National insider says Tennessee Vols are the ‘team to beat’ for a key defensive transfer that’s set to visit Knoxville
The Tennessee Vols are looking to add a linebacker from the transfer portal.
The Tennessee Vols are looking to add a transfer linebacker to the roster this offseason.
Tennessee is in need of a linebacker with Arion Carter heading to the NFL.
The Vols have some talented young linebackers on their roster, but they need to find an experienced linebacker that can hit the ground running in new Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Knowles’ scheme.
Fortunately for the Vols, it sounds like Tennessee may be on the verge of making the perfect addition.
Insider says Tennessee is the team to beat for Penn State transfer linebacker Amare Campbell
Penn State transfer linebacker Amare Campbell is set to visit Tennessee beginning on Friday.
And before his visit even started, On3’s Pete Nakos pointed out the Vols as the program to beat for the transfer linebacker.
“The current team to beat in this recruitment is Tennessee, sources have indicated to On3,” wrote Nakos. “He’s set to start his official visit with the Volunteers on Friday.”
Campbell started his career at North Carolina before transferring to Penn State last May. He led Penn State in tackles this past season with 103. Campbell also had 9.5 tackles for loss and three sacks.
The Virginia native played under Knowles at Penn State in 2025.
After Campbell’s first practice at Penn State last summer, he was named by Knowles as the “defender of the day.”
“What I saw from Amare was the ability to play in space, and then also inside the box,” said Knowles of Campbell last summer. “So I thought he had a really nice combination of the athletic skills necessary to operate in the open field, but when it came to being tough inside, those are the linebackers that are hard to find. Can they be in space? And then can they defend the straight-ahead run? I saw that on film.”
Knowles described Campbell as a “natural linebacker” after the former three-star recruit’s first couple of practices with the Nittany Lions.
“In two days, I see a lot of natural linebacker skills,” said Knowles. “You don’t see that as much in this day and age of college football because a lot of linebackers are converted from other positions…There’s a skill to playing linebacker that a lot of it is innate and instinctual…a lot of it’s through natural instinct — through things that you can’t teach.”
We’ll see if the Vols can close the deal with Campbell. There’s certainly some optimism that Tennessee will land a commitment from the Penn State transfer during his visit to Rocky Top.
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