Tennessee’s top acquisition through the NCAA transfer portal will not be suiting up for the Volunteers this fall.
Edge rusher Chaz Coleman, who played his freshman football season at Penn State before transferring to Knoxville, has been medically disqualified. The 6-foot-4, 246-pounder from Warren, Ohio, missed a majority of Tennessee’s 15 spring practices and did not compete in the Orange & White Game.
Coleman also showed up late for summer workouts.
“At the end of the day, he’s dealing with some things and has to work through some things,” Vols coach Josh Heupel said during his April 28 appearance at Riverdance Restaurant for the Big Orange Caravan. “When he’s able to do that, he’ll be back with us.”
On3.com was the first to report Coleman’s medical disqualification.
(SIGN UP: Get the daily sports newsletter in your email box by clicking here)
In his one season with the Nittany Lions, Coleman tallied eight tackles, three tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries, a sack and a forced fumble in 150 snaps. According to Pro Football Focus, he led all Football Bowl Subdivision freshmen with a pass-rushing grade of 90.3.
Coleman was rated as the No. 16 player and the No. 3 edge rusher in January’s two-week transfer portal window by 247Sports.com and was the highest-rated player among Tennessee’s new arrivals. By joining the Vols, he was reunited with Jim Knowles, his defensive coordinator from a year ago.
“Chaz is explosive, and he is difficult to block,” Knowles said in a February press conference. “He has a little bit of an invisible cloak, where he can twist and turn and beat guys one-on-one. He has great initial quickness off the ball.
“He’s a guy who can create havoc for an offense, and he really creates matchup issues.”
Coleman was one of two edge rushers Tennessee signed in the portal, with the other being Jordan Norman (6-4, 245) of Tulane.
Jones commits
Tennessee received a commitment Friday from four-star safety Marcus Jones, the nephew of former Vols receiver and return specialist Mark Jones, who spent six seasons (2004-09) in the NFL.
The 6-3, 190-pounder from Haverford, Pennsylvania, is the nation’s No. 22 safety and No. 262 overall prospect in the 247Sports.com team rankings. Jones is the 16th commitment for Tennessee, which has the No. 32 class according to 247Sports.
Baseball addition
The Tennessee baseball program has received a commitment from former Wright State outfielder Andrew Duncan, who hit .367 as a junior this past season with 11 doubles, eight triples, six home runs and 36 RBIs. His speed was not only reflected by his triples tally but his 19 stolen bases in 22 attempts.
In Wright State’s series at Tennessee in early March, the 6-1, 200-pounder from Dunedin, Florida, went 4-for-8.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.