Tennessee football’s star cornerback Jermod McCoy is continuing to reel in preseason accolades. To join the long list of his preseason nods, he has been named to the AP All-American Preseason First-Team. He is the only Vol to earn a spot on the first or second team.
McCoy is joined on the list by Leonard Moore of Notre Dame. On the second team, Chandler Rivers of Duke and D’Angelo Ponds of Indiana were recognized. This makes him the only SEC cornerback to make the cut of the top four projected corners in the country.
McCoy is coming off an ACL injury he suffered during the offseason. Recently, he has begun to work his way back to practice, but was still not a full participant in the periods open to the media. He continued to be limited in terms of the contact he received, although he remains in a normal orange jersey and not a red non-contact jersey.
McCoy did not have any significant brace on his injured knee, but did sport a small band just below his kneecap. There was no visible impediment in his movement while the media was able to watch. After the Vols held their first scrimmage of fall camp, which McCoy did not participate in, head coach Josh Heupel met with the media to give his thoughts on McCoy’s limited return to practices.
“Yeah, cool moment for Jermod. Big moment getting back on the field, doing some of the individual work,” Heupel said. “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.”
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Tennessee will open the season against Syracuse on August 30 in Atlanta. This gives McCoy less than a month of time to gear up if he intends to be ready for the opener.
Whether McCoy is or isn’t available to start the season, Rickey Gibson III will man one of the corner positions. On the other side, it’ll likely be Colton Hood, a Colorado transfer from this spring.
When healthy, McCoy is projected to start at cornerback opposite of Gibson. In his first year with UT, McCoy managed 44 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss. He came up with four interceptions, as well, including a one-handed snag against Ryan Williams of Alabama and a circus catch in the end zone at Vanderbilt.
McCoy started his career at Oregon State after being ranked as a three-star recruit out of high school. He played his prep ball in Whitehouse, Texas, before making the move to play for the Beavers.
With Oregon State, he played in 12 games and started in five as a true freshman. He led the team with nine passes defended and came down with a pair of interceptions.
