College Baseball Coach Takes Shot at Tennessee's Transfer Portal Acquisitions

College baseball coach Paul Mainieri took a shot at some of Tennessee's recent transfer portal acquisitions.

It's no secret that college sports have changed a lot of the years and perhaps the two biggest reasons for it are the transfer portal and NIL. In a recent interview, South Carolina baseball head coach Paul Mainieri was discussing some things that have changed since he left baseball, and the NIL was something he hit on.

"When I first got here last summer, we lost a lot of recruiting battles because other schools were giving a more, shall I say, appealing package to kids," Mainieri said. "That's the reality of the world we live in now. The schools that have a lot of money and are willing to give it to the players are getting the best players."

Mainieri took it a step further though and specifically singled out two players that Tennessee acquired from the transfer portal last offseason and how they ended up in Knoxville.

"We were playing Tennessee, for example, and the first baseman (Andrew Fischer) and the No. 1 starting pitcher (Liam Doyle) both played for Ole Miss last year, and both had a lot of success for Ole Miss last year. Why would they change schools from Ole Miss to Tennessee? Because they like the color orange? I mean, let's be honest."

Fischer and Doyle have been crucial additions for Tennessee this season and regardless of how they got here, it's become part of the game in college sports.