Emmit Gooden has been dismissed from the Tennessee Vols football program. The defensive lineman was recently arrested on charges of felony domestic assault after an altercation with his girlfriend, according to local news outlet WVLT.
Gooden is accused of striking his girlfriend in the head with a glass jar which caused cuts that required stitches.
The 6-foot-3, 290-pound defensive lineman played in 12 games for the Volunteers in 2018 with one start. The 22-year-old then missed the entire 2019 season after suffering a torn ACL during summer camp. He was expected to start at defensive tackle for the Vols this season.
Gooden transferred to Tennessee as a four-star recruit after beginning his college career at Independence Community College in Kansas. The school was featured on the popular Netflix series Last Chance U.
As part of one of the best defensive line units in the country, Gooden was one of the only Last Chance U players to receive an offer from a Power 5 Division I school. Gooden also had offers from the Arkansas Razorbacks and West Virginia Mountaineers.
Gooden is the second Tennessee player to be dismissed from Jeremy Pruitt’s program this summer. In June, running back Tim Jordan was dismissed after an arrest on gun and marijuana charges. Jordan pleaded guilty last week to a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon and now appears to be headed to Western Kentucky
As for what’s next for Gooden, it will be difficult to find his way back to a major program after the severity of the allegations against him.
