He’s back!
A familiar face will be returning to Tennessee’s passing attack for one more year. Former five-star prospect Bru McCoy is back from a brutal injury and appears set to pick up where he left off.
McCoy’s 2023 season was cut short due to an ugly ankle injury suffered against South Carolina. Everyone saw the video, and frankly it was fair to wonder if McCoy would have a football future left ahead of him. Fast forward ten months ahead, and McCoy is back at full speed and ready to roll for Tennessee in 2024.
“It’s absolutely insane what that kid did this offseason,” Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said. “Like for everything else, with everything going on as far as players that people are excited about, man, Bru McCoy, that ankle injury, we all saw it, but the fact that that kid is out there running full speed and making cuts and making catches and didn’t gain a bunch of weight, the guy still looks like a superhero when he walks around out here. It’s like, this guy’s absolutely insane.”
McCoy came to Tennessee ahead of the 2022 season, transferring in from USC. He was an immediate starter for Josh Heupel, playing an outside receiver role and operating as a key blocker and power player in the perimeter screen game. You saw Tennessee struggle in that area last season without him in the lineup, but that should immediately change with McCoy coming back this fall.
“The way he went through that, it was like, alright, what’s my job? What am I supposed to do when I can’t run right now? And he did that and the training staff was actually saying, hey bro, we got to pull you back a little bit,” Halzle explained. “Like he’s pushing it over and over and over to try to get there as quickly as possible.
“The guy’s just an absolute animal in every aspect, whether it’s strength training, conditioning, his rehab, his football knowledge. He just attacks it all the same way, which is why he’s made this this comeback so quickly, which I don’t know if everyone thought he was going to be able to, but it’s special to watch.”
McCoy’s 2023 season ended with just 17 catches for 217 yards. The Tennessee staff is hoping he can return to his 2022 production, which saw him catch 52 passes for 667 yards and four scores.
His experience in the offense paired with Squirrel White, along with a very experienced offensive line, should help first-year quarterback starter Nico Iamaleava in a big way.