According to one of his teammates on Tennessee’s football team, defensive lineman Paul Bain has finally been awarded a scholarship.
Nyles Gaddy, a freshman walk-on linebacker on the Vols’ roster, tweeted out on Tuesday night that Bain had picked up a scholarship after playing as a walk-on for his first three years as a Vol. Gaddy would go on to say that UT didn’t produce a video of Bain receiving his scholarship, however.
Congrats to my boy @ThePaulBain97 for earning that scholarship today‼️‼️#GBO?
— King G✨? (@nylesgaddy) September 4, 2018
Bain transferred to Tennessee from Tusculum College prior to the 2015 season. Bain redshirted at Tusculum and was a member of UT’s practice squad in 2015. As a redshirt sophomore in 2016, Bain made his collegiate debut during the Vols’ match-up with Tennessee Tech, and he later appeared during UT’s bowl match-up with Nebraska in the Music City Bowl after the regular season. Then in 2017, Bain grabbed headlines when he blocked a potential game-winning field goal attempt by Georgia Tech in the fourth quarter during the Vols’ 42-41 double-overtime victory to start the season.
This season, Bain played in Tennessee’s season opener against No. 17 West Virginia and once again came up with a big play. Bain recovered a fumble in the second half of the Vols’ contest against the Mountaineers, helping create the only turnover by either team in the game.
Bain has become a favorite among Vol fans for his humble attitude and work ethic despite being relegated to a walk-on role the last couple years. He’s still known as “Paul Bain from Champs” because of his job he works at Champs Sporting Goods outside of football. He also worked on a horse farm, but he quit that job to focus more on football.
And it appears that decision has paid off for the redshirt senior.
The 6-foot-2, 292-pound lineman from Powder Springs, Georgia has now appeared in five games for the Vols in his career. He’s totaled two tackles, half a tackle for loss, a quarterback hurry, a fumble recovery, and a blocked field goal in those five games.
