Max Johnson's fourth down desperation throw into the middle of the field ricocheted off of Kamal Hadden's finger tips.
The ball hung in the air before falling into Hadden's grasp and for the second-straight game, the Tennessee defensive back had made a game-defining interception to secure a 20-13 victory over Texas A&M at Neyland Stadium.
For Hadden, it was another example of his development since last season. He has put together his most productive campaign yet as a senior in the Vols' secondary and has shown consistency at corner.
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Being healthy has helped.
In Hadden's three seasons at Tennessee since transferring in from Independence Community College in 2021, he hadn't made it through a complete spring camp until this past spring.
Those 15 practices six months ago have paid off in Hadden's development into the top defensive back on Tennessee's roster through six games.
"Well, everybody has a developmental progress," Tennessee defensive backs coach Willie Martinez said. "Everybody will develop at certain stages in their lives, quicker or obviously it's going to take a little bit of time. Obviously, we know if somebody that had talent, that was talented, was athletic and we knew that (Hadden) had the skills just working, preparing. This is his third year.
"He actually, because of injuries, this was his first time ever going through spring ball in developing. Obviously, he took it through summer and in fall camp. Now he's put it to work in the games on a more consistent basis."
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Hadden leads the team with eight pass breakups and ranks fifth in total tackles with 20. He has three interceptions on the season, including one returned for a touchdown that provided the Vols with a two-score lead just before halftime in their 41-20 win over South Carolina three weeks ago.
According to Pro Football Focus, Hadden is Tennessee's top rated pass defender, grading out at 90.3 in pass coverage with just 36% of passes being completed that are thrown his way.
"I've seen a guy (Hadden) that puts his head down and goes to work every single day," Tennessee defensive back Gabe Jeudy-Lally said. "A guy that has dominated, regardless of the situation. What we see when we're in the film room, we see a guy that's out there doing his job. Since I've been here, that's all I've seen. I'm proud of him and I'm proud of all of us."
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Hadden has taken outside criticism at times, particularly after Tennessee's loss to Florida earlier this season after he missed a critical tackle early in the game, but it didn't change his approach, which coaches and teammates have praised.
Martinez attributes that to the Vols' team culture over the last three years and Hadden's immediate buy-in.
"We have a great culture here," Martinez said. "I'm going to give credit to coach (Josh Heupel). When we first got here and to the time that where we are right now, we've got a great group of men and staff that we feel that just put their arms around each and every kid and not to single out just one guy. I think it's been the whole entire organization put their arms around each other and have helped each other and you need that no matter what whoever that might me. And Kamal, like everybody else, has bought in and you can see that. He's obviously gotten better each and every year, each and every day. I mean, in every phase of his life you see that.
"That was important for him and his family and that was the No. 1 goal of his. It was great to see that build some confidence...He has put a lot of work into it and, like a lot of us, if you put work into it and you stay focused and just try to win each day. He's done that."
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