Tennessee will face a couple of familiar faces when Vols take on the Arkansas Razorbacks

The Tennessee Vols will face a couple of familiar faces on Saturday night when they take on the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville.

After the 2023 season, defensive back Doneiko Slaughter and offensive lineman Addison Nichols transferred from Tennessee to Arkansas.

Nichols said earlier this year that he transferred because he didn't see himself reaching his full potential at Tennessee.

“Coach (Josh) Heupel is a great guy, a great coach and has a great program,” said Nichols . “Couldn’t say a bad thing about him. Definitely learned a lot through my time there, but at the end of the day, I just didn’t see myself hitting my full potential in the room I was in ."

“Like I said, nothing bad to say about the program at Tennessee," added Nichols. "There’s some great people, Coach Heupel does a tremendous job with the program and culture. I learned a lot about football and being a man during my time there. It’s just one of those things where, looking forward, I needed more .”

Nichols is playing at center for Arkansas.

Slaughter, meanwhile, has carved out a key role in the Razorbacks' secondary after spending the first four seasons of his career at Tennessee.

Both players left UT on good terms, so it's not like there's any animosity between the two sides.

Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman, however, thinks both players could have a little extra juice this week in the way they prepare for the matchup against the Volunteers.

“I think there’s something to some of that," said Pittman when asked if Slaughter and Nichols will have some added motivation this week. "I also think that lasts about four or five plays and then you get hit in the head and somebody cuts you or somebody knocks hell out of you and then at that point it’s about preparation and what you’re made of in the heart and how hard you want to go. So I do think there’s something. I think that has to do with preparation.

"I think whenever you’re wanting to do something so bad, I don’t know that that feeling that you have right before the game is going to help you play a lot better. But I do know that feeling helps you prepare, which then you’ll play better. So I would assume they’d have that this week.”

I'm sure Nichols and Slaughter will be eager to play well against their old teammates. But I'm not sure this is a Michael Jordan/make it personal type of situation. It seems like both sides have a lot of respect for each other.

Related: Sam Pittman drops Derek Dooley reference while telling hilarious story about getting hired by the Tennessee Vols