#VolReport: Assistants Notebook

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Vols assistants touched on a variety of topics on Wednesday including the removal of two black stripes, Jacob Gilliam’s amazing attempt at a comeback, Matt Darr’s improvement in the punting game and more.

BLAIR & MIXON STRIPES COME OFF

Two more Volunteers had their black helmet stripes removed after practice on Wednesday afternoon.

Freshman defensive lineman Dimarya Mixon and junior Dontavius Blair had their stripes removed by head coach Butch Joneson the recommendation of the player staff.

Blair came to Tennessee from Garden City Community College and is growing into his position on the offensive line. The progress he has made since the season began brought his welcome into the football family.

“He’s been really consistent with what he’s done over the last three weeks,” offensive line coach Don Mahoney said. “We talk about guys understanding what we expect in our every day meetings. It’s not so much that his stripe was taken off for performance as it is you’ve really bought in to what we want, what we expect. He’s really grown up a lot in that he’s living our way. I’m really proud of him because I do see the change in him, he’s really working hard.”

Mixon has played in all four games this season and made three tackles against Arkansas State. While he did not make a tackle Saturday, it was his play against Georgia and the week leading up to the game that led top his stripe removal.

“Mixon has been a young man that we’ve moved inside to play tackle, so obviously that’s a different world,” defensive line coach Steve Stripling said. “It’s taken him a little longer and I think the guys wanted to make sure he was adapting to that position. Last week he worked himself into a playing role and filled in at a critical time in the game. They felt he had made enough progress to take off his stripe.”

GILLIAM CONTINUES TO AMAZE

Offensive Line Coach Don Mahoney can’t say enough about one of his linemen. Oddly enough, this particular player hasn’t played in a game since the Vols’ home opener against Utah State. After suffering a torn ACL injury on August 31, redshirt junior Jacob Gilliam has continued to work out. He continues to run and lift weights and today, he practiced with the O-line, something Mahoney has never seen before in his coaching career.

“I can’t say enough about him,” Mahoney said. “This is a guy who will just not accept that fact that he’s been told he may not be able to play again. He’s been working as hard as possible and mentally, he’s something else. I’m amazed to see him do the things he’s done.”

To Gilliam’s credit, no one has pushed him. Under observation by Tennessee’s elite athletic training staff, the Knoxville native has done as much as he physically can to rehabilitate with hopes of defying the odds.

“He said, `I’m not done. As long as I’m okay to participate, I want to give it a go,'” Mahoney said. “Of course with Coach Jones and myself, as long as the trainers and all that stuff is okay then we’ll make sure if he wants to give it a go, he can. He keeps wanting more, wanting more, wanting more. We just keep following the direction of the trainers and he’s moving around well. He refuses to sit out.”

For Coach Jones and his staff, Gilliam has not only demonstrated the type of attitude they hope for among their linemen, but he is the epitome of the never-give-up player that Team 118 needs moving forward.

“His peers on this team are looking at him and they’re just shaking their heads,” Mahoney said. “That’s why this time for us as a program and personally as a position, I think this is exactly what these kids are about. They want to do well, they want to do whatever it takes and they’re working hard to see that happen.”

GEORGIA GAME A BIG STEP FOR DARR

In last week’s game against #12/13 Georgia, redshirt Matt Darr had his single-game best with an average of 44.6 yards. Darr kicked three punts of 50-plus yards and four inside the 20-yard line.

“Matt Darr certainly took a step forward,” special teams coordinator Mark Elder said. “He had a really good day last week. It was nice to see him bounce back from a subpar performance. He certainly stepped up this past week.”

“We all needed him to perform well. He needed to perform well for no other reason than you get 12 opportunities and you have to perform at your best each and every Saturday afternoon.”

Already this week, Darr is having a better practice week than he did prior to the Georgia game. Although it’s not perfect, Elder see the improvements that he’s making.

“He’s had a better week than he did last week,” Elder said. “That’s always a good thing to see because I strongly believe that what you do in practice is going to be what you do on Saturday afternoons. He’s had a pretty consistent week. He hasn’t been perfect, but he’s had a better week this week than he had two weeks ago.”

FRESHMAN SCOTT READY TO CONTRIBUTE

Darrell Scott has made continual progress in returning from an injury that kept him out during the early part of the season. He was declared game-ready a week ago, but did not crack the rotation at Georgia.

Now, with another week of practice behind him, the debut may come in short order for the freshman.

“He is close,” running backs coach Robert Gillespie said. “I’m confident in him. It is his job to make the right blocks, reads and to be able to communicate from the sideline. If he can do those things and he gains confidence, I gain confidence and Coach (Mike) Bajakian gains confidence then we will put him in the game when the time comes.”

Bajakian said Scott could provide valuable depth at the running back position to help take the load off of Jalen Hurd andMarlin Lane.

