A generation ago, the true college football junkies across this country awaited Memorial Day weekend with the same fervor as Labor Day weekend.
Memorial Day weekend signified the onslaught of Athlon’s, Lindy’s and other preseason magazines that would get you geeked about a season that was still 100 days away. Since then, however, those publications have lessened in impact due to Rivals.com, 247Sports.com and similar sites providing the immediacy aspect that annual publications just couldn’t match.
I bring that up to essentially cover my hindquarters in case Tennessee snags another transfer between the time I write this and the time you read it.
The NCAA transfer portal seems like a revolving door spinning at 85 mph. That’s especially the case with graduate transfers, who can pretty much enter whenever they choose.
Remember when two former Volunteers — defensive end Tyler Baron and safety Tamarion McDonald — revealed in December that they were transferring to Ole Miss for their final year of eligibility? Well, they announced earlier this month that Louisville would be their destination.
Tennessee has added eight new players since its 2023 regular season ended with a 48-24 win over Vanderbilt on Nov. 25, and they are ranked here simply based off personal intrigue.
1. Holden Staes: The tight end transfer from Notre Dame is the favorite to start right away at a position that lost the experienced 1-2 punch of Jacob Warren and McCallan Castles. The 6-foot-4, 242-pounder from Atlanta had 15 catches for 176 yards and four touchdowns as a sophomore last year for the Irish, so Staes (pronounced “stays”) will have two seasons of eligibility in Knoxville.
2. Lance Heard: The offensive line will be Tennessee’s most experienced position group with the return of center Cooper Mays, guards Javontez Spraggins, Andrej Karic and Jackson Lampley, and tackles John Campbell Jr. and Dayne Davis, but who’s going to turn down a five-star tackle signee from the 2023 recruiting cycle? Heard was the nation’s No. 15 overall prospect in the 2023 class out of Monroe, Louisiana, with the 6-6, 340-pounder spending this past year at LSU, where he played in all 12 regular-season games and made one start.
3. Chris Brazzell: The 6-5, 195-pound Brazzell (rhymes with “dazzle”) arrives in Knoxville after a redshirt freshman season at Tulane, where he led the Green Wave with 44 catches for 711 yards and five touchdowns. He is from Midland, Texas, and should enhance a group that has Squirrel White, Chas Nimrod and Kaleb Webb entering their third year in the program and has former transfers Bru McCoy and Dont’e Thornton returning from injuries.
4. Jermod McCoy: The Vols had seven defensive backs enter the transfer portal during the December window, with most of them having arrived when there weren’t name, image and likeness opportunities, so they looked elsewhere for college coin. McCoy is a 6-foot, 180-pound cornerback from Whitehouse, Texas, who starred as a freshman last season at Oregon State, compiling 31 tackles, seven pass breakups and two interceptions. Those numbers plus three seasons of eligibility obviously provide a desired combination.
5. Jalen McMurray: This is another 6-foot, 180-pound cornerback who has one less year of remaining eligibility, having spent last season as a Temple redshirt sophomore. McMurray hails from Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and he excelled for the Owls this past fall by amassing 39 tackles and earning All-American Athletic Conference honors.
6. Jakobi Thomas: The 6-2, 190-pound safety is Tennessee’s lone transfer addition from the Volunteer State, with the Tullahoma resident beginning his college career at Middle Tennessee. He was a redshirt sophomore last season for the Blue Raiders and collected 71 tackles, five pass breakups and three tackles for loss.
7. Miles Kitselman: The 6-5, 250-pound Kitselman is from Lyndon, Kansas, and started out within his state at Hutchinson Community College before transferring to Alabama, where he spent the past two seasons. In the Crimson Tide’s 55-0 rout of Utah State that opened their 2022 season, Kitselman had two receptions for 18 yards, but those would serve as his only catches in Tuscaloosa. His 2024 season will be his last, but if Kitselman can capitalize on the months ahead the way Castles did last year after transferring from UC Davis, he could become a reliable piece to the offensive puzzle.
8. Jaxson Moi: This is definitely a last but not least pegging, as Moi (rhymes with “boy”) has played the past two seasons at Stanford and started seven of 12 games last year. The 6-2, 303-pounder from San Diego has racked up 37 tackles with 5.5 tackles for loss and a sack, and he will add to the rotation of a veteran defensive interior of Dominic Bailey, Bryson Eason, Omarr Norman-Lott, Elijah Simmons, Omari Thomas and Tyre West.
Tennessee also had eight additions through the transfer portal both last year and in 2022, with 10 joining the Vols in 2021. The 2021 contingent included quarterbacks Hendon Hooker and Joe Milton III, with McCoy headlining the 2022 crop.
Last year’s additions were the most efficient across the board with Campbell, Castles, Karic, Norman-Lott, Thornton, kicker Charles Campbell, cornerback Gabe Jeudy-Lally and linebacker Keenan Pili.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.