Chaz Coleman was Tennessee’s most prized addition from the transfer portal this offseason. The former Penn State edge rusher was expected to play a major role for the Vols this season, addressing their need for a veteran edge after Jordan Ross and Caleb Herring entered the transfer portal
But Coleman parted ways with Tennessee in June and won’t play for the Vols this season after being medically disqualified. He had been detached from the team since March, when he started to miss team activities during the first weeks of spring practice, and he didn’t participate in Tennessee’s summer workouts before leaving the program
His medical disqualification made it unclear whether he would ever play football again. But the post he made Wednesday afternoon on his X account suggested he might be working toward a possible comeback on the field
The former four-star prospect from Warren, Ohio, posted four videos that showed him working out inside an indoor training facility. He was going through edge-rusher drills at an undisclosed location, and he added two praying-hands emojis in his post along with the videos, hinting that he might be trying to get himself ready to play again
— Chaz Coleman (@chazcoleman_) August 12, 2026
Coleman has no path to playing college football during the 2026 season. The transfer portal closed in January, and his medical disqualification allows him to stay on scholarship at Tennessee if he chooses to remain in school. If he chooses to attempt to play for another program, he likely would need to enter the transfer portal in January after the 2026 season
The specifics of the issue that led to his medical disqualification were never disclosed, and he hasn’t made any public comments since leaving the Vols. Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said at the SEC’s spring meetings that Coleman had “been dealing with some things” and that the Vols were “here to support him” and would “continue to go through that process.”
His offseason was bumpy from early on, with CBS Sports reporting that his personal issues included “a combination of physical symptoms, mental health strain and the pressure that has come with Coleman’s rapid rise over the past year from a fringe four-star recruit to a top-10 transfer and overnight millionaire.” The report mentioned Coleman had been dealing with lingering symptoms of vertigo in the winter stemming from a head injury he suffered last season
It also claimed Coleman was set to make $2 million this year between NIL deals and his revenue-sharing distribution at Tennessee
Last month, Heupel expressed confidence that the Vols handled Coleman’s situation the right way and downplayed the chances of it having any lingering impact into the 2026 season
“At the end of the day, we’re here to help our guys inside of the building – Chaz being one of those guys,” Heupel said last month in a Zoom call with Knoxville media during his SEC Media Days appearance in Tampa, Fla. “These young men deal with so many different things in today’s landscape of college football pressures that they feel, see, hear – whatever it might be. We’re here to help them
“There was a good portion of while he was with us on our roster where he wasn’t necessarily integrated into the locker room because of some of the things that he was dealing with. You always want to do right by kids, and we certainly have done that. As a program, I probably feel like it was a bigger – I don’t know – story outside of the building than it necessarily was even inside of the building, and we’re ready to move forward.”
