The Tennessee Vols were very active in the NCAA transfer portal this offseason.

Tennessee landed 21 transfer additions, with 12 of those coming on the defensive side of the ball.

Four of the defensive transfer additions — defensive lineman Xavier Gilliam, safety Dejuan Lane, EDGE Chaz Coleman, and linebacker Amare Campbell — played for new Vols defensive coordinator Jim Knowles last season at Penn State.

Gilliam, specifically, emerged this spring as one of Tennessee’s best players.

Xavier Gilliam is poised to play a huge role in the Vols’ defense

Tennessee has lost quite a bit of leadership/experience from their defensive line over the last couple of years.

Omari Thomas*, Bryson Eason, Dominic Bailey, and Tyre West are among the defensive linemen that Tennessee’s lost over the last two years (all of those players spent their entire college careers at Tennessee). Thomas, Eason, and Bailey are players that Vols head coach Josh Heupel inherited when took over in early 2021.

*Omari Thomas went to the NFL after the 2024 season

That makes the addition of Gilliam even more important for the Vols. Which is why it’s a good sign for Tennessee that there’s quite a bit of buzz surrounding Gilliam as we near the end of May.

“Gilliam wasn’t the highest-profile transfer the Vols took from Penn State, but he may turn out to be the best,” wrote CBS Sports’ Chris Hummer this week. “Gilliam impressed this spring in Knoxville and is being looked at as one of Tennessee’s best defensive players.”

A Tennessee source also told CBS Sports that Gilliam will “probably be our best d-lineman.”

Part of what makes Gilliam such a good player is his versatility.

Heupel pointed out this spring that Gilliam has the ability to play on the edge in addition to playing inside.

“He’s a guy who has played some football and has familiarity with the scheme,” said Heupel. “He had a really good offseason in our winter program, and then as have continued to go through spring ball, I think he has flashed more and more the deeper we have gotten into it.

“First and second down, he’s really good at the point of attack, not getting moved versus double teams. He’s done a good job using his hands — I have shown him a couple of times in our block destruction drill that we do up front. Then you look at some of what he’s done in our pass rush — that’s our pass rush period and during team — and he has showcased the ability to play on the edge and affect the quarterback.”

VolQuest’s Austin Price compared Gilliam to former Vols defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott, a second-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2025 NFL Draft

“Xavier Gilliam has flashed a lot,” said Price in April. “The name that’s been tossed around to me is Omarr Norman-Lott as far as how twitchy he is inside. He’s not an overly big defensive tackle, but as a guy that can play inside that is also quick enough to make the lives of interior offensive linemen really, really difficult. He’s had a nice start to his Tennessee first spring here in Knoxville.”

You’re not winning in the SEC without winning in the trenches. It’ll make more than just Gilliam to win the war in the trenches, but the fact that he’s already excelling in a Tennessee uniform is big for the Vols. And not just because it means he’ll be a factor this fall, but also because he can help Tennessee’s other defensive linemen learn Knowles’ scheme quicker.