Heupel speaks on Vols sophomore QB entering transfer portal

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Tennessee sophomore quarterback Harrison Bailey has entered his name into the free agency of college football, the transfer portal. In his Nov. 1 press conference, coach Josh Heupel spoke on Bailey’s decision and what the Vols plans are moving forward with the third spot in the quarterback depth chart open.

Heupel had respect for Bailey after his decision, “Harrison has been a really good teammate inside of our program for the time that I’ve gotten in here.”

“Because of who he is and what he has been about, I love both the person and the player. I wish him a ton of success as he moves on.”

He added though, he wasn’t pleased with the timing of the announcement, “In some ways disappointed that the timing of when he makes that decision. It’s a different era in college athletics with the transfer portal.”

When asked what the depth chart will look like moving forward, aside from the obvious starter Hendon Hooker, and backup Joe Milton III, Heupel said, “All of our walk-on quarterbacks will be competing for that, they did last week and we’ll do that this week too.”

Tennessee has three other quarterbacks on their roster. After playing for coach Huepel at UCF in 2020, redshirt freshman QB Gaston Moore transferred to Tennessee ahead of the 2021 season. The other two QBs are freshman Sully McDermott and redshirt sophomore Spencer Smith.

Next up the Vols face No. 18 Kentucky in Lexington and then back home in Knoxville for homecoming against No. 1 Georgia.