Tennessee Vols receive reminder of how difficult it is to build offensive line depth in the transfer portal era

There may not be a more difficult task in college football right now than building offensive line depth.  And the Tennessee Vols received a reminder of that on Sunday evening.  Tennessee transfer offensive lineman Ayden Bussell announced his commitment to the West Virginia Mountaineers on Sunday. Bussell entered the NCAA transfer portal last month.  "Country […]

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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There may not be a more difficult task in college football right now than building offensive line depth. 

And the Tennessee Vols received a reminder of that on Sunday evening. 

Tennessee transfer offensive lineman Ayden Bussell announced his commitment to the West Virginia Mountaineers on Sunday. Bussell entered the NCAA transfer portal last month. 

"Country Roads take me home," wrote Bussell in a tweet. "West Virginia Let's Work!"

Bussell, who will be a redshirt sophomore this fall, wasn't pushing for a starting job at Tennessee after playing just 62 snaps for the Volunteers in 2024.

But the former three-star recruit, who signed with Tennessee during the 2023 recruiting cycle, would've been a depth player for the Vols in 2025. And maybe he would've developed into a top backup over the next couple of years. 

That's not how college football works these days, though. If an offensive linemen isn't guaranteed to be a starter, a program runs a high risk of losing that player because there's likely a program out there that's going to offer a bigger check and a bigger role. 

Bussell is the second offensive lineman that Tennessee has lost this spring (offensive tackle Larry Johnson transferred to Colorado). 

Tennessee also lost offensive lineman Vysen Lang during the winter transfer portal. 

There isn't really anything the Vols can do to prevent the loss of depth options along the offensive line — this is just the current state of college football. 

The biggest takeaway is that it makes offensive line development even more important for Tennessee. Moving forward, offensive line coach Glen Elarbee is going to have to work hard to earn his check. 

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