Vols are responding well to ‘fresh start’
KNOXVILLE — There comes a point during August in most college football preseason camps when the head coach finds something that bothers him and uses the issue — real or perceived — to ratchet up the intensity in practice and heighten the sense of urgency.
If first-year Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt is going to follow suit, he hasn’t picked his spot yet.
Through four preseason practices, the narrative emerging from Tennessee’s preseason workouts is that of a team happy for a clean slate as it puts last year’s 4-8 campaign behind it.
“Last season was obviously disappointing, but everybody feels like it is a fresh start,” redshirt sophomore fullback and tight end Austin Pope said Sunday. “It is like a new beginning. This camp has been a confidence booster, and that is when you start playing to your best ability. I definitely think having a new start is going to be a confidence boost.”
The Volunteers’ schedule is brutal, and their first few practices have reflected that in their intensity. They have also brought new opportunity for players such as Pope, who has two career receptions, and others who were used sparingly under the previous coaching staff.
All players receive the same amount of practice repetitions, whether they are returning starters or unheralded newcomers.
“Taking a number of reps, I think, will help them develop as players,” Pruitt said in the spring.
At the time he was expecting a “learning process” for the team with adapting to how the new coaching staff wanted to run practices. So far in camp he has been pleased with how returning players have retained their understanding of how practices work and helped newcomers along.
“I just think the longer they have been in the program, the more they are used to the expectations that we have, rather if it’s in the classroom, study hall, weightroom, on the field or how we practice,” Pruitt said. “We are nowhere close to where we want to be, not even close to it, but at least we do have an idea.
“We do have an understanding of what we are trying to get done, so that is half the battle.”
Redshirt senior defensive tackle Paul Bain is another example of a player given a fresh opportunity with the arrival of a new coaching staff. A hero from last season’s win over Georgia Tech, Bain is competing for playing time on the defensive line ahead of his final college season.
He’s not a heralded player with recruiting accolades. Instead, he is a walk-on transfer from Division II Tusculum College who works a parttime job. But with the new coaching staff, he has a clean slate. Just like the team.
“Coach Pruitt is honest, trustworthy, hard-nosed,” Bain said. “He is everything that you would look for in a coach. I love playing for him, and I love going to work for someone who loves the game as much as you love the game. I can genuinely tell as a player that he plays through us. I bet any amount of money that if he could come out and play with us he would do it in a heartbeat. I can say that for all of the coaches.”
The message may change over the next few weeks — it usually does during preseason camp — but on Sunday Pruitt said, “I really like the guys on our team.”
“They’re fun to be around,” he said. “They’re willing to do whatever we ask. They’re hungry. They have not questioned anything that we’ve asked them to do. They’ve just done it. As long as they continue to do that, we’ll be OK.”