KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee football head coach Jeremy Pruitt is excited to get back on the practice field and continue to coach his young Volunteers squad in the wake of Saturday’s season-opening loss to No. 17/20 West Virginia at the Belk College Kickoff in Charlotte.
“Every week’s important for us,” Pruitt said. “We have got to take every week as an opportunity to improve as individuals and as a football team. I think we will do a better job as a coaching staff getting them ready for the next week. We have to develop depth on our football team at lots of different positions, so it will be all be important, all the practice reps we get every week throughout the season”
The Vols will return to practice at Haslam Field this afternoon looking to fix mistakes and begin the focus on this Saturday’s opponent, ETSU, an FCS school located a little more than 100 miles East of Knoxville in Johnson City.
While this will be the first time the Vols and Buccaneers have met in a game, the two programs are very familiar with each other.
Director of Athletics Phillips Fulmer helped resurrect football at ETSU four years ago as a consultant after the program disbanded in 2003, while Bucs’ first-year head coach Randy Sanders is a Tennessee alum, playing backup quarterback as a member of the Vols from 1984 to 1988 before embarking on a career in coaching at Tennessee, Kentucky and Florida State. He worked alongside Pruitt and Charles Kelly on the Seminoles’ 2013 National Championship staff.
“Randy Sanders is a very good football coach,” Pruitt said. “He’s a good teacher. He did a fantastic job with Jameis Winston when I was there. He was heavily involved in the game planning. He gets it. He was a good team player on the staff, and he is an average golfer.”
While Pruitt was taking a playful jab at his colleague’s golf game, he wasn’t joking about the tough test ahead for the Vols when the Buccaneers enter Neyland Stadium.
“When you watch the tape, they play hard,” Pruitt said. “You watch them on special teams, defense, offensively, they are going to be very well coached. They are going to be sound in all phases; they will present you with looks you probably haven’t seen before. Randy Sanders will know how to attack you. He will do a great job of breaking all three phases down. We will definitely have to be ready for anything, because he does a fantastic job.”
Peterson Joins Vols
Freshman linebacker JJ Peterson officially enrolled at Tennessee on Friday and he is expected to begin practice this week. Pruitt said he typically wants freshmen enrolled in the summer to acclimated to college life and that will temper expectations for the former Colquitt County High School star.
“There will be lots of adjustments for him,” Pruitt said. “He obviously missed all of summer conditioning and fall camp, so I wouldn’t put unrealistic expectations on him. We’ll put him out there and start trying to teach him the fundamentals of things we are trying to get done, and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
Kirkland Stands Out in Return
Playing in his first game since Dec. 30, 2016, redshirt junior linebacker Darrin Kirkland, Jr. had a career-best 10 tackles against West Virginia. The Indianapolis native made his 17th career start after missing all of last season with a knee injury.
“Darrin is a real instinctive guy, plays with toughness and has a really good understanding on what we are trying to get done,” Pruitt said. “He is only going to get better the longer he stays out there on the field.”
Kirkland captured All-SEC Freshman Team honors in 2015. He has made 121 tackles over 22 career games.
PLAYER QUOTES
Junior Defensive Back Baylen Buchanan
On the challenges of playing the first game in a new defensive scheme:
“It’s the first game of the season, so there’s definitely a lot to take away and a lot that we need to learn. Communication has to get better; a lot of stuff has to get better. But that’s something that we’re going to go over in film and get corrected. We’re just looking forward to next week, to the next game.”
On the feeling amongst the team following the game:
“We’re not going to get discouraged. We’re not going to hang our heads. Nobody is walking around here feeling sorry for themselves. We know that we made a lot of mistakes, and that’s just something that we have to get corrected. We have a long season and everybody’s still hungry, everybody’s ready to play, nobody’s feeling sorry for themselves.”
On what he remembers from playing in the secondary as a freshman:
“It’s a big transition from high school to college. I was excited, but at the same time, there was a bunch of butterflies. But once you get into the game, you just play.”
On being one of the more experienced players in the secondary:
“Definitely being one of the older guys, we need to take more charge and more lead back there. The young guys made some plays, but as a whole, we didn’t execute how we were supposed to. We didn’t play by our standard. And that’s something that we have to do better.”
Redshirt Junior Offensive Lineman Brandon Kennedy
On chemistry as a factor in the first quarter:
“I don’t think it (was a factor). We just know we have to improve, and we have to get better to get ready for ETSU this week.”
On what the offensive line learned:
“I know we didn’t play as great as we should, but we’re just taking these mistakes that we had and we have to learn from them. We’re going to watch film today, correct it, and just get ready for ETSU.”
On the impact of a running back committee:
“Tim Jordan did a great job, we have to give the credit to him. Guys like Ty Chandler, even though he missed a lot of the game, and Jeremy Banks, those guys all did a great job as well.”
On the coaches keeping composure on the sidelines:
“Our coaches and our teammates, they all just kept us calm. They told us to keep focusing on the next play and they just got us ready to finish.”
On excitement for first game in Neyland Stadium:
“Yes, I am very excited. I’m excited for the Vol Walk, seeing all the fans, and just the tradition here.”
On helping younger guys keep a positive mindset going forward:
“I can do my best to just be as positive as I can, and just show the guys the way to win.”
Junior Wide Receiver Marquez Callaway
On his chemistry with Jarrett Guarantano:
“Receivers and quarterbacks go hand in hand. So, if we’re going to throw the ball on offense, we’re going to have to work together. It doesn’t matter what quarterback or what receiver. We work with all of them and they work with us. So, whoever they throw the ball to, most of the time we’ll come down with it.”
On Jarrett Guarantano’s confidence compared to last season:
“I think he has gotten more confident. He has gotten more poised, more confident, the team has his back, the other quarterbacks have his back, and I know the offense as a whole has his back. When he’s out there doing his thing, we’re all on the same page. He’s out there leading us.”
On being back at Neyland Stadium against ETSU:
“It’s added excitement no matter who we play, especially if it’s in Neyland Stadium. It’ll be a big game because a lot of younger people and transfers haven’t played in Neyland yet. It’ll be a great experience for them and for us to get back in front of our home crowd.”
Sophomore Offensive Lineman Trey Smith
On how he felt like he played in the season opener:
“Could be a lot better. I’m still getting a lot of the rust out. I’ve had about eight practices so it’s a little hard, especially for a position like offensive line, but just getting the rust out and just trying to be better with technique every day I step out there.”
On if he felt the offensive line played well against West Virginia after a shaky start:
“Yes sir. Ultimately, we always want to get better. There are a lot of things we can fix and we need to go to the drawing board to fix them. Stepping forward we’re going to be better.”
On how he felt being on the field after his health issues in the offseason:
“It was relieving ultimately because (I was) just finally doing what I love to do, not worrying about external issues and just getting out there and playing ball.”
On how he thought newcomers Jahmir Johnson and Jerome Carvin played:
“They stepped up in my opinion. Jerome, those were his first college snaps, period, so I kind of anointed him. I had that same experience last year, so I just told him ‘Rome just calm down, it’s just like practice’. I think they both played their tails off. They worked hard. We were well prepared for that situation and they did a great job.”
-UT Athletics
