Over the last three weeks or so, nothing but drama has surrounded Tennessee football and standout defensive back Boo Carter. Seemingly out of nowhere, there was worry he was going to get kicked off the team. Him being a limited participant to open camp spoke volumes too.
Instead of Carter leaving town, Josh Heupel put it on the youngster to earn back the respect of his teammates and prove to everyone that he knows it's an honor to suit up for the Vols. On Tuesday morning, Carter was back in action with his teammates and no longer working off to the side on his own. That's right, Boo is back at full go:
Boo Carter is back in pads and is a full participant in practice for Tennessee 👀
— Vol Report (@AllVolReport) August 5, 2025
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Boo Carter is back to being a full particpant at Tennessee football practices
This is obviously great to see for several reasons. Carter is not only a stud defensive back for Tennessee, but he's going to be lining up at inside receiver this year too. He's going to be a playmaker for the Vols, but there was worry his mind was elsewhere.
With transfer portal rumors flying earlier this offseason too, it all added up to major concerns. Not only that, but Vols fans were furious with Carter when it was reported that he skipped team workouts this summer, leading to veteran leaders being quite unhappy with him.
Heupel sent quite the message to Carter by not letting him fully practice with the Vols to start things off at camp. Again, it was Heupel's way of letting him know that playing for Tennessee is something that no one can take for granted, not even a player of Carter's caliber.
For now, Carter is back in action with the Vols and he'll take his prep for the Syracuse game to the next level. For everyone who has been livid with him this summer... we get it. He put himself first before the locker room. With that said, he has clearly shown remorse and he did what the coaches and players asked of him to put a helmet back on. We've got to give him credit for that.