Let’s talk about Will Brooks

[WillisWG]

Martinez specifically coaches the cornerbacks while defensive coordinator Tim Banks works with the safeties. But at both cornerback and safety, Tennessee has an abundance of competition as they look to break in new starters at all five spots in the defensive backfield.

On what Will Brooks has done to put himself in position to play in Tennessee’s secondary

“His preparation. Obviously he’s an everyday consistent player that is very detailed, whether it’s in meetings, whether we’re off the field, even if we’re taking a day off. He’s somebody that we’re leaning on for leadership because he’s been new here for a long time and he’s done it the right way. Obviously his teammates respect him tremendously and he’s been very consistent. That’s the best thing I can say about Will. There’s really no up and down And like I said, the players are being led the right way.”

Everything Tennessee DB Coach Willie Martinez Said On Monday | Rocky Top Insider

See everything Tennessee defensive backs coach Willie Martinez said on Monday after the Vols keep rolling through fall camp.

www.rockytopinsider.com

 

[WillisWG]

On when he realized Will Brooks could help them more than just on special teams

“We’re the back end, right? We deal with space. What better example, if you’re doing it on special teams. I’m telling you, my entire career, the great players that I’ve been very blessed to be a part of in their lives, were great special teams players. I mean really, in space. So anytime a guy’s making, consistently, plays in space, it doesn’t matter what team he’s on, it’s transferrable skills to play offense and defense. And for us, most of it’s all defense, right? Some of the same terminology is on special teams. And him being a smart player, translating that to defense, it’s always been simple for Will, and again, consistent. He’s a consistent guy you can count on every day, every drill. I just heard him, I can’t get a word in, especially if Will Brooks, if he’s in my pod in these specials team groups. We got eight to 10 guys and I want to go correct the guy and Will’s already beat me there, and sometimes he says it better than I do from the standpoint of personality. He keeps me in check myself about not losing him when you’re trying to correct somebody.

“You saw from the beginning, because again, he made some plays in space and then, okay, you, you watch him in the meeting room and gosh, he’s all over the scheme. He understands it and you knew that he’s gonna have success here.

Secondary Unit Thrives On Cohesion, Competition Through 10 Fall Practices - University of Tennessee Athletics

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee's revamped secondary was the topic of conversation on Monday after the Vols completed their 10th practice of preseason training camp.

utsports.com

 

[wmcovol]

Every coach will play someone who knows where to be over someone who, even occasionally, busts a coverage. That’s just coaching 101.

It’s early. Everyone needs to chill & see how this works out first.

 

[LittleVol]

We had Walker, Slaughter, McDonald, Tank
All of those guys had eligibility except for Tank.

But with the exception of Slaughter maybe the other guys were welcomed to leave. Because they practiced well, but athletically they were a liability.

And it looks like they're falling into that "comfort level" crap again. Will Brooks or Christian shouldn't be challenging for starting spots imo.

You have Charles that can play CB or Safety.
And then you have a tremendous athlete in Bio Carter.

Then you brought in Jakobe Thomas.
Come on Banks....

 

[bpalmer28]

Colton Jumper or John Lynch?

Eric Berry

 

[jaguinn5]

Colton Jumper or John Lynch?

I had forgotten about Colton Jumper. What a frustrating time to be a Vol fan.

 

[WillisWG]

Rucker: BROOKS WAS HERE (atop Tennessee's depth chart). He might be back now.

Perhaps even Tennessee coaches would admit off the record that they're a bit surprised to see senior walk-on Will Brooks sitting atop the safety depth chart less than three weeks away from the season opener. But here he is, and they seem fine with that.

247sports.com

 

[Godfatha]

If we're starting a walkon in the defensive backfield then it's either a failure at recruiting/evaluation, failure of development, or some boneheaded determination to stick with seniority over talent. Either way it is a failure

 

[LittleVol]

If we're starting a walkon in the defensive backfield then it's either a failure at recruiting/evaluation, failure of development, or some boneheaded determination to stick with seniority over talent. Either way it is a failure

We supposedly just broke from that mindset before the bowl game.

Gibson and Turrentine has outstanding games vs Iowa as a result..


But here were...trotting Brooks out over Thomas and Harrison who's never been a factor over Boo Carter at STAR.

 

[orangebloodgmc]

We supposedly just broke from that mindset before the bowl game.

Gibson and Turrentine has outstanding games vs Iowa as a result..


But here were...trotting Brooks out over Thomas and Harrison who's never been a factor over Boo Carter at STAR.

I hear what you'e saying. But sometimes the light bulb only comes on for some players in the latter half of their career. Warrior didn't show all that much until the very last, and an even more extreme example would be Robert Ayers who finally caught fire his senior year. Obviously this is not ideal for us, it does happen in some cases.

Edit: And who knows what the coaches are really doing right now; maybe just keeping all the kids keenly competing and bearing down as intensely as they can. But, in the end, we have to trust them to put our best athletes on the field, if not at start of that first game, at least by the 2nd one.

 

[Teezy]

If we're starting a walkon in the defensive backfield then it's either a failure at recruiting/evaluation, failure of development, or some boneheaded determination to stick with seniority over talent. Either way it is a failure

Whew. Not a fan of calling anything a failure until we see the field. There are walk-ons that become great football players including in the NFL. It’s rare of course, but deeming anything a failure this early is just not the way to go. At the very least, we have someone that can step in until Boo is ready to go even if he doesn’t have the stars to his name attached. This is coming from a person that’s not the biggest fan of Willie Martinez.

