The Tennessee Vols will have an opportunity to add to their roster starting this week when the spring transfer portal window opens.
The transfer window will be open for 15 days (until the end of April). If players want to enter the transfer portal, they have to do it during that 15 day period. They can then transfer to a new program at any time.
Tennessee's roster is in a pretty good spot -- they have impressive depth at several key positions -- but programs are always looking to improve if possible. And the Vols still have a couple of areas where they could stand to add some experience (such as the running back position).
Josh Heupel and his staff, just like every coaching staff in the country, will evaluate the options in the portal in the coming weeks and decide whether or not they should make any additions.
One of the biggest things that Heupel will be looking for when it comes to adding a player from the portal is the culture factor.
Heupel made it clear on Saturday after Tennessee's annual Orange and White spring game that the "culture piece" is extremely important when evaluating transfer options -- especially this deep into the offseason.
"At the end of the day, you’re trying to make your roster as good as it can be," explained Heupel on Saturday. "We’ll go through that process, have exit meetings with our own players. I think the culture piece is extremely important in particular at this time of the year because there’s not a lot of time with them before you get to training camp. So it’s gotta be mature guys that you’re bringing into your program, too.”
That's certainly understandable. We've learned over the last three years that Heupel places a huge importance on culture. Not every program takes that approach -- Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin has said multiple times that culture fit isn't a deal breaker -- but Heupel and his staff do. And so far, it's proved to be the right choice as the Vols' culture is something that's routinely praised by recruits.
There might be some players that enter the transfer portal in the coming days/weeks that appear to be a good fit for the Volunteers. If Tennessee takes a hard pass on any of those players, there's a great chance that the culture factor played a big part in the decision.
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