Jeremias Heard isn’t hard to spot in a crowd.
Despite being just 18 years old, Heard stands at a whopping 6-foot-8, 320-pounds according to Tennessee’s fall camp roster. When you see him in person it’s wild to imagine the Vols’ freshman lineman going up against high school players in Rome, GA, just a short eight months ago.
Heard is a bit of a newcomer to the sport of football as primarily a basketball player for most of his youth. But that didn’t stop him from exploring the sport with his high school problem.
As someone with his size, Heard was a natural fit on the line. And in his case, Heard’s beginning was on the defensive line. But Heard began to sink his teeth into an offensive position as a tight end, too. During his senior season with Model 9-12, Heard recorded 31 tackles, nine tackles for loss, 57 receiving yards on five receptions, and two receiving touchdowns.
Heard will be going through his first Tennessee training camp with the offensive linemen, though. Despite being a defensive lineman in high school, Tennessee has a belief that Heard’s best use comes from putting him on the offensive line. And that’s something that Heard was okay with.
“Because I was willing to help the team,” Heard said about why he was willing to switch positions after arriving on campus. “Anything to help the team win, I’ll take that role.”
Heard still has a lot of growth and development ahead of him in his football journey but is set up for success at Tennessee. Heard credits his coaching staff and teammates for helping him get through the first few steps of his career as he now looks to pick up a new position during camp.
More from RTI: Five Tennessee Football Position Battles To Watch For At Start Of Fall Camp
Switching from one side of the line to the other is already a difficult task. Switching lines completely is something that most players don’t want to do to begin their college career. But with the belief that the staff has his best interest in mind combined with his desire to see the team win, Heard accepted the challenge. Heard said on Wednesday that the conversation to switch came out of nowhere but that he felt good about it after hearing the benefits from the coaching staff.
But while Heard – again, 6-foot-8, 320 pounds – enjoyed his time playing tight end and on the defensive line in high school, he also had a knack for another position on the field.
Punter.
“I was really pretty good because I could kick at least 80 [yards],” Heard said on Wednesday.
Heard says that he’s been kicking a ball since he was young and always knew he could kick. When someone from his high school staff asked if he wanted to punt, Heard was in.
That won’t be the case at Tennessee as Heard revealed that no one from the coaching staff has brought up kicking to him despite knowing he was his high school team’s punter. Heard is a fan of Jackson Ross’s rugby punting style, though.
Judging by what he said on Wednesday, if Tennessee is ever in a “designated survivor” type of situation for the punters in the specialists’ room, Josh Heupel and his staff might just have a certain freshman offensive lineman they could turn to.
“The longest punt I’ve punted is 88 yards,” Heard said.
Check out Jeremias Heard’s full interview on Wednesday in Knoxville below.
