KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee coach Derek Dooley is so pleased with how the Volunteers freshmen linebackers are playing he told position coach Peter Sirmon not to bother with coaching them.
Curt Maggitt and A.J. Johnson appear to be working their way toward starting jobs at outside linebacker, flanking senior Austin Johnson at the positions that were among the Vols' biggest questions heading into fall camp.
``They look really good,'' Dooley said. ``They're going to help us. They're big, they're physical, they love ball, they're smart. That's how you want them. I hope they can stay that way and we don't ruin them.''
The Vols had already graduated starters Nick Reveiz and LaMarcus Thompson when Herman Lathers broke his ankle in June. Lathers, now a redshirt junior, started 12 games last season but also missed spring practice to recover from shoulder surgery..
With Lathers out for at least the first quarter of the season, Dooley moved Austin Johnson from the middle to the outside. Coming out of spring practice, senior Daryl Vereen and sophomore John Propst appeared to be the front runners for the other two spots.
A few looks at Maggitt, a West Palm Beach, Fla., native and A.J. Johnson, a native of Gainesville, changed the coaches' minds about that. Defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox said the pair still make occasional rookie mistakes but have still managed to impress while playing against offensive veterans.
``Picking it up as quick as they have has been impressive,'' defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox said. ``When they step out on the field, they don't act like freshmen. That's a good thing, because when you go and play the teams we're going to play, they could care less if you're a freshman or if you're a senior. Getting them acclimated quickly has been a huge thing for us.''
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Maggitt and 6-foot-3, 245-pound A.J. Johnson bring the size the Vols have been missing at linebacker for the past year. They've also managed to add some speed to the linebacker corps.
In Saturday's scrimmage, the second of fall camp, Maggitt was second on the team with six tackles, four of them for a combined loss of 17 yards. A.J. Johnson had five tackles.
The duo also fit well at the two outside spots, freeing up Austin Johnson to anchor the middle as Dooley had hoped he would.
The freshmen, they know what they're doing, and I don't have to correct them much,'' Austin Johnson said. ``I know I'm a senior and I have two young guys next to me right now, so I feel like I need to be in the middle to kind of command the whole defense and be a leader of our defense.''
Austin Johnson logged three tackles and a quarterback hurry during the Saturday scrimmage. Dooley also likes his command in the middle.
``We think he has better production at mike (linebacker),'' Dooley said. ``We also feel like he has the best command for the defense for the calls. He has senior leadership. That's kind of what you want out of your mike linebackers. Hopefully, these two freshmen will continue to perform the way they have been performing and if they do, we can keep Austin in the middle.''
Thursday
April 24th, 2025
3:55AM
