What the transfer portal commitment of DB Jadais Richard means for Tennessee
Tennessee football added its 20th commitment via the transfer portal on Sunday when former Miami defensive back
Jadais Richard jumped in the boat with the Vols.
Richard, who was with a Miami club this season who just played for a national championship last week, was on campus this weekend for a visit and committed to Tennessee over Auburn. He has one year of eligibility remaining.
Back of the football card
In his three seasons with the Hurricanes, Richard made eight starts and amassed
46 tackles, three pass breakups and an interception. The corner started six games in 2024 before missing the final four contests due to a season-ending injury. Richard started one game in 2023 with 11 appearances and made 11 appearances in 2022 with Vanderbilt with one start. The defensive back appeared in three games this past fall.
Richard is from West Monroe, La., where he was a former three-star prospect. He logged 20 defensive snaps in 2025, 405 in 2024, 187 in 2023 and 203 snaps as a true freshman with Vanderbilt in 2022. Over his career in coverage, the corner has allowed 48 receptions on 74 targets for 734 yards with four touchdowns, one interception and five pass-breakups.
How this helps Tennessee
Tennessee has revamped its defensive secondary with a near complete overhaul and three new coaches. Richards joins Kansas State’s
Qua Moss, Auburn’s
Kayin Lee, Penn State’s
Dejuan Lane, Michigan’s
TJ Metcalf, Michigan’s
Tevis Metcalf, Appalachian State’s
DJ Burks and Colorado’s
Isaiah Hardge as transfer members of the secondary.
He could compete with fellow transfer Kayin Lee and other reserve Tennessee returners to play opposite of rising sophomore
Ty Redmond at corner. Tennessee lost corners
Jermod McCoy and
Colton Hood to the NFL and
Rickey Gibson entered the transfer portal. Richard also logged some time at safety this past season.
What now for Tennessee in the portal?
Tennessee has now secured 20 total transfer portal commits for the cycle and could be done barring any late movements. The Vols, of course, still wanted to add another defensive tackle body but another cornerback was also a priority and taken care of Sunday.
- Cain VQ
