Why John Campbell Jr. chose Tennessee football out of the transfer portal
Caleb Jarreau, Sports Editor.
When John Campbell Jr. entered the transfer portal and began hearing from Tennessee, he didn’t give the Vols a look. He thought Knoxville was a flat place with nothing to do. He shot down the Vols, not envisioning himself moving to Knoxville.
Coming from the University of Miami, there was always stuff to do. The bustling city offered a lot of things, but it didn’t have something Campbell wanted. Exposure.
Campbell – who started at left tackle for the Hurricanes – has aspirations of making it to the NFL. Those aspirations are null if he can’t get noticed. He also didn’t feel the fan support he wanted while at Miami.
Ultimately, he decided to take a trip to Knoxville and realized he was wrong about the city.
“That’s a big reason why I came to the SEC, to get noticed,” Campbell said on Tuesday. “I felt like I had a good year last year, but I felt like I didn’t really have a lot of exposure playing at (Miami).
Just the difference in the fans, like this game sold out a hundred and whatever thousand. Miami has everything. We got the heat, we got the Dolphins, we got all these teams. So for fans, it’s too much. Our games, there’s not a lot of people there, so I just feel like the SEC is a big, big stage to play on and that’s something good to get my exposure.”
Hailing from Florida, Campbell took notice of Josh Heupel when he was at UCF. He passed up the chance to play his final season of eligibility in his home state, for Miami or Florida State, to chase Heupel and move to Knoxville.
Campbell attended Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Fl., having a first-hand view of the offense that Heupel was creating. He also had a first-hand look at McKenzie Milton, who is now on staff at Tennessee.
Milton reached out to Campbell during his recruitment. Milton trusted Heupel, and had success. Campbell plans to do the same.
“I wanted to go somewhere else, but it just felt like the right decision,” Campbell said. “Just with the people and the UCF staff, I was familiar with them. We got McKenzie Milton here, I’m from Orlando. He did a lot for the city, getting that team back, the offensive system that they’re running. So I just really put my trust into those guys to just really come here. It’s a life-changing decision.”
Campbell has fit in well into the offensive line room. He even took the offensive line on a trip to Houston to work out with former NFL offensive lineman Trent Williams.
The workout, though, gave the lineman a chance to build their chemistry together and get to know the newcomers. Two newcomers joined the Vols out of the portal – Campbell as well as Texas transfer Andrej Karic. Both can play a large role in the 2023 season.
Campbell is running with the first team in practice, getting a grasp on the Vols offense. Karic provides crucial depth and experience to the room.
“Both of those guys have been even better than (their film),” offensive line coach Glen Elarbee said. “They’ve grown since last year. I think that’s the great part about it. They’re both really good, glad they’re here.”
Exposure, Campbell will get at Tennessee. He is likely to take on a starting role and be an impact player for the Vols. The offensive scheme sets him up to do just that.
He wants to play out in space and take on a role that allows him to showcase his speed and athleticism. The staff is setting him up to do that.
Aside from the exposure and fan support in Knoxville, Campbell has enjoyed something else about East Tennessee.
Waffle House.
The closest Waffle House when Campbell was at “The U” was 40 minutes away. The 6-foot-5 and 320-pounder has enjoyed the close proximity of Waffle House(s) in Knoxville.
He has even found an order off the “secret menu.”
“I’m going to get the All-Star Special or we’re going with the waffle sandwich,” Campbell said. “You don’t know about that, secret menu. The waffle sandwich, go get that.