Earlier this offseason, after three seasons with the Tennessee Vols, pass rusher Caleb Herring entered the transfer portal and landed with the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Herring, a former four star recruit from Murfreesboro, TN, totaled five sacks, six tackles for loss, and 25 tackles during his time on Rocky Top.

The Tennessee native transferred to South Carolina after also considering Miami, Mississippi State, and Georgia.

Herring likely would’ve seen some action with the Vols this fall, but it wasn’t a surprise to see him enter the portal after Tennessee hired a new defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach following the 2025 season.

Caleb Herring speaks on his time at Tennessee and his decision to transfer to South Carolina

The former Vol recently joined 1801 Media and spoke about his time at Tennessee and his decision to transfer to South Carolina.

Herring made it clear that he has fond memories of his time with the Vols while also noting that he just felt like it was time for a new beginning.

“I feel like going to Tennessee, I really feel like that helped make me into the person I am today,” said Herring. “And then sitting behind two high-end guys, Joshua Josephs and James Pearce, they really helped me build my game. Even though the first two seasons, I’m not going to lie, they were very frustrating. I barely played. But just learning behind those two guys, it ultimately led to the season I had last year.

“And then shoot, I felt like my time at Tennessee had ended. Like after that year, I have good memories and stuff from there, but I just felt like it was time. And then when it came to coming out of the portal and choosing a new school, I feel like a lot of schools, they just all had the same thing to say. But I feel like with South Carolina, especially with Coach (Deion) Barnes coming from Penn State, he was just really straight up with me. He told me everything I need to work on, and everything that he said I needed to work on, he had evidence to back it up.

“And the crazy thing about it is that South Carolina ended up coming into the process very late. It was the last week of the portal, and I was just trying to decide on schools. The next thing you know, Coach (Shane) Beamer called me and was like, ‘Man, we’ve got to get you on campus.’ … I’m very happy I chose South Carolina because I really feel I’m getting pushed to the best of my best ability.”

Herring also pointed out that Columbia isn’t quite as exciting as Knoxville (though he framed it as a positive for Columbia).

“There really isn’t much much to do — especially coming from Knoxville,” said Herring. “Because Knoxville was just — I mean, I didn’t go out much there, but it was just super crazy there. And I just feel like I didn’t need to be around that. So just being around in Columbia, there really is not much there, and I feel that’s good for your last year.”

Herring will face his old team on October 24 when the Vols travel to Columbia for a matchup against South Carolina.