Life of early enrollees: A red tuxedo to TDS
‘They’ve gotten a feel for what this is actually like’
Just one week into his first spring football practice, Tennessee freshman Addison Nichols rushed home to Norcross, Georgia.
It wasn’t a family emergency, and he wasn’t homesick.
Instead, a red tuxedo jacket and a young lady awaited Nichols, the highest-rated recruit in UT’S 2022 class, at his high school prom. Later this spring, he’ll return to Greater Atlanta Christian School for his graduation ceremony.
Both are excused absences, approved by UT coaches to secure Nichols’ early enrollment.
“I didn’t miss too much (by finishing high school in December),” Nichols said. “Coaches let me go back for prom, and I’m going back for graduation. The two big things I needed, I got them.”
It was a small concession to get Nichols enrolled at least five months early. He’s one of 13 early enrollees on scholarship in UT’S spring practice, excluding Division I transfers. Twelve of them are freshmen.
They skipped their last semester of high school to get a head-start in college football. That was rare just a few years ago, but it’s quickly becoming common.
UT is one of five SEC teams to have double-digit freshmen enrolling early for spring practice, along with Georgia (18), Arkansas (18), Alabama (13) and Texas A&M (11). The other nine SEC teams average less than five freshmen enrolling early.
UT coach Josh Heupel believes it accelerates freshmen’s development.
“By the time they get to training camp (in August), they almost resemble the class before them more than they do the guys who just get here in June,” Heupel said.
‘Everybody should enroll early’
Enrolling early isn’t a last-minute decision. Players must plan their academic credits to graduate a semester ahead. Nichols said he started planning to enroll early once he received his first scholarship offer during his freshman year of high school.
Plus, they must be comfortable with missing the final few months of their senior year. Those are cherished moments for some students, but the experience may not be what it once was.
Because of COVID-19, many 2020 and 2021 high school graduates finished their senior year with online classes. And it’s become more common for students to leave their high school campus to take college classes, which lessens the interaction with their classmates.
It’s unclear how much that factored into the recent spike of early enrollment, but the upward trend is unmistakable. UT had 66 freshmen in the previous 10 years to enroll early (6.6 per year), but 12 this year.
“The decision to enroll early wasn’t hard at all,” freshman defensive lineman Jordan Phillips said. “Just being here on campus and having good academic support, it’s really helped out and given me a kickstart to my college career.”
Phillips graduated so early in December that he participated in a few practices before the Music City Bowl with the 2021 Vols team. The other early enrollees arrived in January, started offseason workouts and debuted in spring practice.
“It’s actually a great opportunity. I’m very blessed to be here now,” said freshman linebacker Elijah Herring, a former Riverdale standout. “I think everyone should enroll early if they have the chance.”
Early enrollees get an offseason before a season
Strength and size are usually the biggest differences between a freshman and sophomore in college football. An offseason in the weight room, typically after their freshman season, reaps those benefits.
But early enrollees get that growth before reaching their freshman season.
Heupel also thinks early enrollees make big strides by learning the playbook, correcting mistakes and acclimating to college life for a few months before games.
“They’ve had a full offseason, gotten installs (of the offensive and defensive schemes), had 15 days of real coaching on the grass (in spring practice),” Heupel said. “They understand how they need to grow. They get a chance to redigest all summer long and really propel themselves physically and mentally and technically into becoming the best player they can in almost eight months of work that leads them to training camp.”
In preseason camp, preparing the team for the season is more important that developing young players. That’s why assistant coaches are enjoying their work with freshmen in the spring.
“Being here early is awesome because they’ve gotten a feel for what this is actually like,” offensive coordinator Alex Golesh said. “I’m so excited about that freshman class we signed. There is a level of maturity, a level of consistency with that crew. They came in here to play, and that’s how they’ve attacked it.”
Defensive line coach Rodney Garner added: “When we get to fall camp, they’ll be more seasoned veterans, where they can hopefully have an opportunity to have some type of impact on our team.”
How these freshmen could play immediately
In the past 10 years, the Vols have had 66 freshmen enroll in January rather than wait until summer. And 34 of them, or 52%, made a notable impact in their first season.
Running back Jalen Hurd (2014), offensive lineman Trey Smith (2017), cornerback Alontae Taylor (2018) and offensive lineman Wanya Morris (2019) were among the best early enrollees as freshmen.
With one week remaining in spring practice, there are hints that early work might pay off for freshmen in their first season.
Nichols has worked at center, a position he has never played. If the spring experiment goes well, he could be Cooper Mays’ backup and probably play meaningful snaps.
Four freshman wide receivers are in spring practice. Chas Nimrod and Marquarius “Squirrel” White have stood out, but all four have benefitted from playing in UT’S up-tempo offense and learning the playbook.
Running back Justin Williamsthomas may factor into the rotation if he can learn his responsibilities in pass protection.
Spring has allotted extra time for that task.
Heupel has tweaked his plan for player leadership by implementing a sort of big brother-little brother approach. Herring has gotten a head-start in that leadership role, which may show results in the fall.
Phillips has gotten in better shape, a result of his early practices and the team’s nutrition and weight training program.
Quarterback Tayven Jackson, a fourstar signee, may compete with five-star commitment Nico Iamaleava for the starting job next spring, so any headstart helps.
Because Jackson is in spring practice, he is going through the playbook in live action five months earlier than if he had waited for preseason camp. Quarterback coach Joey Halzle said Jackson didn’t miss a play call during a gradual installation of the offense in the first two weeks.
It allows Jackson and others to get a bigger dose of the scheme in August. Early enrollment provides the luxury of taking their time.
Reach Adam Sparks at adam.sparks@knoxnews.com and on Twitter @Adamsparks.