Several Tennessee football alums convened a reunion around the Orange & White Game at Neyland Stadium last month.
Coach Josh Heupel, who took over the beleaguered program in January, mentioned their presence afterward, singling out one former player in particular: linebacker Al Wilson.
“It’s a big year for him, being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame,” Heupel said.
“Obviously he’s one of the (greatest) that has ever played here, so getting the opportunity to get to know him and who he is and what he’s about and what he’s giving back to Tennessee football. It was a great opportunity to get to spend some time with him.”
Heupel couldn’t speak of another linebacker who was in attendance. At the time, he wasn’t a Vol yet.
Juwan Mitchell also took in the spring game. The 6-foot-1, 225-pounder led Texas in tackles last season with 62. He opted to enter the transfer portal a month ago.
Mitchell’s presence had nothing to do with nostalgia. He was focused on the current state of Tennessee football. As he told GoVols247: “I just wanted to see how players are taking the program, taking the game and stuff like that.”
Apparently, Mitchell liked what he saw. On Monday, he committed to the Vols.
“Let’s ride,” Mitchell said via Twitter. “Can’t wait to ball out in front of 103,000 every Saturday.”
While Mitchell might have been overly optimistic about the size of his audience, there’s no underselling his importance to this UT. The Vols lost former starting linebackers Henry To’o To’o and Quavaris Crouch to transfer. Crouch already has exited the portal, landing at Michigan State.
With Jeremy Banks and Roman Harrison limited by injury this spring, Tennessee’s linebacker ranks were depleted to the point where long snapper Will Albright took practice reps at the position.
“Based on our numbers, he wanted to do what he could to help our program,” linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary said of Albright.
Mitchell will help in a lot of ways. He’s capable of playing multiple linebacker positions. He’s had 13 starts in the past two seasons for the Longhorns. He’s had eight tackles for lost yardage, three sacks, broke up five passes and recovered a fumble. His resume suggests that he can both attack the line of scrimmage and drop into coverage.
Former Michigan quarterback Joe Milton transferring to Tennessee shouldn’t eclipse Mitchell’s decision. The position’s importance notwithstanding, the Vols have plenty of quarterbacks. They’re not as stocked with linebackers. Therefore, getting someone with Mitchell’s experience and talents is significant. He’ll almost certainly be balling out on Saturdays this fall.
For that matter, former Southern California defensive lineman Caleb Tremblay’s transfer to UT also will help. His resume doesn’t match Mitchell’s (18 games, three starts, 21 total tackles in three season) but the Vols also need defensive linemen. The 6-foot-5, 270-pounder will be as welcome as anyone else.
And Heupel will be happy and relieved to have the chance to get to know him too.
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Dan Fleser is a 1980 graduate of the University of Missouri, who covered University of Tennessee athletics from 1988-2019. He can be reached at danfleser3@gmail.com.