From graduation, NFL Draft, and injuries, UT’s secondary is thinner in 2024
Knoxville, Tenn. – The hustle from Tennessee’s Head Football Coach, Josh Heupel, and company over the last four years has seen plenty of relief when it comes to talent and depth on the roster.
However, there are still some areas that cause pause for concern, one of those units being the secondary.
With the latest injury to Jourdan Thomas, who was expected to be the starter at the STAR, there are a few moving parts that Tennessee needs to sort out before Aug. 31.
With Jourdan Thomas out of the year, these are some of the guys who are left in the secondary: Andre Turrentine, Christian Harrison, Christian Charles, Will Brooks, John Slaughter, Jakobe Thomas, and promising true freshman Boo Carter.
Similar to the Orange and White game, Carter took advantage of his opportunities at STAR and again left a good impression on the coaches.
The main message is that he continues to get better with his understanding of concepts and his role within the team, he’s been able to make key plays in practice and show he can be a dynamic playmaker for Tennessee in due time.
“He’s [Boo Carter] a really good player,” said secondary coach, Willie Martinez. “That guy is so talented. He’s really competitive, and I just said it, he’s very athletic so he’s versatile. Boo can play a lot of positions, and we are just putting him in a position where you have to make plays. You have got to be really good to be the STAR. That’s the position in our defense, schematically, he’s going to be involved almost in every play. I start off by his athleticism, his competitiveness and his love for the game. You can see it both on and off the field. It’s great to have it because he is going to compete on every play.”
Carter also didn’t need much of an introduction after dominating in the high school scene.
The greatest compliment his teammates have given him is his ability to get better every single day and it’s made for an exciting watch in practice.
The other new additions to the room like transfer corner Jermod McCoy, have been quite exciting as well.
He’s been able to make a seamless transition to Tennessee from Oregon state.
“I would say it probably took me two weeks to get comfortable with it. From there, I had to learn to know what was about to come from the offense and how to make plays from that,” said McCoy.
During Monday’s practice, the defensive backs came up with four takeaways.
“He’s a very competitive person, both on and off the field. He’s a playmaker. He’s one of the guys that got one of the turnovers today. When he doesn’t get something or it doesn’t happen for him, he’s harder on himself, and teammates see that and players see that. He’s not much of a talker. He’s kind of more of a, ‘I’m going to do what I’m saying I’m going to do’ [type leader]. He leads by great example. He’s setting the example every day,” said Martinez.
McCoy snagged one of those picks and returned it for a touchdown, doing so while guarding wide receiver Chris Brazzle and quarterback Nico Iamaleava.
“It just makes me so much better,” said McCoy. “We’re both just competing. Because we both want to win. So, giving our all to each other is just going to make us better in the end.”
The pick while defending Brazzell and Iamaleava may be a little sweater too, because he gives that secondary about all they can handle.
“I feel like Nico is making me better too because he’s like reading my eyes. So I got to learn to give a different look than what he thinks is going to come. So he’s definitely made me better. And I feel like I’ve helped him too with how like DBs are going to give him looks in the game,” said McCoy.
To come away with a pick against Brazzle doesn’t happen often, as the wide receiver room tests Martinez’s room daily.
“Every day, his speed and his competitiveness. Brazzell is very competitive and plays with a lot of fire and energy. We better do that on our side of the ball. You have to have great energy and stuff like that. He’s very competitive and a high-level player, so that’s only going to make us better. We have a great group of wide receivers that, again, are going to be playing on Sunday, so it’s easy for my job to tell the kids, ‘Hey man, you want a great resume? Put it on video. Put it on video against these guys that are going to be playing on Sunday.’ Brazzell is one of those guys. He’s a highly competitive and physical player. He’s not very quiet, which is kind of cool. That’s kind of like we like it, but he’s making us better,” said Martinez.
McCoy was rated the No. 9 corner in the transfer portal.
He comes to Tennessee from Oregon State where he played in 12 games and started five games as a true freshman. Led the Beavers with nine passes defended [seven PBU, two interceptions] and totaled 31 tackles during his rookie season.
“First thing I’ll say about Jermod is he’s such a great teammate,” said Martinez. “You come from a different situation. Obviously, in the dynamics of college football now, on a different team last year, and [he] comes to our program. He is who he says he is, high character. He’s a great player, but he’s a great kid and a great young man. Coming into our room, he got a good feel for the room and the awareness of fitting in. He’s led. He’s not the loudest guy, but just little things, where guys are maybe complaining or not sure about something. He always has a positive spin to it. He sees that glass half full, and I have noticed that from the beginning. The consistency, every day.
Christian Harrison is also starting to see progress at the STAR role, more so being able to show his versatility in the secondary.
A year ago the redshirt sophomore played in five games with no starts as a reserve defensive back and special teams standout. The year prior, he saw action in eight games as a reserve and on special teams. He tallied nine tackles and half a TFL.
“Christian Harrison and Boo Carter are taking the bulk of the reps. We know in the back of our minds that we have others who have played the position whether it’s Will Brooks or Andre Turrentine — we have the versatility. The two guys that are competing are Christian and Boo. They’re doing a really good job,” said Martinez.