If you see Tennessee receiver Bru McCoy out in public with a smile on his face, there’s a good reason. The senior said he has no doubt he’ll be full-go by the time preseason camp begins this fall.
That wasn’t always a given after McCoy suffered a dislocated and fractured ankle against South Carolina last season. It wasn’t the kind of injury for the squeamish. Therefore, despite the advances in medical technology, some wondered if McCoy could make the same impact on the field as he had earlier for the Vols.
“I don’t want to put the cart before the horse or anything, but, yeah, absolutely (there was concern),” McCoy said during an autograph signing at Sports Treasures on Saturday. “I can say a lot of the concern is behind now. It’s just, okay, where can we get from here? How much can we improve? How little steps back can we take? Fortunately, to this point, there’s been no steps back and really big steps forward. So yeah, we’ll be in a good, really good spot come this fall.
That’s good for Tennessee as McCoy was considered one of the Vols’ most talented players on the roster before his injury and an immediate impact leader once he arrived on campus. After transferring from Southern California before the 2022 season, McCoy suddenly finds himself as one of the leaders in the receiving room. That’s good because, if healthy, he could certainly become a star this season.
“It’s a big weight off your chest,” McCoy said of his recent improvements, which have included being able to run at full speed just recently. “You want to be able to live healthy and normally, like outside of the sport. I was thinking like, I want to be able to, you know, function with my own kids.”
McCoy seems well on his way to functioning later in life. This season would be nice. The Vols have a mostly unproven, young group of receivers. There is talent within the group. However, it’s difficult to say that any Tennessee receiver has lived up to his hype since Jalin Hyatt won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best receiver in 2022.
McCoy won’t likely have the same production that Hyatt did during that record-setting year since he’ll be playing wideout instead of slot receiver, which usually gobbles up a large percentage of touches for Tennessee. However, McCoy could have as big of an impact as any player he’s played with. If he can, indeed, do what he was once capable of doing, then the Vols should be in fine hands on offense this fall. If not, there will be a major fall off. It’s a good thing that recovery is going well for McCoy – and Tennessee.
