On Friday, Tennessee football parted ways with highly-touted Penn State edge rusher transfer Chaz Coleman due to a ‘medical disqualification.’ Coleman was projected to be at the top of the room, but missed the back end of spring practice and was late for summer workouts. Now, UT will be looking for different solutions at the LEO position.
With Coleman gone, there’s one obvious answer to command the starting role and the majority of snaps. Tennessee brought in Tulane transfer Jordan Norman, who looks poised to make an impact off the edge. However, behind him, it gets thin in a hurry. The Vols return redshirt-freshman Christian Gass and then bring in a group of true freshmen to carry the rest of the weight.
There may be another solution for Tennessee to stay afloat defensively, though. Instead of asking Norman to play more snaps than necessary or pushing freshmen to playtime before they may be ready, the Vols could continue to make significant tweaks.
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Last year, we saw more three-linebacker looks than ever before under Josh Heupel. While that was under the direction of Tim Banks on defense, it did give experience to playing in that type of formation to the players.
However, that was in 4-3 looks with four defensive backs. Now, Tennessee and Jim Knowles could go for a 3-3-5 at times in an attempt to fill in the gaps at LEO. The 4-2-5 base defense will likely be used the most, but those three-linebacker looks could be a critical wrinkle.
Tennessee’s linebacker room is the deepest on the roster, as well. The Vols have three All-SEC caliber players in Arion Carter, Edwin Spillman and Penn State transfer Amare Campbell. It’s already going to be tough to get those three a proper amount of playtime, but the room is far deeper than that.
Other notable returners include Jadon Perlotte, Jeremiah Telander, Jaedon Harmon and Jordan Burns. UT brings in two highly-recruited freshmen, as well, Brayden Rouse and TJ White.
