Josh Schell trying to compete for Vols straight from D-II ranks

There are several Tennessee football players who took unique routes to join Josh Heupel’s Volunteers.

Former quarterback Gaston Moore followed Heupel to Knoxville from the University of Central Florida. Current fifth-year senior tight end Miles Kitselman has played on both sides of the Alabama-Tennessee rivalry, competing against Heupel’s Vols in 2023, while redshirt sophomore defensive end Emmanuel

You can’t just outphysical people and outathletic people. Everybody is a really good athlete here, and everybody is a good player.”

The Vols held their fourth preseason workout Sunday morning and will have Monday off.Okoye came to the Vols all the way from Nigeria.

Redshirt junior defensive tackle Josh Schell will attempt to become the first player under Heupel to compete for Tennessee directly from the Division II ranks, having spent the past three seasons at Grand Valley State in Allendale, Michigan, which is a suburb of Grand Rapids.

“This is just a lot higher level of football, but it’s been really good down here,” Schell said in a news conference after Saturday’s third preseason practice. “Everybody is just a little bit bigger and a little bit faster, so you’ve got to be a lot more technical now. It was still football at Grand Valley, but you have to be more technical.