Beard glad he is on Jennings’ side now

The moment he became Tennessee’s receivers coach, Kevin Beard knew who would be the leader of his new pack. He knew Jauan Jennings was an alpha-dog competitor.

In other words, he knew Hail Mary.

Beard was a quality-control aide at Georgia last year. The former Miami Hurricane worked with the Bulldog receivers and was on the sideline in Sanford Stadium last Oct. 1.

He was celebrating when freshman Riley Ridley — a fellow South Floridian — got behind Tennessee’s defense for a touchdown bomb with 12 seconds to play. What a comeback for Georgia.

“Riley Ridley, he’s from Fort Lauderdale,” Beard said Thursday. “His first big moment as a college player. It was like, ‘Man, we did it!’

“I stood up on the bench, like ‘This is over, I’m good. There’s nothing to worry about.’ I took my hat off and ...”

And it wasn’t over. And it wasn’t good for Georgia.

It was great for Tennessee. Jennings, surrounded by a posse of Bulldogs in the end zone, came down with Joshua Dobbs’ mid-field heave and Tennessee won 34-31.

Fate had a reunion in store. Beard was hired about six weeks ago to coach UT’s receivers.

“When I got the job,” he said, “I said when I see Jauan I’m going to punch him, then I’m going to dab him up.”

Beard is still dabbing him up, so to speak.

“Before I even had a chance to get on the field,” said Beard, “watching him on film I could see he’s a championship football player. Right now, he’s giving us everything he has.”

Beard knows what a championship team looks like. He played at Miami from 1999 to 2003. The Hurricanes went 46-4 during Beard’s eligibility, won the 2001 national title and lost to Ohio State in the 2002 BCS title game.

The down year was 11-2 in 2003. One of the losses was 10-6 to Tennessee in Miami’s Orange Bowl Stadium. A year earlier, Beard was on the No. 1 Miami team that flattened the Vols 26-3 in Neyland Stadium. The ’03 loss resonates more than the win.

“I never lost to Florida,” he said. “I never lost to Florida State. But I lost to Tennessee.”

To Miami guys, bragging rights over Florida and Florida State are golden. Beard is homegrown South Florida and after his Miami career he coached high school and 7-on-7 football. The caliber of prep football in the Sunshine State is legendary.

Tennessee’s history is rich with Florida products, from A (Doug Archibald) to Z (Kelly Ziegler). The leading rusher, Travis Henry. The best kicker, Fuad Reveiz. Tony Robinson, Steve Kiner, on and on. The Vols found Henry and Alvin Harper in Frostproof, Fla. (pop. 3,047).

But the roster was getting Florida thin. Coach Butch Jones corrected that oversight when he hired Larry Scott during the 2016 recruiting cycle.

Scott helped bring in five Floridians in the Class of ’16. There are seven more in the Class of ’17. Brandon Johnson, Latrell Williams and Tyler Byrd are among Beard’s receivers. Jacquez Jones and Josh Palmer join them this summer.

Scott, promoted to offensive coordinator, also brought Beard to Tennessee. They had worked together at Miami in 2014-15 and, had, in fact, recruited several of UT’s Florida contingent on behalf of the Hurricanes.

A Hail Mary later, they’re all together at Tennessee.

Said Beard, “We’re growing together.”

Mike Strange may be reached at mike.strange@knoxnews.com. Follow him on Twitter at Strangemike44.