Former Vol who transferred after the 2025 season is a semifinalist for one of college football’s most prestigious awards
A former Tennessee Volunteers defensive back is a semifinalist for one of college football’s most prestigious awards.
A former Tennessee Vols defensive back who left Rocky Top after the 2025 season is a semifinalist for one of college football’s most prestigious awards.
Louisville safety Kaleb Beasley, who spent the first two seasons of his career at Tennessee, was named this week as a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, which is awarded to the top defensive back in college football.
Beasley is having a heck of a season at Louisville.
The former Vol has totaled 49 tackles and five interceptions in seven games this season.
Beasley’s five interceptions are tied for the most in FBS.
“Kaleb’s a good athlete, great young man, and a really good teammate,” said Louisville head coach Jeff Brohm this week. “He’s shown that from day one. I think he’s taken this role and ran with it. He has a very good knack for the football and the ability to make plays. He has good hands, for a defensive back, he can catch the football. And so when it’s gone his way, he’s made the play.
“He’s done a good job, and I just think his overall understanding of the game has been vital to his success. And that’s kind of critical as we proceed forward. Talent is extremely important, but also intelligence and the ability to play the game and understand it and react to the small things that happen throughout the game — with a good feel of how to have success and how to make the play. He has that, and he’s shown that, and he’s made some key interceptions for us.”
Earlier this year, Beasley pointed out that making the switch from cornerback to safety during his last season at Tennessee was big for him.
“My freshman year, I had two really good corners in front of me,” said Beasley before the season when asked about his time at Tennessee. “I had Jermod McCoy and Rickey Gibson, who’s at Texas A&M now. And Jermod plays for the Raiders. My sophomore year, we still had the same guys, and we weren’t as deep at safety. So I was big enough to play (safety). I could play man. I could play zone.
“So they ended up moving me to safety, and I feel like it was a really good thing for me. I honestly like safety better than corner. I get more vision on the quarterback. I get to come down to tackle and play in the box. And I get to cover the slot. So I like it.”
Beasley is a great example of how the transfer portal can be a good thing for players. Some players transfer to bad situations simply because of a big NIL opportunity. Beasley, however, found a good situation (I’m not sure what his NIL opportunity was at Louisville) and he’s taken his game to another level as a result.
