How Tennessee Football Plans to Use Monty Hunt in Jim Knowles' Secondary

Big Orange fans, buckle up, because the offseason is not over yet. With the new five-year eligibility rule going into effect, athletes in the class of 2022 have been fighting for an extra year on the field, and a judge in Colorado just sided with them, ordering the NCAA to declare eligible every athlete in that class who burned through four seasons this spring.

Leave it to Tennessee to see an opening and sprint through it. According to multiple reports, defensive back Monty Hunt has committed to the Vols. He entered the transfer portal from Tennessee Tech back in January, and thanks to the Colorado ruling, he is now a legal Volunteer.

The Secondary Just Got a Little Deeper, and It Needed To

Tennessee Head Coach, Josh Heupel. — Jul 20, 2026; Tampa, FL, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel speaks to the press during SEC Football Kickoff Media Day at the Tampa Marriott. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Let's be honest, Rocky Top faithful: the defensive backfield has been the subject of a full-blown makeover this offseason. New coordinator Jim Knowles came in and immediately went shopping, with eight of Tennessee's 20 defensive portal additions landing in the secondary alone.

The Resume Hunt Brings to Knoxville

Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel speaks during the annual Big Orange Caravan event at Marathon Music Works in Nashville, Tenn., Wednesday, April 29, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

This isn't a guy plucked off the street. Hunt played two seasons at Tennessee Tech, appearing in five games in 2024 with three tackles and three pass breakups, then bumping that up to seven games, seven tackles, and a pass breakup this past fall.

Before that, he cut his teeth at Palomar College for two seasons, capping it with a sophomore year that flat-out pops off the page: 35 tackles, a tackle for loss, a fumble recovery, and four pass breakups across 10 games. That's a player who knows how to make plays when the ball is in the air.

A McDonough, Georgia, product out of Eagle's Landing High School, Hunt checks in at 6-foot and 170 pounds. That build screams slot corner or nickel more than it does outside press corner, which matters for how he'll actually be used.

Where He Fits in Knowles' World

Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Knowles during the Vols' first spring football practice in Knoxville on March 16, 2026. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Here's why this signing actually makes sense on paper, not just as a feel-good roster add. Knowles runs a base 4-2-5, meaning five defensive backs are on the field for the vast majority of snaps, even on run downs. He built that identity at Oklahoma State, carried it to Duke, and turned it into a national championship-caliber unit at Ohio State, all while adding wrinkles like three-safety looks and disguised coverages that show one shell before the snap and rotate into something else after it.

A defense built around five DBs at all times needs bodies, not just stars, and that's where Hunt comes in. At 6-foot, 170 pounds, he's not built to press bigger SEC receivers on an island, but he fits the mold of the smaller, instinctive coverage defensive backs Knowles has leaned on in hybrid nickel and dime packages throughout his career. Think depth at the nickel or a rotational piece who can play from depth in the middle of the field, reading the quarterback rather than getting locked into a straight-man assignment on the boundary.

Given how much this defense leans on disguise and multiple coverage shells, having extra experienced eyes in the room, even a guy who won't be an every-down starter, is valuable. Hunt gives Poindexter and Jones another veteran presence to rotate through packages while the new staff installs a scheme that lives and dies by getting the coverage picture right before the snap.

🙏🏾 https://t.co/ovWQqAZPfc
— Monty “Lockdown” Hunt (@Monty_huntt) January 19, 2026

Why This Matters for Big Orange Country

Hunt's addition is just one small chapter in a much larger legal saga still playing out, with the NCAA appealing the Colorado injunction as we speak. But while lawyers argue, Tennessee is doing what Tennessee does: adding talent before the window closes. For a secondary still gelling under a brand-new staff, another experienced body is never a bad thing, and Hunt gives Knowles one more piece to mold before the Vols kick off the season against Furman on September 5.

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