Tennessee head coach, Josh Heupel and company might be underrated in their ability to get diamonds in the rough out of the transfer portal.
One of their latest finds, corner back Colton Hood. After his performance against Syracuse, he collected the season’s first SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week honor.
Heupel said postgame, “Great teammate, great player and nobody in our building is surprised that he played extremely well on Saturday.”
That production, could be just a scratch on the surface of what he’s capable of.
His bio on Tennessee’s website states, “Transfer cornerback who is expected to make an impact in his first season on Rocky Top.”
After Week One, he could make more than just an ‘impact.’
He had 4 tackles, 3 were solo, 3 PBUs, and of course the scoop and score.
Heupel on Hood after the game, “I continue to expect big things from him as we go throughout the course of the season.”
Even better, those 3 PBUs were the most among an SEC player in Week One.
His scoop and score also the first for the Vols since 2023.
The Vols’ secondary’s coach, Willie Martinez highlighted his performance on Tuesday, “High energy, locked in, really good with players, his teammates, fits in right away since the day he walked in here. He wasn’t with us in the spring. It’s going to take a special person to do that. ‘How do I blend in here?’ So, he’s got a great personality. He’s always upbeat, high energy dude. It’s not hard to figure out what his personality is, because he’s the same dude every day. He’s very talented.”
So he’s already exceeded the baseline expectation.
“He’s smart,” said Heupel. “He’s competitive. Cares about the people around him. Great teammate. Great to see him go out there and obviously make a huge play in the football game.”
Hood arrived on Rocky Top late in the summer, committed on May 2nd. So, he didn’t a lot of time to get acquainted with the system.
What helped him get a grasp of the system, was relying on guys like Jermod McCoy. Additionally, the entire room supporting each other.
“They all was very helpful,” said Hood. “Nobody was like, He might come in and do this, take my spot. Everybody in the room was helping me out. I think that just shows what kind of brotherhood we have on this team. I’m just so excited to be here and I’m really happy about it.”
Initially Hood might’ve viewed this get as a strong backup for McCoy, whose return is likely sooner than later.
Although, after watching Hood, it could force Tennessee to find a more permanent home for him on the field.
“He learned multiple spots from when he first got here,” said Heupel. “Super consistent in his competitive makeup every day in the meeting room and on the practice field. A guy that has had some time on the field, but has continued to grow at a really high level since he first got here.”
Early success for Hood can be attributed to his versatility.
When McCoy returns, Tennessee could put him on the left side of the field.
Ricky Gibson III is out for an ‘extended period of time’ as Heupel revealed this week.
Listed behind Gibson is freshman, Ty Redmond, who had a solid outing against Syracuse. He had 4 tackles and 2 PBUs.
If Hood maintains this production against ETSU, and more importantly Georgia, he might be the guy that they put on the other side.
“I pride myself in locking down the best guy on the opposing team, so whatever y’all think is the best guy, I’m going to go out there and do what I do and lock him down,” he said.
Which he’s done before.
Before Saturday, Hood got his start at Auburn then transferred to Colorado and played behind Heisman winner Travis Hunter.
In his first career start against Arizona he held their best wideout to just five catches for 38 yards. Also collected an interception in that game.
Tetairoa McMillan, the eventual No. 8 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft.
Taking advantage of his opportunities seems to be just how he operates.
“Well, first I want to say I give all glory to God. Without Him, me and my teammates would be nothing. I want to give all glory to Him,” said Hood.
He did it again against Syracuse. He’s shown flashes that he can be a really special player. Tennessee might just be the place where he breaks out.
ETSU’s best receiver in 2024 was AJ Johnson who accounted for 6 touchdowns and 662 yard. However, he transferred to UAB, who Tennessee will see in just a couple weeks.
So, in 2025 with a single game sample size, ETSU looks like a run dominant team. Their best receiver might be Jeremiah Harrison, who recorded a touchdown and 56 total receiving yards.
“Strength in one position group can never be one guy,” said Heupel. “Colton has come in, he’s handled himself with great maturity, blended into the fabric of the culture of our football team extremely quickly.”
Part of what drew Hood to Tennessee , they were a playoff team a year ago.
Hood wants to be a part of that, wants to be a part of something special.
He also arrived on Rocky Top around the time when Tennessee’s QB situation was at its peak and with it, all the criticism that Tennessee wouldn’t have IT this year.
Chatter that Hood didn’t take nicely, but wanted his and Tennessee’s play to talk for them.
“It just, like, showed all the haters and the doubters out there we still like the same Tennessee we was last year. Probably going to be better. We going to keep getting better after this game. I think that what it show for real,” said Hood.
Hood added, “They said we weren’t going to have no quarterback. We always believed in ourselves. We weren’t worried about anything anybody else was saying. We was always just locked in, ready to go play.”
No question that chip on their shoulder that the defense loves to play with might just be a little bigger this season.
