tOfficial '2015 Tennessee Volunteers' Football Thread

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Tennessee Vols QB Quinten Dormady showing 'tremendous progress'

 

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Tennessee Football: Freshman Shy Tuttle Letting His Play Do the Talking | Bleacher Report

The 6'3", 315-pound mid-term defensive tackle spent most of this past recruiting cycle comfortably in the shadow of 5-star Kahlil McKenzie. But with the expected jewel of UT's recruiting class not arriving on campus until this summer, spring is Tuttle's time to perform.

Thus far he's putting on a show.

Following the first day of live-action hitting, Tennessee coach Butch Jones—a man from the throwback days of cautious optimism—gushed over the Lexington, North Carolina, product to GoVols247's Wes Rucker:

“The one individual who I thought really stepped up and really made his presence felt was Shy Tuttle. I thought he had a very, very productive and a very good first day. He had an unbelievable interception with a tipped football and then finished it off with making the catch, as well.

He came off the football, and you could see the disruptive quickness, you could see the explosiveness, you could see the use of his hands. The thing I really liked about it was you could see his competitive nature. You could see his competitive character, and you could see his confidence. And he’s very, very athletic. You could see instincts.”

 

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Tennessee Vols' Josh Malone showing maturity in second spring

Malone’s season had its better moments — he caught his first career touchdown on a 9-yard catch against then-fourth-ranked Alabama, and he collected 75 yards on five catches at then-fourth-ranked Ole Miss — but from the sound of it, simply surviving it and making it to his second spring practice with the Vols was his most gratifying accomplishment.

“I would say I’m a lot more healthy and a lot more prepared,” he said. “I know what I’m going through now, going through my second spring, so I just know what to expect. Now I’m more instinctive. I really learned a lot last year. Being through all the adversity and ups and downs during the season, it really just helped me know what to build on and really work on going into next year.

“Now I’m used to the system, and I know the play book. And when you know what you’re doing out there, it’s just a lot more easier, and you can just go faster. …Oh, it feels a lot better. I feel I can get a lot more work done, and I can just be more productive out there on the field.”

 

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tennessee.247sports.com/Bolt/Kamara-knocking-off-rust-showing-glimpses-36572563

Gillespie said Kamara, a former five-star prospect from Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College who enrolled at Tennessee in January, has “looked good” through the Vols’ first three spring practices in pads.

“Obviously, he’s still trying to get the tempo, and our style of play is big for him,” Gillespie said. “First time being back in SEC football, so there’s a little rust. He has to continue to work on getting his pads low and finishing.

“That’s the main thing he has to work on: finishing — finishing his runs, finishing his blocks. And once he gets those things, he’ll be fine. But I think a little bit of it is still thinking.

“But once he stops thinking, as far as just running and playing, he’ll be fine.”

The 5-foot-11, 210-pound Kamara already has made some plays, though, including at least a couple of impressive runs in short-yardage and goal-line situations during Thursday’s practice at Haslam Field.

“He’s showed some glimpses,” Gillespie said. “I mean, today we had a goal-line period, and he did a really good job of keeping his legs going on some third-and-1 situations, really throwing his body in there. That’s the biggest thing for a back on third-and-1. It’s going to be ugly at times, but today he had a really good run where there wasn’t a lot there, and he just jumped and threw himself into the pile and came out the other side. Had a great run on the 2-yard line where it looked like he had stopped, and just kind of kept his legs going and we scored.

“He’s showing just the toughness, and that’s what you want to see first from a running back. He has the skill set to be flashy. But I wanted to see today the tough yardage, and the teammates, offensive line really got pumped up and rallied around him when he made those plays.”

 

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Coach Thig told me tonight that Bryant (LB Gavin Bryant) was the 'hardest hitter on the team. We just have to get him lined up and pointed in the right direction.'

Added that he was one of the hardest hitters he's ever been around.

-VQ

 

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Offensive Practice Notes: 4/7 | Rocky Top Insider

Injuries/absences: Offensive lineman Coleman Thomas (legal) remains away from practice. Receiver Marquez North, running back Jalen Hurd and walk-on receiver Jaye Rochelle all practiced in a green, non-contact uniform.

Running back Alvin Kamara, coming off a huge scrimmage on Saturday, wasn’t in attendance during the open portion of practice. Butch Jones said he was sidelined with a bruised thigh, and shoulder return Thursday or Saturday.

