A trio of Tennessee football players landed on the All-SEC Media Preseason teams coming out of SEC Media Days in Atlanta, GA, this past week.
The three players include two defensive standouts and one defensive back who is expected to see a new two-way role on the Vols’ roster.
Tennessee star cornerback Jermod McCoy is Tennessee’s lone first team selection, coming in as one of the four defensive backs alongside Georgia’s KJ Bolden, Georgia’s Daylen Everette, and Texas’s Michael Taafe.
UT linebacker Arion Carter and defensive back Boo Carter both land on the third team in the media picks. Carter is alongside Texas A&M linebacker Taurean York and Ole Miss linebacker Princewill Umanmielen, while Carter is next to Alabama DB Keon Sabb, Mississippi State DB Isaac Smith, and Alabama DB Bray Hubbard.
Preseason Media All-SEC 👏#GBO 🍊 pic.twitter.com/Xf9RgxVMbJ
— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) July 18, 2025
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While he’s still in the recovery process from an offseason ACL injury, it’s clear that McCoy is still a highly respected player in the conference. McCoy returns for his second season at Tennessee as a junior in 2025, but won’t be around for long. As long as his health isn’t a concern once he returns, McCoy is a projected Top 15 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft next spring.
Josh Heupel relayed that McCoy is still in the recovery process with fall camp around the corner, but his return to the field will be huge for the Vols. McCoy and Rickey Gibson III make a great cornerback duo and one that helped Tennessee’s defense reach new heights during the 2024 season.
Arion Carter is also another player projected for a big season ahead. It’s hard to say that Tennessee’s leading tackler from the 2024 season could have a breakout season ahead, but that’s the path some are believing he could be on. Carter is a workhorse on and off the field and has every chance to be a focal point in the middle of the Tennessee defense next to fellow linebacker Jeremiah Telander.
“I feel like we just bring back that grit, that relentless effort, that toughness, that original Tennessee culture that we’ve always had,” Carter said at SEC Media Days this past week. “To restore that and bring that back to its full ability, full core, and full tilt, it’s a great thing to see. We just want to continue that and exceed the expectations of what it is for next year and years to come.”
Boo Carter put together an impressive freshman season in 2024. Despite it just being his first year in college football, he turned into a starting STAR safety for the final five games of the Vols’ season. Carter’s production earned him a spot on the 2024 All-SEC Freshman Team last season, and expectations are high for him to continue that trajectory as a sophomore.
The most intriguing part about Carter is that he has two-way potential, too. Carter saw action at the slot receiver position during Tennessee’s 2025 training camp this past spring, raising speculation that Carter could have a two-way role with the Vols this season. Mainly as a defensive back, but with some offensive opportunities as well. We’ll just have to wait until fall camp to see just how much Carter is working with both positions.
“When you do that, there’s a whole other workload that you got to take on,” Heupel said about Carter getting reps on both sides last spring. “Because you got to understand what’s going on, on both sides of football. And he’s done a really good job. Spent a lot of extra time in here learning what we’re doing offensively, being able to handle the structure of the offense. We’re intentional on what positions we’re putting him in during the course of practice, today during the scrimmage and trying to manage that side of it.”
Check out the full All-SEC Media Preseason teams here.
