Tennessee soccer loses top player Taylor Huff, who rejoins Brian Pensky at Florida State

Taylor Huff gave Tennessee soccer one season before rejoining the coach who recruited her out of high school.

Florida State coach Brian Pensky left Tennessee after Huff's spectacular freshman season. She earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors during Tennessee's historic 20-win season in 2021. Huff had 10 goals and five assists as an anchor for the Lady Vols' midfield, and she was a key player in Tennessee's SEC Tournament win last season. The Mansfield, Ohio, native has been, unquestionably, Tennessee's most talented player since she stepped on campus in 2021.

On Dec. 16, Florida State announced Huff was joining the Seminoles following her First-Team All-SEC, Third-Team All-America season this fall.

Huff's transfer is a massive loss for Tennessee, which was already losing starting midfielder Abbey Burdette to graduation. Without Huff, only Jordan Fusco and Claudia Dipasupil remain of the midfield core of the last two seasons.

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After Pensky's departure in April, Tennessee opted to hire longtime assistant coach Joe Kirt as the new head coach. The Lady Vols only lost one starter from 2021 in center back Wrenne French, and many expected the same levels of success in Kirt's first season with the No. 6 recruiting class coming in.

But the 2022 season was an underwhelming followup to the heights of the 2021 season. Tennessee struggled in its challenging nonconference slate and things didn't get easier in SEC play. UT managed to tie for the SEC East Championship, even though it lost to co-champion South Carolina 6-1 at home.

Tennessee went 11-6-2 and fizzled out in the first rounds of the SEC and NCAA Tournaments. Huff had five goals and seven assists, starting in each of the 18 games she played in.

Meanwhile, Pensky found the immediate success necessary at Florida State. The Seminoles were coming off a national title in 2021, led by two-time MAC Hermann winner Jaelin Howell, and the standard is high in Tallahassee. But Pensky lived up to the expectations, leading Florida State to the College Cup in his first season at the helm.

Huff has two more years of eligibility and will likely make an immediate impact at Florida State as a junior next fall. Her transfer makes sense as a highly-touted prospect out of high school – she was the 2020 national player of the year and holds the Ohio state record of 93 assists – with professional aspirations.

Huff has been called into national team youth camps, most recently in May with the U.S. Under-20 Women's Youth National Team. She also trained with the NWSL's Washington Spirit last summer, where former Florida State coach Mark Krikorian is now the general manager.