“We need to continue to step up and progress at all positions when it comes to the development of our youth,” Bajakian said. Darrell is one of those guys that has been getting more and more reps in practice and we feel more and more comfortable with.”

Scott was prepared to see the field in Athens, but the situational side of the game kept him off of it. Gillespie feels the time may be coming sooner rather than later.

“The situation didn’t present itself,” Gillespie said of the Georgia game. “I would have liked to get him in the game earlier, so he could kind of get in the flow. I just didn’t want to throw him in after halftime without getting any reps early in the game. I have to do a better job of getting him some early reps. From a mental standpoint he was ready. Looking back I wish I could have gotten him in a little bit, but it is a new week and he has done well so far.”

GAINESVILLE NATIVES SEEKING WIN

While the Florida game is very important to everyone in the Tennessee program, defensive line coach Steve Stripling says that Saturday’s game means a little bit more to Gainesville, Fla., natives on the defensive line Jordan Williams and Trevarris Saulsberry.

“Yeah, I think they’re excited about it,” he said. “They’ve got a lot of family members coming, obviously. I think this is an important game for our program, and really all of our guys, but I think those two guys are taking it special.”

Stripling said that while Williams has been playing the run well, he hopes to see the senior defensive lineman will have a larger impact rushing quarterback this week.

“Jordan’s doing a good job,” he said. “I think where Jordan really needs to focus is attention. He’s got to win his one on ones in pass rush, because he’s got that kind of athletic ability. I think he’s so focused on doing his job in the run game, that maybe his pass rush hasn’t surfaced yet, so that’s what we’re focusing on.”

Stripling also said that he is excited to have junior defensive tackle Trevarris Saulsberry back on the field after recovering from injury, and that he expects him to play a larger role Saturday against the Gators.

“Trevarris, I think he played 15 (snaps last week), and I think he’ll play more this week,” he said. “We’ve increased his practice reps, so with him it’s just workload and seeing how he holds up.

“And again, he had a great week, so I see his role increasing because it’s a nice boost for us to get a 300 pound guy in there, and to have him get some of those other guys off the field. So, I think he’s bringing a lot to the table right now.”

SOUND BITES

Here are sound bites from the assistant coaches after Wednesday’s practice

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE BAJAKIAN

»(On confidence ofJosh Malone)

“I feel good about our receivers in general whether it is Josh (Malone), Jason (Croom), Marquez (North) and Alton (Pig Howard) just the whole group. As they make plays they will get the ball more. My play calling doesn’t change a whole lot based on who is in there, but it was good to see Josh step up in certain situations. He continues to get better and will get the ball more and more.”

»(On the creative ways of making some offensive plays)

“It’s a luxury.The more weapons you have the more possibly ways you have to get people the ball. As guys continue to develop like Josh Malone, Jalen Hurd and Marquez North etc. there will be more and more ways to feed them the ball.”

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR JOHN JANCEK

»(On Florida’s speed)

“I think their speed is really good. They have a good skillset at the wide outs. The backs run hard. Their physical. The quarterback has the ability to run it and beat you as far as throwing it too. I think they’re an outstanding offense.”

»(On the big plays by Curt Maggitt in the Georgia game)

“I’m really proud of the way Curt played. He did an outstanding job. He played outside linebacker. He played defensive end. He was on point. He really played as good a nine technique as I’ve seen in quite some time. I’m really pleased with what he did over the tight end and in coverage and the run game.”

»(On the third down defense)

“We work hard on third downs. I think it’s source of pride with our players. We just have to continue to do our job and execute and that’s the key.”

DEFENSIVE BACKS COACH WILLIE MARTINEZ

»(On Todd Kelly Jr.)

“I think he’s ahead (of where he thought he would be). I think he’s getting better each and every day. When given the opportunity to get in some games, he’s been very productive, and that’s a good thing, especially when you’re a young player and playing the safety position, which has to make all the calls, make all the checks, and get everyone lined up when he has to make a check and get everyone on the same page. He’s done that, so I would say he’s ahead of schedule.”

»(On LaDarrell McNeil)

“I’ll be honest with you, LaDarrell McNeil is playing his best football since we’ve been here, and I think LaDarrell would probably be the first one to tell you, since he’s been here, himself. And it shows in the last two ballgames. It’s really shown all the way through camp and leading up to the first ballgame. He really has played solid, he’s been consistent, he’s made plays, he’s been an impact player for us on defense, and he’s been an impact player on special teams.”

DEFENSIVE LINE COACH STEVE STRIPLING

»(On getting more pressure on the quarterback)

“Well obviously, improve our techniques. Again, I always talk about `F.B.I’ (football intelligence) and if you can know if it’s [a] pass [play] before the ball snaps, it really helps. We’re just not experienced enough and not sharp enough right now to make that distinction, so that’s obviously an error that we have to improve.”

