BREAKING NEWS : Josh Heupel Goes -Home

Josh Heupel, head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers, visited with Carson Gentle, a 2024 defensive line recruit.

Josh Heupel, the head coach of Tennessee, is still keeping an eye on his signees, even if it seems like the Vols are done acquiring prospects in their 2024 class. On Monday, he paid Carson Gentle, a defensive lineman at McCallie School, a visit. In the summer, Gentle plans to enroll at the University of Tennessee.

Frame: Likely has to add around 15-20 pounds before seeing consistent time, with is doable. Gentle is a very long player that uses his wingspan to his advantage. Extending your weight through your arms early when you engage allows you to drive through your hands and finish. Gentle does this on each according rep, getting full extention with a long wingspan and shoving the offensive linemen into the backfield.

Athleticism: This person has a projectable body type. Gentle is 6-4 and 250 pounds. He has played varsity basketball, track for the state, and is an outstanding wrestler. Gentle has good flexibility and does a good job of capturing the corner on opposing offensive tackles, while not being the most explosive lateral mover. Being a finicky athlete, he gets his best when he can accelerate and pursue the ball carrier.

Instincts: He is excellent at creating depth in his pass settings so that he can work with a frame before using his hands to hit the defender. Satterwhite smacks the defender’s hands aside as soon as their shoulder pads make contact after punching them. He just needs to hold on to the football for that amount of time in Tennessee’s scheme until it is taken away from his quarterback.

Polish: The Baylor School, Brentwood Academy, Knoxville Catholic, Lipscomb Academy, and Montgomery Bell Academy are all in the same district as McCallie. Since they field scores of other Volunteer targets, Tennessee fans should be familiar with these names. Gentle is the leader of a team that went 12-1 while giving up only 19.2 points per game in one of the most talented divisions in the Southeast. For the third straight season, he was named to the all-state team after recording 73 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and 19 hurries in the previous year.