Could Rickey Gibson Come Back To Tennessee – Why Is He In The Portal?

Tennessee Volunteers cornerback Rickey Gibson has made it known he will be enterring the portal, but can Tennessee manage to keep him on the roster?

The Tennessee Volunteers enter the 2025 spring calendar already hurting at the cornerback position. Their returning All-American Jermod McCoy is out this offseason and potentially part of the season due to a knee injury he suffered during offseason workouts. Not to mention, their other starting cornerback, Rickey Gibson has made it known he will be entering the transfer portal.

However, Gibson can’t officially enter the portal until May. He can make his intentions known, but schools can’t “officially” contact him until the portal officially opens. Which begs the question: Why did he enter the portal in the first place? Well, the simple answer is leverage.

Gibson is likely negotiating a potentially higher salary with the Vols’ NIL Department, and if that’s the case, the Vols will likely have to meet Gipson’s demands. They can’t afford to enter the 2025 football season without a premier starting corner.

Christian Charles, a redshirt senior and Jalen McMurray a graduate transfer are listed as the two backups for McCoy and Gipson.

It should be noted, there’s a precedence for using the threat of tranfer portal entry being used even as recently as the winter portal cycle. Sophomore wide receiver Mike Matthews made his intentions to enter the portal known before Tennessee stepped up and was seemingly willing to bargain with the former five-star wide receiver.

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