Just as Josh Heupel and Tennessee continue the work of upgrading their roster and filling holes for 2025, the Vols now have to worry about a major piece they thought they had fixed. It also throws the whole secondary into question going forward as well.
Jermod McCoy, UT’s top cornerback this past year who earned All-American and All-SEC honors, tore his ACL during an offseason training session in Texas, according to Austin Price of ON3. He has already had surgery but will miss all of spring practice and is projected to return near the start of the 2025 season.
Make no mistake, this is disastrous for the Vols.
The transfer from the Oregon State Beavers this past year almost single-handedly helped the Vols’ secondary do a 180. After three years of horrendous play under Josh Heupel, this unit became one of the best in the nation. Having a lockdown corner like McCoy was a huge part of that, and now his value is in jeopardy for 2025.
Even if McCoy is ready to go by the start of the year, an injury like this is bound to set him back significantly. How long will it be before he gets back into football shape? Will he lose a step? Are we sure he actually will even be back for the start of the year?
Also, it’s not like McCoy didn’t have some developing to do still. After all, against elite receivers, most notably Jeremiah Smith of the Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff, he took bad angles and got beat far too often. That’s the next step in his development, but how can he improve if he’s spending all offseason just rehabbing?
See the problem? Now, even if McCoy is full-go, the best-case scenario for him is to be just as good as he was this past year, and if Tennessee is to take that next step, that may not be good enough. In fact, depending on how you look at things, it may even be worse.
Sure, the Georgia Bulldogs lost Carson Beck, but they’re still loaded with athletes. They’ll be fine. With Jalen Milroe gone, the Alabama Crimson Tide may actually find the right quarterback to run Kalen DeBoer’s offense, and they still have the athletes at receiver, so watch out. What if another SEC surprise team emerges?
Simply put, UT could see a regression next year given this injury. So where do the Vols go from here?
Well, Rickey Gibson III showed marked improvement in 2024 and could take another step forward in 2025. Perhaps he could move into the role of the No. 1 cornerback while another defensive back emerges into a serviceable role. Otherwise, it’s time to open up the NIL checkbook and look in the transfer portal.
McCoy wasn’t perfect, but he was certainly the driving force behind Tennessee’s biggest area of improvement in 2024. His ACL injury throws a wrench in Heupel’s plans to continue building this program, and it’s one he’s going to have a hard time adjusting to.
