Josh Heupel reacts to Alontae Taylor decision to opt-out of bowl, declare for NFL Draft

The Tennessee Volunteers are preparing for their postseason bowl game without star senior defensive back Alontae Taylor.

Although Taylor is not on ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper’s top corners list at this point, head coach Josh Heupel thinks the senior is making the right decision to opt-out of the bowl game and declare for the NFL draft.

Alontae Taylor declared for the draft on Dec. 1 but Heupel made his first comments on the situation ahead of the Vols’ first bowl practice.

“I think for Alontae, I had an opportunity to sit down with him at the back end of it, he’s very thoughtful, he took the information, understood potentially where he was slotted, and made a good decision for him,” Heupel said. “At the end of the day, you guys have heard me say this, you want to be able to give good concrete information to kids to help them make a really sound decision for themselves. I feel like Alontae did that. We’re going to help and support him in every way as he goes through the draft process.

“He’s been a great leader from the time he stepped on campus for us,” Heupel continued. “For me, he’s been a great resource in helping to build the foundation for Tennessee football. A guy that battled through injury the last three weeks of the season and things that not very many people knew. It’s an opportunity for him to get back and get healthy before he ends up in that draft process.”

The Tennessee Volunteers and Josh Heupel face Purdue in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30.

Alontae Taylor departing Tennessee

Alontae Taylor has been a staple of the Tennessee defense since his arrival in Knoxville in 2018. A Manchester, Tennessee, native, Taylor chose the Vols program over 25 other Division-I programs. Among the programs that offered were Georgia, Notre Dame and Ohio State.

As a member of the Vols’ 27th-ranked 2018 class, Taylor was a four-star prospect and overall top-150 prospect coming out of Coffee County Central.

The 6-foot, 193-pound senior posted a career-high 60 tackles this season with six passes defended, two interceptions, a forced fumble and a score.