Josh Heupel has dismissed two Tennessee football players who were arrested for domestic assault less than a month apart from each other. Offensive lineman Savion Herring and linebacker William Mohan were removed from the team, initially reported by the Knoxville News Sentinel Friday.
Mohan was arrested Sunday, Aug. 20 due to an incident that began the Saturday before. Details of the arrest came out Wednesday, Aug. 23 on WVLT.
He had been suspended indefinitely and was apparently dismissed on Monday, Sept. 5. A transfer from the Michigan Wolverines, Mohan was a reserve for the Vols who had nine tackles as a reserve in 2021, appearing in every game mostly on special teams.
Herring, meanwhile, was a junior college transfer to the Vols this offseason. He was arrested on Wednesday, Sept. 14 and dismissed on Friday.
This was a move Heupel had to make given what the Vols have dealt with in the not-too-distant past. We wrote about those issues back in August when Mohan was first arrested.
The university is less than a decade removed from settling a sexual assault lawsuit in which multiple instances were sited.
Beyond that issue, though, prominent Tennessee football booster Jimmy Haslam is also involved in a scandal as owner of the Cleveland Browns for signing DeShaun Watson this offseason. That’s a problem not going away.
Then there’s the issue of Bru McCoy. The transfer is standing out already at receiver for Tennessee football, but he did have a domestic violence arrest when he was with the USC Trojans.
Because of these issues, dismissing Mohan and Herring were the right moves. UT just can’t afford more notoriety regarding charges related to assault.
In terms of losses, Tennessee football does have an issue at linebacker. However given the fact that he didn’t play much last year, it doesn’t seem like Mohan was somebody to help resolve that.
Aaron Beasley’s recent improvement seems to be helping there anyway, and Juwan Mitchell could return to the field soon enough. Jeremy Banks was a preseason All-SEC linebacker, and Solon Page III is also still on the roster.
Meanwhile, Herring could have helped at tackle, but Darnell Wright is still locked in at right tackle, and Gerald Mincey seems to be settling in at left tackle. Dayne Davis and Jeremiah Crawford are both there to provide depth for this year as well.
There might be an issue when it comes to the future of the program, but Heupel’s recruiting at both positions suggests that won’t be the case. Elijah Herring and Kalib Perry joined the linebackers this offseason, and Caleb Herring, Jeremiah Telander and Jalen Smith are committed for next year.
On the line, Mincey probably has at least two years after this year, the Vols added four new offensive linemen in their 2022 recruiting class, and they have two committed for next year. They still probably need more help, but they should be fine up front without Herring.
As a result, neither player is a huge loss for the Vols, and fair or not, that probably makes the dismissals an easier decision. They were necessary, though, regardless.
