KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee made its long-awaited return to the gridiron on Tuesday evening as it opened up its preseason training camp at Haslam Field.

Head coach Butch Jones expressed pleasure with how the first day unfolded, but was quick to remind the media in his post-practice presser that Team 119 still has a ways to go before it opens up the season on Sept. 5 in Nashville.

“We have a lot, a lot of work to do but it was a long day for our players and I thought they handled it well,” said third-year head coachButch Jones. “We talk about being a tough football team and part of it is emotionally and mentally, with a full day of classes, meetings in the morning and having a couple of meals before coming out for an evening practice. I liked their intensity.”

Jones did not hesitate to list a string of criterion he expects to be addressed before his football team can be considered in prime condition, chief among them the concepts of retention and installation.

“I thought for the most part, our older players did a good job [with retention from the meetings to the classroom],” he said. “I thought our younger players, for their first time and with the volume of installation, that they handled it pretty well. Now, as we all know, it’s the progression of training camp … so we have to make sure that they are in their playbooks and that they’re also balancing their academic workload.”

Still, the third-year headman noticed a keen difference in his team’s speed, particularly in the backfield, when comparing last season’s opening camp to this one. Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara as a tandem continue to incite exciting prospects while Ralph David Abernathy IV, Joe Young, and John Kelly only add to the bevy of anticipated quickness. Similarly, Jones noted a heightened sense of cultural maturity about his squad–a theme that is sure to continue throughout the spring.

 

Barnett Still Improving

After a breakout rookie season in 2014, defensive end Derek Barnett’s name is showing up on several preseason watch lists, including the Nagurski Trophy and the Bednarik Award. Barnett says that his confidence has grown over the last year and he can improve on a freshman campaign in which he posted 72 tackles along with UT rookie records of 10.0 sacks and 20.5 tackles for loss.

“I missed a bunch of sacks,” Barnett said. “I think I need to get better with my hands and more pass rush moves.”

The Nashville native’s strength has improved after recovering from a shoulder injury and his mental game matured from a year of playing experience.

“I just understand what tackles are going to do now and I can read what they are going to do before the play is called,” he said.

 

Sutton Makes Most of Leadership Opportunity

Head coach Butch Jones continued to survey the maturation of his football team after the opening day of training camp, and was quick to focus on junior defensive back Cameron Sutton as a chief instigator in that growth. Sutton, who has admittedly aimed to take on a stronger leadership role within his defensive unit, put action to words on Tuesday when he made the most of what Jones described as a very particular “leadership opportunity.”

“We had a great leadership opportunity [today] and Cam Sutton took full advantage of it,” recalled Jones. “When our second team defense didn’t sprint onto the football field, he called them all back and had them re-huddle and sprint back onto the football field. [Sutton] said, `That’s not the way we do things at Tennessee.'”

A member of the preseason watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award, the former Jonesboro, Georgia, standout said the incident was just the byproduct of the sway his experience and production have bought him.

“There’s a lot of new faces on this team,” said Sutton. “I’m a leader on this team now where a lot of guys look up to me and I have to embrace that role and keep preaching to the younger guys–and keep preaching to even the older guys–that `this is what we’re here for. This why we came to Tennessee.'”

 

O-Line Drive by Pressure, Depth

The UT offensive line has come a long way over the course of one season. After all five starters from the seasoned 2013 group (Ja’Wuan James, James Stone, Zach Fulton, Antonio Richardson, Alex Bullard) were drafted or signed by NFL teams, last year’s o-line battled through inexperience and injuries to anchor the Vols’ first bowl-winning team since 2008. Fifth-year senior tackle Kyler Kerbyson says that he and his fellow linemen thrive with the outside pressure placed on them.

“Everyone talks about the skill guys and they are young and they are talented and it is always a question mark with the o-line,” Kerbyson said. “I want to show people that we are the glue that holds it together.”

Kerbyson believes competition generated by depth has been and continues to be a driving force in the offensive line’s improvement.

“I felt like when I was younger, competition with the older guys made them better,” he said. “I’m glad to see younger guys making me better.”

 

Taking on a New Role

With less than five weeks until Tennessee kicks off their season against Bowling Green in Nashville, freshman Jauan Jennings found himself changing positions for the start of fall camp.

Jennings, a midterm enrollee, competed with the Vols throughout spring camp as a quarterback, but head coach Butch Jonesannounced his plans to move Jennings to wide receiver Monday at his opening fall press conference.

“I’m excited about Jauan,” Jones said. “You know, he’s kind of sipping through a fire hose right now at the wide receiver position, but I see an individual who is a very, very gifted athlete. He is very, very competitive, has very good hands and loves to compete. He made some catches today where you kind of did a double-take, and he got you excited. So, for Day One, I was very, very encouraged with him.”

Jennings has already begun to impress his teammates while jumping in at his new position.

“It was different, but it was a good different,” junior quarterback Joshua Dobbs said on his newest target. “He had a really good first day. He picked up on all of the stuff well. Obviously, by moving from quarterback, he knew all of the stuff. He was running good routes and showed good hands, so it was exciting.”

