Transfer Portal: Tennessee offers MTSU DT Marley Cook

A name to know.

Tennessee has offered their first player currently in the transfer portal. Per Marley Cook’s X account, the former MTSU defensive lineman received an offer from the Volunteers on Thursday.

Tennessee joins a long list of offers for Cook, including ones from Ohio State, Miami, Missouri, Ole Miss and a handful of others. Per On3, Cook already has visits lined up with Miami and Ohio State.

Cook is a enters the portal as a grad-transfer coming off of his redshirt-junior season.

The 6-2, 298 pound defensive lineman has started for the last two seasons for the Blue Raiders. He’s been a part of the MTSU program since 2019, where he signed as a two-star prospect out of Mississippi. Cook has really come on strong in his last 25 starts, putting up 7.5 sacks and 15.5 tackles for loss. The standout defender was named to the First Team PFF College All-CUSA team for his efforts in 2022. In addition to all of that, Marley was named a team captain ahead of the 2023 season.

Tennessee will lose Kurott Garland and Elijah Simmons off of the defensive line this year, and could potentially lose Omari Thomas, Tyler Baron and Omarr Norman-Lott as well. Obviously there are a lot of ‘what-ifs’ to play out here as coaches try to navigate the portal era and COVID-year eligibility decisions.

Expect plenty more offers to come over the next several days, but with Cook spending his last four years just down the road in Murfreesboro, this is obviously one to keep an eye on.