One of the storylines that Tennessee fans were following the closest during this year’s SEC Media Days was the status of Tennessee’s two high-profile transfers. Jeremy Pruitt was able to add DeAngelo Gibbs and Aubrey Solomon to the roster, giving the Vols some much needed elite-level talent.
Because both played last season, Tennessee will need to secure a waiver for each player to be eligible in 2019. To everyone’s frustration, that hasn’t happened yet, despite the NCAA ruling on several other cases to this point.
“Aubrey and Deangelo, because they’re transfers, you have to get a waiver to have them ruled eligible,” Pruitt said on Tuesday before he took the podium in Hoover. “We’ve yet to get a ruling on that.”
Tennessee saw three starters leave the program up front on the defensive line, creating a real need for Solomon to be eligible right off the bat. For Jeremy Pruitt and the rest of the Tennessee coaching staff, they’ll have to continue to wait that out.
Solomon is a former five-star recruit who left the Michigan football program at the end of 2018. His experience would immediately put likely immediately place him in a starting role, considering the unknown elsewhere on Tennessee’s defensive line depth chart.
Gibbs is a former four-star recruit who played safety for Georgia during the last two seasons. He spent time on both sides of the ball this spring.
“These guys have tough decisions on where they’re going to go to college,” Pruitt told the media on Tuesday. “Sometimes they may not get it right. To me it’s about the mental wellness of the student athlete. We need to help them find their way.”
Both Solomon and Gibbs will make an impact for Tennessee, but it remains to be seen whether that’s this year or next.