After the debut of Joey Aguilar with Tennessee football and Nico Iamaleava with UCLA, a lot of Vol fans seem to be happy with how this offseason ultimately developed. However, if this potential rule change had been enacted a year earlier, none of it would’ve happened.
According to a report from Ross Dellenger, the NCAA Football Oversight Committee voted on Thursday in support of a single transfer portal window. This would take place in early January that would last 10 days, eliminating the spring transfer portal window. Dellenger clarified that it is not a done deal, though, with the Administrative Committee still needing to formally adopt the change later.
This would eliminate the window that saw the Vols lose and gain talent this past cycle. Most notably, Iamaleava, the returning starting quarterback for Tennessee, exited in this period and found his way to UCLA. Safety Jakobe Thomas, who would’ve contended to start on the defense, also departed for Miami.
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Other depth pieces that left included offensive tackle Larry Johnson III (Colorado), offensive lineman Ayden Bussell (West Virginia), defensive back Christian Charles (Virginia), defensive back John Slaughter (Colorado) and wide receiver Dayton Sneed (North Carolina).
Tennessee added App State/UCLA transfer Aguilar in this window, as well. Aguilar spent last season with the Mountaineers before heading to the Bruins in the initial transfer portal window. If there were no spring portal, he likely would’ve been UCLA’s starter this year.
The Vols also added an extremely important piece to their secondary in the spring. Colton Hood, a cornerback out of Colorado, joined in the second window and started in game one with Jermod McCoy still recovering from injury. Now, with Rickey Gibson III also out for an extended period, Hood will play a massive role going forward.
The other addition was depth on the interior of the defensive line. Division II transfer Josh Schell joined UT during this period.
