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.
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 greatest 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 probable that he will play his last 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 gateway window started 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.
The 6-foot-5, 260-pound starter defensive end for the Tennessee Titans in 2023 finished with 28 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, six sacks, two pass breakups, and one fumble recovery in 12 games. He also slipped inside to defensive tackle in Tennessee’s pass-rush packages. Both his sack and TFL totals were career highs. According to Pro Football Focus, he led all SEC edge defenders in quarterback pressures this season with 41 (31 hurries, 4 hits, and 6 sacks).
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.
