Tennessee transfer offensive lineman leaves Arkansas after ‘great’ visit

Tennessee transfer redshirt freshman offensive lineman Addison Nichols left his official visit to Arkansas impressed with the coaches and the business opportunities the area offers.  

He called the visit “great” while saying the highlight of the trip was talking to coach Sam Pittman and offensive line coach Eric Mateos. 

“It was extremely impressive,” said Nichols, who left Fayetteville on Sunday. “I learned a lot more than I expected from this place. There’s a lot around. I didn’t know there was so much growth and business here. The program and the school outside of football is extremely impressive. Coach Pittman and coach Mateos, they are fantastic guys and fantastic coaches. They’re super impressive.”

Nichols, 6-5 and 327 pounds, played in every regular-season game for the Vols in 2023 and played in two games as a freshman in 2022. He’s capable of playing center and guard. 

A business finance major, Nichols was impressive with the businesses located in Northwest Arkansas. 

“”I wasn’t really expecting so much business and after college opportunities here,” Nichols said. “I didn’t know Walmart has an office here. The opportunities through that are so unbelievable.”

The Sam M. Walton School of Business appears to be a plus for the Hogs

“It was really good,” he said. “Unfortunately it was graduation yesterday so I didn’t get the full experience. But the people that went over there, gave us a tour and explained everything did a fantastic job. The trading center we didn’t get to go through everything, but we got to learn a lot about it which was really good.”

He was a consensus 4-star prospect and was rated as high as the No. 8 interior offensive lineman in the nation and the No. 111 overall prospect in the nation for the 2022 class as a senior at Greater Atlanta Christian School in Georgia. 

He chose the Vols over offers from Florida, Ohio State, Georgia, Southern Cal, Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, LSU, Michigan and others. He has three years of eligibility remaining.

Nichols visited Georgia Tech last weekend and Clemson before making his way to Fayetteville late Friday night. When asked what the visit did for Arkansas’ chances for him, he had a simple answer. 

“Very impressive,” said Nichols, who expects to make a decision soon.