After suffering a horrific injury last season, Bru McCoy hopes to rebound in 2024 for the Tennessee Volunteers.
The redshirt senior appeared in five games last season before injuring his ankle against South Carolina. Prior to it, he had 17 receptions for 217 yards for the Vols, 94 of which came in the SEC opener at Florida. As a junior, the USC transfer was second on the team in receiving yards (667) and scored four touchdowns. McCoy averaged 12.8 yards per reception and reached 100 receiving yards three times.
McCoy has worked hard to heal his ankle and is anticipated to play a significant role in the Tennessee offense this season. Joey Halzle, the offensive coordinator, said the senior has made excellent development.
“It is absolutely insane what that kid did this offseason. For everything going on and as far as players people are excited about. That ankle injury, we all saw it. The fact that that kid is out there running full speed and making cuts and catches. He didn’t gain a bunch of weight, and he still looks like a superhero when he walks around out here. This guy is absolutely insane, the way he went through that.
He was like, ‘Alright, what is my job? What am I supposed to do when I can’t run right now?’ And he did that. The training staff was actually saying, ‘Hey Bru, we actually have to pull you back a little bit right now.’ He is pushing it over and over and over to try and get there as quickly as possible.”
“The guy is an absolute animal in every way,” Halzle said of the outstanding senior. “Be it strength training, fitness, rehabilitation, or his football knowledge. He attacks it all the same, which is why he has made such a speedy turnaround. I’m not sure if everyone thought he would be able to. It’s something remarkable to watch.”
McCoy is but one of many talented receivers on this year’s Tennessee team. Head coach Josh Heupel said a deep bench is something he and his staff have worked to build. “We got here and there were some things we had to navigate with our scholarships on our roster. When recruiting bigs, they’re going to take a little bit more time to develop potentially.
You end up being a little bit short at some skill spots, wide receiver has been one of those. We’re the deepest that we’ve been on our roster from a number of scholarship players, but the playmaking ability of those guys, some of the young guys being in our program multiple years, got a lot of trust in those guys. I can’t wait to see it when we get to training camp. We have guys who have a great understanding of what we are doing offensively and also have the ability to make plays and go up and attack the football and be consistent winners.”