THE VOLS COACH HAS CURRENTLLY MADE A VITAL COMMITMENT WITH.

Before the last visit weekends, Vols’ coaches visit top targets and make commitments.

During the first full week of the contact period, Tennessee coach Josh Heupel and his staff have continued to visit different parts of the nation. Prior to the final two visit weekends before Early Signing Day, the Vols have met with top targets and some of their current commitments.

Tennessee’s first DE Tyler Baron logs onto the NCAA transfer website.
After jumping through the portal, Tyler Baron may choose to continue his college career somewhere else instead of signing with an NFL team.

One of the last Tennessee players to leave the field at Neyland Stadium after the regular-season championship, Tyler Baron was fighting back tears, but it appears that this may not be his last college football game. According to sources who spoke with GoVols247 on Friday afternoon, the senior defensive end, who enjoyed one of his best seasons to date with the Vols in 2023, logged onto the NCAA transfer portal. Baron may still declare for the NFL Draft, but reports suggest it’s more likely that he will play his final season of eligibility elsewhere and forego his home-state program.

Baron is by far Tennessee’s greatest contributor this season to date to enter the database, and the postseason portal window opened on Monday.

Prior to Tennessee’s victory over Vanderbilt a few weeks ago, Baron—who transferred from Nashville’s Ensworth School to play his senior season at Knoxville Catholic High School—went through Senior Day.

In 12 games for the Vols in 2023, the 6-foot-5, 260-pound starter defensive end—who could also slide inside to defensive tackle in Tennessee’s pass-rush packages—tallied 28 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, six sacks, two pass breakups, and one fumble recovery. Both his TFL and sack totals were high for his career. According to Pro Football Focus, his 41 quarterback pressures (31 hurries, 4 hits, and 6 sacks) this season ranked fifth among SEC edge defenders.

Baron earned SEC Defensive Lineman of the Week after recording two sacks against Virginia in the season opener. He continued to accumulate sacks against Austin Peay, UTSA, and Texas A&M. He also played Vanderbilt to commemorate his Senior Day at Neyland with a sack. In addition to having two tackles for loss against Connecticut, Baron also had TFLs against Kentucky, Missouri, and Georgia. He also recovered a fumble for a touchdown.

As a sophomore in 2021, Baron tallied 30 tackles, seven tackles for loss, and four sacks; in his junior year of 2022, he recorded 22 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks.

Under Tennessee’s previous coaching staff, the former Top247 prospect also saw rotational snaps as a freshman, totaling 21 tackles, including two tackles for loss in his debut against South Carolina and his first career sack against Florida in 2020.

Baron was rumored to have entered the transfer portal a year ago, and he had previously visited it for about a day following the 2021 season.

With his extra season granted by the NCAA, he still has one season of eligibility left. All players will receive a free year for the 2020 season, which is affected by the pandemic.

Baron’s father, Patrick Abernathy, served as a player development assistant for eight seasons on the support staff of the Tennessee football program before leaving in late 2021. His older brother, Woody, was a player at Virginia Tech.

Texas’s Cypress This week, Jonte Newman, a Bridgeland native with a four-star 90 rating, makes his 247Sports debut. Given his background at left tackle and his long-term potential to succeed inside, Newman most likely offers roster flexibility as a tackle-guard combo recruit. Double-digit offers from Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas A&M, and USC are among those that Newman has reportedly received.

Hudson Standish, national scouting analyst for 247Sports, said of Newman, “I was really impressed when I watched Bridgeland vs. Pearland (Texas) Shadow Creek earlier this season, when he faced a diverse group of smaller/quicker pass rushers throughout the game.” “Consider that he is more agile in space and on the second level than his combine test results indicate. At the next level, Newman might eventually slide inside to IOL, but his encouraging arm length might also keep him outside at tackle.”