An Outstanding Key Player Is Back…

Overview as, John Campbell Jr. Has returned to Tennessee.

Before the 2023 season, Campbell Jr. moved from Miami to Tennessee.

In 2023, the 6-foot-5, 320-pound offensive lineman made nine appearances for the Vols. On October 28, he was named Southeastern Conference Offensive Lineman of the Week after Tennessee defeated Kentucky.

On January 1, 2024, No. 23 Tennessee (8-4, 4-4 SEC) will play No. 17 Iowa (10-3, 7-2 Big Ten) in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl to end their season.

The Vols and Hawkeyes are scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. EST. The game at Orlando, Florida’s Camping World Stadium will be broadcast on ABC.

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Evaluating Tennessee’s transfer portal needs at each position on defense

Taking a position-by-position look at the transfer portal needs for Tennessee’s defense.

The NCAA transfer portal window opened for undergraduate FBS players on Monday, and Tennessee already has been active in scouting and contacting players from other programs who are in the database and looking elsewhere. The Vols still have one game to play for the 2023 season after being selected to the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl on Sunday – they will face Iowa in Orlando on New Year’s Day – but the coaching staff will spend much of the next few weeks assessing their needs and shaping the roster for 2024. It’s a big recruiting month with the Early Signing Period coming up later in December, and portal targets will be a part of the efforts for Tennessee’s coaches on their travels and during their remaining visit days.

Third-year head coach Josh Heupel has stated Tennessee’s preference is to build the bulk of his program through traditional high school recruiting, and the Vols currently have the No. 12-ranked 2024 recruiting class, which includes 12 blue-chippers among its 20 commitments, to follow up a top-10 2023 class. But the Vols showed a year ago they will use the transfer portal to fill gaps on the roster and land plug-and-play starters at positions of need.

As roster-management season gets rolling, what positions should the Vols target with the openings they plan to use on transfers? There are different levels of portal targets, ranging from instant-impact additions brought in to fill a gap to players who are more likely depth or rotational pieces. There also are more developmental transfers who might be a year or two removed from high school and have multiple seasons of eligibility left.