Ethan Davis remembers the conversation he had with Alec Abeln at the end of last season.

Tennessee's tight ends room had just lost two veterans in Jacob Warren and McCallan Castles, leaving Davis, then a freshman with just three career games to his name, as one of two scholarship players at the position.

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Abeln, who had just finished his first season as the Vols' tight ends coach, told Davis that the coaching staff was going to add to two more tight ends to the room out of the transfer portal.

"It wasn't anything personal," Davis said. "Coach Abeln told me that we had three guys leaving and we needed to bring in some guys. How I looked at it is, people are always going to bring somebody in that they feel like can be better than you...I just have to keep working hard, keep grinding."

Enter Holden Staes and Miles Kitselman, transfers from Notre Dame and Alabama, respectively that brought the kind of experience that the coaching staff was looking for.

Staes appeared in 22 games over two seasons with the Fighting Irish, including eight starts last season. Kitselman played mainly in a reserve role for two years. Their arrival served as a motivator for Davis.

The 6-foot-5 Davis, who was a four-star prospect in Tennessee's 2024 signing class, arrived on campus weighing 232 pounds. He missed his senior year at Collins Hill High School in Atlanta with an injury, then injured his shoulder in the spring game.

Davis recovered over the summer, but his role was minimal last season. He caught two passes for 36 yards against UConn and played nine snaps in the Citrus Bowl, earning a redshirt.

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Davis bulked up in the offseason, eating four meals a day at the team cafeteria. Now he's up to 246, but it has hardly slowed him down.

"I feel like I really haven't missed a beat, and that's credit to our strength staff," Davis said. "I mean, I put the weight on and they do the rest. They mold me like, 'OK, this is your body fat now, so now we are going to get it down to here, if we are going to get this stronger we are going to get this stronger.' They have done a really good job with taking care of me in that field."

That strength has helped Davis become a better blocker, too.

Known as a pass-catcher with the ability to make plays in space, contributing more in the box in year 2 was an emphasis that was realized when he was pushed into the backfield by a defensive lineman last season.

"I feel like as a man, you don't ever want to get pushed back in the backfield and lose a rep," Davis said. "I kind of take it personally like, 'OK, I'm not going to let this happen anymore.' It's not a good feeling. But I know on the other side, they're probably feeling good. I want that feeling. I want to be the guy on the other side driving them 5-10 yards off the ball."

Kitselman has had a hand in that transition.

Between him, Davis and Staes, Tennessee has more depth and versatility a position that has been highly utilized over the last three seasons and there has been an effort to take something from each of their games and apply it to their own.

For Kitselman, who at 6-5, 256, began his career at Hutchinson Community College in Kasnas before transferring to Alabama in 2022 where he was primarily a blocker. The coaching staff has plans for him to get involved in the passing game in his final year of eligibility.

Second-year tight ends coach Alec Abeln told Kitselman as much during his recruitment.

"It was genuine right off the bat," Kitselman said. "The more you deal with coaches, thew more and more you kind of separate (that). So, I knew right off the bat that they weren't just lying to me to bring me in here with one year left just to waste it...I knew it was the spot."

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Back in the spring and through two weeks of fall camp, Kitselman has leaned on Davis for help in making plays with the ball in his hands. In turn, Kitselman has helped with Davis' technique in the box.

What has come of it is a closer knit tight ends rooms, well aware of the competition but also aware that all three will get reps.

"Me and (Davis) can kind combo off each other," Kitselman said. "In high school, he was more of a wide receiver guy, so I go to him and ask for help out in space and then he was like, 'Hey man, I can't figure out how to do this in the box.' We work off each other and he's done a great job with his feet and hands."

"I consider Miles like my best friend," Davis added. "Just being able to get to know him more throughout this year, we have grown a very close relationship. We hang out outside of football a lot. He's one of my best friends up here."

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