Texas Tech football is showing a strong commitment to competing at the national level, and it’s clearly working. On Tuesday, Tennessee lost not one, but two transfer portal recruiting battles to the Red Raiders. The worst part, they’re both on the defensive line and at positions of need for the Vols.
First, Wake Forest defensive tackle Mateen Ibirogba committed to Texas Tech. Not long after, Miami (OH) edge rusher Adam Trick joined him in Lubbock, according to On3.
Trick picked the Red Raiders over Tennessee, Florida and Wisconsin. He had planned to take visits to all four of those schools.
Trick is coming off his redshirt-junior season and will have one year of eligibility remaining. In 2025, he logged 59 tackles, 8.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception. His PFF grade also jumped off the page. He finished the year with an absurd 91.2 overall mark.
The edge rusher is considered a four-star transfer prospect. He comes in as the No. 100 transfer and No. 16 edge rusher in the cycle on 247.
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Trick could have played either Tennessee’s defensive end or the LEO position if he had picked the Vols. No matter the choice, it would’ve been at a position of need.
At defensive end, Tennessee is losing Dominic Bailey and Tyre West to eligibility. That leaves Tyree Weathersby, Mariyon Dye and incoming freshmen in the room.
At LEO, Joshua Josephs is out of eligibility, and Caleb Herring and other backups are transferring. That leaves just Jordan Ross and a number of young pieces remaining.
So far, Tennessee has lost 23 players to the transfer portal. However, most of them are reserves and did not see much action on offense or defense. The Vols have replaced the departures with two commitments so far. That includes Kansas State defensive back Qua Moss and LSU offensive tackle Ory Williams.
