farragutpress

A ‘Pur’fect UT Vols ending for ex-FHS football star Purcell

Brought Third-Team All-Southern Conference honors from Wofford

July 23, 2025 by Alan Sloan

KNOXVILLE — The security of a three-year football scholarship paid off, in a most notable way, with Third-Team All-Southern Conference honors earned by junior linebacker Eli Purcell at Wofford College in 2023.

However, by 2024 — and only one year of college eligibility left — it was time to chase his dream in Big Orange Country.

This former Farragut star linebacker/tight-end, perhaps best remembered for playing despite a hairline fracture in his leg as an Admirals senior (Class of 2021), found himself playing “Between the Hedges” in Georgia’s famed Sanford Stadium and in Ohio State’s even more famous “Horseshoe,” in the Division I-A college football playoffs, as a Tennessee Volunteer.

After leaving Wofford with 33 games as a starter in three seasons (linebacker and special teams), his taste of Rocky Top “was a great experience I wouldn’t trade for anything,” said Purcell, a starting special teams player and back-up linebacker at UT who played in all 13 Vols games, including seven in Neyland Stadium. “And I ended up earning my way to start on all the four special teams units” as a non-scholarship walk-on.

“I knew I was good enough to play at that level, and that was always a dream of mine,” he added. “It just meant a lot to me to get to play on that level and compete.

“Also, the relationships I built while I was there were special.”

In the 2024 season opener in Neyland versus UT-Chattanooga, “I was only (starting) on kickoff returns,” Purcell said. “And then the second game of the year, in North Carolina (at Charlotte versus North Carolina State), I was (starting) on kickoff return and kickoffs. And then after that, I got put on the punt return (unit) as well.”

An especially memorable Vols moment?

“Probably the most fun play I had was when we were playing Kent State: I was in at linebacker, and there was this run play … and I basically obliterated this offensive lineman — basically, like, pancaked him on the ground — and made the tackle,” Purcell said about his role as a reserve linebacker. “That was pretty cool.”

Also expanding beyond special teams duties, “I played linebacker against Chattanooga and N.C. State,” he said. “And, technically, (at linebacker) the last two plays at Ohio State.”

A two-time Region 1-6A Defensive Player of the Year and All-State honoree (2020) at Farragut, Purcell “took football seriously in high school, worked hard and did real well,” said Eddie Courtney, his high school head coach who led Farragut from the 1996 through the 2023 seasons. “He wanted a chance to be recruited and play college football.

“He dedicated his life to it and did all the extra things to succeed,” the coach added.

Courtney, in fact, helped Purcell get his foot in the door at UT.

“He contacted me, and we talked three times about what he wanted to do, what he was looking for,” Courtney said. “In that third conversation, he said, ‘could you contact anybody at Tennessee and see if they have any interest?’

“So I did, and we went through the proper way to do it after he went into the portal,” the coach added. “They sat down and talked to him and worked something out.

“I’m so proud of him for all he’s accomplished.”

Entire Vols experience

About his entire UT Football experience, “I don’t know if surprise is the right word, but seeing how college football is supposed to be played, how you’re supposed to be treated, the food you’re supposed to eat, the nutritionists, all the support staff that’s there for you — Tennessee has everything you could ever imagine to be the best football player possible,” Purcell said. “The best coaches, the best facilities, the best of everything that goes into it, to where there’s no excuse for you not to get better and become the best player you can be.”

About Vols head coach Josh Heupel, “I would say that coach Heupel is definitely a players’ coach who wants to do things the right way, and he does,” Purcell said. “He is the same person in every single room. He’s somebody I trust and I enjoyed being coached by the year I was there.

“And I’m very grateful to him for the opportunity,” he added. “And there’s a lot of great things to come with Tennessee football with him at the helm.”

Top academics, job, new business

Sporting a 3.63 grade-point average at UT while earning a degree in communication studies, Purcell, 23, was named to the 2024 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll after earning two-time membership on the Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll. He now lives in Farragut and works as a Knoxville-area salesmen with Stryker, “a med device sales company,” he said. “I’ve been working there for about a month now.”

However, “I’m starting a business ... Dryvebox Knoxville: it’s a mobile golf simulator. It can be taken anywhere ...,” Purcell said.

Courtney, FHS roots

Not forgetting his Blue and Gray roots at FHS, “coach Courtney was a great mentor for all of us players and taught us how to do things the right way,” the ex-Admiral said. “I think that’s something that can get misconstrued nowadays, is how you’re supposed to act, whether it be on the field or off the field.

“He always made it clear how we’re supposed to act on and off the field,” Purcell added. “And we were pretty successful because of it. I really enjoyed high school.”

Making a comparison, “college football is awesome, but high school football is probably the most fun you’ll ever have because it’s not a business at that point,” he said. “College football is a business. And high school football, you’re out there with the people you’ve grown up with your whole life. And ‘Friday Night Lights’ are just different; that’s just the truth of it.”

More about Wofford

About his first three college seasons, “I loved my time at Wofford,” he said about the Spartanburg, South Carolina, college. “God’s got a plan for my life, and I was meant to be there. It was fun. I started in every game there.

“My freshman year, I started on all the special teams. And then as a sophomore and junior, I started as an inside linebacker,” Purcell added. “So it gave me a lot of chances to grow in a lot of different areas, whether it be in athletics or just growing as a leader and a person.

“So I’m glad with exactly how my career has turned out. I think everything happens for a reason.”