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.
His announcement video was in peak Campbell fashion. He posted a 31-second video with his face and the faces of Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel and freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava over three men celebrating. There were neither words nor a graphic in the accompanying tweet.
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.
The 6-foot-5, 320-pounder from Orlando spent his first five seasons at Miami, redshirting as a freshman in 2018 before starting twice in 2019. Campbell started four times in 2020, but missed the entire 2021 season due to injury. He started all 12 games for the Hurricanes at left tackle last season before leaving Miami.
At Tennessee this season, Campbell quickly became a popular figure in the locker room with his personality and work ethic and endeared himself to fans by blocking a Virginia play well outside the field of play in the season-opening win in Nashville.
Campbell earned SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week honors after not allowing a sack or pressure in Tennessee’s win against Kentucky. He also played well (no sacks or penalties) in the wins against South Carolina and Texas A&M.
Tennessee initially thought it was getting Campbell for just the 2023 season, but he found out before the season that he had an extra year if he wanted – and he now appears intent on using it to return to the Vols.
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