Tennessee TE Ethan Davis Fits Their Future Plans

2023 Tennessee Volunteers tight end signee Ethan Davis has already made an impact on the team and could fit into their future plans on offense.

When Tennessee initially hired former offensive coordinator Alex Golesh, who doubled as the tight ends coach during his time with the Vols, they imagined reshaping what the tight end position looks like at Tennessee. Today, the position coach is different, as Alec Abeln assumed the role after Golesh left for the USF head coach job. However, the vision remains the same for what tight ends will be at Tennessee.

Tennessee was quite particular in its pursuits of a tight end. They want long, athletic bodies that could eventually become major receiving threats in college, not someone who lines up and blocks 50 plays per game and may get one or two catches. That all changed when they found 2023 tight end Ethan Davis (Suwanee, Ga.), a 6-5 playmaker that stood out against Georgia 7A competition. Davis is a competitive basketball player who plans to play both sports in Knoxville.

He suffered a serious knee injury that sidelined him for his senior season of high school, but Davis certainly rebounded in the spring game. He looked like his old self, making a litany of acrobatic catches over defenders and sparking the big-play offense that the Vols need from the tight end spot.

Tennessee TE Ethan Davis celebrating with RB Cameron Seldon during the spring game

He looks to have put on a considerable amount of weight since joining the team and could play in-line in a pinch, but Tennessee wants him to line up out-wide and become a mismatch for linebackers in the passing game. Davis was so dominant in high school that defenses began using Power-5 corners to cover him, a strategy that didn't work well in the red zone. His leaping ability and knack for the football make Davis an easy jump-ball target inside the twenties.

Head coach Josh Heupel does an excellent job of spacing defenses out, applying pressure outside the numbers, and opening the middle of the field up. It's why Tennessee fielded such an efficient run game last year - defenders were so worried about the explosive play that they weren't always playing assignment-sound football. Finding athletic tight ends will help Tennessee exploit the vacant middle in other ways, something that was missing last year against elite programs, namely the Georgia Bulldogs.

Georgia keyed in on how the Vols spread the field and went with man-coverage across the board, essentially saying, "Are you athletic enough to beat us one-on-one?" Davis is, and he could be a walking nightmare for defenses with the right amount of development in this system.

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