Brian Jean-Mary has been 'pleasantly surprised with Keenan Pili's recovery

The Tennessee football team added some notable transfers in the offseason, few with more experience than linebacker Keenan Pili, who came over this offseason from BYU.

While Pili hasn’t been at 100% yet in spring football due to a high-ankle sprain, he’s still had a chance to get adjusted and get comfortable.

Tennessee is already counting on him to be a leader in a linebacker corps that replaces a handful of key veterans from the 2022 squad and will be looking to help the entire defense play significantly better than it did last year.

“Trying to take a little bit more of a leadership role, which I know is harder for guys when they come in from the transfer portal and they’re trying to get with the culture of the team that they’re in,” Tennessee linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary said. “But he’s been really, really good.”

Pili has already statistically proven he can play at a high level in the FBS.

In four years at BYU, Keenan Pili piled up 190 tackles, 11.0 tackles for a loss, 3.0 sacks, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and four pass breakups. He’s already impressed some of the defensive coaches.

“As far as KP goes, I actually love this kid,” Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks said. “He’s just a guy that’s great to be around, just the way he carries himself as a young man. But then obviously when you get him on the field you understand why he’s played so many games.”

Jean-Mary also added some evaluation of Pili from an athletic standpoint, though he did note Pili still isn’t 100%.

“He’s not back to 100, you know those high-ankle sprains they can go on for a long time,” Jean-Mary said. “Those are injuries that take obviously a lot of time to heal from, but he’s a tough kid. Movement skills are great. Very, very committed to learning what to do and doing it our way. I’ve been pleasantly surprised. Really good athlete, runs really well straight line.”

Tennessee will continue to get a better handle on what Pili can do as spring ball progresses. By the end of spring ball, he should have enough of a handle on things that he goes in the offseason ready to kick his progression into overtime.

And hopefully by fall camp Keenan Pili is fully healthy and ready to take a leading role next to linebacker Aaron Beasley.

But there’s still some valuable spring ball ahead.

“Look forward to him cutting it loose on Saturday, but so far he’s been everything we’ve expected,” Jean-Mary said.