Two Tennessee safeties, fifth-year senior Christian Charles and junior John Slaughter, have entered the NCAA transfer portal.
Charles had a promising start with the Volunteers, playing eight games with one start as a freshman in 2021 and competing in 10 contests with six starts as a sophomore, with all six of those starts at cornerback. His career was derailed significantly by an Achilles tendon injury during the second game of the 2023 season against Austin Peay, because he would never crack the starting lineup again.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder from Gainesville, Georgia, wound up playing 30 games at Tennessee. He tallied 69 tackles and two tackles for loss, with 28 of those stops and both tackles for loss coming last year.
Charles had his best stretch during Tennessee’s 8-0 start to the 2022 season that ultimately yielded an 11-2 record and a 31-14 Orange Bowl win over Clemson. He amassed seven tackles in the 40-13 win at LSU and came back the following week with eight stops in the memorable 52-49 outlasting of Alabama in Knoxville.
Early in the second quarter of that win over the Crimson Tide, Charles recovered a fumbled punt return at the Alabama 40-yard line to set up a short touchdown drive that handed the Vols their largest lead at 28-10.
“I’m beyond grateful for my time as a Vol,” Charles posted late Thursday night on social media. “Knoxville has been great to me. I’m thankful for my time spent, but I think it’s time to do what’s best for me and my family.
“I’ll forever bleed orange.”
Slaughter, a 6-2, 197-pounder from Clarksdale, Mississippi, played in 22 career games, with most of his appearances coming on special teams. He tallied five tackles last year, when he also recovered an onside kick in the first quarter against Kent State and snagged his lone career interception in the fourth quarter against UTEP.
Tennessee’s starting secondary for the 2025 season is expected to contain Andre Turrentine and Jakobe Thomas as the safeties, with former Chattanooga Christian and Bradley Central standout Boo Carter at the “star” position. Cornerback Jalen McMurray is primarily the third cornerback behind Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson III but is also very versatile, while sophomore Edrees Farooq was praised throughout spring practices as a quality backup safety.
Also entering the transfer portal is redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Ayden Bussell. The 6-5, 314-pounder from the Nashville suburb of Mt. Juliet played in three games last season.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.