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Kelsey Pope details the challenge of handling Bru McCoy's return from injury

Screen Shot 2024-05-28 at 9.09.17 AMby:Kaiden Smith08/13/24

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Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel - USA TODAY NETWORK

Tennessee wide receiver Bru McCoy went down with a gruesome, season-ending injury last season in Week 5 against South Carolina. Suffering from a fracture-dislocation of his right ankle that required surgery and kept his focus this offseason on returning to the field with his teammates.

After missing out on the remainder of the 2023 season and spring practice, McCoy is back in the mix for fall camp with the Volunteers. But his transition back to the field has come with limitations as Tennessee looks to ease him back into the swing of things. A process that has had McCoy agitated at times when he has to get held back in moments.

“That’s kind of Bru,” Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope said during fall camp. “If you know him, you know he’s anxious to go play and compete, which is a good thing from my standpoint. I would much rather hold a guy back and tell him hold up than have to get a guy to be aggressive. So that’s actually a positive for him.”

McCoy is an unquestioned leader for the Volunteers, a veteran entering his third year with Tennessee following three seasons at USC. Catching 90 passes for 1,120 yards and seven touchdowns in his career. Numbers that he’s eager to add on this upcoming season, but still has to work toward gradually as he returns from injury.

“For him it’s just giving him a big picture, our plan for him, kind of our workload plan for him not getting back in there too soon and putting a bunch of volume on him,” Pope explained. “He’s done a good job of trusting that he’s done an amazing job of leading this room.”

“He’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around, player or coach in my career, so we’re fortunate to have him in that role.”

A team captain and a big target at 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, McCoy brings a physicality to Tennessee’s wide receiver room that is a dynamic group loaded with a variety of different skillets. From a speedy, smaller receiver like Squirrel White who led the team in receiving yards last season to Dont’e Thornton, Chris Brazzell, and a group of tight ends that’s the deepest since Josh Heupel became Tennessee’s head coach.

Off the field, Tennessee’s pass catchers will be led by McCoy, and it will be fascinating to see how big of an impact he’ll have on the field this season as he looks to come back even stronger than before off of his injury.