Tennessee football: Ty Chandler entering transfer portal no big deal

The Tennessee football Volunteers running back appears to be leaving UT.

Let’s be clear. Ty Chandler was a valuable four-year player for Tennessee football. Recruited by Butch Jones as a four-star all-purpose back and a kickoff returner, he became a valuable power back, an unselfish player and an elite playmaker.

Those qualities are why it hurts Rocky Top to see him go. Patrick Brown of GoVols247 reported Tuesday that the 5’11” 205-pound product of Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tenn. has entered the transfer portal.

Chandler finishes his Tennessee football career with 421 carries for 2,046 yards, 58 catches for 465 yards and 16 total touchdowns. He also has the distinction of being the only UT running back to have a touchdown reception in three straight games, which he did in 2018 against the Georgia Bulldogs, Auburn Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide.

However, down the stretch of the 2019 season, Eric Gray began to supplant Chandler as the starting running back. That’s a role Gray held all of this year. Although Chandler saw a good bit of action, he had his lowest totals since his freshman season with 100 carries for 456 yards and four touchdowns to go along with 16 catches for 111 yards.

Gray, meanwhile, had 157 carries for 772 yards, 30 catches for 254 yards and six total touchdowns. The Memphis, Tenn. native was only a sophomore as well, so it’s pretty clear where  the bulk of the carries were about to go.

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Then you have UT’s stable of running backs. Just this year alone, true freshmen Dee Beckwith and Jabari Small saw action there, and Tee Hodge is still on the depth chart. In 2021, the Vols are adding three-star Jaylen Wright, four-star Cody Brown and junior college transfer Tiyon Evans.

Simply put, with or without Chandler, Jeremy Pruitt has the Vols loaded at running back, and Chandler is likely in the portal so he can use that extra year of eligibility the NCAA gave all seniors this past season at a program where he could be the feature back. He’s certainly qualified to be a feature back somewhere.

Key in that stable of new backs arriving is Evans. Although Brown is the most highly-coveted prospect, Evans is expected to play immediately as a 5’9″ 225-pound power back. He and Gray make the perfect combination, and Chandler likely would have been the odd man out.

As a result, Chandler’s transfer is nothing for anybody on Rocky Top to worry about. This has nothing to do with the program falling apart under Pruitt. Vol nation should respect everything he did for the program, as he was a great player and UT’s best offensive weapon in 2018, but this is actually a sign of Pruitt rebuilding depth, even if it’s not showing on the field at the moment.

There is one question about Chandler leaving, and it comes to run blocking. We know Gray was disastrous on that front this past year, and everybody else is an unknown. It’s not like Chandler was consistently reliable, though. Given all the players coming in, somebody is bound to be able to handle those duties, and Gray could still improve.

Many of Tennessee football’s transfers are leaving due to the incoming talent and the extra depth the Vols have at those positions. Only Deandre Johnson is a significant loss so far. Everybody else was likely to be a backup next year anyway. There are plenty of reasons to be concerned about the future of the program under Pruitt. This isn’t one of them.