Tennessee coach Josh Heupel often talks about culture within his program. It’s the steps that he takes to grow good vibes in that are so impressive.
Take for instance, Will Brooks, who was one of the Vols’ starting safeties on Saturday in the Vols’ season-opening, 69-3 win over Chattanooga. Brooks came to Tennessee as a walk-on, invited by former Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt. At 6-foot-1 and 178 pounds, Brooks didn’t have many scholarship offers, which meant none from a school that would be considered a football powerhouse. He received an opportunity at Tennessee because of Pruitt, who knows Brooks’ home well.
Brooks is from Vestavia Hills High School in Birmingham, Ala., where he accumulated no stars from college football analysts. Pruitt coached at nearby Hoover (Ala.) High School and later was an assistant at Alabama in charge of recruiting the area. Therefore, evaluating players, including those that might be underrated, was easy for Pruitt, who struggled at most everything else while he was a Vol. Enough of Pruitt, let’s get back to Brooks.
Brooks didn’t play in 2020, but played in all 13 games in 2021, mostly at cornerback and special teams. Then, Brooks became a special teams standout in 2022. In 2023, Brooks saw action in 10 games as the roster around him improved. Now, Brooks is a starter – or at least he was, which leads us back to the culture that Heupel is so proud of. There is always pressure to get a more talented, younger player on the field in close personnel battles. Heupel didn’t bend to that pressure, although we’ll see if Brooks is the guy.
I’m not suggesting Brooks isn’t one of Tennessee’s best safeties. After all, he’s played most every position in the Vols’ secondary so I’m sure he’s a step quicker to react thanks to his mental grasp of the game. Therefore, starting Brooks against Chattanooga in Neyland Stadium was a no-brainer for Heupel, even if Brooks isn’t a starter moving forward. We’ll see if Brooks starts on Saturday against N.C. State. Junior Christian Charles was listed as a co-starter in the Vols’ depth chart, which was released on Monday. That’s when Brooks was asked about starting on Saturday.
“It was a great experience,” said Brooks, who is now 6-1 and 206 pounds. “The atmosphere was incredible. It was super exciting to be able to get out there, start the game and get the season started off fast which was really nice.”
There will come a time, if it’s not here already, that stories like Brooks’ tale will be a long lost thing of the past. The NCAA will likely raise the scholarship limit from 85 players to 105 and eliminate walk-ons. Moreover, Heupel’s roster is getting more talented at Tennessee every year. That means it will be more difficult for those with limited skills (No offense, Will) to get on the field. We’ll see how that all shakes out. However, Heupel should be commended for handling this situation perfectly.
Heupel rewarded a player for years of service, didn’t feel as if he had to play a more talented player because of fan or internal pressure and, once again, bolstered his positive culture that just may be the most underrated aspect of Heupel’s time at Tennessee.
