Tennessee football won’t be picked to win the SEC. However, The Vols can’t blame the transfer portal.
While former Vol quarterback Nico Iamaleava’s transfer to UCLA dominated much of the spring transfer portal news, Tennessee actually survived the offseason better than most of its SEC contemporaries when the numbers are solely considered.
The Vols lost 22 total players to the transfer portal since last season ended. That’s tied with South Carolina. Only four teams lost fewer players. Florida and Vanderbilt lost 19 each. Georgia lost 18 while Texas only lost 16.
That doesn’t count star power like Iamaleava, the quarterback that Tennessee football had placed so many hopes and dreams on. However, some teams seemingly have it worse with the season bearing down. Arkansas (38), Oklahoma (37), Mississippi State (34), Kentucky (30), Ole Miss (28) and Auburn (25) had more losses. So did Alabama, Missouri and Texas A&M, which each lost 24 players, and LSU, which lost 23. Despite the Iamaleava loss, there’s certainly an argument to be made that Tennessee fared much better than some of its conference counterparts.
UT lost six players solely in the spring transfer portal, which is tied with South Carolina, Vanderbilt and Auburn. Ole Miss lost the most players in the conference with nine players departing in the spring transfer portal followed by Kentucky and Mississippi State, which each lost eight players in the spring transfer portal. Arkansas and Missouri both lost seven players to the transfer portal.
Alabama was the only team not to lose a single player in the spring transfer portal. LSU lost just one. Florida and Texas A&M lost just two players in the spring transfer portal. Georgia and Texas lost four followed by Oklahoma with five.
What do these numbers say? Well, it’s obvious that Tennessee is depending on high school recruiting to build its roster. While the Vols’ number of lost players in the transfer portal is middle-of-the-pack, Tennessee picked up just four players in the offseason transfer portal. That’s last in the SEC. Moreover, one incoming transfer wouldn’t have happened had it not been for Iamaleava’s departure, which prompted the Vols to pick up former UCLA quarterback Joey Aguilar.
For comparison’s sake, Florida ranked just ahead of Tennessee with six players gained during the transfer portal while Mississippi State led the SEC with 31 players picked up during the entire offseason transfer portal.
Coaches must weigh upgrading their talent while risking team chemistry with roster turnover. Tennessee football seems mindful of that. The Vols seem committed to their players, who seem equally committed to their team despite the fact that they were the most talked about team in the spring transfer portal due to Iameleava. However, that was due to one player, which doesn’t tell the entire story of the Vols’ offseason maneuvers.
