Tennessee inside linebacker Keenan Pili is out for the remainder of the season after tearing his ACL, Vols’ head coach Josh Heupel announced on Monday afternoon.
Pili suffered the injury on Florida’s opening drive during the Vols’ 23-17 overtime win over the Gators on Saturday night at Neyland Stadium. The super senior linebacker went to the injury tent immediately and quickly went to the locker room afterwards. He returned to the sideline in crutches with a large brace on is right knee for the rest of the game.
Despite missing almost the entirety of the Florida game, Pili is still tied as Tennessee’s leading tackler with 29 tackles to this point in the season. Injury luck has been brutal for Pili in his two seasons at Tennessee, suffering a season-ending collarbone injury in the Vols’ 2023 season-opener against Virginia before suffering another injury halfway through the 2024 season.
“I’m not sure there’s a better representative of what a Volunteer is than Keenan Pili,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said. “You talk about a selfless guy that cares about the people around him way more than he cares about himself. That’s an elite competitor, great leader, tough as nails, athletic, explosive, everything that you want. Just he’s a dude, man. Special dude.”
More From RTI: Former Alabama Quarterback Announcing Tennessee Football’s Matchup Against Crimson Tide
After playing four seasons at BYU, Pili’s college career is now over barring NCAA surprisingly giving him more eligibility.
With Pili out, Jeremiah Telander will step into a starting spot besides fellow sophomore Arion Carter. Junior linebacker Kalib Perry and redshirt freshman Jalen Smith will also see increased roles for the rest of the season.
Telander has played an abundance of snaps so far this season as Pili’s backup and has performed well in them, recording 18 tackles to this point in the season. Both Perry and Smith have played throughout the season in both blowout wins and certain defensive packages.
Tennessee has had linebackers further down its depth chart deal with injuries including walk-ons Ben Bolton and talented freshman Edwin Spillman. If they get healthy, that duo could provide important depth for Tennessee’s linebacker room the rest of the season.
The Vols return to the field on Saturday afternoon where they’ll face Alabama at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon. Sean McDonough, Greg McElroy and Molly McGrath are on the call for ABC.
