Vols insider details drama surrounding one of Tennessee's top transfer portal targets
On Christmas Eve, On3's Pete Nakos made a prediction for the Tennessee Vols to land Northwestern transfer offensive lineman Josh Thompson. Three days later, confidence isn't quite as high that the Vols will land Thompson with LSU and Auburn (and maybe others) now strongly in the mix to land the coveted Northwestern transfer. Tennessee fans […]
On Christmas Eve, On3's Pete Nakos made a prediction for the Tennessee Vols to land Northwestern transfer offensive lineman Josh Thompson.
Three days later, confidence isn't quite as high that the Vols will land Thompson with LSU and Auburn (and maybe others) now strongly in the mix to land the coveted Northwestern transfer.
Tennessee fans are understandably wondering what happened with Thompson when it looked like this thing was about to be wrapped up for the Vols a couple of days ago.
VolQuest's Brent Hubbs joined 104.5 The Zone's Ramon, Kayla, and Will on Friday to discuss the latest happenings with Tennessee football and he touched on the drama surrounding Thompson's recruitment.
Hubbs told 104.5 The Zone that he believes Thompson was set to go to Tennessee on Christmas Eve, but then other programs started throwing around some big NIL numbers — which served as a bit of a reset in this battle.
"Well, he was set to go to Tennessee on Christmas Eve," explained Hubbs. "I firmly believe that that one was done. I think he had let Tennessee know that they were going to be the school of choice. I think when word got out that that's where everything was trending to, I think his agent's phone blew up significantly. Lots of phone calls.
"And I think LSU has come in with a really, really high offer, because he's a big priority for them — just as he was for Tennessee. And then I think the question is what's Tennessee's, you know, what's their counter? Is it going to be close to that? Or does Tennessee feel like they don't want to pay that much for a guard when they're looking at other things out there. I mean, this is true free agency, right? It's one of those deals where do you want to go versus who's offered you the most money? As [Thompson] said to me when he left Knoxville, 'I'm on a one year rental'. It's 12 months. So for 12 months, do you take a couple hundred thousand dollars more at one place versus another? Or do you go somewhere where you think you may be the happiest for 12 months? That's a personal decision, and we'll see what he comes to. I think we'll hear that decision later [on Friday]. And if I were guessing right now, I think it's probably going to be LSU ultimately."
Thompson, who will be a redshirt senior in 2025, played in 31 games with 21 starts at Northwestern.
There's a lot of uncertainty surrounding Tennessee's offensive line for the 2025 season, which is why Thompson would be an important addition for the Vols.
But Tennessee can't just throw money around recklessly. If they throw an insane amount of cash at Thompson, then it could impact the Vols' current roster (current players could ask for more NIL money).
It's a tough spot for any program to be in. And it's why this current version of college football isn't sustainable. Changes are inevitably coming to the financial aspects of the sport. But until those changes happen, Josh Heupel and his staff at Tennessee have to continue to find a way to navigate the current landscape of the sport.
