Kitselman is a JUCO player who has one more season of eligibility. He played mostly on special teams in his 13 appearances for Alabama in the previous season. Prior to the 2022 season, Kitselman became a member of the Crimson Tide. After attending Hutchinson Community College, he joined with Alabama.
At 6 feet 5 inches, 250 pounds, Kitselman checks in. As Alec Abeln and Josh Heupel remodel that room, he joins former Notre Dame tight end Holden Staes in Tennessee’s transfer portal class. Next season, Tennessee will have McCallan Castles and senior Jacob Warren in place of them. Alongside Staes, former four-star prospect Ethan Davis is anticipated to play a big part, but Tennessee only possessed that much talent. Kitselman adds some experience and insurance to the mix.
In the class of 2024, Tennessee also signed Cole Harrison, a three-star recruit. He will work with Emmanuel Okoye, who played in the NFL Academy in Europe before arriving late to Tennessee’s 2023 class.
This offseason, Tennessee has added six players via the transfer portal, including Kitselman.
After the 2021 season, Washington hired DeBoer. After leading the Huskies to an 11-2 season in 2022, he led them to a 14-1 record in 2023. Prior to that, under DeBoer’s leadership, Fresno State went from a 3-3 record to a 9-3 record during the abbreviated COVID year and the 2021 season.
He was a regular competitor in the NAIA level at Sioux Falls, taking home three of the five national titles he tried his hand at between 2005 and 2009. After that, DeBoer attended Eastern Michigan and Southern Illinois until accepting a position as offensive coordinator at Fresno in 2017. After a while, he converted that into a role as offensive coordinator at Indiana, where he lost to Tennessee in the Gator Bowl and eventually returned to Fresno as head coach in 2020.
DeBoer made Washington a serious contender for the College Football Playoffs right away. He now accepts a position that follows a legend and comes with an endless amount of pressure. Is he able to recruit? He can plan plays, that much is known. Can someone without any Southern ties recruit in the South, though? His hiring decisions will be crucial in that regard.
When you punt for a club with a poor offence, you get used a lot. He did a good job until the Indianapolis Colts’ punt rush demolished him for the second time in the same game on December 3. He had one punt blocked for a score due to a total lack of protection, and on the next one, he was hit before he could even get it off. After suffering an injury, he required knee surgery and missed the remainder of the campaign.
