From a ratings perspective, former Penn State EDGE rusher Chaz Coleman was the crown jewel of Tennessee Football’s transfer portal class this offseason. On3 Sports had the rising sophomore tagged as the No. 9 overall player and the third-ranked EDGE rusher in the portal. Moreover, Coleman’s signing with Tennessee seemed to be a natural fit with assistant coaches Jim Knowles and AJ Jackson coming over from Penn State during the offseason.
Things haven’t been all that positive, though. Coleman missed some practices during the spring training camp slate and was not present for the Orange & White Game in April.
On Wednesday, On3’s Pete Nakos reported that Coleman has “yet to report to Knoxville for summer workouts.”
While speaking on The Sports Animal’s Josh & Swain Show, Volquest’s Austin Price added that Coleman wasn’t supposed to be back until Wednesday, but he’s “yet to make it to town.”
Head coach Josh Heupel commented on the matter at SEC Spring Meetings on Wednesday, according to Nakos: “Chaz has been dealing with some things, and we’re here to support him. We’ll continue to go through that process.”
But as Heupel navigates the situation with its highest-paid transfer portal addition, former Vol great and Josh & Swain host Jayson Swain says that there’s a balancing act that he’s going through and will have to go through.
“Yeah, it’s a balancing act for Josh Heupel, because you want to be there individually for a young man who’s going through a tough time. But at the same time, you want to maintain the culture of your football team,” Swain said. “You don’t want what happened last year with Boo Carter to happen again. And you hired a strength coach to come in and not allow that to happen with the discipline, setting the standard. And so you’re giving him that freedom to do that. And so you can’t let Chaz continue to not be there because it’s going to risk the locker room. It’s not an easy decision at all for Josh Heupel or any of the coaches. But, at the same time, I think we’re getting to the point where you’re going to have to make a tough decision one way or the other.”
Tennessee has started summer workouts without edge rusher Chaz Coleman.
So what’s next? @AustinPriceless and @SwainEvent weighed in on @JoshandSwain. pic.twitter.com/q61RcVZCYd
— Josh Ward (@Josh_Ward) May 27, 2026
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In his post-spring game press conference, Heupel commented on Coleman’s status, saying that there were some off-the-field things that he was dealing with. Heupel also said that Tennessee would be there to support him, but that there were some things he was going to have to work through.
“Ultimately, Chaz is dealing with some things off the field, and he’s got to handle that and go through that process,” Heupel said after the Orange and White Game. “We’re here to help and support him in all of those ways and will continue to do that. But that’s ultimately the beginning part of his journey right now. Some things he has to work through.”
In Coleman’s freshman season at Penn State, he racked up eight tackles, three tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries, a sack and a forced fumble. In nine appearances, he led all FBS freshmen in pass-rush grade last season at 90.3, according to PFF.
Tennessee lost two EDGE rushers to the transfer portal during the offseason with Caleb Herring and Jordan Ross, both of whom landed at SEC schools in the Vols’ 2026 schedule (Herring to South Carolina, Ross to LSU). With or without Coleman, Tennessee may have to rely on Tulane transfer Jordan Norman, redshirt-freshman Christian Gass and a number of true freshmen, including Zach Groves, Hezekiah Harris and CJ Edwards, in some combination.
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Check out the full Chaz Coleman interview with VQ’s Austin Price here.
