When Tennessee hired former Penn State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to fill the same vacant position, the immediate question was whether any of his former players at Penn State could be enticed to follow him to Rocky Top through the transfer portal. The Nittany Lions are going through their own coaching changes this month, which has caused several of Knowles’ defensive players to hit the portal in search of a new home.
On Friday, we heard that Tennessee was in the mix for star EDGE rusher Chaz Coleman. It now looks like another Penn State player could be potentially heading to Tennessee if the Vols can win the recruiting battle.
According to a report from Rivals’ Hayes Fawcett, Tennessee is one of three finalists for Penn State defensive lineman Xavier Gilliam. The Vols sit alongside Indiana and Notre Dame in Gilliam’s transfer recruitment. Fawcett doesn’t give any specific details on upcoming visits to those three programs, but does say that the 6-foot-3 lineman will “take his visits starting today.”
Gilliam was tagged as a three-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, but has since been upgraded to a four-star prospect in the transfer portal. 247Sports lists Gilliam as the 31st-ranked player and the 3rd-ranked defensive lineman in the portal.
More From RTI: Tennessee Football Reportedly Hosting Sought-After Safety Transfer Target
The Maryland native has been with Penn State for the past two seasons but was directly under Knowles’ coordinator direction in 2025. He didn’t play much in his true freshman season, earning him a redshirt, but found a much more significant role this past season. Gilliam played in all 13 games for the Nittany Lions with two starts, tallying 15 total tackles, two tackles for loss, and half a sack.
With Tennessee losing multiple defensive linemen, both starters and rotational players, due to the portal and graduation this offseason, it’s certainly a spot that looks like a priority for the team moving forward. RTI’s Ryan Sylvia ranked defensive tackle as the third-most needed position to hit in the portal this offseason, and Gilliam would fill that spot nicely.
The other news coming out of the defensive line room this week is that Tennessee officially announced that defensive line coach Rodney Garner would be returning to be part of Knowles’ inaugural defense staff. Garner and Knowles will clearly be a big part of the Vols’ efforts to land Gilliam out of the portal.
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee transfer portal coverage.
