KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee football completed its 13th spring practice on Wednesday morning, a day prior to the Volunteers’ final scrimmage. Secondary coach Willie Martinez and sophomore defensive back Christian Charles met with the media following practice to discuss the growth of the unit throughout the spring.
Tennessee Secondary Coach Willie Martinez
April 13, 2022
On managing numbers for the secondary during the spring…
“For us, we’re kind of use to it. Meaning, we’re always going to try and run a versatile secondary, so we’ll try guys at different positions. We haven’t changed from that standpoint, from when we first got here. We want to see who can play the different spots and we’re going to do that in practice anyway. Obviously, we’re thin a little bit with the limited reps that we’ve giving certain guys. For the most part, the guys are doing a really good job. It’s not the numbers that we want, but they’ve been able to manage it. We’ve been doing a good job of monitoring it and we’ve had some success with it.”
On what he must do to get the guys who missed the spring ready for fall camp…
“Again, for a lot of these guys, some of the guys who aren’t getting multiple reps and the physicality part, where they have really benefited from is, again, one year into this thing. Now we’re on to our second year. The gains that we’re making and how we are growing as a defense has been tremendous. Meaning; in the classroom, they’re out there coaching every single play, so they’re growing and they understand our scheme a lot better. So, we’re making major gains in that. They understand what the scheme is like now, and then being able challenge them, whether that’s on the field, from the standpoint of – whether it’s a limited amount of reps, a walk-through, low tempo, what do you have here? What’s your job here? What are you looking for in this situation? That’s been outstanding and it starts with Trevon Flowers and Jaylen McCollough. The leadership that they’re getting as a collective group has been outstanding. They have taken their level of leadership to another step. We’ve been really excited about that and taken a lot more ownership in every detail that we do, whether we’re in the classroom, whether it’s a walk-through, or we are going into practices.”
On Desmond Williams’ first spring and how he’s handled it…
“He’s one of the guys, but everybody that has really taken the reps. We call them valuable reps, man, they’re expensive. If you’re going to take a rep here, we’re counting on you and we trust you. It doesn’t really matter if it’s Desmond Williams or William Wright, who’s really having a good camp here. There are the individual parts every day with each and every one of those guys. He’s a new player who is coming in and trying to learn, just like the guys when we first got here. They had to go through that process. He’s done a good job with that. Again, we’re doing a great job of leadership within the group. The first guys that come to mind, again I’m going to say, it’s Trevon Flowers and Jaylen McCollough. They’re actually on hand coaching every single play when they’re not in there. That’s been the biggest growth that we’ve made as defense, and especially in the back end, they’re holding each other accountable, which is really neat to see.”
On if the leadership came naturally or if he had to have to talk about it…
“It came out organically from Trevon. He had an opportunity to leave and he wanted to come back. He wanted to grow. He wanted to be a better pro. We say it within our building, if you want to be a great pro, you have to practice being a pro. He’s taken those steps. He has asked, ‘How can I get better, what areas can I get better at?’ So, it’s really more organic, more passionate and something he wants, too. He has a bad case of want too right now and it’s happening with Jaylen, also. It’s happening with all the guys, obviously the older guys. I haven’t mentioned Warren Burrell and the outstanding work he’s doing off the field. Along with being on the field. It’s been really impressive. That’s how it’s going to help us get through the summer and be ready for the fall. I’ve been at places, including here, there is a guy by the name of Brian Randolph. He was a really good player for us here. We couldn’t hit him. We were just going to do all the things that we could do, but not let him go live in scrimmages because of the injuries he had in the past. We wanted to give him a shot to actually play through a season. If you guys remember, guys that have been here. He was able to do that those last couple years he played (because) it kept him fresh. So, if you’re smart. If you’re passionate about all the small details each and every day; you can be prepared. Especially the guys who have the starts that they have, some of those older guys.”
On the growth of Christian Charles …
“He’s grown in his understanding. He’s someone that played a lot more offense in high school, rather than defense. He has grown so much in his knowledge of the game from that side of the ball. One thing about Christian, he is high energy. He’s a physical player. He can run. He’s smart. He has so much passion to be really good. So, he literally can play them all on the back end. He can play any position. Those are the guys we want to be able to continue to recruit, that are very athletic and very versatile. He’s done a really nice job of picking up new positions. I think a lot of it has to do with – I’m going to go back to the guys that have been very impactful in our room. It’s going to be Flowers, it’s going to be McCollough, it’s going to be Burrell. The small details that are being said to him. You have some who has passion, someone who is athletic, someone who really has the want too, he’s going to succeed. He’s done a really nice job over 13 practices being locked in, focused. Obviously, it’s taking those training wheels off from the standpoint of, hey, you’re going to try a new position. He’s done a great job. He has really taken it and run with it and he has been very productive for us.”
