Vanderbilt football quarterback Ken Seals to enter transfer portal

Vanderbilt football quarterback Ken Seals is entering the transfer portal, he announced Sunday.

"Having earned my degree from Vanderbilt University, I will be entering my name into the transfer portal with two years of eligibility," Seals wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "I do not take this decision lightly as I have so much love and respect for this team, but I am excited and ready to embrace the next step of my career."

In 2023, Seals appeared in 10 games and started six, completing 107 of 109 passes for 1183 yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions. In his career, Seals appeared in 27 games with 22 starts, threw for 4292 yards and threw 28 touchdowns and 22 interceptions.

Seals was the starting quarterback for most of the 2020 and 2021 seasons but sat out all of 2022 after being passed on the depth chart. He rebounded in 2023 as he replaced AJ Swann midway through the season. Against Tennessee, a 48-24 loss Saturday, Swann started but Seals replaced him in the third quarter after Swann suffered an injury.

"You know how proud I am of Ken Seals," coach Clark Lea said after the game. "I mean, it's a guy that's called into action late, ends up throwing for a touchdown and rushing for another. What can you say about that guy other than man, I've really enjoyed being his coach and I've got a ton of respect for him."

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With Seals moving on, it remains to be seen whether Swann or Walter Taylor, who appeared in five games, will remain with the Commodores. As neither of those players have graduated, they would need to wait until Dec. 4 to enter the transfer portal.

Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on Twitter @aria_gerson.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vanderbilt football quarterback Ken Seals enters transfer portal