At various points of his football career, Rashaan Gaulden had made carrying a team on his back appear easy. He wasn’t about to let carrying a scooter slow him down.

Even on one leg.

Even up stairs.

Especially not on Rocky Top.

Thus was the commitment to the rehabilitative process after Gaulden last August shattered his left foot so badly that it required surgery to insert a rod along the bottom of his foot.

“The way I can put it right now is I just basically destroyed my foot. I had a pin in the bottom of my foot and I could not weight bear,” said Gaulden, who praised the efforts of staffer Jenna Kennedy in his rehab. “I was riding around on that scooter and just having that thought, ‘I can’t walk right now.’ And then just hearing about different guys who had that injury who never could recover and play the game again, like Maurice Jones-Drew. That kind of just gave me that mindset that, ‘You know what? I’m just going to attack this.’ I did have some very dark days but at the end of the day, I just really told myself, ‘I’m going to fight through anything. I don’t want anybody to feel sorry for me. I’m going to get out there and overcome this.’

“That was a good workout for my right leg, scooting up hills. Also like I have places to be where it has steps, so I had to grab my scooter, hold it on the side of me and hop up the steps with my one leg. So, I mean, those are things that some people don’t see but it was tough, just even getting around sometimes.”

Signs of those struggles are nowhere to be seen this spring for Gaulden, who’s fluorishing in a move from nickel to safety in the defensive system of new coordinator Bob Shoop.

“Rashaan adds a whole other level of physicality, not just on the defensive side of the ball but on special teams, too,” Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. “He's getting back now with the overall discipline with being able to play safety, key your reads — see a little, see a lot — and the eye discipline. But he's one of our best tacklers on defense and he plays with a high level of physicality and mentality.”

Added Darrin Kirkland Jr., “Really just athleticism, toughness; he brings a different type of mindset to our secondary that really helps out a lot, him in the back end. Me and Rashaan, he sits right behind me at safety. He’s hungry; he really hasn’t gotten to play college ball yet, aside from teams, so he’s really just excited to be out there on the field.”

The details of the injury suffered that Thursday late in the Vols’ preseason camp have lingered for Gaulden, a former four-star prospect and part of Tennessee’s bumper crop of in-state talent who signed with Jones in 2014 and appeared that season in 11 games.

“Funny background story, I got injured and that same day Tim Miller was the first person to see me in the training room,” Gaulden said of the Vols’ chaplain. “My faith has grown huge since I got here; Tim has been a key part of my life. Just being able to have those talks with him, spiritually, and just like being able to show up at his house at unknown times and being able to see his kids and interact with them. You really see who’s there for you as a person.”

Similarly, Gaulden saw a new side of his secondary coach, Willie Martinez, and learned also to view the game he’s played since age 4 from a different perspective.

“I won’t lie, during my injury I had some of my darkest days that I’ve ever been faced with,” he told VolQuest.com. “Just sitting out a full year, having to see your teammates put everything they have on the line and you’re sitting here, you can’t do anything to benefit them. It’s really tough.

“Coach Martinez, he was on me. I feel like he was one of my major support systems during the injury. Made me feel still involved, like I was a critical part of the defensive backs. Just him getting me the role to be able to coach up Malik, who jumped into my position and he just excelled from week to week. Him giving me that role and showing that he cared about me, it really just … I kind of gave up the being sad or feeling sorry for myself. I kind of found a purpose, even though I was injured.”

Gaulden had steady help and motivation from teammates Todd Kelly Jr. and Derek Barnett, among others; he said All-SEC cornerback Cam Sutton’s decision “to honor me by switching his number (to Gaulden’s 7) also was another reason that helped to get through the injury.”

“Definitely leaned on family, just a tremendous amount of family prayers, my mom (Cassandra) and my dad (Reynold) just sticking with me through the injury,” Gaulden said. “It was really tough on them, but you know it’s an opportunity.

“I just feel like with how I was coming on from spring and fall camp, God halted me. He told me my time is not yet. I feel like He’s calling me to a higher purpose and I feel like if I continue to grow and do everything for Him, I’ll have a great season.”