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Ole Miss Adds 2nd Tennessee Defender Out Of Transfer Portal, Fresh Off Best Season In College Football

Originally posted on Gridiron Heroics | By Ethan Stone | Last updated 12/16/23

Ole Miss landed a pledge from former Tennessee pass rusher Tyler Baron Saturday, just hours after landing former Tennessee nickelback Tamarion McDonald.

Baron, who has been at Tennessee since the 2020 season, originally entered the transfer portal last season but withdrew his name soon after. He was rumored to have received interest from Kentucky.

But Baron came back to Knoxville and posted the best season of his college career thus far, finishing with 28 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 6 sacks, 2 pass deflections and a fumble recovery for a touchdown against UConn. According to PFF Baron was rated as the No. 6 player available in the portal.

Here’s Baron’s announcement, via X (formerly Twitter):

pic.twitter.com/BO901StrBZ

— Tyler Baron (@Tylerbaron23) December 16, 2023

Lane Kiffin Is Building An Impressive Unit Out Of The Transfer Portal

Baron is just Kiffin’s second addition out of the transfer portal from Tennessee. And he’s the 4th incoming transfer who started at his previous school to commit to Ole Miss since Thursday.

Joining Baron and McDonald in Oxford are former Florida standout Princely Umanmielen and former Oklahoma defensive back Key Lawrence, who started his career at… Tennessee. All four started at their previous destinations and excelled – Umanmielen finished the year with 39 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks and a pair of forced fumbles while Lawrence’s final line includes 44 total tackles with 4 tackles for loss, 2 interceptions, 3 pass deflections and 1 forced fumble.

Reminder, folks; This is only Ole Miss’ work in the portal across the past 4 days. Head coach Lane Kiffin has also landed commitments from former Illinois CB Tahveon Nicholson, former Arkansas LB Chris “Pooh” Paul Jr., and former Southern Miss Interior offensive lineman Gerquan Scott.

This article first appeared on Gridiron Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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