One thing that most Tennessee Vols fans seem to agree on is UT's need to add to the wide receiver room this offseason via the NCAA transfer portal. 

Tennessee has lost several wide receivers this offseason to either the transfer portal or because their eligibility has been exhausted. 

• Squirrel White (transfer)
• Kaleb Webb (transfer)
• Chas Nimrod (transfer)
• Nathan Leacock (transfer)
• Nate Spillman (transfer)
• Bru McCoy (eligibility) 
• Dont'e Thornton (eligibility) 

So far this offseason, the Vols have added just one wide receiver to their roster via the transfer portal — Alabama transfer wide receiver Amari Jefferson. 

Mike Matthews, Braylon Staley, Chris Brazzell, Travis Smith (true freshman), and Jefferson are expected to serve as Tennessee's top wide receivers in 2025. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/DDKVN0VO_iP

That's a talented group, albeit inexperienced — which is why Vols fans are begging for the program to add another wide receiver from the portal. 

Adding another wide receiver is definitely a move that Tennessee should consider making. But over the last three years, it's just not how the Vols have operated. 

Tennessee has added just one transfer wide receiver to the roster in each offseason since the end of the 2022 season (Thornton in 2023, Brazzell in 2024, and Jefferson, for now, in 2025). 

The last few years clearly show Tennessee isn’t keen on loading up with transfer wide receivers.

A recent comment from one of Tennessee's top recruiting targets seemingly confirms that's the Vols' attitude toward transfer wide receivers. 

2027 five-star wide receiver Ethan Feaster told On3 last week that Vols wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope "doesn't like a lot of guys out of the portal". 

"Coach (Kelsey) Pope, he’s shown he has longevity with receivers. Young receivers," said Feaster to On3. "He’s started freshmen and sophomores. He’s not a big transfer guy. He doesn’t like a lot of guys out of the portal.”

I don't think that comment means that Tennessee won't add another wide receiver from the portal before the 2025 season, but it's clear that Pope and the Vols are very selective when it comes to who they add. And they'd prefer to give the guys they signed out of high school a chance to shine instead of recruiting over them via the portal. 

Now, if a player like Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Carnell Tate becomes available (he's a guy that the Vols heavily recruited out of high school), then I think you'll see Tennessee change their approach a bit. 

But when it comes to the majority of the wide receivers entering the portal, it’s just not in Tennessee's nature to fire off a barrage of offers and pursue every single one of them — even if the program is in need of wide receiver depth. 

Whether or not this is the right approach is another question. It'll take a few years of data to truly determine if Tennessee is missing out on opportunities to make the team better or if they're taking the best approach (not every portal wide receiver is a savior…in fact, very few prove to be). 

I know one thing, though — this approach is certainly attractive to elite high school wide receiver recruits. Maybe that's why Tennessee has been so successful in landing top wide receiver talent on the recruiting trail in recent years.

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