It appears as though former Tennessee legend Jason Witten is already going after one of the Vols’ former tight ends in his first few days with the Oklahoma Sooners. Witten was announced as Oklahoma’s newest tight ends coach on Thursday and looks to potentially be closing in on his first transfer portal prospect.
On Thursday, 247Sports’ Chris Hummer logged a Crystal Ball prediction for ex-Tennessee tight end Jack Van Dorselaer to land with the Oklahoma Sooners out of the transfer portal. Van Dorselaer spent one season at Tennessee before entering the portal on Wednesday morning.
If Van Dorselaer does wind up going to Oklahoma, it’ll be a move that takes him significantly closer to home. Norman, OK, is only a few hours north of his hometown of Southlake, TX, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
As a true freshman, Van Dorselaer played in 12 games for the Vols during the 2025 season. The 6-foot-5 tight end caught five passes for 23 yards and a touchdown. Van Dorselaer saw ramped-up playing time while Ethan Davis battled an injury during a chunk of the season.
Over the course of the season, Van Dorselaer played 180 snaps where he earned a 48.1 PFF grade. He played a season-high 35 snaps against UAB before playing 31 snaps two weeks later against Arkansas.
Van Dorselaer was tagged as a four-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting class by 247Sports’ composite rankings, landing as the No. 374 player in the class, the No. 18 athlete in the cycle, and the No. 50 player from the state of Texas. As a transfer prospect, he’s ranked as a four-star player and the No. 10 tight end in the portal.
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Jason Witten has never coached at the collegiate level, but he has been the head coach at Liberty Christian High School in Texas since the 2021 season. He’s won two state championships with the program. He’s got all the experience in the world at the tight end position, but now we’ll see how that translates to coaching in the SEC. Oklahoma and head coach Brent Venables officially announced his hiring on Thursday.
“I love football and I love teaching the game, and Oklahoma is as prestigious a college football program as there is in the country,” Witten said in a written press release. “So I’m thankful to Coach Venables for the opportunity to work together. It’s been clear to me from the outset that he’s one of the best leaders of men in football. And he has the pieces in place to compete for championships, so I’m excited to work under him and Coach (Ben) Arbuckle and with the rest of the staff. It’s a tremendous opportunity and I’m proud to be a Sooner.”
With Van Dorselaer out of the mix, Tennessee now appears to be entering the 2026 season with returning tight end Ethan Davis and freshman tight end DaSaahn Brame as the leading pieces. Cole Harrison and incoming freshman Luca Wolf are also tight ends on Tennessee’s roster.
Tennessee has landed 12 commitments in the transfer portal to date including Williams, Penn State LEO Chaz Coleman, Tulane LEO Jordan Norman, Penn State inside linebacker Amare Campbell, Penn State safety Dejuan Lane, Penn State defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam, Kansas State nickelback Qua Moss, Michigan safety TJ Metcalf, Auburn cornerback Kayin Lee, Oklahoma State receiver Gavin Freeman, Louisville kicker Cooper Ranvier and Eastern Kentucky linebacker/long snapper Blake Howard.
