Latest news with #SECDefensivePlayeroftheYear
USA Today
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Josh Heupel, two former Vols on 2026 College Football Hall of Fame ballot
Josh Heupel, two former Vols on 2026 College Football Hall of Fame ballot Tennessee football head coach Josh Heupel and two former Vols are on the 2026 College Football Hall of Fame ballot. Heupel, Larry Seivers and Deon Grant are on the ballot, which was released Monday. Heupel is appearing on the ballot for a sixth consecutive year. As a quarterback at Oklahoma, he was a first-team consensus All-American and won the 2000 BCS national championship. Seivers was a two-time first-team consensus All-American from 1975-76. In 1975, he became the first Tennessee wide receiver to eclipse 800 receiving yards in one season. Seivers was a two-time All-SEC standout for the Vols. Grant, a safety, played for the Vols from 1997-99 under head coach Phillip Fulmer. He was a member of Tennessee's 1998 BCS national championship team. Grant was a 1999 consensus First Team All-American and Jim Thorpe Award finalist. He helped the Vols win two SEC championships, and was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year by the Associated Press in 1999. Grant was a first-team all-conference performer as a junior after leading the SEC with nine interceptions. Following his career with the Vols, Grant was selected in the second round of the 2000 NFL draft (No. 57 overall) by Carolina. He played for the Panthers (2000-03), Jacksonville (2004-06), Seattle (2007-09) and the Giants (2010-11). Grant was a Super Bowl champion with New York. He recorded 776 career tackles, 6.5 sacks, 30 interceptions, 10 fumble recoveries and four forced fumbles. Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter).
USA Today
a day ago
- General
- USA Today
Broncos roster: Pat Surtain (No. 2) enters Year 5 as NFL's best cornerback
Broncos roster: Pat Surtain (No. 2) enters Year 5 as NFL's best cornerback Broncos Wire's 90-man offseason roster series continues today with a look at fifth-year cornerback Pat Surtain, No. 2. Before the Broncos: The son of former NFL cornerback Patrick Surtain Sr., PS2 played high school football in Florida before going on to star at Alabama. He was named a Unanimous All-American and the SEC Defensive Player of the Year after helping the Crimson Tide win a national championship in 2020. Surtain (6-2, 202) left college as one of the top cornerbacks in the nation. Broncos tenure: Denver used its first pick (ninth overall) to select Surtain in the 2021 NFL draft. He has been a star since Day 1, making PFWA's All-Rookie Team in 2021 before going on to earn Pro Bowl selections each year from 2022-2024. Surtain was named a first-team All-Pro in 2022 and 2024, winning Defensive Player of the Year last fall. The 25-year-old cornerback has totaled 232 tackles, 47 pass breakups, 11 interceptions (including two returned for touchdowns), two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery through four years (66 games) with the Broncos. Chances to make the 53-man roster: Lock. Surtain is the team's best player, and he will enter the 2025 season ready to defend his DPOY title. Already considered the best cornerback in the NFL, PS2 is entering his prime. Related: These 25 celebrities are Broncos fans.
USA Today
27-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Former UGA All-American accepts head coach role with Georgia high school
Former UGA All-American accepts head coach role with Georgia high school The Georgia football program often brings back former players to its coaching staff, with Jarvis Jones, currently the assistant outside linebacker coach, being one such example. Jones has now accepted the head coach position for the Carver-Columbus High School football team which is his alma mater. Jones had been at Georgia under Kirby Smart for six seasons. Jones was apart of the 2009 recruiting class, is a former four-star recruit, and won his high school's first state championship in 2007. He began his college career at USC before transferring to the Georgia Bulldogs. In just two seasons in Athens, he accumulated an impressive 28 sacks, 47 tackles for loss, and 168 tackles. His outstanding performance earned him SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2012, two-time consensus All-American status in both 2011 and 2012, and two selections to the First Team All-SEC. Jones was a first-round draft pick in the 2017 NFL draft. He spent the first four years of his NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he accumulated 128 tackles and four sacks. Jones played on Carver's first state championship-winning team in 2007 and returns in trying to lead the program to a third state title after earning a second in 2024. He will look to try to become a back-to-back state champion in his first season as a head coach. What Jarvis Jones said to his new team Jones spoke to his new team days after Pierre Coffey, who was Carver's head coach last season, accepted a new job. "It's gonna be hard work,' Jones said. 'It's gonna be dedication. We're gonna get it done, man. We're gonna find ways to get it done." Jones has gained a lot of valuable experience from Kirby Smart and the rest of the Georgia coaching staff over the years. He's ready to take the next step with a talented Carver squad that has three of the top 100 recruits in Georgia. "Everybody looks at the physical side of football, but once you start improving the mental side, it leads to longevity,' added Jones. 'That's what I want to build. I want to build young men, athletes second."
