Tre Herndon Returning to His Nashville Roots, This Time as an NFL Starter

The former Vanderbilt standout will return to Nashville this weekend, only this time as an NFL starting cornerback.

Jacksonville Jaguars starting cornerback Tre Herndon has seen a lot of change since his college days at the University of Vanderbilt.

From an uncertain entry into the NFL to being thrust into the Jaguars’ starting lineup in his second season, Herndon has seen his world shift in recent years. And this Sunday, he will be returning to a place that helped prepare him for today’s opportunities and changes.

The Jaguars will travel to Nashville to take on AFC South rival Tennesee Titans on Sunday, and Herndon will be back in the city that molded him and helped prepare him for life as an NFL starting corner.

After all, Nissan Stadium is only three miles away from Vanderbilt’s campus, so Sunday will serve as a full-circle journey for the 23-year old cornerback. The second-year player is making sure not to get caught up in that, instead focusing on the pivotal matchup vs. the Titans, but he knows it will be a moment worth remembering.

“It is a blessing. It is definitely a blessing,” Herndon told JaguarMaven this week. “I try not to make it, you know, bigger than what it is; it is just another game.”

Herndon grew up in Chattanooga, Tennesee and went to East Hamilton High School, a few hours away from Vanderbilt. Thanks to this weekend’s game being in Nashville, his family will be able to watch Herndon make an NFL start from the stands. Herndon said his family has been in attendance for “maybe one” of his games as a Jaguar, so this weekend will be special all while he makes it a normal week.

“I am just going to have my family supporting me there, so that is big,” Herndon said. “And, you know, just try to treat it like every other game, just stay locked in mentally and not really worry about all that other stuff. But it will definitely be a blessing to have my family be able to see me play.”

Herndon’s development for Jacksonville this season has been a storyline worth tracking week in and week out. After making the 53-man roster in 2018 following being an undrafted free agent, Herndon continued to impress in the team’s 2019 training camp and entered the season as the team’s primary backup cornerback.

Herndon has now started eight games, and each of the last seven, for Jacksonville as they have undergone some turnover at the cornerback position following the Jalen Ramsey Trade. Herndon, a former undrafted free agent, was thrown into the fire this season and so far, he has impressed his coaches and locker room with his intelligence, toughness and work ethic.

All of these traits are things that have followed him from his previous days in Nashville and at Vanderbilt, according to those who knew him best.

“I always thought Tre was capable of being anything that he set his mind to,” Vanderbilt head coach Derek Mason said this week. “He worked hard every day. When we talk about being limitless, and that is what he was told during his time here, it meant that anything he put his mind to, he could do. And he worked hard at it.”

“Relentless, tough, intelligent; he was all those things.”

Herndon’s first year at Vanderbilt in 2014 coincided with Mason’s hiring, so they entered Nashville together. For the next four years, Herndon was one of Mason’s top soldiers, starting 36 games over four seasons. He started every regular season game but one during his final three seasons.

It was under Mason and his staff that Herndon was able to refine his game and prepare himself for an NFL opportunity. The years spent in Nashville helped Herndon realize abilities and aspects to his game that he previously didn’t know.

“Coach Mason definitely helped me because he kind of opened my eyes to being an all-around DB,” Herndon said. “I played corner and nickel, so when he introduced me to nickel my senior year I was able to just kind of mentally open my horizon to different things and different techniques to help me get to this point.”

Does Herndon still use a lot of the things he learned at Vanderbilt now that he is a starting corner for Jacksonville, tasked with covering wideouts such as Will Fuller, Corey Davis and Ted Ginn?

“Oh yeah. Stay to the basics, man. Never forget where you come from,” Herndon said. “So, he kind of put me in that mode, got my mind right and my footwork stuff, and then I take the stuff I learn from the NFL and combine it and try to make the most of the opportunity.”

Herndon has been lauded in Jacksonville for his ability to learn on the job and be a student of the game. Head coach Doug Marrone and defensive coordinator Todd Wash have frequently said how pleased they are with their young corner and the attitude he has. According to Mason, this is nothing new. He was the same guy at Vanderbilt, after all.

“Tre Herndon’s consistency every day was amazing,” Mason said. “Whether it was his ability to focus on school, his ability to be where his feet were when he came into the building, how he trained. It was spectacular to watch that young man be the same young man every day over four years as bis body matured, as he became smarter and as he grew as a football player.”

“That is love. That is definitely love, man,” Herndon said about Mason and his school. “I enjoyed my time there playing football. Really learning was the biggest thing for me just because they don’t just hone in on corner. They want you to know what the (linebackers) are doing, the whole defense kind of understanding the system.”

When Herndon went undrafted in 2018, the chance to return to Nashville as an NFL starter may have not seemed like a reality. But Herndon was able to make it happen on his own thanks to the aforementioned work ethic, consistency and just being who he always has been.

Jaguars safety Jarrod Wilson, also a former undrafted free agent, said Thursday that Herndon has been able to simply make the most out of his opportunity, showing the “grit” that other undrafted players on the team like Wilson and A.J. Bouye had to show to make it onto a roster.

“It is just unbelievable. It is just like a blessing from God, you know what I mean, to see a guy like that,” Wilson told JaguarMaven. “I have been in a similar situation where you work as hard as you can to possibly just have a spot on the roster. And to actually have a roster spot and step into a starting role and do the things he has done, it has just really been a true blessing, man. I am just happy for him.”

But Herndon was prepared for the possibility of having to work from the bottom to make the roster, according to Mason. It was something that was discussed during his time at Vanderbilt. Now, a few years later, Mason is far from surprised to see where his former player is at.

“We talked about that when he was here. We talked about guys who have to work their way onto rosters and not be everybody’s pick,” Mason said. “And so for him, I am extremely proud of what Tre has done because he proves that hard work, resiliency, the idea of putting your best work and your best foot forward every day really pays in the end. And that is exactly what he is doing.”

“He is making believers out of everybody who didn’t know who he is, and those who know who he is, it is no big jump or surprise at all,” Mason said.

Sunday will be just another game for Herndon. As he says himself, he isn’t anywhere near where he wants to be yet. After all, he has only started eight games so far. After impressing in them, the door is open for Herndon to start many, many more in this league.

But Sunday will serve as a full-circle journey for the former Vanderbilt Commodore. After grinding his teeth in Nashville as an SEC cornerback under Mason’s tutelage, he has become an undrafted success story for Jacksonville. He will be returning to his former city once more, except this time as a bonafide starting cornerback.

But he is far from done. He will continue to use what he learned at Vanderbilt and implement it to the everyday opportunities he now finds himself presented with.

“There is always stuff I need to work on, and I am really hard on myself. Like, I don’t really like giving up any catches; (whether) one or two yards,” Herndon said.

“I think mentally I am getting a little more relaxed. I am kind of getting into a groove, feeling the game, feeling myself against other players. So it is coming along, but still got a lot of work to do.”