Tennessee offers MTSU defensive tackle in NCAA Transfer Portal
Tennessee football has offered Middle Tennessee State defensive tackle Marley Cook. It was reported on Monday that Cook planned to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal and he reportedly already has visits lined up at Miami (December 8) and Ohio State (December 15).
The 6-foot-2, 298-pound Cook, out of Water Valley High School in Water Valley, Mississippi, was a team captain for MTSU as a redshirt junior this season and earned First-Team All Conference USA honors from Pro Football Focus as a redshirt sophomore in 2022.
Cook in four seasons at MTSU has 60 career tackles, 19.0 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks, an interception and a fumble recovery in 39 games. He had 22 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss and a sack this season, after posting career-best numbers in 2022, with 22 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks.
Portal Turnover
The Vols lost one player to the portal on Thursday, with redshirt defensive back Warren Burrell entering as a graduate transfer. Burrell in five seasons at Tennessee had 91 tackles, 3.9 tackles for loss, one interception and seven passes defended, along with a fumble recovery.
Burrell made 22 starts during his Tennessee career but missed the majority of the 2022 season with an upper-body injury. He appeared in 10 games this season, finishing with eight tackles, including one tackle for loss.
Tennessee added eight players in its portal signing class last offseason: Oregon wide receiver Dont’e Thornton, Texas offensive lineman Andrej Karic, Arizona State defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott, UC Davis tight end McCallan Castles, Miami offensive lineman John Campbell, BYU linebacker Keenan Pili, BYU defensive back Gabe Jeudy-Lally and Indiana kicker Charles Campbell.
Understanding the NCAA Transfer Portal
The winter transfer portal window opens on December 4th and runs for 30 days. The winter window to enter the portal closes on January 2. The spring portal window is April 16-30.
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Players don’t have to pick a school they are going to during those specific dates but those are the span of dates on when a player can enter the portal. Those dates don’t apply to graduate transfers who can enter the portal whenever they wish prior to May 1st. Also, if there’s a head coaching change, players can enter the portal outside of those dates.
Players who enter the portal in the 30-day winter window are looking for a new school in time for the spring semester.
For Tennessee, the spring semester starts on January 22, which is late compared to many schools around the country. Tennessee a year ago started a winter mini-term class that runs the first three weeks of January.
Schools also have to stay at 85 scholarships or below, including portal additions, meaning when the spring semester starts they can’t be over 85. In Tennessee’s case, that number is closer to 82 as the Vols balance the scholarship reductions that they received last July when the NCAA ruled on the Jeremy Pruitt case.
