Will UT Vols regret losing Quinten Dormady?

John Adams
Knoxville
Vols quarterback Quinten Dormady announced he plans to transfer.

You might have been surprised when Tennessee quarterback Quinten Dormady announced last month that he planned to transfer.

Granted, the 2017 season wasn’t a raging success for Dormady. He won the starting job, lost the starting job, and had shoulder surgery.

However, when UT fired coach Butch Jones and hired Jeremy Pruitt, the change seemed as though it could work in Dormady’s favor. A pro-style offense certainly would be more suitable to his skill-set. And if he could beat out Jarrett Guarantano to start last season, why couldn’t he do it again – provided, of course, that his shoulder was OK?

But based on Tennessee’s quarterbacking history, Dormady made the right decision. Some UT quarterbacks seem to do better after they become ex-UT quarterbacks.

Nathan Peterman should be Dormady’s role model. He didn’t fit Jones’ offense, either. But after Peterman transferred to Pittsburgh, he proved to be a competent quarterback – competent enough to be drafted by the Buffalo Bills.

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Riley Ferguson’s career also bodes well for Dormady. After leaving Tennessee in the spring of 2014, Ferguson landed at Coffeyville Community College. Things got better after that.

In two seasons at Memphis, Ferguson turned into a record-setting quarterback. He completed 63.1 percent of his passes for 7,955 yards and 70 touchdowns. His next stop will be the NFL.

B.J. Coleman also fared better after leaving the Vols. He transferred to Chattanooga and passed for 6,871 yards in three seasons, and he was taken in the seventh round of the 2012 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers.

Nick Stephens is another former Vol who did OK elsewhere. He transferred to Tarleton State, where he passed for 3,005 yards and 29 touchdowns as a senior in 2011. He wasn’t drafted but was signed by three different NFL teams as a free agent in 2012 and 2013.

Dormady also has something in common with former Tennessee quarterback Matt Simms. Simms didn’t transfer from Tennessee, but, like Dormady, he lost his starting job (to Tyler Bray in 2010). After leaving the Vols, Simms managed to hang around the NFL until he was released by the Atlanta Falcons last September.

Based on the careers of all those former Vols, I wouldn’t discount Dormady as a pro prospect. Although his play declined last season, we don't know how big a factor his shoulder injury was.

More:Tennessee Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt hints there will be more transfers

When healthy, Dormady demonstrated a strong arm. He also played exceptionally in Tennessee’s fourth-quarter comeback victory against Georgia Tech in the season opener and again in the fourth quarter of UT’s last-second loss to Florida.

If he had returned to Tennessee in good health this spring, who’s to say he couldn’t have reclaimed his starting job under a new coaching staff and in a new offensive system?

The Vols might be OK without Dormady. Guarantano also has a strong arm, and he improved over the course of the 2017 season, despite operating behind an ineffective offensive line. Also, you can’t rule out the possibility of UT gaining a graduate transfer.

But if Dormady’s post-Tennessee career follows the course of other ex-UT quarterbacks, the Vols could regret losing him.

John Adams is a senior columnist. He may be reached at 865-342-6284 or john.adams@knoxnews.com. Follow him at: Twitter.com/johnadamskns.