Just In: Vols TE Enters Transfer Portal

Before the season started for Tennessee, Austin Pope announced that he had to have surgery for a herniated disc. “Sometimes life doesn’t always go the way we plan it,” wrote the senior when he first announced the surgery. “I’ve had hard times and challenges in my life, so this is nothing new to me. I recently have been dealing with a lot of nerve pain coming from my lower back. I went to get an MRI on Monday morning, and the results were not what I expected.”

There was a point where Jeremy Pruitt believed Pope could make it back onto the playing field this season, but that never happened.

Matt Zenits of Al.Com just reported that Pope is now in the transfer portal.

Pope's University of Tennessee profile for 2019 reads: One of the toughest players on the team and top run blockers ... Appeared in all 13 games with 11 starts ... Totaled four receptions for 21 yards during his redshirt junior campaign ... Started and made one catch for six yards in win over UAB (11/2) ... Started in win vs. South Carolina (10/26) ... Started against No. 3 Georgia and recorded a season-long 10-yard reception (10/5) ... Made his fifth collegiate start in the 45-0 shutout vs. Chattanooga (9/14) ... Made his fourth collegiate start in the season opener against Georgia State (8/31). "

Tennessee signed at least two tight ends in the 2021 class, so they have help coming, but a veteran with blocking ability like Pope is an asset when healthy.

Below is what Pruitt said on each of his two expected tight end signees.

"Miles Campbell from Douglasville, Georgia. Miles is 6-3, 235. A guy that will be midyear (enrollee). Very good student, athletic. If you watch his tape, he kind of plays all over the field. His junior year in high school he played a lot of quarterback. A guy that we’re going to focus at tight end. You watch his senior tape, he’s a guy that plays wide receiver, plays defensive line – so he kind of plays all over the field. A very instinctive guy. Trinity Bell from Albertville, Alabama, is a guy that actually was in the seventh grade, my dad was the head football coach there and he called me and said, ‘listen, there’s a kid here in the seventh grade…I don’t know if he’s going to play in the NFL or play in the NBA, but he’s going to play somewhere. I want to bring him down and introduce him to you.’ So, he’s a young man that I’ve known probably since he was 12 or 13 years old – he was probably 6-4 then. But a guy that’s 6-7-plus, 265 pounds, plays tight end, can play multiple positions. Plays defensive end. A guy that’s just extremely athletic. I talked to him the other night after a basketball game and I said, ‘so how many points did you have?’ He said, ‘I had seven dunks.’ So, I said, ‘did you make any free throws?’ He said, ‘I was 5-for-5.’ So, a guy that’s really, really athletic. "

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