 

[LWSVOL]

IMO Brooks will be the starter because he is the one guy that can call out the needed adjustments for the defensive backs. It is a major requirement to have someone who understands everything needed back there and I can make the proper calls. Even if giving up some athleticism and talent. With 5 new guys on the back end a necessary move.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

If we're starting a walkon in the defensive backfield then it's either a failure at recruiting/evaluation, failure of development, or some boneheaded determination to stick with seniority over talent. Either way it is a failure

Nice of you to point out the failure of the recruiting services to miss on a player out of HS. WOW, bet that has never happened before in the entire history of college football. You would think that since that is the basis of their livelihood they would have better evaluation skills by now.

Might be some games and situations where we will have to give up intelligence in favor of other attributes until he can bring them up to speed with his leadership. He appears to have earned the respect of his teammates in spite of his less star blessed start. Silly players, what do they know?

 

[WoodsmanVol]

Players like Will Brooks are what makes a team, a team, whether they won a championship or not.

 

[SergeantVol]

Not necessarily a bad thing. Didn’t a walk on lead the leg humpers to b2b Nattys?

That’s different. If other schools do it, they find a gem. If we do it, we suck. Are you not familiar with the rules around here?

 

[DaddyChad]

IMO Brooks will be the starter because he is the one guy that can call out the needed adjustments for the defensive backs. It is a major requirement to have someone who understands everything needed back there and I can make the proper calls. Even if giving up some athleticism and talent. With 5 new guys on the back end a necessary move.

Martinez basically said brooks is a coach on the field. I figure we probably rotate some guys in there eventually but like you said getting guys in the right position early on especially with the youth we have in the backfield is worth the trade off

 

[Godfatha]

Nice of you to point out the failure of the recruiting services to miss on a player out of HS. WOW, bet that has never happened before in the entire history of college football. You would think that since that is the basis of their livelihood they would have better evaluation skills by now.

Might be some games and situations where we will have to give up intelligence in favor of other attributes until he can bring them up to speed with his leadership. He appears to have earned the respect of his teammates in spite of his less star blessed start. Silly players, what do they know?

We’ll see. I hope he balls out. But I think it is a fair question to ask why a walkon would start when there have been a few recruiting classes and the transfer portal to address the secondary.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

We’ll see. I hope he balls out. But I think it is a fair question to ask why a walkon would start when there have been a few recruiting classes and the transfer portal to address the secondary.

Why do you think the staff would take their positions if he was not an asset on the field? The staff taking a shot after evaluating him and then developing him into a contributor seems like something to celebrate.

Especially in light of the the general take on the turnover making the room solid. Had to feel good about the young guys growing up to orchestrate the purge last year, to make room for the portal targets. They could have kicked him to the curb too.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

I loved them when they played, but they wouldn't start on a current UGA or Bubba team. That's my point. We haven't recruited the safety position well. Simple as that.

JJ went on to a solid NFL career. But he would not make a GA team? Open mouth, insert AGENDA.

 

[Vfl2407]

We’ll see. I hope he balls out. But I think it is a fair question to ask why a walkon would start when there have been a few recruiting classes and the transfer portal to address the secondary.

The secondary situation still baffles me.
Why did we encourage so many mediocre players to leave but not spend some NIL money to get better replacements in the portal.
if our secondary is as bad as some fear, there’s plenty of blame to share for Martinez, Banks, & Heupel.
Hoping the front six are so good that it takes pressure off of our new back end five.

 

[Godfatha]

Why do you think the staff would take their positions if he was not an asset on the field? The staff taking a shot after evaluating him and then developing him into a contributor seems like something to celebrate.

Especially in light of the the general take on the turnover making the room solid. Had to feel good about the young guys growing up to orchestrate the purge last year, to make room for the portal targets. They could have kicked him to the curb too.

I think our defensive staff is extremely reluctant to play young guys who may be more talented in the secondary. Play some young guys back there who have potential. Let them take their lumps against the likes of UTC. Our secondary has been suspect for some time, and I remain skeptical about what it will look like this year.

 

[NighthawkVol]

IMO Brooks will be the starter because he is the one guy that can call out the needed adjustments for the defensive backs. It is a major requirement to have someone who understands everything needed back there and I can make the proper calls. Even if giving up some athleticism and talent. With 5 new guys on the back end a necessary move.

Brooks didn’t just start out as a walk-on…he started out as a CB. That being the case, he has more athleticism than people realize. He may not have been an athletic CB, but his athleticism translates to Safety pretty well, IMO. Especially after you throw in the factors you mention.

McCullough wasn’t a real athletic Safety, either, but Brooks will have more athleticism around him than McCollough did. Especially at the CB spots.

 

[NighthawkVol]

The secondary situation still baffles me.
Why did we encourage so many mediocre players to leave but not spend some NIL money to get better replacements in the portal.
if our secondary is as bad as some fear, there’s plenty of blame to share for Martinez, Banks, & Heupel.
Hoping the front six are so good that it takes pressure off of our new back end five.

Who has said that the secondary is bad? Many have said it will be pretty good, especially after the first scrimmage.

 

[Vfl2407]

Who has said that the secondary is bad? Many have said it will be pretty good, especially after the first scrimmage.

Every analyst on every show say it is the Vols weakest link.

 

[orangebloodgmc]

Every analyst on every show say it is the Vols weakest link.

Well, it's the unit with the most new faces; which does not mean it's bad, necessarily, just more unknown than other sections such as our veteran DL unit.