Vols Enter Mix for PAC-12 DL Transfer Kyon Barrs

Tennessee has entered the mix for graduate transfer defensive lineman Kyon Barrs. 

Barrs spent the last four years with Arizona and had a solid 2022 season, totaling 39 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss. Last season, he had 5.0 sacks and 8.0 tackles for loss for the Wildcats. 

On Saturday afternoon, Barrs announced Tennessee had extended an offer to him. LSU and Auburn also joined the mix for the veteran lineman. 

Following the offer, Barrs told Volunteer Country he would “most likely” visit Tennessee at some point. 

Understanding the Transfer Portal and Its Windows

The transfer portal has essentially been the wild West from the outside looking in. However, the NCAA has implemented new windows that take some of the chaos out of the equation.

The window for winter transfers opens on December 5th and runs for 45 consecutive days, while the Spring portal window is shorter and runs from May 1-15th.

A key part to understand during this process is that a player does not have to choose their school during this window, they just have to declare their name to ensure immediate eligibility, unless they are a graduate transfer. In this case, a grad transfer does not apply to these rules.

Most players that enter during this window are looking to get enrolled for the Spring semester at the school of their choosing. For Tennessee, the Spring semester starts on January 23rd. There is also a winter term that spans three weeks after the first of the year.

The biggest impact being seen with the transfer portal is on high school recruits, who are seeing classes shrink due to Division 1 programs flipping their rosters via the portal. The early signing period runs from December 21st-23rd this year.