‘I think they expected him to be back at Tennessee this coming year’ – Vols suffered a departure they didn’t see coming 6 months ago

When the Tennessee Vols landed cornerback Colton Hood as a transfer addition from Colorado last May, it was viewed by fans and media as a somewhat under-the-radar move. Hood was essentially insurance for the Vols in case cornerback Jermod McCoy wasn’t ready to go early in the season. McCoy, who tore his ACL early last […]

Zach Ragan — Tennessee Volunteers News Writer
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When the Tennessee Vols landed cornerback Colton Hood as a transfer addition from Colorado last May, it was viewed by fans and media as a somewhat under-the-radar move.

Hood was essentially insurance for the Vols in case cornerback Jermod McCoy wasn’t ready to go early in the season.

McCoy, who tore his ACL early last offseason, ended up missing all of 2025. Additionally, Vols cornerback Rickey Gibson, who will play for the Texas A&M Aggies in 2026, missed nearly all of the 2025 season after suffering a season-ending injury in Tennessee’s first game of the year.

As a result, Hood went from being an insurance policy to being the Vols’ top cornerback before halftime of the season-opener.

And he made the most of the snaps he received — Hood is projected by most outlets as a late first round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Tennessee never expected to only have Colton Hood for one season

Hood arrived in Knoxville with two seasons of eligibility remaining. And Tennessee expected that Hood would be a two-year player for the Vols.

It only took a few games, though, for Tennessee to realize that Hood was destined for the NFL after the 2025 season.

“No, I think they expected him to be back at Tennessee this coming year,” said VolQuest’s Brent Hubbs Friday on Ramon and Will when asked if UT’s coaching staff expected Hood to be as good as he was. “Because when you brought him in, he was almost a little bit of a security blanket. And the thought was he was going to be the guy who would play corner if Jermod McCoy wasn’t ready at the start of the year — which most people thought he wouldn’t be. And then he was going to be kind of a security blanket for Boo Carter if Boo Carter didn’t take off.

“And it ended up that, obviously, McCoy didn’t play. Hood got all the snaps — he played well. Colton Hood’s decision to come to Tennessee is going to make him a ton of money. Not just because Tennessee developed him well and that type of thing, he just got so many quality snaps against good competition, week in and week out. And he was a model of consistency. I mean, that’s a guy that everybody at Tennessee, come late September or first of October, everybody went, ‘Oh, he’s not going to be back, is he?’ And you’re like, ‘Nope, he ain’t coming back.’ He’s going to be a guy who his stock, if he stays healthy, was going to be too high for him to even think about returning for another year. He is a great example of the transfer working out exactly the way he had hoped and exceeding the hope of the coaches at the school he went to.”

That’s a tradeoff that Tennessee will take every time. If the Vols continue to land transfer players that end up being so good after one season that they have no choice to declare for the NFL Draft, well, I think that’s a “problem” that Tennessee wouldn’t mind facing every offseason.

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