“After entering the NCAA transfer portal earlier this week,
Isaiah Johnson didn't waste any time setting up a visit to
Tennessee and heading to Knoxville to take a closer look at the Vols. He didn't get to spend much time there, but he saw enough to come away impressed.
The redshirt junior defensive lineman from
Arizona made Tennessee his first stop after adding his name to the transfer portal on Tuesday, and he said the Vols "for sure" set the bar high going into his remaining visits. It was the first of at least two visits he currently has scheduled, and after being intrigued by the opportunity to continue his college career in the SEC, he liked what he saw during his brief stay at Tennessee.
The 6-foot-1, 311-pound Johnson said he was "going to"
North Carolina next after wrapping up his visit to Tennessee. He said that's the only visit he has planned "as of right now," but he's also "working on" setting up possible trips to
Kansas State and Purdue.
He got a chance to spend time with Vols defensive line coach
Rodney Garner during Friday's visit. Johnson said he liked that Garner "coaches his guys the same, whether they're first-round (draft picks) or freshmen."
"He just went over the scheme, went over how he develops his players and coaches his guys hard from top to bottom," Johnson said, referring to Garner.
Johnson said Tennessee head coach
Josh Heupel also met with him on Friday, and Heupel turned out to be "kind of calm, cool." The message Johnson received from Heupel, he said, was "kind of just, like, the same thing: You revolve this program around building their guys."
A former Chandler (Ariz.) High School standout, Johnson appeared in 10 games for the Wildcats last year and finished the season with nine total tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. He redshirted in 2022 before playing in two games as a redshirt freshman in 2023, although he didn't record any statistics in limited action.
If he ends up at Tennessee, he said the Vols would be getting "somebody who's ready to work and give their all for Tennessee."
For now, Johnson is still in the process of determining how many more visits he will take and which other schools might be realistic options for him. He said he has one primary focus going into his remaining trips.
"Just finding where I fit in," he said.