The Tennessee Volunteers have lost senior linebacker Keenan Pili to a season-ending knee injury after the veteran went down in-game.
Pili, the leading tackler for the Volunteers, has 29 tackles for the team this season and has been arguably one of the top SEC linebackers. Pili went down against Florida early in the game with an apparent knee injury, and needed two staff members to assist him off the field. The injury did not look good in the moment, and turned out to be just as bad as it looked.
The veteran linebacker suffered a torn ACL against the Florida Gators while attempting to make a tackle. The loss of Pili is bigger than just tackle production on defense as the veteran has been a massive leader in the locker room for Tennessee.
Tennessee LB Keenan Pili will miss the remainder of the 2024 season with a torn ACL, Josh Heupel announced🙏
Pili is the Vols’ leading tackler this season. https://t.co/Y4Op9xwgBD pic.twitter.com/JatmIBwJZS
— On3 (@On3sports) October 14, 2024
Many Tennessee Volunteers fans and college football fans in general were upset following the news, as Pili is a loved and respected player.
Get well soon 🫶
— JARL 🅅 🄾 🄻GRUUF THE GREATER (@423VOL) October 14, 2024
NO MAN. 😭😭
— B͓̽ 🍊 (@Bailey_Vol) October 14, 2024
praying for a healthy recovery 🙏🏽 that’s a huge loss for tennessee
— Elias (@7saile_) October 14, 2024
I know it’s cliche to identify as a bama fan and wish him well and a full recovery, but this is very sad news. He’s a great player and leader for his team. Hopefully the recovery goes well. He still has a lot of high level football in his career.
— Zach Talley (@2018ztal) October 14, 2024
With Pili suffering an injury this far into the season for the Volunteers, the linebacker has likely closed out here career in an improper fashion for such a respected individual.
Tennessee Volunteers Linebacker Keenan Pili Ends Collegiate Career With Torn ACL
With the injury occurring deep into the season and eligibility running out for the linebacker, this was likely the final snap of collegiate football for Pili.
The former 2016 recruit was a three-star commitment for the BYU Cougars, playing four seasons with the team before transferring to Tennessee. The linebacker entered the Cougars program in 2016 as a freshman before entering a full-time mission from 2017-19. Pili returned in 2019 for his redshirt-freshman season with the Cougars.
Pili recorded 190 tackles, one forced fumble, 3.5 sacks, and three pass defenses for the Cougars before transferring. Now, the linebacker likely ended his Volunteers career with 33 tackles after suffering an injury in his seventh-year of play. Pili was also injured last season causing the linebacker to miss the majority of the season.
As mentioned, Pili is an incredibly well respected player on and off the football field since arriving at the collegiate level.
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