Roman Harrison has always looked the part.
Now he’s acting it.
Ranked among the top 200 prospects nationally in the 2019 signing class, the 6-foot-2, 235-pound edge rusher from Bainbridge, Georgia, has played in 47 career games for the Tennessee Volunteers but has made just one start. Harrison spent the past two seasons as a backup at the “Leo” position to Byron Young, who was a third-round selection of the Los Angeles Rams in April’s NFL draft.
“Last year, I kind of realized that BY was going to be gone this season, so I felt like I needed to step up at that point then,” Harrison said this past week in a news conference. “At this point, it’s not just about bettering myself but bettering those around me. It’s about bringing those young guys along with me, because I want to make sure they’re ready to lead when I’m gone.”
The Vols practiced Saturday morning and will practice again Sunday morning, with the next media availability scheduled for Tuesday. Tennessee’s second preseason scrimmage is set for Wednesday.
Harrison enters his fifth season in Knoxville having compiled 88 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss and eight sacks, with his best work transpiring at the end of last year’s run to an 11-2 record and an Orange Bowl victory over Clemson. He earned Southeastern Conference defensive lineman of the week after tallying four tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two sacks during the 56-0 win at Vanderbilt in the regular-season finale and followed that with three tackles, including a lost-yardage stop, in Miami against the Tigers.
“Roman has played a lot of football for us,” Vols defensive coordinator Tim Banks said. “It’s funny, because when you go through the cut-ups, obviously BY had a tremendous season for us and he’ll be greatly missed, but Roman showed some flashes. He’s probably, pound for pound, one of the toughest players in this conference.
“For him, I think it will just be consistency and maybe playing a little bit smarter and cleaning up some things. He’s been a lot more consistent in what we’re asking him to do, and I think his overall knowledge has gotten a lot better.”
During his time at Bainbridge High School, it was easy for Harrison’s talents to shine. He racked up 188 tackles, 50 tackles for loss and 21 sacks for his career, and he was named Georgia’s Class 5A defensive player of the year in 2018 after leading the Bearcats to a state championship.
Once he arrived at Tennessee and experienced SEC competition, however, he encountered a lot of players who were the stars of their high schools.
“In this league, everybody is fast and everybody is strong, so it comes down to your will,” Harrison said. “It’s about your strain, because if you get beat on a block, are you going to try and beat it, or are you just going to stay there?
“It’s about being willing to finish, and that’s what it comes down to, because at this level, everyone is already physical and everybody is already fast and everybody is already strong, so that’s what separates you.”
Harrison heads a deep position containing sophomores Joshua Josephs and James Pearce and touted freshmen Chandavian Bradley and Caleb Herring. While he is happy to encourage and work with those edge rushers who are younger, he knows that leading by example with a big final season would be a win all the way around.
“We’re expecting him to have a really good year for us,” Banks said. “He’s one of the hardest workers on the team.”
Said Josephs: “Everybody has stepped up, but especially Roman. He’s progressing right in front of our faces.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.