Tight end Jack Van Dorselaer spent his true freshman season at Tennessee before transferring to Oklahoma this offseason.
Former Tennessee Vols tight end Jack Van Dorselaer played a lot as a true freshman last season.
Which is impressive because young tight ends often don't make an impact in the SEC.
But Van Dorselaer, who transferred to Oklahoma in January (where he'll play for tight ends coach Jason Witten, a Vols legend), proved to be a more-than-capable blocker as a young player.
Despite being ready to play in the SEC as a true freshman, Van Dorselaer still had a "welcome to college football" moment last season courtesy of a couple of then-Vols teammates.
Van Dorselaer recently appeared on Red Dirt Rambles and detailed how he got leveled in practice by a couple of Tennessee defenders.
"We were in spring ball and I weighed like 225 pounds," said Van Dorselaer. "I'm playing tight end, and I'm going up against Tyree West, this dude is like 300 pounds, and he just bulldozes me in the backfield. And then I go up against one of our linebackers, his name was Arion Carter, we're doing block destruction drill, and I just get leveled.
"I feel like every true freshman kind of goes through that. It kind of makes you the player you are today. I mean, yeah, it sucked when it happened, but now I look back at it and I'm just like, you know what? I kind of needed that to become a better player."
Every young player has to go through something like that. But hey, Van Dorselaer turned the tough practice moment into a great learning moment. Who knows if he plays as much as he did last season without that lesson.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: 'It sucked when it happened' – Tight end Jack Van Dorselaer learned a tough lesson before transferring from Tennessee to Oklahoma
© 2026 A to Z Sports.
