Vol Club Confidential: Jeremiah Telander
One of the young leaders on the 2024 Vols is linebacker Jeremiah Telander. He joined Vol Club Confidential sponsored by Knoxville Smiles to discuss all things Rocky Top. The son of a former coach learned a lot from his dad.
“My dad would do chapel for NFL teams,” Telander said. “There were a couple of coaches he coached with that are with teams now. Like Dirk Koetter when he was with the Tampa Bay Bucs and my dad did chapel for them. He called me up on stage the night before the game and Jameis Winston is there and Cameron Brate is there and I’m just fanboying the guys. I was nervous as crap standing behind my dad and he is giving them the gospel and I think ever since then I wanted to play in the NFL and play football. He got me into the game as soon as he could. He got me into pads and we were playing.”
Telander’s dad, Steve coached at several stops along his coaching career. A young Tim Banks worked as a GA under Telander back in the 90s. Growing up and learning from his dad are some of the best memories.
“It was great honestly,” Telander said. “I wouldn’t ask for anything else. I didn’t think it was any different than anything. It’s just how I grew up. Even when I first started playing and watching film I just liked watching it because I was watching with him. Then it turned into learning like I like this game. Those late nights watching film with my dad when I was 12 years old was a great thing. He is always force feeding me. Making me eat some food because he knows that’s how you get big and that’s how you get the gains on.”
Telander played in all 13 games last season and had 35 total tackles. He thrived under Brian Jean Mary and has seen even more strides under new linebackers coach William Inge this spring.
