When Tennessee fired head coach Jeremy Pruitt and the Vols began to be investigated by the NCAA for alleged recruiting violations, it led to a wave of players transferring from the program. That shouldn’t have been much of a surprise.

However, that was something that Darnell Wright said he didn’t consider. And that’s why he’s now back at Tennessee heading into his junior season.

On Monday, Wright spoke to the media and shared exactly why he didn’t consider leaving the Vols, even when things weren’t going well for the program earlier this year.

“That’s not really my personality, just up and run when stuff gets hard,” Wright told the media. “Even in high school, I could’ve left, I could’ve went early. I could have enrolled early in school and stuff. I wanted to give my guys in high school [more]. [Tennessee] coaches [were saying] keep coming in [and making visits], get other guys recruited. Even the other guys that had other opportunities, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, what’s best for yourself. I felt like my best opportunity was here.”

Wright has been a key member of Tennessee’s offensive line since he arrived as part of the 2019 recruiting class. He was named to the Freshman All-SEC team that season after playing 11 games and making seven starts. He followed that up by playing 10 games and making nine starts in 2020.

Although most of Wright’s time has been spent at right tackle with the Vols, he’s making the switch to left tackle for the 2021 season, which will be Tennessee’s first under new head coach Josh Heupel.