THE QB PLAYER BETTER THAN MARCEL REED HAS AGREED WITH.

Tennessee linebacker Keenan Pili has received an extension of eligibility waiver from the NCAA and will return for a second season on Rocky Top in 2024, Pili announced on social media Friday afternoon.

The waiver was approved earlier in the day on Friday according to a Tennessee official, allowing Pili the opportunity to return for his seventh season of college football.

In a message on a graphic he shared on social media, Pili said:“ Vol Nation, thank you for accepting me into the family here in Knoxville. Let’s run it back in 2024!”

Pili suffered an upper-body injury in Tennessee’s season-opening win over Virginia on Sept. 2 that proved to cost him the remainder of the season. The Vols landed Pili from BYU out of the transfer portal in December and was as an important addition to the middle of the defense for his leadership and experience, plus his ability on the field as a run defender in the box and out in space with his range and coverage skills.

Pili was a two-time team captain for the Cougars and totaled 190 tackles in 36 career games there. He started 24 times at BYU.

In final season at BYU in 2022, Pili made 62 tackles with 4.0 TFL’s, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery as a redshirt junior. His season was cut short the year prior in 2021 due to a season-ending injury. In the three games he was able to play, he recorded 31 tackles, 3.5 TFL’s, 1.5 sacks and a quarterback hurry. Pili recorded a career-high 17 tackles and a tackle for loss in a 24-16 win over Arizona.

Pili was a three-star recruit coming out of Timpview High School in Provo. The 6-foot-3, 237-pound linebacker was considered the No. 909 overall player in the 247Sports composite, as well as the No. 57 overall outside linebacker and No. 14 player in the state of Utah. He redshirted as a freshman and was a member on the scout team in 2016 before serving a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Orlando, Florida from 2017-19.

His brother, Trajan, played defensive line at BYU (2013, 2016-19), as did his his father’s cousin, Ifo Pili, in 1997-98, 2001-03.

In his first season following his mission, he played in 11 games in 2019 with one start against USC. Pili totaled 25 tackles, including 17 solo tackles, that year. He then had a breakout redshirt-sophomore season in 2020 when he finished second on the team in total tackles with 72. Pili started eight of 10 games on his way to earning Second Team All-Independent honors. He was also named the Boca Raton Bowl Defensive MVP after BYU’s 49-23 win over UCF.

Pili was a Semper Fi All-American as a safety coming out of high school. He was named to Salt Lake Tribune Coaches’ All-State Class 4A Second Team in 2015 where he helped Timpview to an 11-2 record en route to an appearance in the UHSAA 4A State Football Championship game. As a senior he recorded 70 tackles, one sack, three fumble recoveries and one blocked field goal.