Epoch Times
10-05-2025
- Sport
- Epoch Times
Carolina Panthers Cut Former No. 1 Overall Pick, Jadeveon Clowney, After One Season
Jadeveon Clowney, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, is in search of a new job after the Carolina Panthers Clowney had signed a two-year deal with Carolina last offseason, bringing him to his hometown team as he was born and raised in South Carolina. The 32-year-old was expected to provide veteran leadership to the young Panthers and be a major contributor to a team that ranked last in the NFL with 27 sacks in the 2023 season. While Clowney's 5.5 sacks tied with A'Shawn Robinson for the most on Carolina, they tied for just 60th in the NFL. He was coming off a career-high-tying 9.5 sacks in the previous season with the Baltimore Ravens, and that's what Carolina thought it was getting. The veteran did up his production late in the season, with 4.5 sacks over his last six games, but that wasn't enough to warrant Carolina bringing him back at a Clowney's time with the Panthers seemed to be coming to an end based on the moves that Carolina made during the draft. The team picked two edge rushers on Day 2—Nic Scourton in the second round and Princely Umanmielen in the third round. Like Clowney, the two rookies were both first-team All-SEC selections in college. Scourton starred at Texas A&M after beginning his career at Purdue, while Umanmielen played last season at Ole Miss after beginning his career with Florida. Additionally, one of the Panthers' most notable free agent additions was also a pass rusher in Patrick Jones II, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings. He recorded 7.0 sacks last year, topping Clowney's total despite playing nearly 200 fewer snaps. With another former Viking, D.J. Wonnum, who had 4.0 sacks in his first year with Carolina in 2024, also on the roster, there simply wasn't room for Clowney at his salary. Clowney has played for six teams during his 11-year NFL career, which began with being the top pick by the Houston Texans in 2014. He was chosen over fellow pass rushers Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack, as well as All-Pro players such as Davante Adams and Mike Evans. He dealt with injuries during the start of his pro career, but managed to make the only three Pro Bowls of his career in Houston from 2016–18. Related Stories 5/8/2025 3/26/2025 He then became a journeyman, playing for five teams over the next six seasons. He spent one year in Seattle, one in Tennessee, two with the Cleveland Browns, then one in Baltimore before coming home to Carolina. One of the most distinguished players in the history of the South Carolina Gamecocks, Clowney was a two-time first-team All-American. In 2012, he was named both the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and won the Ted Hendricks Award, given annually to college football's top defensive end. He finished the 2024 season with 58 career sacks across 140 games. Clowney also has 15 forced fumbles, nine fumble recoveries, and three fumbles recovered for touchdowns. Those three scores after fumble recoveries are the most among all active players and are tied for the ninth-most in NFL history. The 32-year-old now joins a lengthy list of free-agent pass rushers. This offseason has also seen Von Miller cut by the Buffalo Bills, Matt Judon released by the Atlanta Falcons, and Preston Smith cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers after they acquired him in a November trade. The Panthers are coming off a 5-12 season, their sixth straight with double-digit defeats. They haven't made the playoffs since 2017, and Clowney's release wasn't the only notable transaction the team made on Thursday. It also placed running back Jonathon Brooks, a second-round pick in 2024, on the Physically Unable to Perform list. As a rookie, Brooks tore his ACL in just his third game, and he will miss the entire 2025 season. Brooks also tore his ACL in the 2023 season while in college, so the team is giving him extra time to rehab and recover. Carolina also parted ways with pass catcher Jordan Matthews, who began his career as a wide receiver with the Philadelphia Eagles but has tried to transition to tight end over the last few years. Another converted tight end, Colin Granger, was waived as he attempted to transition from one sport to another. Granger played five seasons of college basketball with three different schools and was attempting to parlay his hoops skills onto the gridiron. However, he lasted roughly a month with Carolina before being cut. All of these roster moves come on the eve of Carolina's
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
This Chargers rookie could surprise and exceed expectations in 2025
Most players selected in Round 3 or later aren't expected to contribute as much and are primarily relegated to reserve and/or on special teams duties in their rookie season. However, some later-round picks prove they belong, and for Pro Football Network, they believe Kyle Kennard falls under that category. Kyle Kennard is bringing length, burst, and production to the Chargers' front seven. After a dominant final season at South Carolina, where he earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors and captured the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Kennard enters the NFL as one of the most productive edge rushers in college football. His numbers reflect a player who consistently disrupted plays against high-level competition. Advertisement Los Angeles added Kennard in the fourth round to shore up an edge defender group with aging Khalil Mack and Bud Dupree, who are in the final year of their contract. Additionally, they needed more pass-rushing juice on the edge, which Kennard has shown to possess by dominating against good competition, which resulted in 11.5 sacks in his final collegiate season. Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu will be the starters during the 2025 season, while Kennard will begin as a third-down or situational rusher. But when he is on the field, the former South Carolina could make a huge impact, given how polished he is as a pass rusher. By Year 2, Kennard could start opposite Tuipulotu, especially if he becomes more refined as a run defender. This article originally appeared on Chargers Wire: This Chargers rookie could exceed expectations in 2025 season
