Tyler Baron left the Tennessee Vols this offseason after spending four seasons with the program.
The Knoxville native, who totaled 13.5 sacks during his time at Tennessee, initially transferred to Ole Miss this offseason before landing at Louisville.
Baron has one season of eligibility remaining (his extra COVID-19 year).
There are plenty of theories out there on why Baron, who was a key player for the Vols, decided to leave Tennessee when he would've once again played an important role for the team in 2024. Some of the theories, unsurprisingly, center around NIL deals. And while I'm sure NIL played a factor in Baron's choice (as it does for almost every transfer player), it wasn't the only factor that went into his decision to leave Rocky Top.
According to Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm, part of the reason why Baron left Tennessee is because he wants to exclusively play the edge rusher position.
"Well, we love the addition of Tyler," said Brohm earlier this month. "Anytime you get a big, tall, athletic edge rusher that has played a lot of football, it's a big piece."
"I think he wants to go somewhere and basically play that position and try to play that position solely if he can," added Brohm. "I think he was moved around a little bit. Proving that he can be a great edge piece and rusher is what we want to try to help him do. So we're excited to get him here and you know he gives us a lot of experience."
Baron's future in the NFL is likely as an edge rusher. And since that isn't the role that Tennessee wanted Baron to exclusively play (the Vols have some other edge rusher options, including superstar James Pearce), it makes sense that he's going to a program where he can build his résumé as an edge rusher ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft.
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