McCallan Castles met with the media after Tennessee’s Citrus Bowl practice Monday morning at Anderson Training Center, and the senior tight end had plenty to say. Castles, who transferred to Tennessee from FCS program UC Davis for his final season of college football, has been productive for the Vols. The 6-foot-5, 252-pound California native added 20 pounds of muscle in the offseason to cope with line-of-scrimmage life at the SEC level, and he quickly became an important cog for the Vols, catching at least one pass in 11 of the team’s 12 regular-season games.
Following his four-touchdown regular season with Tennessee, Castles never had any doubts about opting into the bowl game and playing one more game with his “brothers” and for head coach Josh Heupel, offensive coordinator Joey Halzle and tight ends coach Alec Abeln. He and the rest of the 21st-ranked Vols will play 17th-ranked Iowa on New Year’s Day in Orlando. Castles and the Vols will practice this week in Knoxville before parting ways for a brief Christmas break and then reconvening to travel to Orlando for on-site Citrus Bowl prep.
“Yeah, I think it’s a little bit more exciting. And it’s kind of nice, because you kind of get the opportunity to get the young guys more involved and develop them a little bit, so they get a lot more reps. So they’re definitely more excited ’cause they’re not playing scout team and actually repping our offense and defense. So the energy gets a little bit up there, and you get some good stuff out there.”
