Tennessee Football Lands a Defensive Back in The Transfer Portal

Tennessee has landed another transfer portal commitment to add to the defensive back room in Jadais Richard.

Nov 2, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Miami Hurricanes defensive back Jadais Richard (25) goes down after intercepting the football against the Duke Blue Devils during the fourth quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Tennessee finished the 2025 season a disappointing 8-5. The result was the worst under head coach Josh Heupel since his first season. Tennessee was stunned by Illinois in the Music City Bowl, which truly cemented the poor season for the Vols. The season showed that the Vols were going to need to boost the lineup in order to get back to the College Football Playoffs.

Since the portal has opened, Tennessee has had its fair share of wins and losses. Tennessee landed the (at the time) number one player in the portal, Chaz Coleman from Penn State, Ryan Staub from Colorado, and many others. However, the Vols were lacking in the defensive back department following the departures of Boo Carter (Colorado), Jermod McCoy (NFL Draft), Ricky Gibson (Texas A&M), and more. Heupel and co. knew this and have responded by hitting the portal hard. They have already landed Michigan transfers T.J. Metcalf and Tevis Metcalf, Kansas State transfer Qua Moss, Auburn transfer Kayin Lee, Penn State transfer Dejuan Lane, and Appalachian State transfer D.J. Burks. 

Vols land Jadais Richard

Nov 2, 2024; Miami Gardens, Florida, USA; Duke Blue Devils wide receiver Sahmir Hagans (2) catches the football against Miami Hurricanes defensive back Jadais Richard (25) during the third quarter at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

The Vols were still targeting one more defensive back in the portal and ended up landing Jadais Richard. The Miami transfer has made eight starts and has appeared in 28 games so far in his career. He started his career at Tennessee’s rivals Vanderbilt, making one start in his one season with them. Coming out of high school, Richard was ranked as the 36th best corner in the country per On3 Sports. In his career, he has recorded one interception and three pass breakups. He does have a scary injury history; he missed the final four games of the 2024 season after sustaining a lower leg injury against Duke.

The addition of all of the defensive backs, as well as returning a few key players, has the Vols in a solid position heading into the 2026 season. In total, Tennessee now has 19 commits, which is good for the 20th-best transfer portal class in the country and ninth-best in the SEC according to On3 Sports. The commitment is the Vols' second of the day, with them landing receiver transfer Ian Duarte from Idaho State earlier in the day. 

With the transfer portal coming to a close, there should not be many more (if any) commitments for Tennessee, meaning that it is now time to go to work before the 2026 season kicks off.

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