Tennessee football lands elite Colorado CB Deion Sanders tabbed as Travis Hunter's replacement

The Tennessee Vols football team is coming off a College Football Playoff appearance, but it was a rough outing in Columbus. Still, it highlights the progress Josh Heupel has made in a short time as Tennessee’s head coach. When Heupel took over, he inherited a program facing numerous challenges left behind by former head coach Jeremy Pruitt.

More recently, Heupel faced another unexpected hurdle when his starting quarterback from the previous season abruptly left the program just before the spring game. Iamaleava's departure, however, led to the first trade in college football history.

“Sign of the times: Tennessee and UCLA potentially trading starting quarterbacks," Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger said.

Joey Aguilar entered the transfer portal after Iamaleava announced his move to UCLA, and has since committed to Tennessee, where he’ll compete for the starting job this season. Still, it may be a while before either quarterback joins their new team.

“UCLA coach DeShaun Foster noted today that QB Nico Iamaleava has to ‘finish first at Tennessee’ before joining the team this summer. To be eligible, transfers have to finish classes. The same goes for Joey Aguilar,” Chris Low wrote.

The cornerback room doesn’t have as much depth as Heupel would prefer, so the staff has been active in the transfer portal. On Friday, Heupel secured a commitment from Colton Hood, who will have three years of eligibility remaining. Hood was originally expected to replace former Heisman winner Travis Hunter.

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“Hood was expected to take over for Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter as one of Deion Sanders' starting cornerbacks at Colorado. Instead, he'll help Tennessee fill a position of need,” Adam Sparks wrote.

It’s clear Tennessee expects Hood to contribute right away.

“They basically said I can come in and play and be a big factor of what they got going on immediately,” Hood said.

With McCoy likely going to the draft following the upcoming season, Rickey Gibson and Colton Hood look poised to form a strong duo in the Tennessee secondary on Rocky Top.