The Tennessee Volunteers are scheduled to report for preseason football practice Tuesday, with the first workout set for Wednesday morning.
A couple of veteran players will not be among them.
Sixth-year senior tight end Austin Pope and fifth-year offensive lineman Riley Locklear have decided not to be a part of Josh Heupel's first season in Knoxville due to lingering medical issues. Pope underwent a second procedure for a herniated disc last summer that resulted in him sitting out last season, while Locklear was banged up throughout last season and played very sparingly.
Pope, a 6-foot-4, 235-pounder from Knoxville, played in 33 career games with 14 starts, notching seven receptions for 85 yards. Most of that production came on a 55-yard catch at Florida as a redshirt sophomore in 2018. After graduating last December, Pope entered the NCAA transfer portal but elected to remain with the program before spring practice.
Locklear was a four-star signee in 2017, the year after Pope, and started as a freshman during the two games Brady Hoke served as interim coach, which were losses to LSU and Vanderbilt. The 6-4, 300-pounder from Huntington, West Virginia, played in 10 games overall during his first two years and 11 more in 2019, when he started against Georgia State and Georgia.
All four of Locklear's career starts were at right guard, and he also served as a backup center.
Perry commits
Tennessee received its 12th commitment for the 2022 signing cycle Saturday, landing a nonbinding pledge from linebacker Kalib Perry of Georgetown, Kentucky.
The 6-4, 215-pounder is a three-star prospect, according to 247Sports.com, which ranked him as the nation's No. 80 linebacker and the No. 829 overall recruit. He selected the Vols over Purdue, with Cincinnati and Kentucky also in the picture.
Half of Tennessee's commitments publicly announced in July.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.