The Tennessee football team will hit the practice field on Friday morning in Knoxville to kick off spring training camp in the fifth season of the Josh Heupel era on Rocky Top.
The Vols are coming off of their first trip to the College Football Playoffs in program history and aim to make it back to the final tournament with quarterback Nico Iamaleava in his second season behind center.
One big storyline this offseason, though, has been Tennessee’s starting cornerbacks. Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson III proved to be a dynamic duo at the position last season as plenty of excitement surrounded their development heading into the 2025 season.
It hasn’t been a drama-free offseason, though.
On Jan. 15, VolQuest’s Austin Price reported that McCoy suffered a torn ACL during offseason workouts in his hometown in Texas. A typical six- to nine-month recovery would put McCoy’s potential timeline near the start of the season, but we’ll just have to wait and see how things shake out.
Then, on Feb. 25, On3 Sports reported that Gibson had “plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal this spring.”
A new report this week suggests positive news for Tennessee on the Gibson front, though.
During an appearance on Josh & Swain on 99.1 The Sports Animal on Wednesday, VolQuest’s Austin Price gave his latest update and thoughts on Gibson’s status with spring training camp right around the corner.
“I expect him to be out there on Friday when practice starts,” Price said on the show with Josh Ward and Jayson Swain. “Again, I think in the end, I think all this kind of stuff calms down and gets resolved and all this stuff. But I do expect him to go through spring with Tennessee, which, again, I think for him to be at Tennessee this fall, he needs to go through spring with Tennessee on the football field and not just as someone who is around the program. He’s been doing all of the winter workout stuff, I expect him to be on the practice field on Friday. I’ll be surprised if he’s not.”
Ward followed up by asking if Gibson’s presence at spring training camp ensures that he is with the team in the fall or if spring camp was just the “next step” in trying to get things worked out for the fall.
“I mean, I think that’s the next step, I think it’s a big step, though,” Price said in response. “So I do think that’s the next step. I don’t think that just because he’s out there that it’s 100% locked in, but I do think that it goes a long way to making sure it’s over 50% that he’ll be back here in the fall.”
More from RTI: Three Storylines To Watch For As Tennessee Football Begins Spring Practice This Week
The spring portal window will be open from April 16 to April 25.
As a freshman in 2023, Gibson played in all 13 games on special teams and as a backup cornerback, tallying nine tackles and one pass break-up during the season.
The Alabama native saw a big jump in productivity in his sophomore season, starting 12 of 13 games this season on the opposite side of McCoy. The only game that Gibson missed was Tennessee’s season-opener against Chattanooga as he was sidelined with injury. Gibson recorded 32 tackles, two tackles for loss, five pass break-ups, and one forced fumble.
“In all parts of the game,” McCoy said of where he saw Gibson improve throughout the season. “He’s become way smarter, way more physical attacking the ball, making plays on the ball. Everything he does, I see him getting better in.”
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider on Friday for coverage from the first practice of the Tennessee spring training camp slate.
Check out Austin Price’s full segment on the Josh & Swain Show below:
