Tennessee football TE Jack Van Dorselaer after beating Syracuse in the Aflac Kickoff Game (Ryan Sylvia | RTI)

Late in the transfer portal window, Tennessee football lost a young contributor from its effective 2025 offense. Backup tight end Jack Van Dorselaer announced that he would be departing from the program after playing a moderate role as a true freshman.

Shortly after, Van Dorselaer revealed where his next stop would be. He committed to Oklahoma, where his position coach would be UT legend Jason Witten.

Now that Van Dorselaer is in Norman and integrating himself into the Sooners’ program, he joined 1Oklahoma for an episode of ‘Portal Guys‘ to discuss the decision. It was during this interview that he revealed why he decided to leave Tennessee.

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“Going to Tennessee was great for me,” Van Dorselaer said. “My ability to play as a true freshman, I learned a lot this past season. How to overcome adversity and be trusted on game day. The plan was for me to come back to Tennessee, but after the season, I was just thinking, I just miss the Lone Star State, being close to home. And playing with Texas guys, I think, is also big. Our quarterback (John Mateer) is from Texas. Being around this part of the country again and close to my family, I think it was good as a family decision because it’s hard for them to get to games on Saturdays. And it’s easier for them, it’s a two and a half hour drive.

“So that was an aspect of it. And also playing for Coach Witten is huge. He’s one of the best to ever do it. And learning from a guy like that at this level, I think, is really going to be big for me to get me where I need to go. Not just learning how to play the game better, but also how to handle stuff off the field. He played 17 years in the NFL. With that comes with a lot of adversity off the field and media and stuff like that, and how to handle off-the-field stuff to get you where I want to go.

“And also, I think just the culture here is really cool. The guys, I’ve been here for three weeks, two and a half weeks, and I can already feel the culture. And the standard is really high here, which I appreciate it. If the standard is high, it’s going to hold me to a higher standard, and we can all just grow together.”

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Van Dorselaer played in 12 games for Tennessee during his freshman season, catching five passes for 23 yards and one touchdown. His lone touchdown came in Tennessee’s lopsided win over ETSU at Neyland Stadium.

The 6-foot-5, 236-pound tight end started the year as Tennessee’s third-string tight end but spent a chunk of the season as the second-stringer while Ethan Davis battled an injury. Most of Van Dorselaer’s role was as a blocking tight end in 12 personnel.

Over the course of the season, Van Dorselaer played 180 snaps, earning a 48.1 PFF grade. He played a season-high 35 snaps against UAB before playing 31 snaps two weeks later against Arkansas.

He will have three years of eligibility to use at Oklahoma.