Josh Heupel, the coach of Tennessee football, had high hopes for injured running back Cam Seldon’s early 2024 season return.
“His rehabilitation process has gone incredibly well,” Heupel stated on Wednesday at the Chattanooga Convention Center’s Big Orange Caravan.
“He’s done a fantastic job of adhering to the guidelines set forth by our medical staff. We anticipate that he will stay healthy throughout the summer and be prepared for action when it starts.”
The speed at which Seldon heals from a shoulder injury sustained during spring practice will determine whether or not UT adds a running back, something the team hasn’t done yet.
Heupel stated on March 27 that “we’ll kind of evaluate where we’re at as the rehab process gets started and base our decisions off that and project where he’s going to be.” Schools can still sign players who are already in the transfer portal, but UT has not indicated that it will do so. Dylan Sampson is the starting running back, but who is RB2? The Vols’ depth in the backfield may be a concern given that Jaylen Wright and Jabari Small are joining the NFL, and Seldon and freshman Peyton Lewis are recovering from offseason surgeries.
is unclear—at least until Seldon comes back.
UT’s opening-month opponents are Chattanooga, North Carolina State (in Charlotte), Kent State, and Oklahoma, where running back depth may be an issue.
Seldon is the most seasoned running back for UT other from Sampson, but that doesn’t say much. Seldon ran for 106 yards on 25 carries as a rookie last season.
At the conclusion of spring practice, DeSean Bishop, a two-time Mr. Football candidate at Karns, was the backup running back. He was injured in 2023 and missed his freshman season.
The 6-foot-1, 233-pound Khalifa Keith is also included. In his rookie season of the previous year, he ran for 24 yards on 11 carries.
Lewis was a four-star recruit in the class of 2024. He signed up in January, but due to surgery to fix an earlier injury, he was limited in spring practice.
Lewis is currently unknown, but Heupel is enamored with his skill. In August, Lewis will be fully fit for preseason drills.
“Well, aside from the in-game assessment we had the opportunity to witness (during recruiting), we haven’t actually seen him live or in person either.” Heupel
stated. “However, I thought our second half of spring ball was really good. He wasn’t in communication, but he could participate in a good portion of our pre-practice walkthroughs and some of the inside-the-practice drills.
“(He’s) a young player who’s got to really push this summer to master it before he gets to put a helmet and shoulder pads on for us.”
Only four running backs with a four-star transfer grade entered the spring transfer window, according to 247Sports portal rankings. Damien Martinez will transfer from Oregon State to Miami; ESPN reported that Martinez turned down a NIL offer of $400,000 to remain at Oregon State, so it would have likely cost UT’s collective a lot to serve as Sampson’s sidekick. Dylan Edwards will transfer from Colorado to Kansas State. Jordan Wright, an Arizona transfer, appears headed to Washington. Penny Boone briefly looked like a potential option for the Vols.
According to Rivals.com, UT got in touch with him once he went through the gateway. When Boone was at Toledo the previous season, he was named the MAC Offensive Player of the Year.
However, a number of sources state that Boone is having issues with his academic record since he is trying to transfer to a fourth institution. He attended Toledo for two years and Maryland for two years. After spring practice, he re-entered the portal after relocating to Louisville in January.
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