Rickey Gibson III more ‘confident’ in second season with Vols

The Tennessee defensive back, who worked his way into a role in the Vols’ often-times depleted secondary as a freshman less than five months ago is more comfortable with the defense, his place in it and more importantly, himself.

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Gibson had to do a lot of growing up in a short amount of time.

A four star prospect in the 2023 signing class, Gibson arrived on campus during Tennessee’s Orange Bowl prep in December 2022.

By November 2023, Gibson was seeing increased playing time at cornerback. After some injuries and transfer portal losses, he made his first start in the Vols’ 35-0 Citrus Bowl rout of Iowa on Jan. 1 and now in his second spring, he is competing for a full-time starting spot.

"(Gibson) is a lot more confident. He's smart, but he's more comfortable in the package itself,” Tennessee defensive backs coach Willie Martinez said. “He knows what his strengths are; he knows the things he needs to work on, and if he can work on the things that are weak right now in his game. His attention to detail is there.”

Gibson appeared in 12 games last season, mainly serving on special teams and as a reserve defensive back that made a couple of plays in clean-up duty through the first half of the season.

Late in the season, though he was playing more significant snaps. Gibson was on the field for 12 snaps and recorded his first career pass breakup against top-ranked Georgia on Nov. 18. A week later, he played 39 snaps, gave up just one reception and recorded three tackles in a win over Vanderbilt.

"I think the biggest difference is just my confidence. I feel like I can play more, play a little more physical and actually play with the guys now," Gibson said. "When I first got here, I was kind of going too fast. I had to lock in a little bit more, but I would say my confidence."

Gibson now looks the part. He has beefed up by more than 10 pounds, weighing in 185 pounds this spring according to the official roster after arriving at around 170 when he first arrived in Knoxville by way of Hewitt-Trussville High School near Birmingham last year.

He's playing with more confidence and understanding, too, but what Gibson has zeroed his focus on in the first seven of 15 spring practices is his reliability.

"I think I have to be more reliable," Gibson said. "Just know that when they throw the ball to my side of the field, it will be incomplete, everybody will know it's incomplete and they don't have to worry about that side, so Coach (Tim) Banks can be more aggressive on calling the calls because our defensive line is so good. Let us get into their faces a little bit more."

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Aggressiveness has been one of the themes of spring practice, especially with playing time seemingly up for grabs.

Tennessee lost seven players from its secondary to the transfer portal and one to the NFL Draft while two more exhausted their eligibility from the 2023 team. Of the departures, three were starters.

To fill the void, the coaching staff signed four defensive backs in Boo Carter, Edrees Farooq, Kaleb Beasley and Marcus Goree Jr., all of which enrolled early. They also added some experience in transfer additions Jakobe Thomas and Jermod McCoy.

Gibson is expected to start at the other corner position opposite McCoy, who transferred in after playing in 12 games as a true freshman at Oregon State in 2023, but Gibson isn't taking that as a forgone conclusion.

"The culture has been very competitive," Gibson said. "We don't want any balls thrown over our heads at all, so we have to push them at the practice field. We have to get into their (the receivers) faces and press. I'd say it is very competitive."

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