KNOXVILLE – The reinforcements have started arriving, and more are still to come.
With the first session of summer classes and summer workouts set to begin this week, Tennessee’s football signing class has begun arriving on campus. Since February’s signing day, the 22 possible players have followed similar routines: finishing school, working out to stay in football shape and counting down the days until the expected move.
That’s especially true for the defensive signees, who see considerable opportunities to stake claims to spots on the depth chart, maybe even as starters.
“It’ll get interesting around here pretty quickly,” defensive backs coach Terry Joseph said last month.
Head coach Derek Dooley said after the Vols’ spring game that he wished the entire signing class could have gone through spring practice. Only six of the signees gained that advantage, and cornerback Justin Coleman was the lone early enrollee on defense.