With the season beginning in just a few weeks, preseason award watch lists continue to be revealed. This included the Bednarik Award, which featured a pair of Tennessee football players.
The Maxwell Football Club announced on Monday that junior linebacker Arion Carter and junior cornerback Jermod McCoy made the cut for the 2025 Chuck Bednarik Award. This award is annually given to the most outstanding defensive player in college football.
The watch list features 90 players, with 23 players inside the SEC making the list. The Vols are one of 23 FBS programs in the country with multiple selections featured.
Carter enters his third season of college football, all of which with Tennessee. A year ago, Carter started in all 13 games as a sophomore opposite of Keenan Pili and Jeremiah Telander. He was the team-leader in tackles at 68 with 6.5 tackles for loss.
He was recently a representative for the Vols at SEC Media Days alongside defensive tackle Bryson Eason and tight end Miles Kitselman. So far this offseason, he has been named by the media as a third-team preseason All-SEC selection and second-team All-SEC member from Athlon Sports. He was one of 18 SEC linebackers named on the Butkus Award preseason watch list, as well.
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McCoy enters the year for his second season with Tennessee and third of his college career. He spent his freshman season at Oregon State before entering the transfer portal and having a breakout year with the Vols as a sophomore.
Now, McCoy is widely considered a projected first-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft. McCoy is currently battling back from injury, though, after suffering an ACL injury this offseason.
“Yeah, cool moment for Jermod. Big moment getting back on the field, doing some of the individual work,” head coach Josh Heupel said on Saturday. “It was cool to see the way his brothers were excited for him in that moment and how big that was, too. He broke us down before practice. And he’s done an elite job throughout his rehab, and there’s still more that he’s got to continue to do, but excited to get him back out with us.”
In 2024, McCoy was a first-team All-SEC member and second-team All-American. He posted 44 total tackles and led the team with 13 passes defended, which ranked fourth in the conference. He also tied for the team lead with four interceptions.
