Tunnel Hill’s Mack signs with Patriots after Titans release him

Published 12:46 pm Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Tunnel Hill’s Isaiah Mack is now a New England Patriot.

Mack, a Northwest Whitfield High School graduate, was cut by the Tennessee Titans earlier this week to make room for cornerback Desmond King II, who the Titans acquired from the Los Angeles Chargers.

Mack, a defensive tackle had played in six games this season, tallying two tackles. Now, he is playing for one of the greatest NFL head coaches of all time in Bill Belichick and joins a franchise with six Super Bowl wins since 2002.

This is Mack’s second year in the NFL. The 6-foot-1, 299-pound defensive tackle, went undrafted in 2019 out of the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and signed with Tennessee, just about two hours away from his hometown. Last season, he played in 13 games, recording 11 tackles, 1.5 sacks, eight quarterback pressures and one fumble recovery. In a week 5 game against Atlanta on Sept. 29, 2019, Mack had the best game of his young professional career with two tackles and half a sack.

He starred at Northwest on the defensive line. During his junior year in 2012, Mack racked up 137 tackles (30 for loss) and eight sacks. The next season, Mack recorded 121 tackles. Both years, he was the region defensive player of the year and made the all-state team. Earlier this year, Northwest retired Mack’s No. 9 jersey during halftime of a varsity boys game. The 2014 graduate is the first Bruin to make a NFL team’s roster and play in the league.

After high school, the lightly recruited defensive tackle took a scholarship at nearby University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he finished third in program history in tackles for loss with 41 and fourth in school history in sacks with 21. He was the 2018 Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year. He played in 48 games with 32 starts over four seasons.