Several local players finding success at UT
- Wyeth Wilson
- May 14, 2015
- 2 min read
Knoxville may not be known for producing the best high school football players, but in recent years, several local prospects have become valuable contributors to Tennessee’s football team.
When South-Doyle graduate Jocquez Bruce joins the Vols in the fall, he will become part of a 12-man group of Knoxville area players that are made up of walk-ons as well as scholarship players.
The trend of local players is not confined to this year’s roster.
Devrin Young (Bearden), Jacob Gilliam (Farragut), and Daniel Hood (Knoxville Catholic) are just a few of the large group of local players that have played for UT in the past couple of seasons.
This year’s group of local players on the Vols’ roster includes several players that will make valuable contributions.
One of those players is sophomore wide receiver Josh Smith.
After an extremely successful career at CAK, where he racked up more than 4,000 receiving yards and 52 receiving touchdowns, Smith got off to a slow start at Tennessee.
His freshman season in 2013 consisted of 12 catches for 182 yards and a touchdown in 11 games played, but drops (sometimes in key situations) plagued Smith’s inaugural season for the Vols.
In 2014, Smith started the season very strong as one of UT’s starting wide receivers, but his season was cut short after just three games.
Smith’s fellow CAK alum Kendrick has saw limited action during last season, his first season.
Kendrick started against Arkansas State and Alabama last season, and has a very good shot at earning a starting position on the offensive line for this season.
While Kendrick and Smith were starting their football careers, just one mile down the road, Todd Kelly Jr. was beginning his at the Webb School of Knoxville.
Kelly was one of Tennessee’s prized recruits for the 2014 class, as a consensus four-star safety recruit.
In his only season with the Vols, Kelly recorded 33 tackles and three interceptions, the most interceptions by a Tennessee freshman since Eric Berry.
He was named to the Freshman All-SEC team in 2014.
The most experienced of the current local Vols is offensive lineman Kyler Kerbyson.
Kerbyson came to the University of Tennessee from Knoxville Catholic as a three-star prospect.
Kerbyson was named Tennessee Mr. Football AAA Lineman of the Year in 2010, and also earned TSWA All-State honors during his senior season.
At UT, Kerbyson did not see much action until this past season, but he saw lots of it.
Kerbyson started 13 games on the offensive line at three different positions, and was one of the only things holding the Vols’ front together.
Kerbyson’s contributions, as well as his fellow local players, were very important last season for Tennessee.
And while the states of Georgia, Florida, and Texas always may always be known for producing the best high school talent, Kerbyson, Kelly, Kendrick, and Smith have given the Tennessee football team a local boost.
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