“Today, [Jauan] did well,” fellow wide receiver Jason Croom said. “When he was called on by coach, he knew all of his plays. He’s catching on real quick. He was a quarterback before, and as a QB, you have to learn that stuff. It’s exciting that he came and knew his stuff. He just fit right in.”

 

A LONG WAIT TO BUILD AN IDENTITY

By Brian Rice
UTSports.com

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — With the familiar sound of the blown air horn ringing across Haslam Field, Tennessee was back to work for the start of fall camp on Tuesday evening. As the horn sounded, the Volunteers began to write the story on Team 119, 1 percent at a time.

 

Tennessee’s summer session had players in class during the day, meaning training camp began under the lights for the second-straight season. The wait of a long summer was a little bit longer as players finished classes before hitting the field for the first time in 2015.

 

“It was what you would expect on a first day but I really liked the approach of our football team,” Butch Jones said following the session. “It was a long day with a full day of classes and meetings, but I thought our players did a great job of handling it.”

 

Those extra few hours had senior offensive lineman Mack Crowder even more excited to finally be on the field with his teammates.

 

“It was great to be back out here with the guys playing the sport you love,” Crowder said. “In the offseason you go through a lot of workouts and you kind of get some football stuff, but there’s nothing like putting the helmet back on and getting after it with the guys you’ve worked really with over the summer.”

 

The opening practice was embraced by the Volunteers as the first step in building the identity of Team 119, an identity that players said they wanted to be defined by toughness and physicality.

 

Quarterback Joshua Dobbs knows that the tone for that identity can be set by the leadership he provides at his position.

 

“We’re a new team trying to make a name for ourselves,” Dobbs said. “We’re Team 119. It doesn’t matter what we did last year, other teams don’t look at what we did last year. We have our expectations and our goals that we want to achieve and we’re grinding toward those every day.”

 

Dobbs is not the only player leading both in voice and by example. Junior defensive back Cameron Sutton was singled out by players and coaches alike as providing the example for the rest of the Volunteers.

 

“Cam Sutton continues to impress as a leader,” Jones said. “Obviously, he impresses as a football player as well, but I saw leadership opportunities today and he took care of that.”

 

It’s a part of moving toward the player-led program that Jones wants to build.

 

“We have a lot more leadership on this team,” sophomore running back Jalen Hurd said. “This first day was really intense. All of the older guys are coaching up the younger guys. We did that some last year, but it’s more and more this year and we’re seeing improvement.”

 

Improvement is a key theme for training camp. Jones said in his preseason press conference that the Vols could not just be one year older, they had to be one year better. To achieve that goal, the focus in camp is to get 1 percent better every day, a message that each player has taken to heart.

 

“If you come with the mentality that I’m going to get better at one thing each day, by the time the season comes, you should be able to look back and be proud of the results you had during camp,” Crowder said.

 

It is only one session, so it may be early to signal mission accomplished, but it was exactly the start Jones was looking for from his team.

 

“I like what I’ve seen so far, but it’s only day one,” Jones said. We got 1 percent better today.”

 

BUTCH JONES TRANSCRIPT

(Opening Statement)
“Well, I thought this was a very, very productive first day. We have a lot, a lot of work to do but it was a long day for our players and I thought they handled it well. We talk about being a tough football team and part of it is emotionally and mentally, with a full day of classes, meetings in the morning and having a couple of meals before coming out for an evening practice.

“I liked their intensity. I liked their effort and particularly, I wanted to see their retention; our retention from the meetings to the classroom. I thought for the most part, our older players did a good job. I thought our younger players, for their first time and with the volume of installation, that they handled it pretty well. Now, as we all know, it’s the progression of training camp. Now you have to progress from Day 1 to Day 2 with the installation. A lot of times with younger players, the mind starts to tie the feet up, so we have to make that they are in their playbooks and that they’re also balancing their academic workload, as well. Our practice ought to get into our habits and for the most part I was pleased.

“We still have to get much better on some little nuances with the way we practice. Also, our tempo, our details, what it takes to play winning football. We have to continue to improve our tempo but I thought it was improved from the Spring. Then, just our overall communication. It’s communication with installation. Like I spoke about at the press conference, communicating down and distance, and all of the things of situational football. I thought for the most part, they did a great job.

“But we need to be a better job overall in the throw game. I thought our execution was a little bit off, our timing was a little bit off which will get corrected. A lot of times that happened on Day 1. But overall, we talk about getting one percent better and I thought we were able to get one percent better and I was pleased with Day 1.”

(On Sheriron Jones)
“Going through the introductory stage, so to speak, of a freshman quarterback participating in his first practice, you could see where Quinten [Dormady] has that experience under his belt. Quinten did a great job of really coming out and you could see the command presence, where Sheriron is still digesting the playbook and all of that. He’ll work exceptionally hard to get better. But I was really, really pleased with Quinten and he did some really good things. It’s just the growth and maturation from Spring Football and you could see the momentum from the Spring game carry over into Practice #1.”

