Head coach Josh Heupel returns to the sideline during a game against Mississippi State at Neyland Stadium. Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024. Cole Moore/RTI
For the fans who may have been wrapped up in college basketball or the NFL playoffs on Saturday, you may have missed parts of the landslide of transfer portal commitments that Tennessee had. The news started a few hours before Tennessee Basketball’s noon tip-off against Kentucky, and ended during a heated playoff game between the Bills and the Broncos in the evening.
All in all, Tennessee gained five portal pieces on Saturday. Much of the haul will help provide the Vols with some depth in key places, such as running back and in the secondary.
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Here’s a look at all five transfer players that Tennessee received in a nine-hour stretch on Saturday:
9:20 a.m. – OL Donovan Haslam
Tennessee’s first move of the day came by adding versatile offensive lineman Donovan Haslam. The West Virginia transfer played all over the Mountaineers’ offensive line in 2025, taking reps at left guard, right guard, and left tackle. He began the year coming off the bench but eventually moved into a starting role at left guard for the final five games of the season.
The 6-foot-3, 346-pound offensive lineman earned a 61.7 overall grade from PFF while playing 444 snaps last season. He earned a 74.7 pass block grade and a 59.7 run block grade during the 2025 season.
Haslam spent his first three years of college football at Austin Peay before moving to West Virginia. He’s originally from Perry, GA.
11:16 a.m. – DB Tevis Metcalf
After landing former Michigan safety TJ Metcalf on Tuesday, the Vols added his younger brother, Tevis Metcalf, on Saturday morning. TJ is one year older than Tevis, but the two have spent their whole careers together. The brothers first played at Arkansas (TJ in 2023 and 2024, Tevis in 2024) before transferring to Michigan for the 2025 season. They’re now on their way to Rocky Top. The Metcalf brothers are originally from Pinson, AL.
Tevis has seen a lot of special teams snaps during his two years of collegiate football. He also has some experience playing the nickel position, though some analysts referred to him as a cornerback when posting the news on Saturday. Either way, his addition will help Tennessee add some versatility and depth to its new-look secondary when the Vols head out for spring practice.
The Metcalf brothers are the cousins of former Ole Miss star and current NFL wide receiver DK Metcalf.
12:26 p.m. – TE Trent Thomas
Tennessee hauled in its third portal commitment of the day on Saturday with big-bodied tight end Trent Thomas from South Alabama. Thomas’s addition comes just days after Tennessee saw true freshman TE Jack Van Dorselaer leave the program and wind up in Jason Witten’s room with the Oklahoma Sooners.
Thomas has been with the Jaguars for the past three seasons, while taking a redshirt in his first year in 2023. In 2024, he played in all 13 games with five starts, catching one pass for five yards. This past season, Thomas played in 12 games with eight starts. He caught four passes for 34 yards, but graded out best as a pass blocker with a 61.9 rating from PFF.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Thomas come in primarily as a blocking tight end, considering the pass-catching talent that Tennessee still has in the room with Ethan Davis and DaSaahn Brame. Regardless, though, it gives the Vols some depth after losing one of their young pieces last week.
12:30 p.m. – RB Javin Gordon
Tennessee added a former College Football Playoffs running back on Saturday with former Tulane freshman Javin Gordon. The 5-foot-10 running back played in all 14 games for the Green Wave this season, including the CFP game against Ole Miss in December. Gordon rushed for 516 yards and five touchdowns with the Green Wave as a true freshman in 2025. He also caught 13 passes for 93 yards and a score.
With Peyton Lewis heading to Virginia in the portal, Tennessee needed to add some more depth to De’Rail Sims’ running back room. The team found a player to add with plenty of eligibility left. He’s got three years remaining in college football.
Gordon started in six of the appearances, posting a PFF grade of 72.7 on the year. Against the Rebels in the playoffs, he had six carries for 11 yards. Gordon played under now-Florida coach Jon Sumrall with Tulane.
6:30 p.m. – S DJ Burks
The last of the five players that Tennessee nabbed on Saturday was local safety DJ Burks. He spent the past three seasons with App State, taking a redshirt as a true freshman in 2023, but had an elevated role in 2024 and 2025. He played in 25 games over the last two seasons with seven starts this past year (one at strong safety, six at free safety). Burks recorded 65 tackles in 2025, which was the third most on the team. He also tallied five pass deflections, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles.
There’s another tie to the area, though. Burks is from Maryville, TN, just outside of Knoxville, where he helped Maryville High School earn a 53-4 record over four seasons with a 6-A state championship.
Including Burks, Tennessee has now brought in six defensive backs in the portal cycle, giving the Vols a completely new room to work with. Some of those names have a more solidified projected role than others, but the thought going into the offseason was that Tennessee could benefit from adding a ton of bodies into the secondary and just seeing how each player shaped out, position-wise, during spring ball and fall camp. That looks to be the route that Tennessee did indeed take.
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