»(On stopping Matt Jones)

“I think the thing about their whole offense is they give you a lot of looks and motions and those kind of things. So I think for us, it’s a matter of guys taking the mentality to do their job, keep their eyes focused where they should be, put their hands where they should be, and just doing their job in their simple world.”

WIDE RECEIVERS COACH ZACH AZZANNI

»(On improvement of Jason Croom and Josh Malone at Georgia)

“I think they grew up a lot just playing on the road and being able to make some plans in hostile environments which neither one of them had done yet. Jason (Croom) even though he has been here that is something he hasn’t been able to do. I’m just proud of him coming off a rough game at Oklahoma. Josh (Malone) continues to grow little by little and mature. It was nice to see them make some plays. We didn’t make enough of them to win the game, but we had our share.”

»(On Marquez North’s separation)

“He needs to continue to work at it. There is no doubt about it. We are on him everyday and he are working on it hard. He is a very prideful kid so he is working on it hard. He knows there is area in his game that he needs to improve and he is working on it everyday. Separation is something we work with all of them on everyday, not only Marquez. He knows his game will go up if he continues to work on getting separation.”

TIGHT ENDS COACH/SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR MARK ELDER

»(On Florida’s special teams unit)

“They’re punting is outstanding. I think that guy is going to have a chance to win a national award this year. He’s averaging 50 yards a punt so he’s certainly a weapon to flip the field. Obviously [Andre] Debose, he’s electric with the ball in his hands. I believe he is the SEC record holder for most kickoff returns for a touchdown. He has a couple of big returns already this year. He’s extremely electric with the ball in his hands so we have to do a great job in both of our coverage units there. They’re a kickoff team. They fly down the field. They have a lot of really good athletes. Their kicker does a good job of ball placement, so we’ve got a big challenge ahead of us this weekend.”

»(On who’s stepping up on special teams)

“We’re always trying to find the best 11 for every unit. We’ve had some of the young guys that stepped up and have done a nice job. Evan Berry’s done a nice job running down on kickoff, doing a couple things on punt here and there. Elliott’s doing a nice job. Cortez McDowell’s role has been expanding every single week on special teams. You’re seeing some of these guys grow as the season’s coming along, very similar to howJalen Reeves-Maybin was last year. Last year he was working his way into it and started to explode making a couple more plays as it started to get into the third, fourth, fifth week of the season. You’re starting to see these guys develop and understand their role, understand their job on the unit and doing a better job.”

RUNNING BACKS COACH ROBERT GILLESPIE

»((On expectations of Jalen Hurd when arrived)

“I haven’t had any expectations of Jalen [Hurd]. I think as a freshman you don’t know what to expect. He has done a good job so far. He has tons of room for improvement. He is taking what is given to him.Hopefully now he can start creating extra yards for himself by getting us some one-on-one situations and breaking some long runs. Everyday in practice Jalen is getting better. Hopefully this week is no different. He can continue to get better on the small things that he and I talk about all the time.”

»(On Marlin Lane)

“He has been good. We are at week five or six with the bye week. Everybody is a little sore. We just have to be smart with some of the things we do with them. Marlin (Lane) is a ready to go guy. He understands how big this season is to the program and how big this weekend is to us as a football team. Marlin is ready to go.”

OFFENSIVE LINE COACH DON MAHONEY

»(On the offensive line contributing to the run game)

“I don’t necessarily get caught up in numbers but at the same time from our position, winning is first and foremost. Then you want to keep your quarterback clean and you want the rushing yardage for the pride of the unit, to look at it and say, `We’re making strides’. I think we’re taking steps in the right direction. I told our guys, from Arkansas State to Oklahoma to Georgia, there is progress being made.”

»(On emphasizing communication this week)

“That was one thing in watching the film with them on Monday, I said, `We have got to communicate. If there is ever a time where we assume, look at what can happen on a given play.’ That’s always got to be of the utmost importance, being completely dialed in on every play and communicating on every play. Home, away, it doesn’t matter. It’s got to be working to continue to be one.”

LINEBACKERS COACH TOMMY THIGPEN

»(On Jalen Reeves-Maybin proving himself as a linebacker)

“Last year, you could see it, he would just get absorbed by linemen. You could see some discouragement in his eyes. He came back this spring as a totally different player. His lingo in the meeting rooms, his attention to detail, the way he attacked practice and drills, he just couldn’t be denied. He plays big, he plays confident, he does everything you ask him to do and he asks all the right questions.”

»(On replacing freshman Dillon Bates due to injury)

“Right now, we’re looking at three guys. We’re experimenting with Cortez [McDowell], as well as Elliott [Berry], as well as Kenny Bynum.”