Tennessee football didn’t just see changes to its defensive coaching staff. The Vols also overhauled their personnel, loading up talent through the transfer portal. One of the spots that underwent the most change is the secondary. Perhaps the biggest addition in the cycle was Michigan transfer safety, TJ Metcalf.
Metcalf played and started in all 13 of the Wolverines’ games this past season. He split time between both safety and nickelback. In that time, Metcalf recorded 58 tackles and an interception. He earned a PFF grade of 67.2 on the year, as well.
Heading into his final season, Metcalf was highly recruited out of the portal. However, despite plenty of options to choose from, he picked the Vols. He went into detail about how he came to the decision on Tuesday.
“I really chose Tennessee because I wanted to be somewhere that I knew that I was gonna make it happen for my last year,” Metcalf said. “Tennessee is a great school. Tennessee was my first offer in high school, so that’s what got everything started for me. I just trusted the process, knew that Coach Poindexter was coming here. He was tryna get me while I was at Arkansas and I didn’t want to let him down again. I just stuck with it and trusted him.”
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A big part of his recruitment was the previous connection he had with UT’s new co-defensive coordinator, Anthony Poindexter. He previously recruited Metcalf at his prior stops and even tried to pull him out of the portal heading into last season when Metcalf left Arkansas.
While Metcalf admitted he was close to heading to Penn State last season, he instead chose Michigan. Now, he’s teaming up with the coach he built up the relationship with.
“When he was trying to recruit me, I knew it was real from the start,” Metcalf said. “It was sometime during Covid. His first interaction with me was through Zoom. We watched the players he produced that were going to the league and stuff like that. I just got to see those guys make same type of plays I was making in high school. It was something that I could eventually believe in and see myself in the future playing under him.
“We’ve just had a close connection ever since he recruited me. He’s close with my family. We just kept that connection. My dad communicates with him. I’m here now with him. It’s crazy to me cause I had a coach at Arkansas that I knew also before I got to college and he ended up at Arkansas with me, he was at Florida State. Just crazy its the second time it’s happened. Coach Poindexter, he’s a great guy. It being my last year, I’m pretty excited being with him.”
Metcalf and the rest of the team will be on display to the public for the first time this Saturday. The Orange & White Game is set for 2 p.m. ET with admission free for fans. There will be no broadcast.
