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Dereon Albert finds ‘one of a kind’ in commitment to Tennessee

On3 imageby: Austin Price07/01/25AustinPriceless
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Jackson, Mississippi defensive tackle Dereon Albert left Tennessee two weeks ago committed to Josh Heupel and the Vols. He just wasn’t public with his pledge. That changed with the announcement of his commitment.

“Tennessee for me was a great visit  overall and it played itself out overall,” Albert said. “Tennessee man was just shocking to me in the way they love on you. They took everything away from me like the wow factor. It was great. My grandma loved it, my granddad love it and my little sister loved it. I love it. It was a great place to be and I loved everything going on.”

The visit blew he and his family away. Tennessee was able to ace the test and the family knew Knoxville was home.

“It was good,” Albert said. “My grandma had so many questions and she didn’t get to ask them because they were already answered. That’s what she liked and she said it felt safe there for me. It felt like I was home.”

He loved everything that he found. But above all else, he loved his relationship with defensive line coach Rodney Garner.

“From a players standpoint they have great facilities you know and coach is one of the best line coaches in the game in Rodney Garner cause he’s a great coach,” Albert said. “He produced some good people, James Pearce and Omarr Norman-Lott and on and on down the list. And he keeps his guys fresh. He rotates them and everybody’s going to play but you have to work hard. He showed me and he said is going to coach me hard but he going to move me hard and the players said that.”

He loved how much fun everyone was having on Rocky Top. That starts at the top with the head coach.

“He’s one of kind,” Albert said. “He keeps it real with you and is true to the game. After I told him I was going commit to on July 1st, he told me he needed to be able to count on me or he would have to be recruiting others. I kept it real with him and I canceled my State visit. I was done.

“We’re just been building a great relationship like that it feels like he’s my dad in a way. When you go someplace without your family and going that far, you are going to need that loving on you and he just hit me up every now again and was just checking on me about life.”

Now that his decision is behind him, Albert focuses on his final year of high school ball. Two eyes on the present but his mind on a place that just gets him pumped.

“I think I found a one of a kind,” Albert said. “It’s a gem. Somewhere that would develop me as a person and as a young man and as a player as well.”

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