By Nathan Keil | Sports Writer
Arizona quarterback Anu Solomon isn’t the only major program transfer that Baylor has landed this offseason.
Over the weekend, University of Tennessee running back Jalen Hurd announced that he would transfer to Baylor to play for head coach Matt Rhule.
The announcement came through a picture on Hurd’s twitter account, showing the running back sporting a Baylor t-shirt with the caption, “Next chapter.”
According to various news outlets including CBS Sports and ESPN, Hurd also visited Louisville, Cal and Ohio State before choosing Baylor.
The former Volunteer had a productive 2015 campaign, rushing for 1,288 yards and scoring 12 touchdowns. However, Hurd struggled with injuries in 2016, finishing the season with 451 yards and three touchdowns while playing only seven games.
In three seasons in Knoxville, Tenn., Hurd finished with 2,638 yards rushing, 492 yards receiving and 26 total touchdowns.
Hurd announced back in October that he was leaving Tennessee midseason.
“Transferring was completely my decision,” Hurt said in a Twitter post on Nov. 7. “It was not a decision made rashly but one I have been thinking about for quite some time.”
The Tennessean reported that Hurd said that he felt that his skill set was not often utilized in Tennessee’s current offensive scheme and hoped that he would land somewhere that would allow him to showcase his abilities and create mismatches for defenses.
Despite his effectiveness at the running back position in three seasons at Tennessee, a source at Baylor told ESPN’s Jake Trotter that Hurd will transfer to wide receiver.
Wide receiver will be a position that Rhule will need production from in the 2017 season with the departures of junior KD Canon, sophomore Ishmael Zamora to the NFL draft and senior Lynx Hawthorne to graduation.
Since Hurd did not graduate from Tennessee, he will not be eligible to play until the 2018 season.
