If you’re frustrated by cornerback Jermod McCoy’s injury, then you’re not alone. Tennessee coach Josh Heupel feels your pain.
McCoy suffered a torn ACL while working out near his home in Texas this week. That’s quite the blow for the Vols and the transfer from Oregon State. McCoy, who will be a junior this season, was thought to be on the verge of superstardom after his All-SEC season last year.
Instead of protecting himself and working out under the careful watch of Tennessee’s athletic department, McCoy was galavanting on his own, working out in Texas. He’s not the only one.
Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava and receiver Mike Matthews are working out with former UT wideout Bru McCoy in Los Angeles. Why? Your guess is as good as mine.
McCoy should be training for combine drills, which aren’t much like football at all. Iamaleava and Matthews should be in Knoxville working out with the rest of their teammates. Think UT’s current receivers would like to catch some practice passes from Iamaleava to up their game? Certainly.
However, Los Angeles is a nice place to visit. I’d suggest the Rainbow Room. Then, there’s Woody Harrelson’s hemp dispensary. How about the Nakatomi Tower from “Die Hard.” Apparently the sights in the City of Angels is more important that preparing a team of Vols.
There are reports that McCoy will be ready to play early this season. Those seem overly optimistic and, likely, coming from reporters that prefer to endear themselves to coaches than report real news.
I certainly hope for his and Tennessee’s sake McCoy is 100-percent for the season-opener against Syracuse on Aug. 30, but I’ll believe it when I see it. I’m not being pessimistic; I’ve just seen this before far too many times. If McCoy is ready to play in September, I’d say that’s a major victory for the Vols, but that depends completely on McCoy’s recovery, not the hopes and dreams of Tennessee’s coaches that fed the media the most positive news possible with regards to the entire ordeal.
When I researched my book, ‘Celebrate 98’, which can be purchased here (hint hint), I was amazed by the leadership, closeness and work ethic that team had a full year before the Vols won the national championship that season.
Here’s just one example: After Tennessee was hammered by Nebraska in the Orange Bowl in January of 1998, former UT linebacker Al Wilson was in the weight room blowing up his teammates’ phones. It was time to get to work. It was time to bond. Nowadays, it’s time to travel. That won’t make the Vols better this season.
I can only empathize with Heupel’s plight. He can’t demand all of his players stay home during the offseason. Why? They could easily get miffed, enter the transfer portal, sign a fat NIL contract with another school and bid Heupel farewell. They also have the finances to travel, which wasn’t the case before NIL forever changed the sport.
The good news is that classes at Tennessee start on Jan. 21, which means there are only a couple of more days in which Heupel has to endure his players all over the country working out on their own.
Iamaleava’s decision to work out in Los Angeles with one current Vol instead of staying at home to work out with the whole team is concerning. That doesn’t sound like a leader to me.
Iamaleava should be in Knoxville holding “voluntary” workouts like former quarterback Peyton Manning did during his career. No, the NCAA won’t allow mandatory workouts during certain times in the offseason, but a leader like Manning or Wilson would make sure that all are in attendance. If not, the leaders of those teams would eagerly tattletale to make sure they had the most dedicated players on the field when the season began.
McCoy could have certainly suffered the same injury working out in Knoxville. He could have suffered the same injury walking down a flight of stairs. However, that seems much more unlikely with the Vols’ massive training staff overlooking every warm-up, cut and sprint. He surely didn’t have that in Texas.
Heupel was hired with one major concern in tow: whether or not he could recruit with the big boys in the SEC. Well, he has somewhat answered that concern, but there’s a new one popping up, especially now that EDGE rusher James Pearce, Jr. is heading to the NFL. Now, Tennessee fans should be concerned that Heupel’s much-ballyhooed culture is about as intact as McCoy’s injured knee.
