Pruitt looking for more leaders to emerge
KNOXVILLE — Jeremy Pruitt has consistently said he has a lot of confidence in his 2019 University of Tennessee football team. But for that potential to be realized, leadership from someone other than the coaching staff will be necessary.
In some cases, that’s a harder transition than anything that has happened on the field.
Jarrett Guarantano. Ty Chandler. Jauan Jennings. Marquez Callaway. Daniel Bituli. Darrell Taylor. Nigel Warrior. Seven players who have been multiyear contributors to the program, for better or worse. Pruitt recently called them “guys who have the chance to be really good football players.”
But do they have what it takes to become leaders? Because for Tennessee to take the next step as a program this season, the leadership can’t come from the coaching staff — players hear those voices every day. Some of the aforementioned names are already there, as Taylor is possibly the team’s overall leader and Guarantano is the face of the program as the quarterback.
But the team needs more, and that leadership will come from the players, or “teammates in arms,” so to speak.
That’s been a difficult transition for players such as Callaway, who prefers to lead by example.
“I’m not a big vocal guy myself, so I’m realizing I have to be more vocal and not just do something, but sometimes I have to step up and say something,” Callaway said Sunday prior to the team’s open practice. “It’s pretty hard because that’s not something I do, but I know these are my teammates. I know they have my back, so they know when I am saying something, they need to listen.”
For the coaching staff — namely Callaway’s position coach, Tee Martin — that’s what’s going to have to happen. Especially when there are position groups that could rely on younger players. While receiver isn’t one of those positions, examples do exist, such as offensive line, defensive line and linebacker.
So while Martin specifically speaks about his group, the same could be said for other coaches on the staff who are looking for leaders in their own groups who can then become leaders on the football team.
“When a young guy is messing up, the older guys can show them by example and then put them back on track by showing them what they have done wrong,” Martin said recently. “That’s the only thing that I ask the veterans to do really is buy in and then lead by example in a positive way.”
If all of those things fall in line, 2019 may not be a championship-caliber season, but it’ll definitely be a step in the right direction as Pruitt attempts to rebuild the once-proud program.
“I have confidence in our football team,” he said recently. “I have confidence in our coaches, the plan that we have, the way I’ve seen our guys work in the offseason to either change the bodies, eat what they’re supposed to and be in the classroom.
“It takes a lot to be a good football player. It takes a lot to be a good football team, and we have made a lot of progress in the last six months for this 2019 team. So when you do something over and over, you gain confidence. And when you get good at something, you become confident, and that’s something that we have to do. We have to develop confidence as a football program.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.