Tennessee redshirt senior John Campbell Jr. has been 'flawless' in his move to right tackle
Tennessee redshirt senior John Campbell Jr. has handled his move to right tackle just like he handles everything else, according to offensive line coach Glen Elarbee. With nonstop work.
“You can tell he got in a ton of work this offseason when we were on breaks,” Elarbee told reporters after Monday morning’s practice, the fifth of fall camp for the Vols. “He’s always sending me videos of him doing work, getting sets, asking for critiques. He is a meticulous note taker.”
Campbell, the 6-foot-6, 330-pound Miami transfer who is back for a second and final season at Tennessee, started nine games at left tackle last season, before a lower body injury ended his season in November.
He allowed just one sack and one quarterback hit in 538 snaps over those nine games.
John Campbell Jr. returns alongside multiple veteran offensive linemen
Campbell is one of six Tennessee offensive linemen that are either seniors or redshirt seniors — Cooper Mays, Dayne Davis, Andrej Karic, Jackson Lampley and Javontez Spraggins are the others — and one of three redshirt seniors who opted to return for another season with the Vols.
“I think it speaks to who we are in the room, (for) one,” Elarbee said of his veteran group. “ … We enjoy playing the game too and they all want to win a championship. They want to go do that and they want to go compete.”
Campbell flipped to right tackle over the offseason to make way for another transfer, LSU’s Lance Heard. But Elarbee doesn’t expect anything different — and hasn’t seen anything different — from Campbell after his move.
“In my opinion, (he’s) looked flawless,” Elarbee said of Campbell. “Just done a phenomenal job and all that credit is due to him.”
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Season Opener: No. 15 Tennessee vs. Chattanooga, 12:45 p.m. ET, SEC Network
Heard, the 6-foot-6, 340-pounder and former five-star prospect in the 2023 recruiting cycle, headlined Tennessee’s transfer class. He was ranked No. 8 overall in On3’s NCAA Transfer Portal rankings and was the No. 2 offensive tackle available.
“He’s in a great spot,” Tennessee offensive coordinator Joey Halzle said before the start of camp. “He does a great job. He’s a really hard worker, really smart kid.”
The biggest adjustment for Heard has been the move to Tennessee’s uptempo offense. But Halzle doesn’t expect it to last long.
“That is the thing that also changes the quickest,” Halzle said, “because it’s just an adjustment, that’s all it is. He knows what to do, he knows where he’s supposed to go, and that’ll be a huge part of getting even more and more comfortable within the system, within the tempo that he just lets that skillset that he has to take over.”