Circle of Life: As they often do, the Vols started practice with the Circle of Life drill. Jones called out junior tackle Dontavius Blair immediately to face defensive end LaTroy Lewis. It was a decent rep for Blair, who battled Lewis to a stalemate. Blair later got a chance to go against Dimarya Mixon in a one-on-one pass-blocking drill and had a great rep, completely stopping Mixon and directing him around the back of the pocket.

In other Circle of Life matchups, Brett Kendrick got the best of Mixon, and Josh Malone drove Stephen Griffin all the way out of the circle. There were a couple heavyweight battles of note, including Jack Jones vs. Shy Tuttle and Charles Mosley vs. Austin Sanders. Jones and Tuttle fought to a virtual tie for a few seconds before Tuttle eventually seemed to get the upper hand at the end as he slammed Jones to the ground. Sanders held his ground against Mosley momentarily, but Big Charles was just too big and he eventually moved him out of the circle.

One-on-ones: Tight end Ethan Wolf had the best play of one-on-one drills between WRs/TEs and DBs/LBs. Wolf, matched up against linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin, broke to the corner of the end zone and stretched out to barely pull in what appeared to be a touchdown reception by just barely getting one foot in.

In the other two reps of the drill, Josh Malone (facing Malik Foreman) and Pig Howard (facing Cam Sutton) were not able to haul in receptions in the corner of the end zone on slightly overthrown passes.

2-point conversions: Jones let the team go live for four 2-point conversion attempts – two by the first-team offense and two by the second-team offense. The starting offense, facing the starting defense, converted both – one on a pass from Joshua Dobbs to Von Pearson. Dobbs took the second one in himself on a keeper.

The second-team offense, however, got stopped both times by the second-team defense. Jauan Jennings and Quinten Dormady each got one rep with the 2s and were both stopped (tagged up since the QBs aren’t live) before they could reach the end zone.

 

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Defensive Practice Notes: 4-7-15 | Rocky Top Insider

Fast start: Rain drove Team 119 indoors on Tuesday as they held their seventh practice of the spring, but the energy was high as practice began thanks to Butch Jones grabbing his team’s attention by starting things off with another set of ‘Circle of Life’ battles.

The defensive standouts during the limited CoL pairings were “Big” Charles Mosley over Austin Sandersand Shy Tuttle getting the best of Jack Jones, while most of the other reps – outside of Josh Malonebesting Stephen Griffin – ended in a draw.

Red zone work: Butch Jones continued with the one-on-one battles after the conclusion of the CoL work, moving his team into the red zone to work on some passing game situations. Josh Malone beat Malik Foreman badly on a corner route, but an overthrow by Joshua Dobbs fell incomplete and got Foreman off the hook. Jalen Reeves-Maybin had pretty good positioning on a corner throw to Ethan Wolf, but Wolf was able to use his height advantage and long arms to haul in the throw for an apparent touchdown. Reeves-Maybin argued after the play that Wolf’s feet came down out of bounds, but the call stood and Wolf was awarded the rep.

In pass-protection reps in the red zone, Dontavius Blair bested Dimarya Mixon and Jack Jones had a solid rep against LaTroy Lewis that earned him the win and a round of celebration from his teammates, but, once agains, it was Shy Tuttle who stole the show in his one-on-one match with fellow newcomerChance Hall. Hall was lined up at guard against Tuttle, but it was almost as if he wasn’t there at all. Tuttle used his size and strength to bull-rush Hall and drove him backwards into the quarterback, resulting in a sack and a decisive victory for Tuttle, who continues to impress with his explosion, strength and nasty attitude between whistles.

2-points: The final live action of the day involved the first and second-team groups from each side of the ball competing in two-point conversion attempts. Rashaan Gaulden was beaten badly on the first rep byVon Pearson on an out route to the pylon, while Jauan Jennings was tagged short of the end zone on a quarterback keeper on the second rep of the session.

Dobbs found the end zone again during his second rep, this time on another designed run up the gut. Chris Weatherd was able to blow up the second-team offense’s second attempt on a nice play to take out the lead blocker from his defensive end spot that forced Quinten Dormady inside and into the arms of the rest of the defense’s pursuit. Weatherd’s move to defensive end may prove to last no longer than the spring, but plays like the one he made today show that he has the skill set to help this defense, regardless of where he’s positioned when the play begins.

The starters for the first team defense during two-point conversions were as follows:

 

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Trench warfare. Yeah, buddy.

