Tennessee’s depth at running back appears to be taking a hit this offseason as senior Ty Chandler has entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Chandler led the team in rushing in 2018 and 2019 and led the Southeastern Conference in rushing following the first two weeks of the 2020 season. He ended his senior season with 456 yards on 100 carries with four touchdowns.

For his college career, Chandler has 2,046 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns in four seasons.

The news of Chandler’s decision to enter the transfer portal was first reported by 247Sports. As always, it should be noted that entering the transfer portal does not mean a player cannot return to his original school. Entering the portal is just a player’s first step toward leaving his current program.

While on the surface this may seem like bad news for the Vols, Chandler was surpassed on Tennessee’s depth chart this season by Eric Gray, who finished the 2020 season with 772 rushing yards on 157 carries.

Tennessee also signed the nation’s No. 1 junior college running back in the 2021 recruiting cycle, Tiyon Evans, in addition to four-star high school running back, Cody Brown.

True freshman Jabari Small also started to emerge for the Vols this season and the team has two other promising freshmen in Dee Beckwith and Tee Hodge.