Tennessee LB Elijah Herring plans to enter NCAA transfer portal
Tennessee’s leading tackler in 2023 plans to head elsewhere.
The NCAA transfer portal’s spring window isn’t officially open, but it is already claiming a notable Tennessee player – its leading tackler from last season. Linebacker Elijah Herring, a 12-game starter as a sophomore for the Vols in 2023, announced via social media on Monday night that he intends to enter the database when it formally opens on Tuesday. Herring stepped into the starting lineup in the second game of the season last fall after the injury to Keenan Pili and went on to finish with 80 tackles, but the third-year linebacker was sidelined for spring practice after undergoing an offseason procedure and now will look to play elsewhere.
College football’s spring portal window for non-graduate players opens on Tuesday and runs through the end of the month (April 30), creating one more round of roster movement for teams across the country.
Players must have submitted the paperwork to go into the transfer database by that date, but don’t have to choose a new program by then. Once players notify their current school of their transfer request, the school’s compliance department has 48 hours to process it, and players also can publicize their intentions of entering the portal. Going into the portal doesn’t guarantee a player is leaving, but withdrawals are rare.
Herring posted the news on his Twitter account: “I’d like to thank Coach Huepel & the University of Tennessee for the opportunity to play in my home state. I appreciate all the support from the entire staff, my teammates, & fans. I have decided to enter the transfer portal & pursue other college opportunities. Love The Vols!”
The junior’s situation at the Mike linebacker position was complicated coming out of last season with Pili returning from injury and staying at Tennessee for his seventh season of eligibility, and his absence this spring after shoulder surgery allowed sophomore Jeremiah Telander to get plenty of first- and second-teams reps in the middle of the defense and kept him from getting a chance to impress his new position coach.
Tennessee’s linebackers coach William Inge, the veteran assistant coach previously at Washington who was hired this offseason after Brian Jean-Mary returned to the staff at Michigan, expressed excitement in getting Herring back healthy for the season.
“With Elijah, seeing his growth just from understanding football,” Inge said last week. “The one thing we tried to be is just we want to make sure we’re great teachers, so when they’re in the meeting, there are some times we let them run the meeting, because, again, we talk about the player-led scenario. So when a player can run the meeting in front of their peers, yes, I’m going to make sure that I help them, but it’s going to give them confidence.
“But also it gives me the ability to be able to meet with them kind of one on one, so when I can hear Elijah come in and talk about some of the things from today’s install or for today’s install, I can be able to help lead him, but also I see where he is in his learning. So seeing him really grasp a lot more things to help him be a little higher from a football-understanding standpoint, it is awesome, man. We can’t wait to get him back, because he is one of those guys that has a lot of sweat equity. By that (I mean) he’s been on the field playing in the battlefield, and we can’t wait to get him back, for sure.”
Herring, the 6-foot-3, 230-pounder from Newnan, Ga., who played at Murfreesboro’s Riverdale High School, was primarily a special teams player and situational or reserve linebacker as a freshman in 2022, but he stepped into a primary role last season and responded with 80 tackles, four tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks and one pass breakup.
He had eight tackles in four games (UTSA, Alabama, Kentucky and Connecticut) and finished the season on a high note with four tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one pass breakup in the shutout win against Iowa in the Citrus Bowl.
Herring made 11 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks in 13 games during his freshman season.
He was the first commitment to Tennessee’s 2022 recruiting class and the then-new coaching staff for the Vols. Herring enrolled early in 2022, so this is his third full offseason in the program. He was rated as a high three-star prospect (89 rating) and ranked the No. 49 linebacker and No. 13 in-state player in the 2022 cycle by 247Sports.
His younger brother, Caleb, is a sophomore LEO for the Vols who is expected to play a bigger role on defense this season.
