Tennessee received its second football commitment Tuesday afternoon via the NCAA transfer portal, which opened last Friday.
This one makes David Sanders Jr. look small.
The Volunteers are adding Ory Williams, a 6-foot-8, 333-pound tackle who appeared in all 12 regular-season games for LSU in 2025 as a redshirt freshman. Williams, who is from San Marcos, Texas, started twice for the Tigers at right tackle.
Tennessee lost starting left tackle Lance Heard to the portal, and the 6-6, 305-pound Sanders is expected to shift from right tackle to the left side before spring practice. Heard, incidentally, began his career at LSU in 2023 before spending the past two seasons in Knoxville.
“Obviously, they want me to come in and start,” Williams told 247Sports.com during his Tennessee visit this past weekend, “but everything is earned and not given, so obviously I’m going to have to earn the starting job, but it’s looking pretty good. They want me to obviously come in and be an impactful player instantly.
“They saw me coming in and starting off at right tackle, but I told them I feel a little bit more comfortable at left. I’m willing to fight for any position, but, ultimately, somebody has to play right tackle and I don’t mind it considering I played there half the season at LSU. I just feel a little bit more comfortable at left.”
(Read more: A dozen Vols entered the transfer portal when it opened)
Williams was a four-star signee in the 2024 recruiting class, ranking as the No. 36 tackle and the No. 433 prospect overall on the 247Sports.com composite rankings.
Offensive line would be a Tennessee strength in 2026 with Sanders and Williams as the tackles and should center Sam Pendleton and guards Wendell Moe Jr., Jesse Perry and Sham Umarov each elect to return. Former Tennessee reserve tackle Max Anderson, who was a redshirt freshman this season and had recently entered the portal, committed Tuesday to Kentucky.
Tennessee’s first commitment occurred Sunday afternoon when former Kansas State cornerback Qua Moss announced he would be joining the Vols.
The news wasn’t all good for Tennessee, with CBS reporting Tuesday night that sophomore edge rusher Jordan Ross was entering the portal. The 6-5, 245-pound, former five-star signee from the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills had 23 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss this season.
With Joshua Josephs out of eligibility and with Caleb Herring also entering the portal, the Vols are having to replace their top three edge rushers.
Tennessee on Wednesday is expected to get a visit from former Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt, who attended Tuesday night’s LSU-South Carolina basketball game in Baton Rouge with new Tigers coach Lane Kiffin.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.