This time last year, Ty Redmond was preparing for his freshman season as a Tennessee cornerback under the tutelage of defensive coordinator Tim Banks and secondary coach Willie Martinez while looking up to the more experienced likes of Jermod McCoy, Colton Hood and Rickey Gibson III.
Redmond is the only one of those who is still around.
“I’ve just been keeping the main thing the main thing,” Redmond said during a press conference in spring practice. “I came here for a reason. I fell in love with the school. I miss the coaches who were once here, but I love being at Tennessee.”
Much changed early last season for the 6-foot-2, 195-pounder from the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta. Just 19 defensive snaps into the season-opening win over Syracuse in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Gibson suffered an elbow injury that relegated him to the sideline the rest of the year along with McCoy, who never returned from his torn ACL in the offseason.
That resulted in Redmond in assuming the starting role opposite Hood for the final 12 games. Hood and McCoy wound up forgoing their remaining eligibility for the NFL draft, while Gibson entered the NCAA transfer portal and is now at Texas A&M, leaving Redmond as the most experienced returning corner.