On Dec. 13, Tennessee cornerback Colton Hood dropped a highlight video of his 2025 season with the Vols on social media. The caption, which read “Year 3” with a checkmark beside it, had some Tennessee fans speculating on whether this was an announcement that he was moving on to the NFL.
Hood clarified that his tweet was not an announcement of any sort in a follow-up post on Sunday.
“This is not a staying or going post just a highlight tape for year 3,” Hood posted to social media.
This is not a staying or going post just a highlight tape for year 3 https://t.co/DVJbvB9irU
— Colton HOOD 🕴🏼💯 (@Colton_Hood2023) December 14, 2025
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Hood was a four-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting class who originally signed with Auburn. He played in four games with the Tigers during his freshman season, which earned him a redshirt, and then transferred to Colorado to play under Deion Sanders in 2024. After a season with the Buffaloes, Hood transferred to Tennessee and wound up having a major breakout season with the Volunteers. He tallied 50 total tackles with eight pass deflections, one forced fumble, and one interception. He also found the endzone twice during the season.
Hood was a big piece for Tennessee to land with Jermod McCoy sidelined for the season, but his value only rose when Rickey Gibson III went down with a season-ending injury in the first game. Hood stepped up and shouldered the load as the Vols’ top cornerback and continued to make a name for himself during the Vols’ 8-4 season.
Hood’s breakout season has his name trending all over the place in NFL Draft conversations, though. ESPN recently had four analysts rank their top five cornerbacks for next spring’s NFL Draft, and Hood was listed in the top five in three of the four analysts’ lists. ESPN’s Matt Miller has Hood at No. 4, Jordan Reid has him at No. 4, and Steve Muench has him at No. 3. ESPN’s Mel Kiper is the only of the four to not have Hood ranked in his top five cornerback prospects list.
If Hood were to return to collegiate football, he’d have two years of eligibility left. It would be massive for the Vols to keep him in Knoxville alongside rising-sophomore Ty Redmond for another season, but there is a possibility that he ends up going pro. Hood was recently tagged as a projected first-round NFL Draft pick by Field Yates in a mock draft for ESPN. Yates had Hood going No. 30 overall to the New England Patriots.
“Hood has some areas to clean up with his technique, but there’s an infectious energy that you see every time you watch him play,” Yates writes. “He posted 10 pass breakups this season — his first with Tennessee after spending one season at Colorado and his freshman year at Auburn. Hood loves the challenge of man coverage and can be an aggressive player in run support.”
We don’t know what Hood’s future will hold, but we do know that his highlight reel post to social media was not a direct indication of his future in Knoxville. We’ll have to wait a little bit longer to see what he decides, it would seem.
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