When Tennessee football’s 2024 season ended in a College Football Playoff defeat at Ohio State, the Vols had to take a look at the roster and make some decisions. As far as tight ends, it was relatively clear. Miles Kitselman was theoretically gone with no remaining eligibility, leaving Ethan Davis and Holden Staes in the room.
However, when Diego Pavia sparked a ruling that extended across the sport for former junior college athletes, it opened the door for Kitselman to return. This made what was a cut-and-dry situation into an interesting one from an outside perspective.
As Davis revealed when meeting with the media this past week, Tennessee never intended to enter the portal either way. If Kitselman was gone, they were comfortable with Staes and Davis. When Kitselman was able to return, the Vols were ecstatic to bring him back, although it did mean Staes would ultimately transfer to Indiana.
Davis was a part of the plans no matter what, though. The Vols are banking on him to be an improved player, and he had not a second thought about continuing his career in Knoxville.
“I knew after the season ended they weren’t going into the portal,” Davis said. “I knew it was ultimately going to come down to if Miles ended up leaving, then it would just be me and Holden. But that was a conversation that we had had as soon as the season ended. Miles ended up coming back, so Holden ended up leaving. This is my home. This is where I want to play football at. I would never transfer from Tennessee regardless of the circumstances.”
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Knowing that Tennessee was comfortable with him as a key contributor, no matter how the offseason unfolded, was obviously a relief for Davis. He knew he couldn’t get complacent, though.
While plans are great right after a season, he still had plenty to prove. If he didn’t perform during both spring and fall camp, there were plenty of talented options behind him. True freshmen DaSaahn Brame and Jack Van Dorselaer both seem ready to go in year one, but Davis has done enough to cement his spot to this point.
“It was good to know,” Davis said. “But obviously, I know you always have to go out there and earn it regardless of what you’re being told and what is being said. If I don’t go out there and produce on the field, none of that is going to matter because I’m not going to be playing if I’m not producing on the field during practice, during workouts or routes on air or stuff like that.”
While Davis has been a name to consistently pop up this fall camp, nationally, he is still a bit of an unknown. Kitselman is rightfully being looked at as a top tight end in the conference, but Davis is still flying under some radars.
Davis knows this is the case, too. Now, he’s ready to prove why Tennessee is comfortable banking on him.
“I still have so much to prove out there,” Davis said. “I’m still unknown. A lot of question marks by my name, but I will answer those question marks for sure. I’m 100% positive in that.”
