Coach Pruitt repeatedly reminds Vols to ‘strain’
KNOXVILLE — The era of Butch Jones’ clichés and catchphrases is gone at Tennessee, but part of an old Jones buzzword lives on in the program.
The Volunteers have heard it from Jeremy Pruitt seemingly every day since winter conditioning began.
“The first day,” junior linebacker Daniel Bituli said of the first time he heard it. “First day.”
The word is “strain,” defined as “making an unusually great effort,” and it refers to the intensity that Pruitt wants to see every play from the Vols. Pruitt traced the origin of his use of the word back to childhood football drills.
“We used to have some drills we did in the offseason where somebody laid on their back. To win, you had to get off your back,” Pruitt said. “Somebody would hold you down. That was the old-school days we used to have in the gym. You’ve got to strain if you want to get off your back to win the drill, right? So I look at it like that.”
The presenter of the word is new for Tennessee, but the word itself and the meaning behind it were part of a program phrase used frequently by Jones during his five-season tenure in Knoxville. Jones implored his players to give three efforts over the span of a six-second play. To illustrate the point he said “63 strain and swarm” or just “63.”
Former Tennessee running back and current Los Angeles Rams running back John Kelly ribbed former Vols teammate Jalen Reeves-Maybin on Twitter last week using the Jones slogan.
“I don’t see the 63 strain,” Kelly commented on a post that showed Reeves-Maybin, now with the Detroit Lions, tackling a New York Giants player in the end zone.
The message, delivered by Pruitt, seems to be resonating again. It appears to have taken on a longer-term meaning under the first-year head coach than just the six seconds that required “strain” under Jones.
“With the practices being so hard, it really tells us to play with an edge,” Bituli said. “When you’re tired, you’ve got to keep straining to play as hard as you did the first play. That’s what these coaches really stress. You can’t let your conditioning wear out. … You’ve got to keep the momentum going and just play consistent.”
The Vols began preparing Thursday for the looks they will see against West Virginia. Dozens of players wore black jerseys to signify their status as scout-team players. All players were in helmets and shorts for the workout, which began roughly an hour later than originally scheduled.
Redshirt junior center Brandon Kennedy, a likely starter, spent time with the strength and conditioning staff during the single period of practice open to media. Redshirt junior linebacker Darrin Kirkland fully participated in linebacker drills during the media viewing period after being limited in practices over the past week.
Light practice
Smith honored again
The Southeastern Conference’s coaches voted Tennessee sophomore offensive lineman Trey Smith to their preseason All-SEC first-team offense. Smith, who returned to full contact this week after receiving treatment for blood clots in his lungs, is also on the media’s preseason All-SEC first team.
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.