This is by far the most complicated position group.
You hate to call it a mess — but it’s a little bit of a mess right now. Tennessee’s secondary situation is the biggest unknown of the entire roster, as the Volunteers dealt with a ton of departures following the 2023 season.
The good news? Tennessee added plenty of veteran talent out of the transfer portal, and have a few blue-chip prospects who have waited their turn to play. As spring practice begins next week, the Tennessee coaching staff now has to figure out how all of those new faces fit together.
Let’s talk about it.
The departures
You’ve got to start this story with what’s gone — and it’s quite a bit. Tennessee lost several veteran starters to the transfer portal and lost a couple more to graduation. In total, the Volunteers will be replacing their entire five-man secondary (and more) in 2024.
S Jaylen McCollough
S Wesley Walker
STAR Tamarion McDonald
CB Gabe Jeudy-Lally
CB Kamal Hadden
CB Doneiko Slaughter
CB Brandon Turnage
CB Warren Burrell
S Jack Luttrell
S De’Shawn Rucker
That’s your top six defensive backs from one season ago, out the door. To say Willie Martinez and Tim Banks have their work cut out for them feels like a big understandment heading into the spring.
What’s left?
CB Rickey Gibson
S Andre Turrentine
STAR Jourdan Thomas
There’s three pieces of the puzzle you can feel pretty good about as likely starters, as each jump up the depth chart following the departures. All three saw significant playing time down the stretch, so Tennessee isn’t exactly starting from total ground zero here.
Safety John Slaughter figures to fit in somewhere in this picture, as well as redshirt freshman cornerback Jordan Matthews. Cristian Conyer, Christian Charles and Christian Harrison are three more names that have been with the program and could also emerge. Where Harrison and Charles end up playing will be something to monitor.
Newcomers
You figured Tennessee would have to attack the portal pretty hard here, and they did. The Volunteers came away with one of the top cornerbacks available, landing Jermod McCoy from Oregon State. McCoy is coming off of a big freshman season with the Beavers, making five starts and coming away with two interceptions on the year. You’d have to think McCoy enters this picture with a good shot to crack the starting lineup.
McCoy has three years of eligibility left, so this is a really exciting add with plenty of upside going forward.
Tennessee wasn’t done at the position, adding Temple transfer Jalen McMurray late in the process. The redshirt junior has 23 starts under his belt and is a former team captain at Temple. McMurray led the Owls with four interceptions last season.
At safety, Tennessee stayed in-state and picked up former MTSU Blue Raider Jakobe Thomas. The three-year veteran has two more seasons left, and could provide an answer at safety opposite of Turrentine.
On the recruiting side, true freshman Boo Carter will enter this equation. The four-star athlete will at least start his time in Knoxville on the defensive side of the ball. Will he land at safety or perhaps the STAR position? Carter will certainly be one to watch this spring.
Spring practices are set to begin on Monday, March 18th.