KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee put in two hours of work at Haslam Field on Thursday, running through a two-hour practice session in full pads.
Defensive coordinator Bob Shoop spoke to reporters following the conclusion of Thursday’s practice, discussing his second pass through the spring in the orange and white and how being flanked by new assistant coaches has infused a new energy into workouts.
“It’s like everything you do the second time, experience is the greatest teacher,” Shoop said. “I’m not looking around trying to figure out if I’m in the right spot, doing the right drill, if this is how coach (Butch Jones) wants things done. Every time change happens, it can kind of create anxiety but it can also be refreshing. (Defensive backs coach) Charlton Warren has done an outstanding job and has fit right in to our culture. (Defensive line coach) Brady Hoke certainly has a tremendous amount of experience and has been a great mentor and really helped me out personally and is doing a great job of being a leader and mentor to our players up front and all the players on defense and all the players on the team.”
Tuesday’s practice was the fifth of 15 spring workouts for the Vols. The spring season concludes on April 22 with the annual DISH Orange & White Game (4 p.m. ET, SEC Network). Admission and parking to the Orange & White Game are free to the public and a fan appreciation event will precede kickoff.
The Vols wrap up the second week of spring ball to Neyland Stadium for a closed scrimmage on Saturday — their first of the spring.
Day Five Quotables
Offensive coordinator Larry Scott
(On his personality as an offensive coordinator)
“What the players are going to get is the same guy everyday. I’m not going to let distractions or those type of things be around. We are going to be consistent and steadfast. We are going to do things the right way and be detailed. I will be accountable to them. We are going to be tough and do it everyday with a high level of consistency.”
Senior LB Cortez McDowell
(On what’s stood out about the linebackers so far as a unit)
“The maturity of our group. We have Shannon Reed, an early enrollee. We have Bituli who’s going through his first spring with us. The rest of our guys are older guys. It’s really just helping those two mature, grow as players, and men as well. We thank coach Thigpin because he’s been with us the whole time so we understand his message to us and also our message to each other as a unit.”
RS Senior P Trevor Daniel
(On working with new strength and conditioning coach Rock Gullickson)
“He focuses on what specialists need like legs, not just workouts that don’t really helps us. We’re doing more flexibility stuff.”
