Three Tennessee Vols earn All-SEC honors from AP and Coaches
Following the conclusion of the 2023 regular season, three Tennessee Volunteers have picked up All-Southeastern Conference honors between the Associated Press and the league’s coaches. Those players include James Pearce, Cooper Mays and Jaylen Wright.
As a sophomore, Pearce was tabbed to the first-team by both the AP and league’s coaches after finishing second in the conference with 8.5 sacks. His 13 stops behind the line of scrimmage ranked fourth in the league and the 8.5 sack total led all defensive linemen in the conference. Pearce finished the season with a team-high 15 quarterback hurries and highlighted the breakout year with multi-sack performances against both Virginia in the season-opener and South Carolina in week four.
Pro Football Focus has Pearce as the highest-graded defensive lineman in the SEC at 86.1 – less than four marks shy of being considered ‘elite’ – and combined for 46 quarterback pressures, hits & hurries. As a defense, Tennessee racked up 36 sacks, which was the second-best in the SEC and 10th-best at the FBS level. It was also the most the program has accumulated since 2000.
Wright produced a stellar junior campaign for the Orange & White, surpassing 2,000 career rushing yards with 1,013 yards in 2023 on just 137 carries. The tailback’s 7.4 yards per carry led all FBS players (100 min. carries) at the position and was good enough for a second-team nod by the AP. Wright became the 19th player in program history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season and posted six 100-yard performances on the year – second highest in the league.
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The junior was one of only six players in the country to tally multiple rushes of 70+ yards on the season.
Mays was named to the second-team by the AP as the center and anchor of a Tennessee offensive line that blocked for over 2,400 rushing yards. That mark was the second-best in the SEC and 12th best in the country, averaging 202.6 rushing yards a contest. Mays missed the first four games of the season with injury, but did not allow a sack in 463 snaps on the year – starting the final five. The center has not allowed a sack in 13-straight games he’s played in. Tennessee’s offensive line was named a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award – in large part to Mays’ efforts.
Tennessee All-SEC Selections
James Pearce (DE) – 1st Team AP & Coaches
Jaylen Wright (RB) – 2nd Team AP
Cooper Mays (C) – 2nd Team AP
