New Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, right, is confident the Vols have lots of good options in their secondary, including Stephen Griffin, center left.Gaddy brothers pick Tennessee
Tennessee added some serious beef to its 2017 recruiting class Tuesday when brothers Breyon and Brandon Gaddy committed to the Volunteers out of Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School in Virginia Beach, Va.Breyon, a 6-foot-5, 335-pound defensive tackle, picked Tennessee over finalists Clemson, Georgia, Florida State and Southern California, and he’s in a similar mold to current Vols defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie from a size and athletic standpoint. At 6-5 and around 280 pounds, Brandon is a little bit smaller yet more versatile, as the three-star prospect has played multiple positions for his high school team and could play on either line in college.After signing only two junior college transfers in 2016, Tennessee has made the defensive line a big priority in the 2017 class, and the Gaddy brothers, assuming they end up playing there, give the Vols six projected defensive linemen. The Vols already have a strong duo of tackles committed in four-star prospects Eric Crosby and Kivon Bennett. Defensive end Tre Lawson and jumbo athletes LaTrell Bumphus and Marquez Bembry are the other projected defensive linemen.
KNOXVILLE – Bob Shoop’s debut game as Tennessee’s defensive coordinator remains another six weeks away, but the Volunteers continue to forecast it in the same terms they did during spring practice a few months ago.
The two defensive players Tennessee took to SEC media days last week touted Shoop’s impact this offseason and spoke glowingly of the coach tasked with turning a solid defense into a championship one.
“He’s not really just building around himself, but what’s comfortable for the overall team and the overall defense,” cornerback Cameron Sutton said last week. “It was great that we were able to keep a lot of the things the same and still be productive installing new things as well as what we’ve done before and building off that to make the defense better.”
With so much pressure this season on the Vols to win – and for the defense to redeem itself after last season’s crunch-time collapses – the plan under Shoop is to crank up the pressure.