Keenan Pili, Tennessee Football News: Draft Scout Player News

02/12/23 - ILB Keenan Pili, rSr/2025, Tennessee

Tennessee's third spring football practice of the Josh Heupel era should be the most appealing one yet for defensive coordinator Tim Banks, who was having to play catch-up with Heupel and all the other assistants two years ago and had to work last spring with a secondary ravaged by injury. "It's exciting," Banks said this week in a news conference. "We just didn't have a bunch of guys in the back end last year, and they were beat up in the fall for the most part before camp started, so knowing that a lot of those guys will be able to participate is obviously a good thing because you invest. We talk about compound interest a lot, and obviously the more reps they can get, the better it is for them and the program. "Do we have everybody ready to go? We don't know, but at this point it seems on paper that we'll have our lion's share of guys who will be able to contribute this spring."

Tennessee had one of the biggest defensive meltdowns in program history last Nov. 19, traveling to South Carolina with the chance of continuing its College Football Playoff hopes only to get humiliated 63-38, surrendering 606 yards and 35 first downs. The Volunteers responded, however, by smothering Vanderbilt 56-0 in Nashville and then thumping Clemson 31-14 in the Orange Bowl to complete an 11-2 season. Edge rusher Byron Young and linebacker Jeremy Banks are among the seven Tennessee players who soon will be heading to Indianapolis for the NFL combine, but the cupboard isn't bare for the defense, which also has three newcomers via the transfer portal. The arrivals have occurred at each level - defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott from Arizona State, linebacker Keenan Pili from Brigham Young University and cornerback Gabe Jeudy-Lally also from BYU. - Chattanooga Times Free Press

rSr/2025