Vols offer Oneida's Kolby Morgan as walk-on
Orange is natural for Oneida’s Kolby Morgan.
The 2-A athlete made plenty of game-changing plays donning the color the past four years for the nearby Indians’ program. Morgan plans to continue wearing orange as Tennessee offered the local product a walk-on spot Monday night in the 2021 class.
“It feels natural. It will be awesome to wear that orange my whole life,” Morgan told Volquest after receiving the news. “I’ve imagined running through the ‘T’ multiple times. I bet it’s crazy.”
Morgan capped a stellar career at Oneida this past fall – compiling over 1,300 yards with 16 touchdowns on the ground as a senior. He averaged just over seven yards a carry and finished with more than 1,600 all-purpose yards.
But the athlete made a name for himself as a punter, averaging 40.1 yards per punt in 2020. Tennessee views him as a guy who can help the specialists’ group and someone who could also find his way onto the field on special team units.
“He told me that he likes how I’m an explosive athlete who can punt the ball,” Morgan said of Tennessee Special Teams Coordinator Jay Graham. “He said he’d like to run a lot of fakes with me and throw me in some running back drills as well.
“We’ve been talking on the phone for the past couple of weeks. He knows I really wanted the chance to walk-on there. I think he was excited to give me the opportunity. I was just as excited as he was.”
Knowing the challenges of finding a way onto a Power 5 roster from a smaller school, Morgan put the work in as a punter. The athlete spent the past few summers going to kicking camp and performing in combines.
“I’ve worked on my consistency a ton. I would hit maybe five out of 10 really good balls but knew that wasn’t good enough. I knew they [colleges] were looking for consistency,” Morgan said. “I had to make sure I had the same drop over and over and was hitting balls more consistently – more like eight out of ten times.
“I feel like I’m pretty polished right now, but I know there is a lot I can still improve on - more directional stuff.”
Tennessee Special Teams Quality Control Analyst Carter Blount has been working Morgan for quite some time, along with Graham. The two would exchange texts and phone calls frequently with Morgan growing anxious as time went on.
“Coach Blount is the one that told me and every time we would text, I was hoping he would tell me it’s that [walk-on offer],” Morgan said. “When we spoke last, I felt like he was going to give me the opportunity and he did. It was super exciting, and I called and talked with coach Graham right after.”
Having the opportunity to play at UT is a dream come true for a local kid playing football in the Knoxville area. Not only was Morgan ecstatic when he got the news, but his family was, too.
“My dad is really excited. It’s something we have been talking about for a long time,” Morgan concluded. “We didn’t always know if this was going to happen – but he was always hoping it would. He is just really excited.”
Tennessee has seven specialists, including three punters, currently on the roster who could return for the 2021 season in Paxton Brooks, Joe Doyle and graduate transfer redshirt-senior Brett Graham.
