If you live outside of Knoxville, you probably have never heard the name Will Brooks as it pertains to college football. Heck, even if you live in Knoxville, you may not know much about the fifth-year senior safety. But recently, he’s been generating some buzz amongst the coaches and players as a possible starter this fall.
So, what DO we know about Brooks? Let’s take a deep dive with some notable facts about this veteran Vol.
Mysterious or just unknown?
The 6-foot-1, 206 pound Brooks hails from Birmingham, Ala. After graduating from Vestavia Hills High School, he was a walk-on at Tennessee in 2020. He has no recruiting ranking on 247sports.com.
In his senior year of high school, Brooks was an all-star safety and also played lacrosse. Interestingly, five-star EDGE and 2024 commit Jordan Ross also attended Vestavia Hills.
Special teams was his specialty
The relatively anonymous Brooks has made 36 appearances with the Vols – mostly on special teams. He played in all 13 games during head coach Josh Heupel’s first year, only seeing defensive action in two plays that season at the cornerback position.q
In his redshirt junior year (2023), Brooks saw action in 10 games with one start and played 189 defensive snaps on the season, primarily at STAR and safety. He played a career-high 70 defensive snaps while filling in at the STAR position against No. 1 Georgia (11/18).
He’s got portable skills
So, why is he qualified to be the starting safety? “We always talk about transferable skills,” Brooks said to the media on Monday. “A lot of times when you’re running down on a kickoff, you’re defeating a block. It’s the same thing on defense. Getting reps on special teams definitely helps you to play defense.”
“Any time a guy is making consistent plays in space…it’s got transferable skills to play offense and defense,” said Tennessee defensive back Willie Martinez. “Some of the same terminology that’s on special teams is on defense. Him being a smart player and translating that to defense, it’s always been simple for Will.”
He’s a great leader for a youthful secondary
“Just being in the program awhile, learning the defense, knowing a lot of knowledge and trying to pass it to the guys around me,” Brooks said. “I think it will definitely help.” His teammates think so too. “If I don’t know something, I go to Will,” sophomore defensive back Jermod McCoy said. “He knows everything. If anybody doesn’t know something, they go ask Will.”
He’s not superstitious… but he is a little stitious
Brooks’ University of Tennessee bio lists his favorite show as The Office. It also notes that he wears the same pair of socks for every game. Let’s hope he washes them between Saturdays. But, if it helps his play, I am sure his teammates won’t mind the smell.
