Tennessee Star Turns Heads During NFL Combine
The NFL combine is all about teams cross-checking what they gleaned from the tape, and front offices around the league are likely to have an even higher opinion of the top Tennessee Volunteers prospect in the 2025 draft after his performance in Indianapolis. Edge rusher James Pearce Jr. went into the Combine already viewed as a likely first-round pick following an impressive career with the Volunteers.
Pearce demonstrated great explosiveness as he racked up 17.5 sacks across his final two seasons with Tennessee, and that was on full display as he went through the athletic testing at Lucas Oil Stadium. Pearce set the bar extremely high with his first effort in the 40-yard dash, blazing down the track in 4.5 seconds. But he saved his best for his second attempt, beating his outstanding original mark by posting a time of 4.47s seconds.
He complemented his lightning fast performance in the 40 by going over 10 inches in the broad jump, another drill that measures explosiveness, and cruising through the pass rush drills while seemingly barely breaking a sweat.
Pearce was the star of the Volunteer pass rush over the course of the last two seasons. After his display at the Combine, Pearce will likely hear his name called early on draft night by a team hoping he can have the same impact at the NFL level.
Josh Heupel hires former Oklahoma teammate to help out Tennessee offense
Apparently the band is getting back together in Knoxville. Earlier this offseason, Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel hired legendary Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones as an offensive analyst for his staff. It was an exciting addition, as Heupel used to be his quarterbacks coach/offensive coordinator.
Well, there’s another former Sooner all set to make an impact for Tennessee’s offense. That’d be Seth Littrell, who will also be joining UT as an offensive analyst, ESPN’s Chris Low is reporting. These two are quite familiar with one another, as they were teammates at Oklahoma, highlighted by helping the Sooners win the national title back in 2000.
Tennessee has hired former Oklahoma OC Seth Littrell as an offensive analyst
Littrell was just on staff with Oklahoma, but his return to Norman didn’t last long. After joining the team in 2023, he was fired by the Sooners last season in mid-October after Oklahoma lost three of four games. The offense wasn’t getting the job done, so Brent Venables made the tough call to part ways with Littrell.
