2025/26 Transfer Portal Thread

#5,455
#5,455
SoonerAndVol said:
Today was travel day from Oklahoma back to Florida so have been out of loop.

As I wrote before staff saw House & Keaton Thomas as very similar players from style & ability standpoint. Staff has better connections to House through Inge that hopefully will pay dividends. Staff begin to suspect Keaton visit may not happen as it was moved from yesterday, to last night or Sunday, and then back and forth on whether he would be coming today or later in week.

It is the nature of the portal, most situations you are not dealing with kids or parents but agents or even secondary reps of an agent.

Was told Vols were aware DaKaari Nelson would entering portal before it was ever announced per an agent or affiliated source and was clear UT is one of his top potential destinations and early signs look very promising

On PSU guys they still feel good about AJ Harris. It sounds as if AJ's team is disappointed about where NIL offerings are coming in at and isn't in hurry wanting to see if money goes up. Also noted he is comfortable with defensive staff & took unofficial to UT so knows what to expect in Knoxville. They still expect visit to happen but there isn't urgency on Harris side right now.

Vols to take 6 DBs in portal if they are guys they want, also still feel very good about Elliot Washington, and thinks King Mack will land at UT also but chance may dip if Byard commits. On Xavier Gilliam they feel very good but acknowledge Indiana could be willing to make NIL offer UT isn't willing to match. Last is Coleman who falls in same category as Gilliam. They think they are in good position but LSU can pay more if they choose to do so

Sounds like Trick is heavy trend towards VOLs, and still working to set visits with many other players, including some plan B guys.

Contact said you have to understand that the portal is recruiting on crack and that UT is not in the 1st tier in portal money nor do they have a coach who is willing to handout a guaranteed spot to a kid. You have to be willing and/or able to do one or both of those things to be the guys immediately signing portal players. Keaton was offered both at Ole Miss which is why things changed so quickly. It will likely happen with a couple other targets as well
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Thanks for the intel. So with Byard off the board is Mack ready to jump in IYO?

Gilliam is on campus now, right? Need to lock him down, especially because the only other DL we know about is the Wake kid who by all accounts we’re not going to be willing to pay up for.

Would love to land that whole PSU crew of Mack/Harris/Washington/Nelson/Gilliam.
 
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#5,456
#5,456
Checker_the_Shire said:
Curious for this who can answer: what does it mean to not be “1st tier in portal money” yet we’re supposedly one of the top NIL program? Is this just a nice way of saying we’re cheap or what?
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His answer is that there are 3 things involved.

There is NIL collective money or budget, typically made up of monthly or annual donation commitments by alum/boosters.
For Collectives OSU, Michigan, and Texas are who he identified as Teir 1

Second is specific individual donors. These may be part of collective, but are individuals who have expressed for the right player &/or right incentives (access to team, other recognition, etc) they will write other checks on an as needed basis. Often times these donors may say go get QB X and I will pay up to X amount above and beyond by regular donation to cover his NIL. Once you factor in these type of donors he would put LSU, Indiana, Oregon, & TTU ahead of Vols.

Last is percentage of money to HS vs portal....From what he knows the Vols are fairly balanced in this and typically stick to their budgets and evaluations. A good example of a team that goes heavier on portal would be Ole Miss. So he wouldn't put them ahead of the Vols overall but more aggressive in the portal.

He said Vols are right there with big time programs like Georgia, Alabama, USC, and others but currently lack the open check book of some of their competitors in both the number of contributors & willing multi-millionares/billionaires ready to infuse cash on demand.
 
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#5,457
#5,457
The more I think about it, none of us should be surprised when we don’t sign a great portal class. If Huepel has taught us anything, he’s the master at evaluating. He might not sign them but man can he evaluate
 
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#5,458
#5,458
We should go grab Roderick Robinson from uga at RB

I wouldn’t mind seeing us take some lsu and bama players too. Lots of highly rated guys in the portal from both schools. Multiple good looking LSU offensive linemen. And skill players from bama.
 