 

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Just 150 more days.

 

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Jalen Hurd has never been a small running back, but he wants to be an even bigger running back in 2015.

Tennessee’s 6-foot-3 rising sophomore said after Tuesday’s practice that he’s approximately 235 pounds and wants to be 240 pounds heading into the 2015 season. He was listed at 227 pounds last season, when he collected more than 1,100 yards from scrimmage and seven touchdowns to help the Vols secure their first winning season since 2009.

Hurd’s bigger now, and he wants to stay on that path.

“I’m about 235 right now. I feel great. I feel awesome,” Hurd said. “I’ve added a little strength. I think just my overall strength has gotten better, and I’ve put on a little weight, and that’s gonna help me throughout the course of the season.

“And I don’t think I’ve lost anything.”

bleacherreport.com/articles/2425176-jalen-hurd-bulking-up-this-offseason

 

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Defensive Practice/Scrimmage Notes: 4-11-15 | RTI

 

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Tennessee hands football assistant coaches $250,000 in raises | Local News | Times Free Press

KNOXVILLE -- Tennessee increased the salary pool for its assistant football coaches by $275,000, bumping the staff's combined salaries to $3.495 million, based on the amended contracts released Tuesday afternoon to the Times Free Press through an records request.

The eight returning coaches received $250,000 in raises, while the Volunteers are paying new offensive coordinator Mike DeBord $25,000 more than his predecessor.

Receivers coach Zach Azzanni and running backs coach Robert Gillespie, who were awarded new titles as Tennessee shuffled their staff's roles after DeBord's hire, each received $50,000 raises and now make $350,000 each.

Gillespie assumed Azzanni's vacated recruiting coordinator title after he was named passing game coordinator.

Defensive coordinator John Jancek saw his salary raised by $40,000 and now is the highest-paid coach on staff at $515,000.

Linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen, who received a $25,000 raise last season after he was named Rivals.com's recruiter of the year in 2014, received a $30,000 bump to $400,000.

Defensive line coach Steve Stripling and secondary coach Willie Martinez each received $25,000 raises. Stripling, Tennessee's associate head coach, now makes $405,000. Martinez, who received a $70,000 raise when he was named assistant head coach for defense in 2014, now makes $375,000.

Special teams coordinator/tight ends coach Mark Elder saw his $220,000 salary bumped to $240,000, and offensive line coach Don Mahoney received a $10,000 raise to his $350,000 salary.

The contracts for every coach were rolled over another year and now run through February 2017, and the salary numbers do not include $5,000 bonuses the coaches receive for camp compensation.

The Vols hired DeBord to replace Mike Bajakian in February and handed him a two-year deal that pays him $500,000 annually. Bajakian made $475,000 during his two years with the Vols.

In December, Tennessee gave head coach Butch Jones a $650,000 raise, whichbumped his salary to $3.6 million. The increase in the salary pool for the assistant coaches was part of that agreement.

 

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Jalen Hurd excited about having Alvin Kamara as a teammate - News Sentinel Story

Jalen Hurd is the only player on Tennessee’s roster who stands to lose anything because of the arrival of junior college transfer tailback Alvin Kamara.

Hurd won the starting tailback job four games into his freshman year and returns for his sophomore season as not only the incumbent, but the only returning scholarship running back. If the Vols hadn’t landed Kamara, one of the nation’s top junior college prospects, Hurd would be the workhorse back and get the overwhelming majority of the carries. Now he’s going to have to fight for the starting job, and even if he wins, it’s likely he and Kamara will split touches.

But there’s also no one on the roster more excited about Kamara’s arrival than Hurd. After suffering lots of bumps, dings and minor injuries as the primary back last season, Hurd realized that it’s not only better for the Vols, but also better for him to have another reliable running back to share the workload.

“I think once you start to recruit guys like that, that understand they want the competition, that they feed off each other, ‘I’m going to be as good as my competition,’ that’s when you know you have the right guy,” Tennessee running backs coach Robert Gillespie said. “That’s the kind of guy Jalen Hurd is. I think last year, he saw that having a little bit more depth would’ve allowed him to stay healthy and have a better freshman year. I think him seeing that Alvin is a competitor, a good football player, he’s seeing that this is a guy that when I go out of the game, it’s not going to drop as an offense. ‘This guy’s going to help us stay on the field, break some long runs and take some pressure off of me.’ ”

 

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Oldie but goodie, glad he's still involved with the program.