After the bombshell report of UT parting ways with transfer Chaz Coleman due to medical disqualification last week, Tennessee will now be reshuffling its cards on the defensive line to fill the production that the former Penn State EDGE rusher was poised to produce this season.
Tulane transfer Jordan Norman will be a key pass-rushing piece, but the Vols will also need to turn to youth in order to fill depth at that position. Tennessee could look to players such as redshirt-freshman Christian Gass, freshman Kedric Golston, and freshman Carter Gooden to step up in the wake of last week’s news.
But there’s another important player on the defensive line that Tennessee fans will need to know about heading into the season. While he doesn’t play the EDGE position, he was one of Coleman’s former teammates at Penn State last year.
On3 insider Chris Low gave his take on a candidate who will play an important role on Tennessee’s line with the departure of Coleman, which is Xavier Gilliam.
“Certainly right there up the middle, which is another question mark for this team, that’s where another transfer, another guy from Penn State, Xavier Gilliam, they call him ‘X’, and I think they feel like they’re going to really benefit greatly from his addition,” Low said on Sunday night’s episode of The RTI Low-Down. “He’s going to have to be a man in there in the middle, and I think that will be key. Finding guys that can get to the quarterback, can rush the passer, and have some of those guys develop will be key this year.”
Gilliam was ranked as the 10th best defensive lineman in the transfer portal by Rivals this offseason, and the 104th best player overall. He originally entered college football as a three-star prospect, but ended up being a four-star guy in the portal rankings.
During his 2025 season with the Nittany Lions, Gilliam racked up 16 total tackles, one forced fumble, and half a sack.
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AJ Jackson, who was on Penn State’s staff last year and followed Jim Knowles to Tennessee during the offseason, said during spring camp that Gilliam was a guy who had been flashing. Head coach Josh Heupel also had some nice praise for the Penn State transfer during the spring.
“He’s a guy that has played some football,” Heupel said. “Has familiarity with the scheme. Had a really good offseason in our winter program. And then as we’ve continued to go through spring ball, I think he’s flashed more and more, the deeper that we’ve gotten into it. First and second down, really good at the point of attack. Not getting moved versus double teams. Does a good job using his hands. I’ve shown him a couple of times in our block destruction drill that we do up front. And then you look at some of what he’s done in our pass rush. That’s our pass rush period. It’s also during team. He showcased the ability to play on an edge and affect the quarterback.”
With Coleman out of the mix for Tennessee’s defense this season, there’s no telling how that’s changed, or not changed, Knowles’ scheme for the defense. But there’s no doubt that having a strong linebacker group will also be critical to what the Vols will put out on defense next season.
“I think the best thing for Tennessee is they should be really good at linebacker,” Low said on The Low-Down. “That should be one of the strengths of their team. I think receiver and linebacker next year when you look at Tennessee’s strengths. But they got a lot of guys, and they may play more linebackers, Bob. They may have to.”
