Now that the Music City Bowl is in the rearview, the Tennessee Vols can shift their full focus to the NCAA transfer portal.

The Vols are expected to be in the market for a transfer quarterback, but that’s far from the only position that Tennessee will be targeting when the portal opens on Jan. 2.

Tennessee has several needs to address, including multiple needs on the defensive side of the ball.

One player that Tennessee is believed to have interest in is Wake Forest transfer defensive lineman Mateen Ibirogba.

Ibirogba, who has one season of eligibility remaining, was one of the best defensive linemen in the ACC last season, totaling 21 tackles, two sacks, and 3.5 tackles for loss.

The Vols have a big need for interior defensive linemen. And it’s a need that was evident on Tuesday night in Tennessee’s loss to Illinois as the Vols were consistently gashed up the middle by the Illini for big gains.

“They’ve given up more rushing yards than they have in any season that [Heupel’s] been the head coach at Tennessee,” said VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs on Wednesday on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will. “It is a line of scrimmage league. The head coach says that all the time — everybody in this league says that all the time. Tennessee’s got to be better up front. They’ve got to stop the run better with their front seven.”

How much will Mateen Ibirogba cost as a transfer addition?

Ibirogba is going to be one of the most coveted players in the portal when it opens on Jan. 2 — which means he won’t be cheap.

Tennessee, however, badly needs interior defensive line help. If the Vols want to compete for championships, they need players like Ibirogba.

So how much will Ibirogba cost Tennessee?

CBS Sports suggested this week that the Wake Forest transfer could command a deal worth $1.5 million for the 2026 season.

“The scarcity of talented defensive tackles has made this a position of high value if you’re going shopping out of the transfer portal,” wrote CBS Sports’ Chris Hummer and John Talty. “The gem of this year’s class is Wake Forest’s Mateen Igirogba (No. 5 in 247Sports’ rankings) who could command in that range of $1.5 million or a little more.”

Hummer and Talty also noted that an SEC general manager told them that a “decent” defensive tackle will cost $400,000 to $500,000, a “really good” defensive tackle will cost $700,000, and a “great one” will cost north of a million.

Tennessee, like most schools that will be active in the transfer market, will have to decide how to allocate its funds. Is it better to spend on a couple of “decent” and “really good” defensive tackles, or should the Vols go all-in on Ibirogba and drop $1.5 million?

Those are questions that Heupel — the guy making $9 million a year to make these types of decisions — will have to answer over the next couple of days/weeks.

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