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#5,464
#5,464
SoonerAndVol said:
His answer is that there are 3 things involved.

There is NIL collective money or budget, typically made up of monthly or annual donation commitments by alum/boosters.
For Collectives OSU, Michigan, and Texas are who he identified as Teir 1

Second is specific individual donors. These may be part of collective, but are individuals who have expressed for the right player &/or right incentives (access to team, other recognition, etc) they will write other checks on an as needed basis. Often times these donors may say go get QB X and I will pay up to X amount above and beyond by regular donation to cover his NIL. Once you factor in these type of donors he would put LSU, Indiana, Oregon, & TTU ahead of Vols.

Last is percentage of money to HS vs portal....From what he knows the Vols are fairly balanced in this and typically stick to their budgets and evaluations. A good example of a team that goes heavier on portal would be Ole Miss. So he wouldn't put them ahead of the Vols overall but more aggressive in the portal.

He said Vols are right there with big time programs like Georgia, Alabama, USC, and others but currently lack the open check book of some of their competitors in bith number of contributors & willing multi-millionares/billionaires ready to infuse cash on demand.
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Awesome! I appreciate the information. I definitely didn’t intend for you to bug/ask your source on my behalf. But that said, I really appreciate that you did!
 
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#5,466
#5,466
DD4ME said:
Coleman is one i feared. Yes we need Trick.
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I'm trying to he positive here. We have a ton, a ton of DL spots we need to fill. Frankly, I want to be a playoff team. Losing one dude to LSU os what it is. But, its time to go make hay.
 
#5,467
#5,467
On LBs was told JK loves what he has observed from Jadon Perlotte and thinks he just needs to be taught better and gain weight/strength (he believes all the physical tools are there to be an All SEC guy).

I am told they will bring in 1 top LB (starter or top rotation guy) and 1 depth piece, so 2 total. Also would consider 2 starter level LBs depending on who the 2 are and money.

Feeling on Campbell is that he is a 2/3rd day draft pick and this is last year to maximize NIL. He will likely looking for best pay day. He did have his best season under Knowles and that may work in Vols favor but he wouldn't call him a target at this time
 
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#5,468
#5,468
Checker_the_Shire said:
Curious for this who can answer: what does it mean to not be “1st tier in portal money” yet we’re supposedly one of the top NIL program? Is this just a nice way of saying we’re cheap or what?
Click to expand...
Besides the total dollars some teams also budgeted more for portal than HS recruiting. We budgeted more for HS. Indiana had the 33rd HS class to our 7th. To get to 7th we already spent money on guys like Keys. I think that is going to be the question down the road. Where is money best allocated?
 
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#5,469
#5,469
SoonerAndVol said:
On LBs was told JK loves what he has observed from Jadon Perlotte and thinks he just needs to be taught better and gain weight/strength (he believes all the physical tools are there to be an All SEC guy).

I am told they will bring in 1 top LB (starter or top rotation guy) and 1 depth piece, so 2 total. Also would consider 2 starter level LBs depending on who the 2 are and money.

Feeling on Campbell is that he is a 2/3rd day draft pick and this is last year to maximize NIL. He will likely looking for best pay day. He did have his best season under Knowles and that may work in Vols favor but he wouldn't call him a target at this time
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Pretty sure Campbell will be targeted.
 
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#5,471
#5,471
SoonerAndVol said:
On LBs was told JK loves what he has observed from Jadon Perlotte and thinks he just needs to be taught better and gain weight/strength (he believes all the physical tools are there to be an All SEC guy).

I am told they will bring in 1 top LB (starter or top rotation guy) and 1 depth piece, so 2 total. Also would consider 2 starter level LBs depending on who the 2 are and money.

Feeling on Campbell is that he is a 2/3rd day draft pick and this is last year to maximize NIL. He will likely looking for best pay day. He did have his best season under Knowles and that may work in Vols favor but he wouldn't call him a target at this time
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We cant be scared of getting good players. Maybe you can share some insight of where our money will be spent
 
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