Tennessee Volunteers fans celebrated when the team landed five-star edge-rusher Chaz Coleman from Penn State via the transfer portal.
Coleman played sparingly as a freshman at Penn State last season, totaling 15 pressures, 10 hurries, six tackles, four QB hits, three tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries, one sack, one forced fumble, and a pass defended, according to Pro Football Focus.
But the excitement around his arrival on campus died down when Coleman no-showed UT’s voluntary workouts. Coleman recently deleted his Instagram account, and with no details coming out about his status, Vols fans were likely rocked by the news this weekend that Coleman had reportedly been dismissed from the team.
“Chaz Coleman, a young man who came in out of the transfer portal from Penn State —a talented player, but young and inexperienced,” ex-Vols assistant coach Doug Matthews said on 104.5 The Zone. “But he really was being counted on probably to be a starter at edge-rusher, I would think.
“[He’s] no longer with the program. I think it’s probably pretty mutual, but he was dismissed this past week after I think about as good an effort as Coach (Josh) Heupel and this staff could have [made] to keep him there. It didn’t work out. Those things happen.”
The Coleman news hasn’t been confirmed by any other news outlets, but Matthews is known to be still well-connected with the Tennessee football program.
If Coleman is, indeed, done with UT, it’s a bad look for the school. This marks the second straight offseason the Vols have dealt with issues regarding a high-profile player. Just last offseason, Tennessee lost former five-star quarterback Nico Iamaleava following an NIL dispute.
Iamaleava ended up transferring to UCLA, and the Vols grabbed ex-UCLA signal-caller Joey Aguilar in the transfer portal to replace him.
The details of Coleman’s personal situation isn’t known, but if there was another issue with the NIL Money owed to him, it could have potential ramifications on future negotiations with other top recruits and transfers.
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