Podcast host Will Compton is one of the reasons why the Tennessee Vols’ defense has struggled in 2025
The Tennessee Vols are set to take on the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday night in Neyland Stadium.
The Tennessee Vols’ defense has been very feast or famine at times this season.
A year ago, the Vols had the No. 7 scoring defense in the nation.
Through eight games this season, Tennessee has the No. 114 scoring defense in the nation. The Vols, which allow the most passing yards per game in the SEC, have yet to hold a conference opponent to fewer than 30 points.
On the flip side, Tennessee has consistently created big plays (sacks, turnovers, tackles for loss). The Vols are fourth in the SEC in sacks, third in tackles for loss, ninth in interceptions, and first in forced fumbles. Tennessee has also scored five defensive touchdowns this season.
It hasn’t been all bad for the Vols’ defense, but it definitely hasn’t been as good as last year, either.
Tennessee is dealing with some injuries — specifically in the secondary (starting cornerbacks Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson are both still out) — but the defensive scheme from last year hasn’t changed. So what’s the deal? Why is Tennessee’s defense struggling to prevent teams from scoring?
I think it all comes down to executing consistently. Tackling and coverage, in particular, haven’t been consistently good.
One person to blame for that is Bussin with the Boys podcast host Will Compton.
Why Will Compton is one of the reasons why the Tennessee Vols’ defense has struggled in 2025
One of the big reasons I think Tennessee’s defense has struggled this season is, at times, a lack of energy.
“Energy” isn’t quantifiable, but as Georgia head coach Kirby Smart often points out, it’s a necessary ingredient to winning.
At times this season, Tennessee’s defense has looked like it’s had stretches where they were running on fumes and lacked energy (I thought this was evident during parts of the Alabama game). To be clear, I don’t think there are any culture issues with Tennessee’s defense, I just think the energy level has to be at 100 for all 60 minutes of a football game to win in the SEC. And maybe Tennessee’s energy level has been at 100 for, let’s say, 50 minutes of certain games.
Sometimes it takes an energetic coach on the sideline to get that last 10 minutes out of a team.
For the last several years, that coach at Tennessee was special teams coordinator/outside linebackers coach Mike Ekeler, a never-ending source of energy.
Ekeler, who was on Tennessee’s staff from 2021 to 2024, left Rocky Top this past offseason to return “home” to Nebraska.
Apparently, the main reason Ekeler had the opportunity to leave Tennessee was because Compton, a former Nebraska linebacker, stepped in to help make the change happen.
“It started off with Will Compton,” said Ekeler recently about how he ended up back at Nebraska. “When Coach (Matt Rhule) made the change, literally, Will Compton called me 30 seconds later and said, ‘Eck, you need to go home, man. You need to go back.’ He goes, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘You know, I’ll think about it.’ So he said, ‘I’m calling Coach Rhule.’ So that’s how it kind of started. So Will Compton was — it’s ironic, because he was the first player I ever recruited as a full-time coach when I was here at Nebraska. And so it kind of came back full circle.”
First of all, you gotta be happy for Ekeler. He’s from Nebraska. It made sense for him to take that job.
But I think Compton robbed the Vols of some of their sideline mojo. I don’t think it’s scheme or talent that Tennessee is missing this season (ok, maybe the scheme can be adjusted a little). I think it’s the juice to stay locked in for a full 60 minutes. I think Ekeler helped provide a lot of that juice.
Ekeler’s departure provided an opportunity for Josh Heupel to promote Levorn Harbin — AKA Coach Chop — to a full-time position coach role (outside linebackers). Harbin more than deserved that promotion. So there was some good that came from Ekeler’s decision to leave.
But man, I can’t help but think this team misses Ekeler’s energy on the sideline on game days.
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