He’s going to be a big piece of the puzzle.
It wasn’t exactly a secret that Tennessee was going to need help in the secondary this offseason. The Volunteers saw each one of their five starters in the defensive backfield either graduate or hit the transfer portal. A handful of depth pieces did the same.
With essentially no experience left on the depth chart, Tennessee had to turn to the transfer portal pretty aggressively. Their biggest pull out of the portal, both in terms of immediate and long-term help, was Jermod McCoy from Oregon State.
Just a sophomore, McCoy now has three seasons of eligibility remaining at Tennessee.
“Jermod is different than the other two guys (Jakobe Thomas, Jalen McMurray) you’re talking about, or anybody really,” Martinez said. “He never played defense. I mean, he was an athletic kid in high school and was obviously recruited to the school that he chose to be a wide receiver and they actually made a flip and asked him to go play defense.
“He did a great job, obviously that conference was loaded with great players and quarterbacks and receivers that he went up against. We saw the athleticism. That’s the one thing that you saw that he can do a lot of things.”
McCoy had a breakout season for the Beavers, quickly going from a project to a starter. He appeared in 12 games last season and ended up making five starts. The 6-0, 190 pound defensive back is a former three-star prospect out of the state of Texas.
Last season McCoy was credited with nine passes defensed, which included two interceptions. According to 247Sports, McCoy was the ninth rated cornerback in the transfer portal this offseason.
As a high school senior, McCoy caught 57 passes for 784 yards and eight touchdowns. Coach Martinez is hoping some of those offensive skills translate to the defensive side of Tennessee’s attack this season and beyond.
“He’s not even close to complete development wise,” Martinez said on Monday. “He’s learning the game from a defensive standpoint, but he’s got confidence, he’s got the ball skills, he’s got, like I’m saying, all types of athleticism, understands leverage. I think his training is an offensive player, obviously he understands defense too.”
Ready or not, McCoy is likely going to have a big role right out of the gate this fall. Tennessee appears to have a firm answer in Rickey Gibson as the top cornerback, but outside of that, it’s a bit murky. That’s one thing we’ll be watching closely in this month’s Orange and White Game.
“He knows how he’s gonna be attacked and those are really good qualities to have when you get moved over and he’s going against the position that he was lined up against. It’s a great combination, but he’s nowhere near complete,” Martinez said. “They played a lot of match, a lot of man where he came from. We’re very multiple on defense getting to learn all the different types of zone coverages, that’s a challenge for him.
“But he’s doing a good job. This is the seventh practice and he had a really good scrimmage.”