A former Tennessee Vols wide receiver is trading in his football cleats for baseball cleats.
A former Tennessee Vols wide receiver who left the program after the 2025 season is officially switching sports.
Former Vols wide receiver Amari Jefferson, who was a talented high school baseball player in addition to playing football, spent the first season of his career at Alabama before transferring to Tennessee for the 2025 season.
Jefferson, who was actually a Tennessee baseball commit at one time, didn't see any action for the Vols as a redshirt freshman last fall.
According to The Times News , Jefferson is making the switch to baseball for the upcoming season.
The former Tennessee wide receiver is set to play at Shelton State Community College in Tuscaloosa next spring.
According to Jefferson, he knew last year was likely going to be his only season on the UT football team as he had already decided to make the switch to baseball following the 2025 season.
"The main reason we wanted to go back to Tennessee was baseball," said Jefferson to The Times News . "As a family, we had already shifted to go all-in on baseball after the football season at Tennessee. So it was probably going to be my only season on the football team."
Interestingly, Jefferson was planning to play college baseball at Tennessee in 2026 (he even spent time around the team last fall), but Tony Vitello's decision to leave for the San Francisco Giants wrecked those plans.
"There was nothing anybody could do, really," said Jefferson to The Times News . "Coach Vitello got a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I love Coach (Josh) Elander and hope he does well at Tennessee."
Jefferson is hoping to have a strong season at Shelton State and then get selected in next summer's MLB Draft.
This article was originally published on A to Z Sports. Read the full story here: Former Vol who recently left Tennessee's football program is now playing a different sport
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