(On Alton Howard’s growth)
“He continues to develop and he’s come a long way. He knows all of the wide receiver positions. He works exceptionally hard, he understands the expectations and now, he’s learning how to take care of his body. So, he has come a long way.”

(On the difference between this year’s first practice and years prior)
“The first glaring difference is the team’s speed, particularly in our backfield. Obviously, with Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara, it’s the speed in the back field and then you throw David Abernathy in there. You throw Joe Young in there, you throw John Kelly in there; it’s visibly different from a speed-level standpoint. I just think the overall maturation, culture maturation in a football team and understanding the standards and the expectations but I think the overall confidence level. We have had two very productive days in terms of meetings and expectations and players understanding how you approach the day, how you approach meeting days now as training camp goes on.

“I also see them really trying to mentor our younger players. We had a great leadership opportunity and Cam Sutton took full advantage of it. When our second defense didn’t sprint onto the football field, he called them all back and had them re-huddle and spring onto the football field. He said, `That’s not the way we do things at Tennessee.’ And he took advantage of that leadership opportunity. So I think it’s the maturation and growth of a football team, a football family and a football program. You see that. And our bodies. I think our bodies have changed in the weight room as well. So, it was a lot different.”

(On the offensive line’s growth)
“They have and obviously, they’re in helmets so there is only so much that you can do. But the biggest difference today in Practice #1 in growth and development from Spring, from the way we concluded Spring or I’m sorry, from the summer, was just our overall pad level. Even in walk-thru, we have challenged them with their pad level, their hand placement and you could see that. Today, the pad level was the best since we have been here in terms of overall leverage and low pad level.”

(On Jauan Jennings at wide receiver)
“I’m excited about Jauan. You know, he’s kind of sipping through a fire hose right now at the wide receiver position but I see an individual who is a very, very gifted athlete. He’s very, very competitive and he has very good hands and he loves to compete. He made some catches today where you kind of did a double-take and he got you excited. So, for Day 1, I was very, very encouraged with him.”

(On managing Curt Maggitt’s and Derek Barnett’s return)
“Yeah, we’re going to have to [manage them] because they only know one speed and that’s full speed. We are going to have to do a great job because it is a long camp. We chart everything, live repetitions, we chart it all. So, we make sure we manage them and the great thing about them is they have great maturity in terms of recovery from practice, getting the necessary fluids in, the protein and nutrition and then obviously going through the recovery circuit as well. But yes, we’re going to have to [manage them].”

(On the level of competition witnessed today)
“Yes, and that’s the other glaring difference. We’re still not there yet with our competitive makeup at all of our positions, but you could see the competition. The other great thing though was even though there is competition, they’re helping each other. They are coaching each other. But there is competition and we have some very good football players. We still need to recruit and there is still going to be an opportunity for players to come in here and play right away but in the growth and maturation of our football program, you could see the team’s speed continue to grow. You could our bodies, our strength levels continue to elevate as well. It’s very, very encouraging.”

(On who stood out at linebacker and how Darrin Kirkland Jr. is looking)
“[Darrin]did a good job for Day 1 and I thought all of our freshman did a good job. They were very focused, they had good retention from the classroom to the field, which is what we wanted to see. Kenny Bynum did a great job of lining everyone from a communicative standpoint. And again, there is only so much you can do in shorts, but the athletic movements, the communication, the lining up, the fundamentals and fine details, I was pleased with them. Austin Smith is very, very athletic. He has some explosiveness. I was really, really encouraged by all of our freshmen.”

(On wearing the new Nike gear)
“Well, we all know about the brand of Nike and what it means. Just to see the look on their faces; they didn’t receive any Nike gear over the summer. So they were all waiting for report day at training camp and they were like kids at Christmas.

“You have to feel good and that is a part of the investment our institution has made into our student athletes. They love it. And if they love it, I love it. It was great to see it out there and our players looked forward to today. Now we have to make sure we represent the Nike brand just like we represent the Tennessee brand.”

(On where he sees Austin Smith fitting in)
“Right now, it’s at Mike linebacker. He can play Will linebacker and he can play Sam linebacker. He may even grow into a hybrid Sam linebacker or a Leo, kind of like Curt Maggitt. But what he possesses is that he has a frame where he will continue to put on weight, he’s very explosive and he runs very well. And his retention was very good today from the classroom to the field.”

(On the linebacker unit’s strength in numbers)
“We are very youthful there but we have some youthful talent, which is very encouraging. But the big thing for us is to continue to grow and get better mentally, as camp moves on. Like I said, this was just Day 1. This was probably one ninth of our schemes on offense, defense and special teams. Now there becomes a cumulative effect when you add – if you’re a defensive player – you have defense and some us may play on every play if you’re on special teams. Now you add those fundamentals and that scheme and all of a sudden, they’re everywhere. So, we’ll know a little bit more as training camp progresses.”

(On having Curt Maggitt back on the field)
“It’s a big impact and like we just spoke about, we are going to have to make sure that we do a great job of monitoring their progress. But it was great to get him back on the field; not just on the field but on the field from a leadership standpoint. They were anxious to get on the field, as well.”