Ex-Tennessee 4-star WR back in portal just months after winter departure

There have been plenty of changes for the Tennessee Vols since last campaign. Most notably, there were a head-turning number of receivers who decided to enter the transfer portal this winter, with former 4-star signee Nathan Leacock being on the list.

It didn’t take overly long for Leacock to find a new home, as he signed with Purdue and he was expected to make noise in the Big Ten this season. All of a sudden, him being a playmaker for the Boilermakers is off the table.

n a bit of a twist, Leacock has decided to once again suit up for a different team, as he has entered the spring transfer portal. He just wrapped up his first spring with Purdue, but decided that it’ll be better for him to make another move. Former Tennessee Vols WR Nathan Leacock is back in the transfer portal

Last season for Tennessee, Leacock posted just one reception for 13 yards, doing so in the season-opener. He was not in the rotation and believed that he’d be able to have more of an impact with Purdue, but again, he’s already on his way out of town.

Might this open the door for a return to the Vols? Who knows, but what we do know is that his 2025 won’t include him wearing a Boilermakers jersey. Coming out of high school in 2023, Leacock signed with Josh Heupel and the Vols ranked as a four-star prospect, the No. 13 wideout in the country and the No. 76 prospect nationally per the 247Sports Composite.

Leacock originally signed with UT over North Carolina, Michigan and many others. His first two seasons with Heupel didn’t go to plan and his short stay with Purdue didn’t either. On top of the Leacock news on Tuesday, former Vols wideout Dayton Sneed announced his commitment to North Carolina. With the Vols bringing Joey Aguilar in to replace Nico Iamaleava, the expectation is the program will pursue a WR or two to help out the offense.

Once again, depth for the Tennessee football team has taken a bit of a hit for the secondary. Earlier in the week, fans learned of safety John Slaughter announcing his intentions to play elsewhere. This came after Nico Iamaleava also entered the portal.

Now, though, there’s a third Vol to add to the list. That’d be veteran safety Christian Charles, who signed with the Vols back in 2021. A Gainesville, Ga. product, Charles spent four seasons with Tennessee, appearing in 30 games and recording seven starts.

He was never a standout by any means, but he was always ready to make a play whenever his number was called. He delivered an emotional message to Vols Nation as well: Veteran Tennessee safety Christian Charles has entered the transfer portal. Throughout his time in Knoxville, Charles unfortunately battled injuries and he was never able to be a consistent difference-maker. However, that doesn’t mean he didn’t provide some memorable moments. In Tennessee’s unreal 52-49 win over No. 3 Alabama in 2022 (the epic Jalin Hyatt game!) Charles had a fumble recovery in the victory.

He appeared in 10 games last campaign. Now that Charles is in the portal, he’ll have one more season of eligibility left for the new program he ends up joining. He was buried on the depth chart and wasn’t expected to push for a starting role. Still, you can see from his tweet above that he’s always going to cherist his time with the squad.

Soon enough, we’ll find out where Charles, Slaughter and Iamaleava will play next. Iamaleava reportedly committed to UCLA earlier in the week, but there’s been no official announcement from the Big Ten side. Reports have surfaced the two are still ironing out things in terms of an NIL package. Some closure there is expected soon.