A month and a half after Butch Jones acknowledged he did “not anticipate that he will be a member of our football family moving forward,” Riley Ferguson appears to have been adopted by a new football family.
While nothing is official at this point, Jeremy Fowler of CBSSports.com tweeted Monday that, barring any recent changes in his thought process, Ferguson plans on transferring to Charlotte from Tennessee. Ferguson brother Zach is a redshirt sophomore at the school, which likely played a role in his decision.
Because the 49ers are an FCS program -- the school won’t make the official move to the FBS level in Conference USA until 2015 -- Ferguson would be eligible to play immediately in 2014. He will have four years of eligibility remaining beginning this season.
A three-star member of the Vols’ 2013 recruiting class, Ferguson was rated as the No. 23 pro-style quarterback in the country coming out of high school in North Carolina. He took a redshirt as a true freshman.