Could Tennessee football raid Florida for transfers in the offseason?

It’s clear Tennessee football has momentum as a program Josh Heupel’s first year on the job. What’s also clear, though, is that they still aren’t on the level of the elite teams in the SEC. The Georgia Bulldogs proved that with last Saturday’s 41-17 win at Neyland Stadium.

Add in the fact that the Vols have a recruiting class outside of the top 30 coming in, and Heupel won’t have a team to compete with the top dogs next year either. There’s one path forward, and it’s the Vols best chance: Take advantage of the transfer portal and raid the Florida Gators.

The new NCAA rule that allows athletes to transfer one time without sitting out a year combined with the new NIL ruling that allows players to profit off their name will create an effective free agent market in the offseason. All of a sudden, teams that don’t necessarily recruit well could target top guys in the transfer portal. This is where Tennessee football should cash in.

Florida is going to suffer a wave of transfers in the offseason the same way UT did last year. Dan Mullen’s seat is officially through the roof, recruiting is not good and the writing seems to be on the wall for next year. As a result, it seems more and more likely that players will bolt in search of a better program to raise their profiles.

This is particularly the case on defense. All faith is lost in defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, meaning the Vols could truly shore up that side of the ball given some of the inevitable departures on the defensive line and in the secondary.

Take Florida cornerback Elijah Blades, for example. He was once the nation’s top JuCo defensive back and heavily targeted by the Vols in 2018. Blades just withdrew his name from the transfer portal, but all signs indicate that he’ll re-enter once the offseason begins.

It’s safe to say Blades won’t be the only player. At 5-5 and on the heels of giving up 52 points to the Samford Bulldogs, plenty of guys will be leaving. Heck, quarterback Anthony Richardson, who played lights-out to start the season, is all but certain to transfer now. If Tennessee football does lose Hendon Hooker, Richardson would bring in experience, depth and competition.

Beyond just the nature of Florida falling apart as a program, there are strategic reasons to target that program. Plenty of players for UF hail from the state of Georgia, where the Vols have a direct pipeline. That includes five starters and six players on the UT depth chart. Another player from Georgia, defensive back Kamar Wilcoxson, was initially committed to the Vols before flipping.

Sure, the Bulldogs get first dibs on those players, but UGA is so loaded that more experienced players looking for playing time would probably turn elsewhere. You have to think a program like the Vols, given the momentum behind Heupel, would be intriguing.

Then there are the connections Heupel already has to Florida because of his three years with the UCF Knights. He’s got to have connections down there that could help with that, and there are probably relationships he built with players on the Gators already because of his time there.

Simply put, this new market is the best path for Tennessee football to build off Heupel’s first season while trying to get closer to competing with the top-notch programs. Florida is a program reeling right now. The Vols should be smelling blood and ready to strike down there.