Tennessee football is looking to retool its secondary and has already landed the commitment of Kansas State defensive back Qua Moss. As the Vols continue to host priority targets in the transfer portal, another coveted defensive back is planning to make his way to Knoxville in the near future.
Out of Kansas, safety Lyrik Rawls will visit Tennessee on Tuesday, his agent Zach Williams confirmed to Rocky Top Insider on Monday morning.
Rawls will have one final year of eligibility remaining. He began his career in 2021 at Oklahoma State before taking a redshirt. Then, in 2023, still with the Cowboys, he was injured and handed a medical redshirt. This means this upcoming season will be his sixth season of college football.
Though he redshirted in 2021 and saw limited action, it does give him a prior connection to Tennessee’s coaching staff. New Vols defensive coordinator Jim Knowles led the Oklahoma State defense that year and was one of the coaches presumably recruiting him to OSU.
Rawls started all 12 games at safety for the Jayhawks last season. In that time, he posted 73 tackles, a tackle for loss and an interception. The result was an impressive PFF grade of 70.1 on the season.
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With Moss already in the boat and projected to likely play nickelback, Tennessee is also hosting the likes of Rawls, Troy cornerback Jaquez White and others in the secondary.
The group will be coached by a completely different staff this year, as well. With safeties coach and defensive coordinator Tim Banks fired, secondary coach Willie Martinez was also let go. In their place, Josh Heupel hired Knowles as the defensive coordinator, Anthony Poindexter as the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach and Michael Hunter Jr. as the cornerbacks coach.
If Rawls commits to the Vols and plays safety, he’d join a group that features returners Edrees Farooq and Kaleb Beasley. Farooq was a starter all season opposite of Andre Turrentine, who is out of eligibility. Beasley was a reserve piece. Moss could always play safety, as well, but fits more so into the STAR position that he also played at Kansas State.
