Tennessee linebacker Jalen Smith intends to enter the transfer portal when it officially opens next week after spending two seasons in the Vols’ program, On3’s Hayes Fawcett first reported on Friday.
Smith is one of five Tennessee players that has announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal when it officially opens on Monday but he is the only one with real significance to the 2024 Volunteer team vying for the National Championship.
The redshirt freshman linebacker played a major role for the Vols this season, totaling 256 snaps in all 12 regular season snaps. Smith totaled 34 total tackles this season including a career-high nine in Tennessee’s victory over Kentucky.
Smith was a third down specialist for Tennessee even early in the season but his role expanded greatly when Keenan Pili suffered his season-ending knee injury against Florida. He played 20-plus snaps in Tennessee’s final fix regular season games including 34 against Kentucky and 39 against Georgia.
With Smith now not playing in the College Football Playoffs, freshman Edwin Spillman’s role will become more significant. Spillman returned from a long injury and played nine snaps in the Vols’ win over Vanderbilt.
Tennessee’s third-and-long linebacker package put Kalib Perry and Jalen Smith on the field together. It’s unclear who will fill Smith’s role in that package in the playoffs.
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Smith was Tennessee’s fourth linebacker on its roster this season behind Arion Carter, Jeremiah Telander and Perry. All three players are back next season as is the talented Spillman. The Vols also added a strong four linebacker signing class that included four-stars Christian Gass and Jaedon Harmon.
Smith entering the transfer portal was not a big surprise because of those factors. Any surprise comes from him entering the portal before the postseason.
The transfer portal officially opens on Monday, Dec. 9 before closing again on Saturday, Dec. 28. However, any player playing on a team in the College Football Playoff will have five days once they are eliminated to enter the portal.
While players can stay on their current teams to play in the playoffs before transferring, their options will be more limited as schools fill out their rosters for next season this December.
Smith was a member of Tennessee’s 2023 recruiting class where he ranked as a low four-star recruit and the No. 428 player in the country according to the 247sports composite rankings.
Smith joins center Vysen Lang, running back Khalifa Keith, receiver Kaleb Webb and cornerback Jordan Matthews as players who have announced their intentions to enter the transfer portal when it opens next week.
2 Responses
I’m sorry I never like quitters.. you are a teammate of a team that has a playoff in front of them and you have sabotaged the team by breaking the chemistry.. if I was a pro recruiter it would definitely be a bad mark against you
I used to feel the same way about players before the NIL. Now it’s like unfettered free agency. I didn’t think transfers were treated fairly before the NIL, now I feel they have to much leeway. It all comes down to money and playing time compared to playing time and exposure. It would be good if they could find an happy medium.