Tennessee Vols and Josh Heupel suddenly in the mix to land a top tier Transfer Portal talent amid spring practice and visits
The Tennessee Vols could be on the precipice of a special season with quarterback Nico Iamaleava at the helm in his second full year as a starter and a ton of returning talent.Yes, some key talents like James Pearce Jr., Omarr Norman-Lott, and Dylan Sampson left for the 2025 NFL Draft. A few others graduated, […]
The Tennessee Vols could be on the precipice of a special season with quarterback Nico Iamaleava at the helm in his second full year as a starter and a ton of returning talent.
Yes, some key talents like James Pearce Jr., Omarr Norman-Lott, and Dylan Sampson left for the 2025 NFL Draft. A few others graduated, but the pieces are there for a repeat trip to the College Football Playoff.
It may just come down to adding a couple more of the right pieces and the Vols all of a sudden find themselves in position to do exactly that. The top linebacker in the Transfer Portal just became available and the Vols are apparently in the mix to land him!
Sanders Ellis, Top Transfer Portal LB
Sanders Ellis, an extremely productive linebacker for Tennessee State and a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award last year (for best freshman in the FCS) jumped into the Transfer Portal immediately following the departure of his head coach Eddie George (who left to be the head coach at Bowling Green) earlier this month.
The Tennessee Vols offered him an opportunity just this week and Sanders is apparently seriously considering it per Pete Nakos of On3 and a handful of other sources.
The other reported schools seriously in the mix as of this writing are Auburn, Purdue, and Virginia Tech. The Hokies were the first major program that Sanders Ellis announced to have offered him (the same day he hopped into the portal). Auburn, Purdue, and the Vols came a bit later, but all offer some long-term and potentially immediate playing time for Ellis.
Ellis is visiting Purdue on Thursday March 27th and is reportedly planning on keeping his recruitment open, potentially visiting others in the coming days and weeks prior to making his decision. There were some premature reports that Ellis had already made up his mind, that he would be joining the Vols. However, Sanders himself reported those to be false late on Tuesday night saying, "I have not committed to any school. My recruitment is 100% open."
While Ellis says his recruitment is completely open, it's good to know multiple sources are reporting the Vols to be firmly in the mix for his services. Tennessee does return both talented off-ball starting linebackers from last year in Arion Carter and Jeremiah Telander, but one or both could be gone to the NFL after this season if the Vols defense maintains their elite level of success.
Ellis could very much slide into a sub-package role right away or perhaps steal Telander's role before season's end thanks to his incredible versatility. Ellis tallied nearly 90 tackles, defended two passes, sacked opposing quarterbacks a handful of times, and force three fumbles last year. He does it all. Hopefully Josh Heupel and his staff can close the deal, adding yet another piece to help them push towards the postseason this fall.
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