Texas A&M In Play For Star SEC Transfer Portal LB

Linebacker Arion Carter entered the transfer portal on the last day of the one-time window and has just hours to make a decision.

Nov 22, 2025; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Tennessee Volunteers linebacker Arion Carter (7) works out prior to the game against the Florida Gators at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Tennessee linebacker Arion Carter is coming off an impressive season. With 76 total tackles, one-and-a-half sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble return in his third year with the Volunteers, Carter was the highlight of Tennessee’s trenches despite the team finishing the year 8-5.

Carter’s year, in fact, was so impressive that he initially intended to enter the 2026 NFL Draft, announcing his decision on X over two weeks before Tennessee’s final bowl game against Illinois in Nashville.

But this Friday afternoon, Carter changed his mind. He won’t be going into the NFL Draft this year — but he also won’t be returning to Knoxville. 

From NFL Draftee to Texas A&M Aggie?

Tennessee linebacker Arion Carter (7) during a college football game between Tennessee and UAB at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sept. 20, 2025. | Caitie McMekin/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Instead, he withdrew his name from the list of early draft entries and informed Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, linebacker coach William Inge and athletic director Danny White that he would be entering the transfer portal, according to an On3 report.

With the decision falling on the last day of the transfer portal window, Carter will need to make a quick turnaround decision. So far, he has his eyes on Alabama and Texas A&M

“I would love to stay in the SEC. But I’m willing to go anywhere,” Carter said in initial reports to On3.

The decision likely wasn’t easy, but it isn’t exactly surprising at this day and age. Carter hinted at the difficulties in announcing his decision to enter the draft on his social media statement on Dec. 12.

“To the University of Tennessee (and) the Greatest fan base in the country, thank you for the opportunity to be a Vol! The college experience, game day atmosphere and relationships developed will last a lifetime,” Carter wrote in a statement announcing he would declare for the draft. “Playing for the Power T meant everything to me.”

🧡 pic.twitter.com/WVYeYki2NZ

— Arion carter (@ArionCarter) December 12, 2025

Even so, Carter’s difficult choice means that the Aggies get a last-minute chance to pull talent from the portal into areas that they desperately need — like the defensive line. With linebackers Scooby Williams and Sam M’Pemba, plus defensive ends Cashius Howell and Albert Regis entering the draft, the trenches are looking depleted of experience. Additionally, many talented players on the interior have left for the portal, causing the Aggies to lose depth as well as starters.

Texas A&M has wasted no time in pulling from the portal, recruiting Houston Christian linebacker TJ Smith and Tulsa linebacker Ray Coney among seven total defensive interior players. 

Still, Carter brings a level of experience — especially in the SEC — that the Aggies would otherwise be seriously lacking. Over his career, Carter has filled the stat sheet with 161 tackles, plus an interception. After sitting for most of his freshman year, tackling for 17 when on the field, he’s spent the last two seasons as one of Tennessee's standouts on a defense that let up an average of nearly 30 points a game last season, according to Team Rankings.

Texas A&M is in a highly favored position to nab Carter with time ticking on the portal window. His decision will need to be immediate, so he has the rest of the night of the 16th to decide where he spends his final year.