Khalil Poteat, a defensive end transfer from Temple who was recently granted an injunction to play a fifth season, committed to Vanderbilt football for the 2026 season, he announced Aug. 17.
AGTG ready to get to work💪🏾 #AnchorDownhttps://t.co/kBMQhoVLhF — Khalil Poteat (@KhalilPoteat) August 17, 2026 In 2025, Poteat appeared in 10 games, making 29 tackles with two tackles for loss and one sack. He also forced two fumbles. Poteat, who played at two different junior colleges in 2022 and 2023 before spending the past two seasons at Temple, was one of many players granted injunctions after the NCAA's implementation of the "5-in-5" rule giving everyone five seasons of eligibility. Poteat entered the portal in January, making him eligible to transfer to Vanderbilt.
On the idea of adding a player, coach Clark Lea said Aug. 4: "I had conversations with our coordinators about where our needs are, what we'd be looking for. There's still some things that need to be settled, who's covered in the ruling. … There's a lot of restrictions involved in that so we just have to let that sort, but in the meantime, we can prepare for different approaches depending on what's available to us." The Commodores will not need to cut anyone to make room for Poteat. Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson. This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Khalil Poteat, Temple transfer, joins Vanderbilt football after NCAA injunction