Tennessee has lacked depth on defense under Josh Heupel.
Heupel has turned his attention to bringing in contributing pieces. This has been done by adding talent through high school recruits and the transfer portal.
A player that joins the team in the hopes of making an immediate impact is senior transfer Gabe Jeudy-Lally.
Jeudy-Lally joins the team after playing a season in Provo with BYU.
He played in 13 games while starting in 10 in his lone season with the Cougars. During this time, Jeudy-Lally recorded 47 tackles, 0.5 sacks and seven pass breakups.
Now, he is asked to step up as a veteran within the Vols' secondary.
"I didn't come here to prove anything in my honest opinion," said Jeudy-Lally. "I came here to do my job at the end of the day. We need help in certain areas and I'm coming to help in those certain areas if it means teaching guys, if it means getting on the field, if that means making the plays that need to be made, that's what I came here to do."
Although Jeudy-Lally doesn't necessarily feel he needs to prove himself, he still has high standards.
He hasn't been a part of a national contender in his career and he wants to change that. He also hopes to give himself a chance to compete at the next level.
"The reason why I chose Tennessee is overall the goal that they have to reach a National Championship," said Jeudy-Lally. "And I think that Coach (Willie) Martinez, Coach (Tim) Banks they really develop guys. Seen the guys they've put in the league."
This change of teams means he will have to get used to a number of new aspects in his life.
However, whether it is the new playbook or new teammates, Jeudy-Lally hasn't had much trouble adapting. He says that his teammates have accepted him with open arms and the Vols' terminology hasn't been an issue.
Another helpful factor is his experience before landing at BYU. To open his career, he spent three seasons at Vanderbilt where he played in 23 games.
"When it comes to the defensive aspect, what some people call black, other people call purple. Learning the defense isn't the hard part," said Jeudy-Lally. "It's more so learning about the people that are here. I'd say this transition has been a lot easier for me. I lived in Tennessee before, been in Tennessee before. It's nice to be in a place I kind of understand a little bit better."
This time as a Commodore has led to Jeudy-Lally getting a view of Tennessee on the field.
In fact, in 2020, he even intercepted JT Shrout when the teams squared off in Nashville.
"I wouldn't say too much of a conversation piece but when guys ask me about plays I've made before it's a little bit of a joke," said Jeudy-Lally. "It's cool to say I'm one of the only guys on the team to be able to have done that."
Jeudy-Lally doesn't come to Tennessee alone, though. Fellow BYU transfer Keenan Pili also made the move to Knoxville this off-season.
After spending a season as teammates last year, Jeudy-Lally has nothing but positives to say about the linebacker.
"Tennessee is getting a great leader on and off the field," said Jeudy-Lally. "A guy that can make plays wherever. You can turn on the tape and that guy's a human highlight tape, to be honest with you. I think that he's going to come in and be a leader all around in all aspects in what he does."
With a healthy amount of defensive backs on the roster, it is unclear exactly how Jeudy--Lally will fit in. Coach Willie Martinez has said that everyone on the team is being forced to compete for snaps.
However, Jeudy-Lally has already shown to be an impactful player at college football's highest level. Due to this, he shouldn't have an issue finding time on the field.
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