Tennessee Vols linebackers coach William Inge said on Tuesday while speaking with reporters that he wishes he would’ve given a true freshman linebacker some snaps against the Georgia Bulldogs.

The Vols lost 44-41 to the Bulldogs in overtime this past Saturday in Knoxville.

Inge noted on Tuesday that he wishes he would’ve given Vols true freshman linebacker Jaedon Harmon some snaps in the loss.

Tennessee Vols linebacker Arion Carter played a lot of snaps against the Georgia Bulldogs

“If there’s one thing I would say looking over my shoulder that I wish I would have done is probably had Harmon in a few more plays from our side,” said Inge. “And that would have taken 10 to 15 reps off of AC (Arion Carter). But from us playing guys, I tell the guys, if you’re prepared and you’re ready, you’re going to have a chance to go in the game.”

Vols linebacker Arion Carter played 86 snaps against the Bulldogs. Linebackers Jeremiah Telander and Edwin Spillman each played 54 snaps while Ben Bolton received nine snaps.

Harmon, according to Pro Football Focus, didn’t play any defensive snaps against Georgia (Harmon played 14 snaps against Syracuse and 16 snaps against East Tennessee State).

Inge pointed out that Harmon does a lot of things on the field that don’t have to be coached.

“Just his level of preparation has been very good when it comes to him in the meeting room, but also the things he can do on the field,” explained Inge when asked further about Harmon. “You can see he shows flashes of being able to show up and being able to make some plays. And as coaches, we say he can do some things that we don’t have to coach. And that’s exactly what you love, because he’ll make a coach look really good — just from a skill set when he’s on the field.”

Harmon, a former four-star recruit from Rome, GA, was rated in 247Sports’ composite rankings as the No. 18 linebacker in the 2025 recruiting class.

I’d certainly expect for Harmon to receive more playing time moving forward for the Volunteers based on Inge’s comments this week.

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