The portal giveth; the portal taketh
Tennessee pitcher Chase Burns is officially in the transfer portal and the news is quite the “in your face” reminder of the world of college athletics.
Last Monday, the Middle Tennessean’s relief effort against Stanford was the best at the College World Series since 1969 and gave Tennessee a huge lift. Eight days later, his news provides a kick in the shorts.
It’s a feeling that Vol fans haven’t really experienced to date because the transfer portal has giveth more to the Big Orange than it has taketh away.
Let’s throw out the Vols losing 30 football players when Jeremy Pruitt was canned because that’s what happens when you have a coaching change where the coaches were doing illegal things. When there’s a massive mess, everyone streams for the exits. And they did.
Aside from that, Tennessee football has been very much a plus-yield when it comes to the transfer portal — Hendon Hooker, Joe Milton, Bru McCoy, Gerald Mincey, etc. They are big-time contributors who helped the Vols turn the corner and made football in Knoxville must-watch again.
Actually, Tennessee has been extremely fortunate in all sports when it comes to the portal. Some examples…
Tony Vitello’s 2023 team doesn’t make it to Omaha without Griffin Merritt, Seth Halvorson, Chase Dollander, Andrew Lindsey, and Zane Denton.
Where would Kellie Harper’s team have been last year without Rickea Jackson?
Portal success hasn’t been overwhelming for Rick Barnes, but the only player of note he has lost since the one-time transfer rule came into effect is Olivier Nkamhoua. Barnes and Tennessee basketball are still on the plus-side of the portal ledger.
You could go on and on through the sports programs at Tennessee and you would see that the Vols have benefitted more from the portal than they have been hurt by it.
So far. Maybe until today’s news.
Burns’ departure is a reality check that the transfer portal isn’t always going to yield warm and fuzzy moments. It’s going to create some frustrations and some anger.
Imagine how NC State baseball feels, their best player from a year ago was Tommy White and he hust helped LSU win the National Championship. And the Wolfpack just lost their best player from this year to the portal as well in Cannon Peebles.
The Georgia football team lost Bear Alexander to Southern Cal. Alexander had a sack and two tackles for loss in the national title game as a freshman. He would have been a starter for the Dawgs this fall. Receiver AD Mitchell had four touchdown catches in four college playoff games the last two seasons and hit the transfer portal this off season to go to Texas.
Weep not for Kirby Smart, as he still have loads of talent. But losing good players, even when you have a bunch of them, has to sting.
The fact is the portal is a two-way street. One street is Happiness Lane and the other is Gloom Despair and Agony On Me Circle, which is why “roster management” is not just the catch phrase in athletics. For coaches, it’s become a very different the way of life over the past three seasons.
Every night, some coaches live with more hope, while other coaches have nightmares about what can happen.
But once they’re in the portal, you must move on quickly. Just like when you fire or lose a coach.
When a coach leaves or the school forces them to leave, it’s not about who you are LOSING, it’s about who you GET to replace them.
Get it wrong in the coaching world and you can be in the abyss for Lord knows how long.
Get it right and you never miss a beat.
For Tennessee, now it’s not about losing Chase Burns. They did all they could to keep Burns with NIL promises and other assurances. Burns simply decided weeks ago he didn’t want to be a Vol and, while the efforts over the last two weeks gave thought that Tennessee could flip him back, they ultimately could not. Maybe he changes his mind and decides the grass is not greener, but that seems unlikely.
For Vitello and his program, it’s now about who you get to fill that role from the transfer portal. And you must fight like heck for those portal guys, too.
Tennessee was in there swinging for Tommy White and Paul Skenes a year ago. How different do the ’23 Vols look with White and Skenes this past season? And you can bet that LSU isn’t playing tonight without the pair.
Welcome to today’s college athletics. A world where the student-athlete is an unrestricted free agent from day one. A world where you can flip your roster in a matter of days or your roster can be flipped on you unexpectedly in seemingly a matter of seconds.
The transfer portal has been extremely good to the Vols overall since its inception. Today, however, everyone is reminded it will not always be that way.
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