Priority DL Target for Tennessee Football Releases Final Schools List Ahead of Visits

Xavier Gilliam names the schools that he will be looking at along with taking a visit to these schools.

Penn State defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam (54) during the Blue-White game at Beaver Stadium on Saturday, April 26, 2025, in State College. The White team defeated the Blue team, 10-8. | Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Tennessee Volunteers have the chance to become one of the top defensive teams in the nation with the hopes of landing some of the better defensive prospects in the transfer portal, which is something they are making a priority at this time.

The Vols have become one of the better teams in the nation when it comes to using their young guys, but they had no choice this past season, as that is what their roster was as a whole. The Vols will be in need of landing some of these top guys at nearly every defensive position there is. They will need to have a much better transfer portal season than they did just one offseason ago, as they lost a large majority of their roster, and they barely made any additions. They are experiencing the many departures already, but with these departure you have to imagine that Josh Heupel and company will be looking to make some additions. This includes defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and his new staff, who want to make a major impression on the Tennessee Volunteers fanbase.

The Vols have been targeting many different players from many different teams, but one team they have started to target players from is the Penn State Nittany Lions. This is due to a guy like Knowles joining the roster from Penn State, along with Andrew Jackson and Anthony Poindexter. One of the players the Vols are after is Xavier Gilliam, who is a defensive lineman from the state of Maryland and is someone who has quickly become a top target for many. He was a freshman this season, and will be entering his redshirt-sophomore season come next year, which has many hopeful he will have multiple years with the Vols. The talented prospect has been rated as the 31st best player and the 3rd best defensive lineman in the transfer portal, according to 247Sports. This is why the Vols have made it a point to go after him.

He is now down to three schools and is set to visit these schools as early as today. Here is the announcement.

Xavier Gilliam is Down to Three Programs

Sep 6, 2025; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam (54) after tackling Florida International Panthers running back Anthony Carrie (6) for a loss of yards during the first quarter at Beaver Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

"Penn State transfer DL Xavier Gilliam is down to Indiana, Notre Dame, and Tennessee, source tells @On3Sports. The 6’3 300 DL totaled 16 tackles, 1 FF, and 0.5 sack this season (11 games). He’ll take his visits starting today," said Hayes Fawcett in his X post.

The Vols will look to make a huge splash with the addition of Gilliam, but the visit will be the key to success in this one.

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