hargis, who covered Carter’s recruitment, said on X he was discussing his role with the Vols more than NIL money before revealing he wouldn’t enter the portal. ON3 reported that role involves playing more offense.
Simply put, Carter wants to be a Travis Hunter type.
That explains exactly why White would have entered the portal. At 5’11” 195 pounds, Carter would take White’s role in the slot, as he proved in the return game he is deadly with the ball in his hands. It’s pretty clear to keep their promise to Carter they have to demote White.
However, Matthews’ entry into the portal also seems connected to Carter. Josh Heupel’s scheme has proven at different times that the go-to wideout or the go-to slot receiver could be the leading receiver when it’s running at its best. It’s likely Carter wants to be the go-to receiver.
If that’s the case, Matthews, who was a five-star and expected to be Nico Iamaleava’s top target, would obviously enter the portal. This also means that Heupel prioritized Carter’s demands over those of Matthews, an odd choice given how highly touted Matthews was.
Either way, Tennessee has now hitched its wagon to Carter being next year’s Travis Hunter. We can now see why the Colorado Buffaloes were in contention to land him. Heupel had better make Carter the most entertaining player to watch next year. Otherwise, he will look ridiculous.
With the loss of Matthews and White, Tennessee has now lost five scholarship receivers to the portal, as Kaleb Webb, Chas Nimrod and Nathan Leacock also entered. Since Dont’e Thornton has entered the NFL Draft and Bru McCoy is out of eligibility, the Vols are all of a sudden very thin at this spot.
Braylon Staley, Chris Brazzell II and Nate Spillman are now the only returning scholarship receivers. With no transfer portal movement at the position yet, next year’s rotation would likely look like Brazzell at wideout, Carter in the slot an Staley on the other side. Joakim Dodson, Radarious Jackson and Travis Smith Jr. are all receivers in the 2025 recruiting class.
Obviously, the Vols have a ton of work to do to shore up their receiving corps. for next year, even if Carter is going to be a star. They need a true freshman to step up or to find another key player in the portal to fill a major void at wideout. Matthews’ transfer is not good news for Tennessee.
