Freshman edge rusher Kedric Golston II has started his first preseason camp at Tennessee with a rather unique goal.
Being more recognized than his father.
“It’s a lot of motivation,” Golston said Thursday in a news conference. “I’m ready to have my own name. When you type up Kedric Golston on the internet, he pops up first. I want my name to be up there first.
“I’ve told him that. I’ve told him that a lot.”
The elder Golston was a five-star signee for Georgia in 2002 who spent four years with the Bulldogs and was on Mark Richt’s Southeastern Conference championship teams in 2002 and 2005, serving as a captain in 2005. He then played 11 seasons with the NFL’s Washington Redskins.
During his time at Georgia, the 6-foot-4, 292-pound Golston was coached on the defensive front by Rodney Garner, who is now in his sixth year with Josh Heupel’s Volunteers and is helping coach Golston’s son.
Tennessee’s Golston is not as big as his father at 6-3, 243, and he was a three-star signee out of Stone Bridge High School in Leesburg, Virginia. He was coached at Stone Bridge the past two seasons by his father, and he was asked Thursday to compare his father’s coaching style to that of Garner.
“They’re both tough, but it’s all about love and respect,” Golston said. “They’re both going to tell you that they love you, but it’s going to be hard. They’re going to make you do it right.
“When I was on the field in high school, I called my dad Coach Golston.”
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Golston wore No. 87 for the Vols this spring but is now in No. 37.
“I just want to take all the progress I had this spring and stack these days to where I always have a plus day and never have a minus day,” he said. “If I’m setting the edge and no one gets by me, that’s a plus day.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.