Tennessee TE Holden Staes plans to enter NCAA Transfer Portal

Tennessee tight end Holden Staes plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal. This was according to On3’s Hayes Fawcett reporting on Thursday.

Staes appeared in all 13 games this season for the Vols, catching 15 passes for 131 yards and a touchdown. He helped Tennessee reach the College Football Playoff.

Staes came to Tennessee after starting his career at Notre Dame. He was ranked as a four-star recruit and the No. 9 tight end in the country in the class of 2022, per the On3 Industry Rankings.

Prior to playing at Tennessee, Staes played in 11 games and made eight starts for Notre Dame in 2023. He finished the year with 15 catches for 176 yards and four scores. Staes immediately becomes one of the top tight end options in the transfer portal for the 2025 season.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

Tennessee tight end Charlie Browder enters Transfer Portal

Holden Staes is the second Tennessee tight end to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal on Thursday. Before him, it was Charlie Browder hitting the portal for a new home.

Browder initially began his career at UCF, going to the Knights in 2021, the year after current Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel left for Knoxville. However, then assistant coach Alex Golesh was critical in recruiting Browder to UCF. He would then transfer out of Orlando and join Tennessee in 2022.

Coming out of high school at Christ School in North Carolina, Browder was a three-star recruit in the Class of 2021, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He was the 61st-ranked tight end and the 1,121st-ranked player overall in that recruiting cycle.

While in high school, Browder helped lead his team to a NCISAA Division II state crown in 2020 and earned second team all-state honors at tight end. He was a three-sport athlete. Since getting to college, Browder has seen relatively limited playing time. In 11 career games, he has made two receptions for 10 yards. Both of those came against UConn in 2023. On top of that, he has four total tackles from time that he’s spent on special teams.

The Tennessee Volunteers had an excellent season in 2024, going 10-3. That included a 10-2 regular season performance and a bid to the College Football Playoff. Even though the Volunteers felt they had a good argument to host in the first round of the College Football Playoff, they ended up starting things on the road against the Ohio State Buckeyes. That was a game they ultimately lost.