Tennessee cornerback Jordan Matthews plans to enter the transfer portal when it officially opens next week after spending two years in the Vols’ system, On3’s Hayes Fawcett first reported.
Matthews played 83 snaps for Tennessee in his redshirt freshman season where he totaled three tackles and two pass deflections. However, only six of those 83 snaps came in SEC play with most coming in lopsided wins over Chattanooga, Kent State and UTEP.
A Baton Rouge native, Matthews recruitment was a major win for Josh Heupel and Willie Martinez in the 2022 recruiting cycle. After appearing to be a lean to Texas for much of his recruitment, Matthews ended up committing to Tennessee. The 6-foot-2 corner ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 157 player in the country according to the 247sports composite rankings.
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Matthews is a talented young player but his path to a starting spot at Tennessee was limited due to the emergence of Oregon State transfer Jermod McCoy and sophomore Rickey Gibson. Both players were the same class as Matthews and will be returning to school next season.
While Tennessee has its top two cornerbacks returning next season, Matthews departure does emphasize the need for the Vols to add depth at cornerback in the portal. Jalen McMurray is Tennessee football’s third corner back this season and he is out of eligibility at the end of the season. Matthews was the fourth cornerback.
Behind McCoy and Gibson, Tennessee returns redshirting freshmen Kaleb Beasley and Marcus Goree Jr. Both players are Volunteer State native’s in the 2024 recruiting cycle with Beasley playing his prep football at Lipscomb Academy and Goree playing at Bradley Central High School.
Matthews is the fifth Tennessee player to announce that they intend to enter the transfer portal when it opens next week joining center Vysen Lang, running back Khalifa Keith, receiver Kaleb Webb and linebacker Jalen Smith.
