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Tennessee football: Vols 2019 OL signee Melvin McBride retires

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the inside of Neyland Stadium during a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the inside of Neyland Stadium during a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images) /
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Tennessee football lost another player due to retirement. Volunteers 2019 offensive line signee Melvin McBride is ending his career due to health reasons.

Numerous Tennessee football players have retired this offseason due to health reasons, but now the Vols have lost even a new recruit because of that issue. And, like many of the ones before, he was on the offensive line.

Melvin McBride, a member of the Vols’ 2019 recruiting class, is going to have to retire before ever taking one snap for Rocky Top due to health reasons. Heck, he is retiring despite never taking part in one practice.

A three-star recruit out of Whitehaven High School in Memphis, the 6’4″ 310-pound commit was a summer enrollee who committed last August. He announced on Twitter his decision to retire from the sport.

McBride joins six other Tennessee football players who have been forced to resign due to healthy issues this offseason. Most notable among them was inside linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr., whom Jeremy Pruitt confirmed would not finish his final year of eligibility two weeks ago.

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Kirkland was the biggest loss due to his experience with the Vols and ability to quickly pick up defensive schemes. He was always in position to make the right plays. However, McBride is part of a larger list of specifically UT offensive linemen who have had to retire this offseason.

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Most notably among those guys is Chance Hall, who was a very intelligent player and, like Kirkland at linebacker, started as a freshman before beginning to battle injuries. Tanner Antonutti, Devante Brooks, and Eric Crosby are the other players on the line who have retired.

Tight end James Brown also retired due to health reasons. Meanwhile, Trey Smith is still out due to blood clots if you want to add another injury on the line. So the Vols have been devastated up front, especially when you add the loss of Drew Richmond as well.

McBride was the lowest-rated player in Tennessee football’s 2019 class, which included five-star phenom Darnell Wright and Wanya Morris, who is a four-star on Rivals but has five-star potential and was an early enrollee. Jackson Lampley and Chris Akporoghene are two more four-star members in the class.

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So Jeremy Pruitt’s class is still pretty stacked, but McBride would have been great for more much-needed depth up front. And it’s obviously devastating for him that he has to retire before ever experiencing a chance to play at the college level. So this is a big loss for everybody, the Vols and clearly McBride himself.

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