Vol Network sideline reporter and VolQuest insider Brent Hubbs shared his take on Jakobe Thomas’s entry into the portal during an episode of SportsTalk with John Wilkerson and Vince Ferrara (99.1 The Sports Animal) on Tuesday.
Thomas, a former transfer from Middle Tennessee, was projected to compete for a starting safety position this fall after one season with the program. He put together a nice debut season in 2024 as a rotational safety but was competing to start alongside Andre Turrentine with the departure of Will Brooks due to graduation this offseason. Instead of that, though, Thomas officially submitted his name to the transfer portal on Monday.
“He was certainly going to play a lot more this year than he was last year,” Hubbs said on the show, reflecting on Thomas’s decision to hit the portal.
Reports broke late last week that Thomas had intentions of eyeing the portal before actually entering on Monday. While some rumors and reports stated that Thomas was potentially going to stay at Tennessee, Hubbs shared his thoughts on what may have transpired.
“As of Thursday night, it looked like [Thomas] was going to stay,” Hubbs said on the Tuesday, Apr. 29 episode. “Some people over the weekend felt like he was going to stay at Tennessee. Obviously, his people and him around him, decided that moving on would be the best thing for him. He’s now scheduled to visit, I think, Florida State and [Miami], it looks like. He had opportunities to stay here – I think he had opportunities to stay here and make more money than he was making, but obviously he felt like there were greener pastures for him, there were more things available for him out there elsewhere than what he would’ve gotten here.”
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Thomas is one of a handful of Tennessee players to hit the portal this spring, but his departure did startle the longtime UT reporter and insider.
“But it is surprising,” Hubbs continued on to say to Wilkerson and Ferrara. “This is a guy that grew up loving Tennessee, he talked about what a dream it was for him to get to play in Neyland Stadium. You know, you did that for a year, and I guess satisfied that to the point that he was comfortable moving on to look at opportunities elsewhere. So, you know, I think that he just decided that was a better fit for him, somewhere else. We’ll see where he lands and what happens coming out of it.”
After reports broke on Monday that Thomas was officially heading to the portal, On3 Sports’ Pete Nakos posted that the former Vol would be visiting Florida State and Miami and will decide between one of those two programs. Florida State grabbed two former Vols out of the portal in January with Squirrel White and Jayson Jenkins, and looks to be trying to add a third with Thomas.
Thomas, a native of Tullahoma, TN, played one season for the Vols in 2024. As a rotational safety, Thomas recorded 22 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, and two pass deflections while playing in all 13 games. The 6-foot-2 safety was poised to compete for a starting spot in the secondary this season, but, as Hubbs said, decided to look for greener pastures outside Knoxville, TN.
Stay tuned to RTI for more Tennessee Football offseason news and coverage.
Check out the full interview with Vol Network sideline reporter Brent Hubbs as a guest on SportsTalk with John Wilkerson and Vince Ferrara (99.1 The Sports Animal) on Tuesday here.
