Tennessee receiver Mike Matthews is returning to Knoxville for his sophomore season after previously announcing his intentions to enter the transfer portal, Volquest’s Austin Price first reported on Friday morning.
Matthews announced his intentions to enter the transfer portal in the final minutes before the deadline on Saturday night. The transfer portal rules gave Tennessee multiple days to officially enter Matthews paperwork into the portal. The New Years holiday extended that deadline all the way to Friday.
That kept other teams from reaching out to Matthews until he was officially in the portal which allowed Tennessee to continue to negotiate with the former five-star receiver without other schools also talking to them.
Matthews played in the final 11 games of his freshman season after an injury sidelined him for the start of the year. Serving as Bru McCoy’s backup for most of the season, Matthews caught seven passes for 90 yards and two touchdowns.
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The Lilburn, Georgia native’s best game of the season came against Vanderbilt when he caught three passes for 30 yards and a touchdown. Totaling 199 snaps over the course of the season, Matthews totaled a 61.1 PFF grade that ranked fourth amongst Tennessee receivers that played over 100 snaps.
A former five-star recruit, Matthews will be the major piece of the puzzle in 2025 as the Vols look to rebuild their receiver core after a lackluster 2024 season and a mass exodus to the portal over the last month.
With Matthews now back, Tennessee officially lost five receivers to the transfer portal this offseason. The Vols now have three scholarship receivers returning in Matthews, Chris Brazzell and freshman slot receiver Braylon Staley. Tennessee also signed three prep receivers last month.
Even with Matthews back, Tennessee will look to add a few transfer receivers this offseason. The Vols have been linked to Southern Cal slot receiver Zachariah Branch, Florida State outside receiver Malik Benson and Alabama outside receiver Amari Jefferson so far this offseason.
