More than half of Tennessee’s large senior class has the option of playing another season in 2024, and one of the veteran starters for the Vols appears set to return next season. John Campbell Jr., Tennessee’s starting left tackle this season after transferring in from Miami, announced with a unique social media video on Monday night that he’s returning next season, which both he and a Tennessee official later confirmed to GoVols247. The former starter for the Hurricanes joined the Vols in January and won the left tackle job in preseason camp before starting nine games this season.
The trenches are where Tennessee stands to gain the most if several seniors opt to use their extra seasons of eligibility from the 2020 pandemic-impacted season, and Campbell is a big first domino to fall for the Vols in their favor, particularly with how competitive the transfer market is for offensive lineman should they have had to turn to the portal for his potential replacement.
Campbell was playing well for the first two months of the season before getting hurt against Kentucky, and he missed three of the final four games and didn’t finish the game he started (Missouri) in November.
Campbell chose Tennessee over Florida and Florida State out of the portal a year ago. He admitted in preseason that he wasn’t sure he wanted to take his official visit to see the Vols, but was impressed and swayed by both what he saw in his close-up look at the program and the proximity of multiple Waffle House locations to Tennessee’s campus. Campbell posted a follow-up tweet to his video tagging the popular waffle chain.
