Tennessee made a promise to Boo Carter during his recruitment; Now it's time for Vols to honor it to keep Boo on Rocky Top

This isn't an unreasonable request by Carter. 

In fact, Carter told On3 last year that Tennessee told him before he committed that the Vols would use him on offense at some point. 

"When I had the meeting with them, they told me they were going to use me on both sides of the field," said Carter in June 2023. "I’m going to be on defense more, but they’ll use me for both."

“Coach (Josh) Heupel wants me to play offense, but since I got an offer as a DB first, he said I’ll play DB but I can learn the plays to get to offense," added Carter. "He keeps it real, he’s a good coach, and I like how he treats the players. I know I could fit in at that program.”

This seems pretty simple. Tennessee told Carter they'd use him on offense. It seems like a no-brainer to commit to giving the dynamic athlete some snaps on the offensive side of the ball. Not only would it fulfill the promise the Vols made to Carter, but it would instantly give Tennessee's offense an electric playmaker. 

It was obvious in the Vols' loss to Ohio State earlier in December that the Vols need more playmakers on the offensive side of the ball. Giving Carter some snaps on that side of the ball is an an easy decision. 

Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava even mentioned in November that he hopes to see Carter on offense soon. 

"I’ve been seeing Boo Carter making plays since my junior year of high school," said Iamaleava after Tennessee's 56-0 win against UTEP. "Played a couple of 7-on-7 tournaments with him, so I know how special he is with the ball in his hands. And, man, hopefully, we get him on offense in a little bit. So we’ll see.”

The Vols' offense needs a spark in 2025. Carter wants to play on offense and he wants to remain a Vol (according to Hargis). If Tennessee doesn't hang on to Carter, it'll be a massive misstep by Josh Heupel and his staff.

Update: 

It looks like Tennessee agreed that doing whatever it takes to keep Carter in Knoxville was an easy call. 

Carter announced a new NIL deal with The Volunteer Club on Friday evening. 

That's an important crisis that the Vols managed to avoid.