Chaz Coleman is still in Tennessee’s program, but the odds of him playing for the Vols this fall are fading fast. A Tennessee insider said Tuesday morning that the rising sophomore’s situation is moving toward “a matter of when, not if” the school parts ways with him.
The update matters now because Coleman was one of Tennessee’s bigger portal additions when he transferred from Penn State in January, and the uncertainty around his status has hung over Tennessee Volunteers Football through much of the offseason. He missed most of spring practice, did not report on time for summer workouts last week and has not been around teammates for the kind of offseason work that usually signals a player is firmly in the mix.
Austin Price said on 104.5 The Zone’s Ramon and Will that Coleman is “still in the program,” but he also said the chances of the player being on Tennessee’s football team this fall are “very, very small.” Price added that Coleman has not been in the weight room and has met with strength coach Derek Owings, while both sides are “going through the motions and dotting i’s and checking boxes.” That language suggests Tennessee is trying to cover every procedural step before it officially moves on.
The mixed signals have already created a messy picture. Doug Matthews said this past weekend on 104.5 The Zone’s Big Orange Sunday that Coleman had already been dismissed from the team, while Price and Brent Hubbs had said at the time that he had not been dismissed. Tuesday’s update did not settle that split so much as sharpen it, with Price framing the situation as trending toward an exit rather than a return.
That leaves Tennessee in the same place it has been for weeks: preparing as if Coleman may not be part of the roster, but waiting until the paperwork and internal steps are finished before making the move public. Coleman reportedly dealt with off-the-field personal issues this offseason and suffered a head injury late last season, two factors that have helped explain why he has missed so much time. For now, the most useful read is also the simplest one — Tennessee still has Coleman listed in the program, but the path to him playing this fall looks almost closed.
