National media outlet says Tennessee Vols landed one of the top 10 transfers of the offseason at key position
The Tennessee Vols landed one of the top 10 transfers at a key position according to recent rankings from Rivals.com. Earlier this week, Adam Gorney, the national recruiting director for Rivals.com, ranked the top 10 biggest offensive line transfers of the offseason. And he has Vols offensive lineman Lance Heard, who transferred from LSU to […]
The Tennessee Vols landed one of the top 10 transfers at a key position according to recent rankings from Rivals.com.
Earlier this week, Adam Gorney, the national recruiting director for Rivals.com, ranked the top 10 biggest offensive line transfers of the offseason.
And he has Vols offensive lineman Lance Heard, who transferred from LSU to Tennessee ahead of spring practice, at No. 2 in his rankings.
From Rivals.com: A five-star offensive tackle from Monroe (La.) Neville, Heard played in 12 games as a freshman and looked like he would be a future piece of LSU’s offensive line in the coming years but he unexpectedly decided to hit the portal after the season.
Tennessee and Oklahoma became the main front-runners for Heard, the third-best OL following Proctor and Miami’s Francis Mauigoa in the 2023 Rivals250, and the Vols won out.
Tennessee developed a need for an offensive lineman this past offseason when starting right tackle Gerald Mincey surprisingly entered the transfer portal (Mincey ended up transferring to Kentucky, where he has talked a considerable amount of trash).
The plan for the Vols is to use Heard at left tackle and move John Campbell, who started at left tackle last season for Tennessee, to right tackle. That's a position switch that worked out pretty well for Darnell Wright at Tennessee in 2022 (Wright was a top 10 selection in the 2023 NFL Draft after a dominant season at right tackle in 2022).
Vols offensive line coach Glen Elarbee said during spring practice that Heard has meshed with his new teammates quite well.
"I think he's adjusting really, really well," said Elarbee in March. "He's done it the right way, stayed quiet, learned, and interjects when he needs to. He has flashed and had some really good bright spots. He's still young, and we're still working on some things technique-wise. But man, he comes to work every single day. The room loves him."
The addition of Heard gives Tennessee two NFL-caliber offensive tackles to help protect quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
Former Vols offensive lineman says transition to new offense was ‘difficult’ after transferring from Tennessee
Interesting comments from the former Vol