On what the currently injured players can get out of spring practices…
“The guys that have not had that many reps, again, not talking specifically, there is the mental part and there is the physical part. Whether they are rehabbing or taking less reps, the approach has been everything matters, every small detail matters. How you come into a meeting, how prepared are you, are holding yourself accountable about being a good teammate? Are you taking care of business? Guys that have experience aren’t having that many reps. They have seen this, they have been through the process, they have an idea and they have matured enough to understand that everything that they do, whether it’s in the weight room or on the walk-throughs, they are staying in there and they are coaching every rep. We have challenged the players, even the ones that are rehabbing, after they finished a rack of four plays over here, you are actually looking at the position you just left from. And I’m going to hold them accountable of watching it and finding out about the good and the bad, so they can talk about it. Because you can learn from the reps that you didn’t even take. You can visually see it.”
On Tamarion McDonald and his development…
“Another one who is versatile. We have moved him around a little bit and he has grown so much from a year ago. He made some strides in special teams and that is really where it has taken off. Now he has a lot more confidence and knows the scheme a little bit better. He has become a versatile player for us. We feel comfortable playing him in three positions and that is what you need in the secondary where you can actually move guys around. You are not just playing the backup; you are playing the next best guy, the guy that has prepared the most. We have really gained a lot of confidence in T-Mac (Tamarion McDonald) and he has really done a nice job.”
On his relationship with defensive coordinator Tim Banks…
“I have known Tim for a long time. I know who he is and he knows who I am. Every job we have taken, if you look at our track record, we have worked for some really good people. We know who we have worked with, we are very similar in our styles. It matters across the board in our profession, you’re going to latch on to the guys you really respect as a man. He is a great husband, obviously I have known him as a player, the details how he was as a player, you can see it now as a defensive coordinator and being the leader of a defense, that doesn’t make anybody more proud than me. It fires me up to see how his career has taken off, and it’s great to be around him.”
On players playing multiple positions and it will piece together in the spring…
“If there are five guys on the field, we are going to play the best five. The guys who are the most versatile, understand the scheme the best and have been the most productive, they are going to be the first five guys going out there. That’s how we like to roll it out. We are feeling good about certain guys that can do that, so it doesn’t become somebody who is backing up at corner. It really is not the same player as the guy that might be multiple inside at the STAR and the two safety positions. ‘Play him, he’s been the most productive.’ Our guys know that the best are going to play first, the guys who have proven it. The more that are having success, the better it is for us. We literally could not line up last year, in certain situations that we wanted in the games, because we didn’t have enough DBs healthy enough, or didn’t feel comfortable and trust them in that moment. Now we are building. The more we have the better it is going to be for us, where we can be a little more flexible and play more guys. We have got to play more guys. We are playing a lot of snaps on defense and we have said it the whole time, we would rather have a 10-guy rotation. That would be great for us on the back end. Just like offenses do, where they are moving in and out, just like defensive lineman are substituting on our side, we got to do the same thing on the back end. The more guys that we trust and guys that really produce now, and throughout the summer and through camp, it is more beneficial for us.”
On how Doneiko Slaughter has progressed since last season…
“I think with his knowledge of our scheme, he is one of those guys that can play all five of them. He is growing. He is more involved, more vocal in meetings and more vocal on the field. I think Coach Heupel has said it, I know I have heard it from other coaches, we sit around, and we talk about it all the time, a year later. It went from us coaching all the guys on the field to the sideline, to now, you can’t even get a word in. Once they leave their reps on the field, they go to sideline, you want to make some corrections, but now we have players already hitting it. I said earlier about watching your position and coaching your position even when you are out and you just went through there, and that is really neat. Doneiko is the same dude. These guys are so involved and stay engaged with everybody. It matters to them and that is really cool to see.”
Sophomore DB Christian Charles
On moving to corner…
“It happened right when we were coming back after winter. We had a lot of guys that were banged up from the season. We had the corners that are out, obviously, so we had a missing spot, so I fulfilled it. I’m fulfilling it right now. I feel like I’ve handled it pretty seamlessly. I would just look at it as opportunity. We had a lot of guys out, obviously. I just use that as an opportunity to better myself from the corner aspects of the game. From playing safety before, I wasn’t in a whole bunch of press-man situations. Getting these reps in the spring are really useful, really valuable.”
On difficulty of playing corner instead of safety…
“As far as physically different, I would say just getting winded. You could play corner and the coverage could call for you to have the number one receiver going deep three plays in a row. Now, it’s first down and they rotated a receiver and now it’s a completely fresh, new guy coming in to run you deep again, possibly. I would just say being in condition was the biggest difference to me.”
On his athleticism after being called a ‘freak athlete’…
“I would just say, as far as physical aspects go, I feel like I have good recovery speed. As far as being beat and being able to recover and make a play on the ball and being able to change directions are all things that are imperative for anybody in the second-level to be advantageous.”
On how culture has improved…
“So much. Culture, in my opinion, really just boils down to everybody doing what they are supposed to. Just having the comradery, that’s the biggest different in my opinion, just the comradery from our team. I can look to my left and my right and know, that’s my brother. I know him for real. I think that would be the biggest thing. We all just became very close as a unit. We are able to hold each other more accountable and that’s a very big thing.”