Former Connecticut punter Brett Graham announced his intentions to transfer to Tennessee on Monday night.
Graham will be a graduate transfer for the Vols. While at UConn, Graham started 12 games in 2017 after redshirting in 2016. During his redshirt freshman campaign, Graham punted the ball 63 times for an average of 38.8 yards per punt. His longest punt traveled 61 yards, and 20 of his punts were downed inside the 20-yard line.
Excited to say I will be continuing my academic and football career at The University of Tennessee!#PoweredByTheT pic.twitter.com/KLY8edRiim
— Brett Graham (@bgeezy81) March 23, 2020
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound punter did not record any punts during the 2018 or 2019 seasons. The State College, Pennsylvania native served as the primary holder on field goal and extra point attempts during the last two seasons. He played in 11 games in 2018.
In high school, Graham earned First Team All-Mid Penn Conference honors during his senior season as a punter and tight end. Graham also earned First Team All-Mid State as a tight end. He averaged 34.0 yards per punt his senior year with a long 46 yards. Graham’s team won a conference division championship in his senior season.
As a junior, Graham was first team all-conference as a punter and second team as a tight end. He averaged 36.1 yards per punt with a long of 60 yards.
Graham had 75 career receptions as a tight end for 939 yards and six touchdowns in high school. He made 35 receptions for 370 yards as a senior. Graham also played baseball for State College Area.
Walk-on punter Joe Doyle announced earlier this offseason that he would be transferring off Tennessee’s roster, leaving the Vols with just rising junior Paxton Brooks as a punter on the team. Tennessee has Brent Cimaglia as their scholarship placekicker, and UT also features walk-ons Luke Lynn, Toby Wilson, and Marshall Ware as specialists.
As a team last season, the Vols were in the bottom of the SEC in punting average, averaging just 40.9 yards a punt. Brooks punted the ball 30 times for 42 yards a punt with a long of 59 yards and with 11 of his punts being downed inside the 20 yard-line. Doyle totaled 21 punts for an average of 41.4 yards with six being downed inside the 20. Brooks had a punt blocked.
