Boo Carter’s time with the Tennessee football program officially came to an end on Sunday afternoon with Josh Heupel reportedly kicking him off the team and Carter announcing his intentions to enter the transfer portal when it opens next month.
It marks the end of a months long saga between Carter and Tennessee that begun back in the summer. Carter made it to the season as part of the Tennessee football team but did not make it through the full 12 game schedule.
Carter released a statement on the departure Sunday afternoon, pointing to an injury as to why his season was cut short and why he’s leaving the Tennessee program now.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank The University of Tennessee Coaches, administrators and fans for a wonderful two years,” Carter said in a statement released on X (Twitter). “Unfortunately my season has been cut short due to injury. I have decided to enter the transfer portal and I am excited about the opportunities going forward!”
It’s unclear how legitimate Carter’s claims of an injury are. Carter not only did not play against New Mexico State but seemingly was not at Neyland Stadium for the game Saturday evening. With New Mexico State being a non conference game, Tennessee did not release an injury report until shortly before kickoff.
“At the end of the day, there’s a standard that you have to meet to be in that locker room,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said following the game. “He was not out on the field with us. That will be the last— my last response to anything related to that for right now.”
More From RTI: Tennessee Football Moves Up in the AP Poll After Defeating New Mexico State
Carter did not play on defense but did return punts, where he muffed his third of the season, two weeks prior against Oklahoma. Following the game Carter’s mother posted on Facebook that he did not play on defense due to an injury. Tennessee did not include Carter on its official injury report that week.
The drama started back in July when it was unclear what his status with the team was going to be. After a strong freshman season, Carter no-showed a number of team activities in July making him earn his role on the Vols’ roster during their fall practices in August.
Tennessee’s contentious relationship with Carter seemingly came to an inflection point in the Vols’ win at Kentucky when Carter showed poor effort after getting beat for a long touchdown.
Boo Carter stopped running, just quit pic.twitter.com/bHem43eSsf
— gmannVOLS (@gmannVOLS) October 26, 2025
The sophomore recorded just 25 tackles, three pass deflections and one sack during the 2025 season. Carter has forced three fumbles with two coming in Tennessee’s lopsided win over UAB. He’s also muffed three punts this season though Tennessee recovered two of them.
Carter has been Tennessee’s backup STAR this season, playing limited snaps behind Jalen McMurray. Tennessee lists sophomore Marcus Goree Jr. as its third string STAR on its official depth chart. But McMurray will likely play the vast majority of the snaps the rest of the season.
