If you’re looking for an incredible transfer portal story, look no further than Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy.
McCoy, who transferred from Oregon State before the 2024 season, has been the real, uh, “McCoy”, for the No. 7 Vols as they prepare to host Kentucky at 7:45 EST in Neyland Stadium.
McCoy has started all seven games for Tennessee at cornerback this season. He is fourth amongst the Vols with 24 tackles, leads Tennessee with seven passes defended, which include two interceptions and five passes broken up, and has the third highest coverage grade, 85.4, in the SEC, according to Pro Football Focus. That grade is good for 10th in the nation among cornerbacks who have played at least 200 coverage snaps.
Not bad for McCoy, who is just a sophomore.
“It is never perfect,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said during his weekly press conference on Monday. “You’re chasing it every day, but he’s playing really good football, playing with great discipline at the line of scrimmage in his press technique. He’s got the athletic traits to recover when it’s not perfect at the line of scrimmage.
“He’s doing a great job of playing the 50-50 ball, back-shoulder fades or vertically all the way down the football field. That comes from his maturity, his fundamentals and technique and competitive composure at the end of the play.”
McCoy had a career day in the Vols 24-17 win against Alabama, which was Tennessee’s last game before a bye week last week. McCoy registered eight tackles (five solo), half a tackle for a loss, one pass breakup and a crucial, one-handed interception in the end zone that ended a second-and-goal opportunity for the Crimson Tide in the first quarter.
“I think it just starts with his maturity as a person,” Heupel said when asked what has made McCoy such a quick study. “Coming out of high school, what he did before he got on the field in three months at the previous stop, changing his body – a guy that was recruited to play some wide receiver, flips over to the other side of the football. He’s a sponge as far as soaking up information inside the meeting room. Extremely bright.”
That means McCoy is very likely only going to improve as the Vols season rolls on, perhaps into the College Football Playoffs.
“It’s not like you’re restarting every single day,” Heupel said. “He’s able to grow upon what happened in the previous day on the field or in the meeting room, incorporate those things into his game. He’s got all the athletic traits that you want, but again, his maturity is a huge factor in why he’s playing the way that he is.”
That maturity has made the Vols far more flexible on defense as McCoy can often negate an opposition’s top receiver and allow Tennessee’s other defensive backs to focus on the rest of the offense. McCoy’s physical nature is uncommon among cornerbacks. This transfer story just keeps getting better.
