University of Tennessee Athletics
2023 Football Roster
Roster
McCollough, Jaylen
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Jersey Number 2
Jaylen McCollough
- Position:
- DB
- Ht./Wt.:
- 6-0 / 206
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Austell, Ga.
- High School:
- Hillgrove
Bio
CAREER HONORS
PFF College Nat’l Def. Team of the Week (12/12/20)2019 PFF College All-Freshman Team (HM)
PFF College SEC Defensive Team of the Week (11/4/19)
CAREER
Veteran starting safety who was one of Tennessee’s defensive leaders in the secondary … Elected to return for his super senior season, his fifth and final season in a Vol uniform … Played in 60 career games and made a school-record 51 starts, breaking the previous record of 50 held by Jonathan Hefney (2004-07) … His 60 games played also tied Jerome Carvin (2018-22) for the most appearances by a position player in Tennessee history … Owned 241 total tackles – 160 solo – to go along with 15.5 tackles for a loss of 50 yards, two sacks, six interceptions, 22 passes defended and one forced fumble ... Enrolled at Tennessee in the spring of 2019 after a four-star high school career in Georgia … Earned his degree from UT in December 2022.2023 – SENIOR (FIFTH YEAR)
Capped UT tenure with the best season of his career, starting all 13 games at safety … His 85.8 defensive grade by PFF led all SEC safeties in 2023, while his 85.9 coverage grade was fourth … Ranked third on the team in tackles with 58, including 34 solo … Added 2.5 tackles for loss … Tied for the team lead in interceptions with three, including one returned for a touchdown … His three picks tied for sixth in the SEC … Ranked second on the team in pass breakups with five ... Broke the school record for career starts in his final game (51), recording four tackles, one pass breakup and one QB hurry in shutout victory over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl (1/1) … Tied the school record with his 50th career start in regular season finale vs. Vanderbilt (11/25), racking up six tackles and one PBU in the victory ... Tallied five total tackles vs. No. 1 Georgia (11/18) ... Recorded his third interception of the season and second in as many games at No. 14 Missouri (11/11) and finished the contest with a season-high seven tackles ... On the first play of the second half vs. UConn (11/4), snared his second interception of the season and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown for his first career pick-six ... Tallied four assisted tackles in SEC road victory at Kentucky (10/28) ... Posted a season-high seven tackles and nabbed his first interception of the season at No. 11/8 Alabama (10/21) ... Made three total tackles with one TFL in win over Texas A&M (10/14) ... Started at safety and finished with a season-high five tackles and one pass breakup in win vs. South Carolina (9/30) ... Logged his 200th career tackle with a solo stop in the fourth quarter against the Gamecocks ... Played the 50th game of his career at Florida (9/16), starting at safety and logging four tackles with one TFL ... Made his 40th career start at safety vs. Austin Peay (9/9) and posted three solo tackles as well as a pass breakup in the win ... Started at safety in the season-opening win vs. Virginia (9/2) and logged four tackles, half a TFL and one pass breakup.2022 – SENIOR
Ranked second on the team and led all defensive backs with 59 total tackles, including 38 of the solo variety … Added four tackles for loss and two pass breakups … Started all 11 games he played in … Made seven tackles in the Orange Bowl victory vs. Clemson (12/30) … Logged seven tackles in the victory at Vanderbilt (11/26) and posted his third-consecutive game with a tackle for loss while adding a PBU ... Tied his season-best tackle total with seven takedowns at South Carolina (11/19), adding one TFL for the second consecutive week ... Notched a TFL in win vs. Missouri (11/12) as part of a four-tackle game where he added a QB hurry ... Wrestled down six tackles, including three solo stops, at No. 3 Georgia (11/5) ... Returned to action against No. 19 Kentucky (10/29), tallying four tackles and a pass breakup, his first of the season, in the win ... Recorded a season-high seven tackles, five of the solo variety, in road win at No. 25 LSU (10/8) ... Tallied four tackles for the fourth time this season in the victory over #20 Florida (9/24) ... In his 30th career start, had four tackles and his first TFL of the season (10th of his career) in win over Akron (9/17) while also recording a QB hurry.2021 – JUNIOR
