Tennessee offensive tackle Gerald Mincey using ruling to transfer a second time
Tennessee offensive tackle Gerald Mincey has entered the transfer portal, seeking to play his final year of college football elsewhere.
Mincey is taking advantage of a court ruling permitting players to transfer as often as they will like and the former Florida Gator is soon to be a former Tennessee Vol as he looks for his new home.
After playing the 2020 and 2021 seasons at Florida, the Fort Lauderdale native transferred to Tennessee in 2022 where he played in nine games, earning seven starts, in helping the Vols to the most productive offense in college football. In 2022, Mincey logged 578 snaps and played exclusively at left tackle with top-10 NFL pick Darnell Wright playing opposite of him at right tackle.
In 2023, Mincey, who prefers left tackle, was moved to right tackle as Miami transfer John Campbell arrived via transfer. Campbell, had only ever played left tackle, and to make his transition easier, he played the left side and Mincey flipped to the right side where he played in 12 games, splitting time with Jeremiah Crawford. Mincey started six games and played 457 snaps but was banged up down the stretch of the season and was limited in his snap count. He played 68 snaps in Tennessee’s 35-0 win over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl.
Mincey’s departure, along with Crawford’s graduation, leaves Campbell and Dayne Davis as the only two guys with starting experience at tackle, which is why Tennessee continues to work the portal for incoming guys on the offensive line.
Understanding the portal
The winter transfer portal window opened on December 4th and runs for 30 days. The winter window to enter the portal closes on January 5th. The spring portal window runs from April 16-30th.
Players don’t have to pick a school they are going to during those specific dates but those are the span of dates on when a player can enter the portal.
Those dates don’t apply to graduate transfers who can enter the portal whenever they wish prior to May 1st. Also, if there’s a head coaching change, players can enter the portal outside of those dates.
Players who enter the portal in the 30 day winter window are trying to be somewhere for the spring semester.
For Tennessee the spring semester starts on January 22nd which is late compared to many schools around the country. Tennessee a year ago started a winter mini-term class that runs the first 3 weeks of January.
With the portal, schools also have to stay at 85 or below in their scholarships numbers, meaning when the spring semester starts they can’t be over 85. In Tennessee’s case, that number is closer to 82 as the Vols balance the scholarship reductions that they received last July when the NCAA ruled on the Jeremy Pruitt case.
