Tennessee is in a serious bidding war with Ohio State for five-star running back David Gabriel Georges and has made an offer the Buckeyes would find difficult to match. But this isn’t the first time Tennessee has flexed its financial muscle in the transfer market. The Vols used a similar approach in the past when they tried to poach Illinois’ star quarterback.

During his appearance on Pardon My Take on June 12, the Illinois head coach talked about the battle that his program had to fight to keep Luke Altmyer. “Luke was offered almost two-and-a-half million more dollars than we were paying him to leave us,” said Bielema. “And then we end up playing that team in the bowl game and beating them.”

It all began when Vols found themselves in a conundrum after their starting QB, Nico Iamaleava, left the team due to an NIL clash. While renegotiating his contract, he skipped a crucial spring practice, and the deal ultimately fell through. That’s when Josh Heupel announced that the Vols and their star QB had parted ways, and Nico ultimately transferred to UCLA.

The desperation to get a new QB on the roster grew, and that’s when Heupel turned his attention to the Illinois team and tried to poach their QB, Luke Altmyer. The Vols offered the former 4-star prospect $2.5 million more than he was getting from Illinois to enter the transfer portal and come to Knoxville. Altmyer had played two seasons at Ole Miss and transferred to Illinois, where he became the starter.

“There were opportunities for me to venture onward to the next level, but also to be able to play in another program,” Altmyer said. “That’s just the reality of it, and the NCAA and the college football world that we live in. Being from Mississippi and in SEC country, that’s very, very attractive to be able to play in that conference, play in front of people that I know, and in stadiums that I’ve been in before and grew up watching and loving. It was certainly an attraction and a real thing.”

He rejected the Vols’ offer and remained loyal to his team. The irony is that Luke Altmyer led Illinois to a 30-28 victory over Tennessee in the 2025 Music City Bowl and was named MVP. Heupel eventually had to turn to the transfer portal and landed Joey Aguilar as his QB from UCLA, the program he lost Iamaleava to.

Aguilar was a great fit for the Vols, recording 3,565 passing yards in the 2025 season. While the Vols did have an eventful last year because of the QB frenzy, they are leaving no stone unturned to make a strong roster for the upcoming season.

How do the Tennessee Vols look for the upcoming season?

Josh Heupel kept a strong grip on the Vols roster and created a massive overhaul for the 2026 season. He had a busy transfer portal this season. The biggest win was Chaz Coleman, the 5-star and the No. 1 edge rusher in the portal. But his presence on the team is still questioned, as he has been absent. He has missed a significant number of practices, and his future on the team looks rocky.

Amare Campbell is another transfer from Penn State with Coleman and is the prized possession from the portal for the Vols. The LB fits perfectly into the Vols’ defense. He seems to have settled in with the team and has a major responsibility lined up as the structural centerpiece for the upcoming season.

While these are the transfers, the Vols also signed 31 high school recruits, with the majority being in-state talent. The Vols ended their 2025 season with an 8-5 record; it will be interesting to see how the new roster pans out for Heupel and whether his strategy of quality over quantity will work.