One of Tennessee’s newcomers shed his helmet stripe Wednesday morning after the Vols’ first practice of the day on Haslam Field.

Freshman cornerback Baylen Buchanan — the son of longtime former NFL star defensive back Ray Buchanan — became the first Tennessee newcomer this season to have his black helmet stripe removed.

Tennessee’s newcomers start their careers with black stripes down the center of their practice helmets, and those stripes are removed only after teammates decide a player has earned that right.

Buchanan’s stripe removal was first reported by Tennessee’s official Twitter account, which tweeted a pic of Buchanan taking a selfie with his stripe-less helmet.

The first black stripe is gone! Selfies for @TrueBuchanan with his new, clean lid ???? pic.twitter.com/0Hih8ecUJa — Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) August 10, 2016

The 5-foot-11, 190-pound Buchanan certainly wasn’t the most highly touted prospect among Tennessee’s crop of newcomers — he was the nation’s No. 687 overall prospect and No. 60 cornerback prospect in the 2016 industry-generated 247Sports Composite — but he became the first to earn an honor that’s taken seriously within the Vols’ locker room.

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Contact Wes Rucker by email at wesrucker247@gmail.com or ON TWITTER, or FOLLOW GOVOLS247 ON FACEBOOK.