Pruitt wants top players helping on special teams
KNOXVILLE — Nigel Warrior would like to introduce football fans to a new concept.
“The hidden yardage, y’all don’t know much about that, do y’all?” the Tennessee junior safety said Thursday. “The hidden yardage in a football game — special teams is one important thing that goes unnoticed in a football game.”
Warrior grinned as he explained the concept.
If he or any of Tennessee’s other likely starters for the Sept. 1 season opener against West Virginia didn’t buy into the importance of special teams before, they have little choice now.
“With this staff, special teams is just as important as offense or defense,” redshirt junior linebacker Quart’e Sapp said. “Coach (Jeremy) Pruitt is really, really pushing on that.”
Stealing the hidden yardage on special teams is a staple of Pruitt’s philosophy. Most coaches harp on the importance of the game’s de facto third phase. Not all are willing to risk the health and stamina of their best players for the sake of a successful special-teams unit, however.
Pruitt is.
“I think we need to play our best players,” said Pruitt, a former assistant at Alabama, Florida State and Georgia. “The way I look at is, if you’re not a good special-teams player, then you’re probably not a good offense or defensive player.”
The risks are obvious. In 2016, the Volunteers lost two linebackers — Sapp and current Detroit Lions linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin — for the season to injuries sustained on special teams in a single game against Ohio.
Pruitt said he has been part of programs that rest players from their primary duties just so they can be fresh for the punt team.
“There’s been many times over the years, whether we’re punting the football, we’ve got a couple of gunners out there that are hard to block because of their ability, maybe they’re fast or whatever,” Pruitt said. “So we’re going to play our best players on special teams.”
Senior defensive lineman Kyle Phillips said that “if you’re one of our best players, you need to be playing special teams.”
“I believe that just gives the team a sense of how important special teams is and how much it can impact the game,” Phillips said. “Special teams, you win or lose games. So I believe that all of us guys have a different mentality going forward. Special teams is one play that can be a game changer.”
Preparing for Grier
As Tennessee enters preparation for its season opener, two reserve quarterbacks — scholarship freshman J.T. Shrout and walk-on junior Zac Jancek — wore No. 7 at Friday’s practice. It’s the same jersey number worn by Will Grier, West Virginia’s star quarterback.
Number changes
Several Tennessee football players have new numbers on an updated roster distributed Friday. Among the most notable, running back Ty Chandler switched from No. 3 to No. 8, outside linebacker Jonathan Kongbo switched from No. 1 to No. 99 and tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson switched from No. 18 to No. 4.