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Tennessee football 2019 season recap: Vols awards for the year

By Caleb Calhoun

COLUMBIA, MISSOURI - NOVEMBER 23: Wide receiver Jauan Jennings #15 of the Tennessee Volunteers goes in for a touchdown against defensive lineman Kobie Whiteside #78 of the Missouri Tigers in the second quarter at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, MISSOURI - NOVEMBER 23: Wide receiver Jauan Jennings #15 of the Tennessee Volunteers goes in for a touchdown against defensive lineman Kobie Whiteside #78 of the Missouri Tigers in the second quarter at Faurot Field/Memorial Stadium on November 23, 2019 in Columbia, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images
Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images /

Comeback Player of the Year

Trey Smith

Senior; Offensive Lineman

What more can we say about a player who overcame what Trey Smith overcame? Him now making the decision to come back for his senior season only makes him more beloved on Rocky Top. Anyway, this is a guy who missed all of the offseason for the second straight year after having the 2018 season cut short, all due to blood clots in his lungs.

He worked out a method to return to Tennessee football, but then he had another curveball thrown at him. Smith was an All-SEC guard in Butch Jones’s 2017 spread offense. Jeremy Pruitt moved him to left tackle as he learned the pro-style in 2018. Now, back and healthy, he was moved back to guard, this time in the pro-style.

Doing that and coming back from injury was going to make things difficult. For Smith, it was like nothing changed. The guy became an All-SEC offensive lineman again, proving just how valuable he was. His story undoubtedly makes him the Vols’ Comeback Player of the Year, even if he did play the majority of the season in 2018.

Runner-up

Brandon Kennedy; Sr.; OL

Another key offensive lineman for the Vols, Brandon Kennedy suffered a season-ending injury in the opener last year. The Alabama Crimson Tide transfer was supposed to immediately take over at center. Well, he came back this year and resumed his role, starting the whole year and helping the Vols’ interior line improve dramatically over that time. So he deserves a runner-up shoutout.

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