Tennessee football has a saying going around its locker room this offseason.
‘Young guys don’t have time to be young.’
That rings true even on the defensive line, one of the deepest position groups on the team. One true freshman who may have a sizable role in his first collegiate season is Isaiah Campbell. He comes in as a five-star recruit (On3) out of Durham, North Carolina.
As fall camp looms, sixth-year senior Bryson Eason can tell Campbell is already prepared to make an impact. The reason is the extra work and attention to detail he’s already putting in.
“He works very, very hard,” Eason said. “He’s a dog. In the classroom, he’s taking notes every chance he gets, writes every single thing down. He’s locked in. You really don’t see that from too many freshmen, but he gets it. We have a saying that there is a lot of young guys on the team, but we have no time to be young. Just seeing by his actions and how he’s going about his days and about his business shows me he is ready to take on a role and help us out.”
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As a defensive line, Eason can sense the group is hungry to continue to play at an elite level. The Vols had possibly the best front in the entire country a year ago, but are losing James Pearce Jr., Omarr Norman-Lott, Omari Thomas, Elijah Simmons and Jayson Jenkins.
With a good number of returning contributors mixed in with new faces and others who are going to be asked to play an increased role, the unit is on track to be a feared position group once again.
“We got guys that are ready to take up a new role on the team,” Eason said. “I think some are so hungry, as well. They don’t want to sit back and wait anymore. You see how many guys that can play, so why not add myself to that rotation? So, I’ve just seen a lot of extra work, extra attention to details with their game and stuff like that. I’m very confident in the guys that we do have in the room that are ready to step up and add to the rotation.”
