Tennessee football adds Auburn transfer CB Kamal Hadden

A major concern for Tennessee football entering the 2021 season has been somewhat offset. The Vols hit a home run in the transfer portal once again by adding a key player from another SEC school at a major position of need.

Auburn Tigers transfer defensive back Kamal Hadden is joining the Vols. Coming out of junior college in Kansas, Hadden initially committed to Auburn in January but entered the portal two months later.

Standing at 6’1″ 185 pounds, Hadden was a cornerback out of River Rouge High School in River Rouge, Mich. back who initially committed to the Central Michigan Chippewas in 2018 before joining Independence Community College in Independence, Kan. in 2019. He announced his commitment to Tennessee football on Twitter.

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According to Ryan Callahan of GoVols247, Hadden has three years of eligibility remaining and will be eligible to play immediately. In his one year playing junior college, he had 21 tackles, broke up eight passes and forced three fumbles.

Given the departure of Bryce Thompson to the NFL Draft, cornerback is a huge position of need for Rocky Top heading into this year. That’s even a bigger deal given how much the secondary struggled last year without Shawn Shamburger, who is back in the portal, for most of the season.

With the addition of Hadden, Tim Banks now has a solid rotation of experienced cornerbacks given the fact that Alontae Taylor and Kenneth George Jr. are still in the program. There are multiple other young defensive backs as well who can shore up the depth in the secondary.

Despite Hadden’s commitment, Heupel still has plenty of concerns in the secondary and a lot of work to do to shore up potential issues. However, this addition makes things a lot easier than it would have been.

Hadden is Tennessee football’s eighth addition from the transfer portal this offseason. He is the second player to join from another SEC program, following wide receiver JaVonta Payton from the Mississippi State Bulldogs.