Vanderbilt’s edge group is starting to take shape, and defensive ends coach Adam Morris likes the mix he has in front of him.
The headline name remains sixth-year veteran Miles Capers, who is aiming at a couple of school records as he closes out his college career. Vanderbilt also brought in Brian Allen Jr. from Iowa, a veteran defensive end the staff believes can help in more than one way. But Morris sees more than just those two when he looks at the room heading into the 2026 season.
There are fresh faces in the mix, too, with Boston College transfer Edwin Kolenge and freshman Jace McCallum joining the group. And then there’s Mason Carter, a player Morris believes is ready to take on a meaningful role as a junior.
“His body has changed, he looks like a completely different human being than he did when he first got here, and I think you're seeing that physical confidence in the way that he plays,” Morris told Vandy On SI. “We’re very excited about Mason.”
Carter played in all 13 games as a sophomore and finished the 2025 season with three tackles and a quarterback hit. He hasn’t piled up a huge amount of snaps through two seasons, but Morris believes the combination of strength, confidence and body type points to his best college season yet.
Kolenge brings a different kind of resume. He started 10 of 12 games for Boston College last season and finished with 17 solo tackles, 14 assisted tackles and a sack against SMU in 2025. Vanderbilt thinks that kind of experience can translate quickly.
“He has some real natural pass rush ability that I think you saw when he was at Boston College. We're excited about it.
I think he's versatile, he can rush on the edge. I think he's strong enough to hold his own inside too.
So, it's been effort and motor with Edwin,” Morris said on what stands out about Kolenge.
One notable absence from the room is LSU transfer CJ Jackson, who arrived at Vanderbilt early in the offseason but was injured in the spring. After the spring game, Clark Lea said the injury would “cast into the season.”
For Morris, that doesn’t mean one player has to carry the load. He’s looking for the group to handle it together.
That’s part of the challenge at edge, where players are asked to rush the passer, drop into coverage and set the edge against the run. Morris said that workload is one reason so many programs now use two coaches to manage the front.
“I think specifically at this position, I think it's why you see so many places now with two coaches managing the front. We ask our guys to do a lot.
They are rushing, they are dropping, they are setting the edge,” Morris told Vandy On SI. “Obviously, in college football with all the quarterback run game a lot happens through the defensive end.
So I think that in and of itself creates challenges more so than the chemistry of getting the roster together.”
Even with that complexity, Morris said the group’s comfort in the scheme has grown through the spring. He believes the chemistry will keep coming as long as the edge players stay sharp on the basics and keep cleaning up their technique.