Xavier Gilliam
At Penn State he was the No. 3 defensive tackle, a 409-snap rotation piece behind names that mattered more. Then his defensive coordinator left for Tennessee, Gilliam followed, and by April a Vols source was telling CBS Sports he'd 'probably be our best d-lineman.' Same player, new building, completely different story.
At Penn State he was the No. 3 defensive tackle, a 409-snap rotation piece behind names that mattered more. Then his defensive coordinator left for Tennessee, Gilliam followed, and by April a Vols source was telling CBS Sports he'd 'probably be our best d-lineman.' Same player, new building, completely different story.
The dominant offseason thread isn't the box score, it's the migration. When Jim Knowles bolted Penn State for Knoxville, he took a piece of the Nittany Lions' defense with him, and Gilliam was the quietest of the bunch, a redshirt freshman with two career starts and a stat line (15 tackles, 2 TFL, 0.5 sacks) that didn't scream 'cornerstone.' But Tennessee got loud about him fast: Heupel praised his block destruction and his ability to hold up against double teams, and coaches started floating an Omarr Norman-Lott comparison for his quickness off the interior. AtoZ Sports already lists him among the best players on the roster coming out of spring.
The stakes only climbed in June. The marquee Penn State import, Chaz Coleman, the one who got a reported ~$2 million, was medically disqualified and parted ways with the program, turning Tennessee's headline transfer bet into a bust. With Daevin Hobbs fighting the same foot injury that nagged him in 2025, the projected starting tackle next to him is the guy nobody was talking about in January. Rivals slotted Gilliam as the No. 10 DL in the portal; post-spring depth charts have him starting.
So the boards on Rocky Top have flipped from 'who's Xavier Gilliam' to 'is he the answer in the middle.' The forward stake for 2026: does the spring riser hold up over a full SEC slate, or is Tennessee asking a one-start redshirt freshman to anchor a line that has to replace its best from a year ago?
How he plays
No pbp percentiles exist for Gilliam (a redshirt freshman interior tackle with one full season of snaps), so this is a scouting read, not a metric one. He's not a space-eater in the classic mold at a listed 6-2, 300 (the recruiting file had him at 265 out of Quince Orchard) but the coaching staff's selling point is leverage and quickness: good at the point of attack, hard to move on doubles, and disruptive enough off the snap that Tennessee staffers reached for an Omarr Norman-Lott comp. His 2025 production was modest and rotational, 12 solo tackles, 3 TFL, half a sack, fitting a No. 3 DT in a deep room, so 2026 is the projection year where the flashes either become a snap count or stay flashes.
- 247Sports: Penn State transfer Xavier Gilliam joins Tennessee's defensive line
- Rocky Top Insider: Gilliam is stealing the headlines of spring camp
- AtoZ Sports: Vols newcomer already one of the best players on the roster after spring
- Rocky Top Insider: This Tennessee defender will be key after Chaz Coleman's departure
The dominant offseason thread isn't the box score, it's the migration. When Jim Knowles bolted Penn State for Knoxville, he took a piece of the Nittany Lions' defense with him, and Gilliam was the quietest of the bunch, a redshirt freshman with two career starts and a stat line (15 tackles, 2 TFL, 0.5 sacks) that didn't scream 'cornerstone.' But Tennessee got loud about him fast: Heupel praised his block destruction and his ability to hold up against double teams, and coaches started floating an Omarr Norman-Lott comparison for his quickness off the interior. AtoZ Sports already lists him among the best players on the roster coming out of spring.
The stakes only climbed in June. The marquee Penn State import, Chaz Coleman, the one who got a reported ~$2 million, was medically disqualified and parted ways with the program, turning Tennessee's headline transfer bet into a bust. With Daevin Hobbs fighting the same foot injury that nagged him in 2025, the projected starting tackle next to him is the guy nobody was talking about in January. Rivals slotted Gilliam as the No. 10 DL in the portal; post-spring depth charts have him starting.
So the boards on Rocky Top have flipped from 'who's Xavier Gilliam' to 'is he the answer in the middle.' The forward stake for 2026: does the spring riser hold up over a full SEC slate, or is Tennessee asking a one-start redshirt freshman to anchor a line that has to replace its best from a year ago?
Play style
No pbp percentiles exist for Gilliam (a redshirt freshman interior tackle with one full season of snaps), so this is a scouting read, not a metric one. He's not a space-eater in the classic mold at a listed 6-2, 300 (the recruiting file had him at 265 out of Quince Orchard) but the coaching staff's selling point is leverage and quickness: good at the point of attack, hard to move on doubles, and disruptive enough off the snap that Tennessee staffers reached for an Omarr Norman-Lott comp. His 2025 production was modest and rotational, 12 solo tackles, 3 TFL, half a sack, fitting a No. 3 DT in a deep room, so 2026 is the projection year where the flashes either become a snap count or stay flashes.
SOURCES
- 247Sports: Penn State transfer Xavier Gilliam joins Tennessee's defensive line
- Rocky Top Insider: Gilliam is stealing the headlines of spring camp
- AtoZ Sports: Vols newcomer already one of the best players on the roster after spring
- Rocky Top Insider: This Tennessee defender will be key after Chaz Coleman's departure
Career Arc
2025 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
Splits & context
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Matt Campbell
Awards
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 1 · 2-deepR04 · Rotational
Rotational. Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Penn State | 16 | 12 | 3.0 | 0.5 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Penn State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 17 | 13 | 3.0 | 0.5 | -- | -- | -- |
How he plays
Play style
Wins his gap play after play.
CFB Index positional classification
2026 Outlook
Penn State
2026 Depth chart
Returning starter
Defensive tackle · Penn State · editorial
Returning around him
- 56% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
- 8 Penn State players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -10 net (38 in / 48 out)
2026 Award watch
- Outland
- Nagurski
- Bednarik
Penn State · Last season: 7-6 (AP #7) · Talent rank #10 · 2026 recruiting class #65
DNA match
Player DNA
Two-Gap Base
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jason Williams’s 2021 season.
Matches Jason on
Differs from Jason on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Rodney Lora's sophomore season at UCF (2025).
Matches Rodney on
Differs from Rodney on
Heisman trajectory
Heisman Trajectory · 2025
Peak #8417
Peaked at #8417 this season.