Tennessee football has already landed a number of safeties through the transfer portal, but is still on the hunt to add more talent to the room. One of the recent names to emerge is DJ Burks from App State. He is visiting UT on Thursday, his agent tells RTI.
Burks has plenty of familiarity with the Vols, as well. He is from Maryville, Tennessee, just outside of Knoxville, where he helped Maryville High School earn a 53-4 record over four seasons with a 6-A state championship.
Burks finished this past season with the Mountainers with 65 tackles, ranking third on the team. He produced five passes deflected, two interceptions and a pair of forced fumbles. He is the leading tackler for the team over the past two seasons combined, as well.
According to his agency, Winner’s Circle Enterprise, Burks is also receiving interest from USC, Wisconsin, MTSU, Liberty and Sam Houston.
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Besides being from Maryville, there’s another obvious tie with the Vols. Joey Aguilar, UT’s starting quarterback for the 2025 season, played a pair of seasons as Burks’ teammate with the Mountaineers. Aguilar is currently fighting to gain an additional year of eligibility, but reports indicate that it is unlikely he’ll be cleared for 2026.
If he did join Tennessee, he’d be joining a safety room that has a lot of talent. The Vols have already landed TJ Metcalf from Michigan, Dejuan Lane from Penn State and Qua Moss from Kansas State. Tennessee also returns Edrees Farooq for his junior season.
While each of those options is able to play safety, one or more may be moved to STAR to play the nickelback role in Jim Knowles’ defense. At cornerback, Knowles has also brought in Auburn’s Kayin Lee and is hosting other targets at the position in the portal.
