Tennessee football: Shawn Shamburger back in transfer portal a big loss

It was expected after he wasn’t on the Tennessee football spring practice roster despite withdrawing from his initial entry into the transfer portal. However, the confirmation of Shawn Shamburger back in it is still a big deal.

Patrick Brown of GoVols247 reported that the UT defensive back re-entered the transfer portal Tuesday afternoon. Shamburger initially entered the portal back on Jan. 12, while everybody was waiting to see what would happen to Jeremy Pruitt. However, he withdrew his name a day later.

Of course, after that, Tennessee football had way bigger news with the firing of Pruitt, the stepping down of athletic director Phillip Fulmer and the hires of Danny White and Josh Heupel. Still, Shamburger’s future was very much a topic until the spring roster came out.

Now, with the knowledge that Shamburger is looking elsewhere for a second time, it’s probably a safe bet that he’s gone. We should also note that he’s a huge loss for the Vols if you look at what happened the past two years.

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Heading into last year, Shamburger was actually the Vols’ highest graded returning player by Pro Football Focus. With Baylen Buchanan out, he thrived in the nickel slot in 2019, coming away with an interception, two passes defended, four and a half tackles for a loss, three sacks and 47 total tackles, 25 of which were solo.

Last year, however, Shamburger was banged up early in the season. He eventually only played three games, never at 100 percent, before opting out of the season after the Vols’ loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide. UT was 0-3 in games he played.

The results without Shamburger at 100 percent were clear. Rocky Top’s secondary went from allowing under 200 passing yards a game and under seven yards a pass attempt with 15 total interceptions to allowing over 265 passing yards a game and nearly eight and a half yards an attempt with just five total interceptions.

You could say that the graduation of Nigel Warrior hurt in a big way. However, Trevon Flowers being back from injury and Bryce Thompson being able to play the full season should have somewhat offset that. The only way to explain a regression of that level is if another key player couldn’t contribute, and Shamburger was that key player.

As a result, Tim Banks has a task at hand to try to replace Shamburger. Tennessee football couldn’t do it last year, and the results were a pass defense that proved as costly as the anemic offense during the season.