It looks like Vanderbilt is trying to make Tennessee's football program look bad
There's some offseason drama brewing between the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Tennessee Vols. Vandy 247 reported on Thursday that someone from Tennessee tried to get Commodores linebacker CJ Taylor to enter the NCAA transfer portal this offseason. Robbie Weinstein reported that a source in Vanderbilt's athletic department told Vandy 247 about the alleged "tampering", though […]
There's some offseason drama brewing between the Vanderbilt Commodores and the Tennessee Vols.
Vandy 247 reported on Thursday that someone from Tennessee tried to get Commodores linebacker CJ Taylor to enter the NCAA transfer portal this offseason.
Robbie Weinstein reported that a source in Vanderbilt's athletic department told Vandy 247 about the alleged "tampering", though it wasn't revealed who Taylor spoke with from Tennessee.
Taylor was asked about the report on Thursday.
"Yeah, there were some conversations there," said Taylor. "But I'm glad to be here."
It's pretty obvious what's happening here.
This is obviously a story that Vanderbilt wanted out there, so they leaked the details to Vandy 247. And then Taylor just so happened to be willing to answer the question on Thursday.
I'd say there are two reasons for this: to make Tennessee look bad and to promote the idea that Taylor "turned down" the Vols.
I'm honestly shocked to see that a media outlet ran the story because there could be about 10 of these reports every day this offseason if media outlets pursued the stories. Everyone knows that players are being contacted through back channels. Typically it happens via a high school coach or a close family friend.
For example, a high school coach might reach out to a reporter to relay information. Or they might contact someone on the coaching staff directly. Teammates are also used to relay information. It's extremely common and it's happening with a significant amount of players that enter the portal. It's not exactly a big secret.
Taylor stuck around so I'm not sure why Vandy is mad — they kept their guy, unlike plenty of other programs that can't say the same.
The Tennessee/Vanderbilt rivalry hasn't been very spicy since James Franklin left Nashville for Penn State, but this surprising report might kick things up a notch between the two programs in 2023.