Started all 13 games at safety … Tallied team-high three interceptions, which tied for fifth in the SEC ... Ranked third on the team in pass breakups with five and finished with 50 tackles – 35 solo – which was sixth on the squad … Added 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble … Notched four tackles and one PBU in the Music City Bowl vs. Purdue (12/30) … Had three tackles, highlighted by a sack in a win over Vanderbilt (11/27) ... Collected four tackles in the win vs. South Alabama (11/20) ... Forced a pass breakup and had six solo tackles in win at No. 18 Kentucky (11/6) ... Forced the first fumble of his career at No. 4 Alabama (10/23), nearly changing the flow of the game as he stripped QB Bryce Young as he reached for the goal line, but it was ruled that Young recovered the fumble for a TD ... Made three solo tackles in a start at safety against No. 13 Ole Miss (10/16) ... Intercepted a pass in the end zone against South Carolina (10/9) in the first quarter and made three tackles ... Became the first Vol since current Seattle Seahawk Nigel Warrior to have interceptions in back-to-back games ... Recorded his second interception of the season and made four tackles in win at Mizzou (10/2) ... Had an impressive day at No. 11 Florida (9/25), putting up a season-best six tackles, 0.5 TFL, one PBU and one QBH ... Had a solid day against Tennessee Tech (9/18), making his first interception and defending three passes while registering two tackles ... Returned interception vs. TTU 16 yards that set up a Vol TD … Logged five tackles against Pitt (9/11) and recorded a TFL for the second straight game ... Started at safety in season opener against Bowling Green (9/2), recording four tackles and a TFL.2020 – SOPHOMORE
Played in all 10 games and made eight starts at safety despite dealing with nagging injuries throughout the year ... Totaled 43 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and two pass breakups ... Set a new career high with 11 tackles in season finale vs. No. 5 Texas A&M (12/19) ... Made five tackles and half of a tackle for loss in win at Vanderbilt (12/12) ... Made two tackles and had one pass breakup vs. No. 6 Florida (12/5) ... Totaled three tackles and one tackle for loss at Arkansas (11/7) ... Had six tackles, including a TFL against No. 2 Alabama (10/24) ... Made four tackles and one pass breakup at No. 3 Georgia (10/10) ... Tallied five tackles in start in win over Missouri (10/3) ... Made four tackles - all in the second half - in season-opening win at South Carolina (9/26).2019 – FRESHMAN
Started the final six games of the season at safety as Tennessee capped the season on a six-game win streak ... Appeared in all 13 games and finished with 33 tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack and two pass breakups ... Collected PFF College All-Freshman Team honorable mention honors ... Started and finished second on the team with seven tackles against Indiana in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (1/2) ... Had four tackles versus Vanderbilt (11/30) ... Matched his season-high five tackles at Missouri (11/23) ... Became seventh true freshman to start for the Vols in 2019 when he opened the game at safety vs. South Carolina, finishing with five tackles (10/26) ... Tallied four tackles and posted his first-career sack at No. 1 Alabama (10/19) ... Made the first four tackles of his UT career against Chattanooga, including a TFL and a PBU (9/14) ... Made his collegiate debut in the season-opener against Georgia State (8/31) ... Early enrollee who had two interceptions in the 2019 Orange and White Spring Game.HIGH SCHOOL
Consensus four-star recruit and one of Georgia’s top-25 prospects out of Hillgrove High School … Selected to participate in the 2019 Under Armour All-American Game … Three-time Georgia All-State selection … Led Hillgrove to a 12-1 record and the state quarterfinals in 2018 … Named to the All-USA Georgia Second Team in 2017 … Totaled 77 tackles, four TFLs and six PBUs while scoring five offensive touchdowns in 2017 despite missing four games due to injury.PERSONAL
Full name is Jaylen McCollough … Born on Oct. 12, 2000 … Goes by the nickname "Tank" ... Son of Eriles and Azure McCollough … Father, Eriles, played college football at Jacksonville State … Earned his undergraduate degree from UT in communication studies in December 2022 ... Currently working toward a master’s degree in agricultural leadership, education and communication … Recipient of the Louis Green Scholarship Endowment … Twitter and Instagram handle is @ Jay_Mccollough2.FB | Kelsey Pope Press Conference (9.9.25)
Tuesday, September 09
FB | Arion Carter Media Availability (9.9.25)
Tuesday, September 09
FB | Sam Pendleton Media Availability (9.9.25)
Tuesday, September 09
FB | Braylon Staley Media Availability (9.9.25)
Tuesday, September 09
