KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Tennessee football team returned to practice at Haslam Field after a week off for spring break on Tuesday. Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt said the Vols had a “spirited” practice, but the team still has work to do with just over two weeks remaining before the Chevrolet Orange and White Game on April 13.
Pruitt was complimentary of his special teams unit, including the kickers and returners. The Vols return kicker Brent Cimaglia, punter Joe Doyle and punter/kicker Paxton Brooks as well as long snapper Riley Lovingood.
“I think over the last couple weeks our kickers have continued to approve their operation,” Pruitt said. “That is a positive side.”
Special Teams as a Weapon
Pruitt said that the staff is still figuring out who will be in charge of returning the punts and kickoffs for the Vols in the fall, but Tennessee has some experience in that position with rising senior wide receiver Marquez Callaway and rising junior running back Ty Chandler.
“(We are) still trying to figure out who will all be our punter returners and our kick returners,” Pruitt said. “We have Marquez Callaway that did the punts last year and Ty Chandler and a couple other guys that did kickoffs. But we have competition back there.”
Last season, Callaway returned punt 82 yards for a touchdown – the 12th-longest in school history. The Warner Robins, Ga., native has two punt returns for touchdowns in his career and averaged 11.9 yards per return in 2018.
Chandler attempted seven kickoff returns last season in the 11 games he was in. He averaged 16.1 yards per attempt and his longest was 27 yards. In 2017, he returned an opening kickoff for 91 yards for a score versus Indiana State.
“We have to create a weapon with our special teams,” Pruitt said. “We are working hard to do that.”
Josh Palmer Continues to Improve
Pruitt said rising junior wide receiver Josh Palmer is improving as a wide receiver through more reps and experience during this spring.
“I think Josh is a guy that has a good frame,” Pruitt said. “He has good hands and he has speed. So, he has the physical attributes that you look for in a wide receiver. I think the more you play, obviously the better you get, the more reps you take and all that. So, this is his third year here, he’s been through spring before.”
Last season, Palmer finished his sophomore year first in the SEC and tied for fifth in the nation in yards per catch (21.0). He hauled in 23 catches and ranked second on the team with 484 receiving yards and two touchdowns, while averaging 40.3 yards per game.
“He has shown some progress; I think he’s done much better this spring blocking on the physical side,” Pruitt said. “So, he’s a guy that’s a big strong guy that runs fast and we need to be able to play him on special teams. He needs to be able to do that to give us a guy out there that can run and hit and give us another body.”
Vol Basketball is a Family Event at Pruitt’s House
Even with spring practice still in session, Pruitt has plans to cheer on the Tennessee basketball team in the Sweet Sixteen on Thursday. The game is scheduled for 7:29 p.m. ET as the Vols take on Purdue in Louisville, Ky.
“Every time that our basketball team is on TV, it’s a family gathering for us,” Pruitt said. “I have my three and one-year-olds with me and they have their own little basketball goal, so every time that Jordan (Bone) or Admiral (Schofield) or Grant (Williams) or someone shoots one, they start shooting one too.”
Pruitt went on to explain how the Rick Barnes-led squad has made a positive impact on the university.
“It’s exciting times to watch the way our guys play,” Pruitt said. “All of these guys have been great ambassadors for the University of Tennessee and Coach Barnes is doing a fantastic job. We’ll definitely be watching.”
Kenneth George Suspended
Pruitt announced on Tuesday that rising redshirt junior defensive back Kenneth George Jr. has been suspended indefinitely following an incident last week.
“We had an incident over spring break with Kenneth George Jr. and he has been suspended indefinitely from the team until we gather more information and let it run its course,” Pruitt said. “We don’t tolerate behavior like that and we are going to support all law enforcement that we come in contact with. We want our kids to do the right thing and we will respect the law. At the same time, we are going to support Kenneth through this, and we will see where it goes.”
Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt Press Conference Transcript – March 26
Opening statement:
“We had an incident over spring break with Kenneth George Jr. and he has been suspended indefinitely from the team until we gather more information and let it run its course. We don’t tolerate behavior like that and we are going to support all law enforcement that we come in contact with. We want our kids to do the right thing and we will respect the law. At the same time, we are going to support Kenneth through this and we will see where it goes. Practice today we had a little more spirited practice. You could tell we had guys that had been off a little bit. There were lots of good things, but still a long way to go in terms of execution. Learning to play with the right pad level, learning how to finish every single play and rep. We had too many penalties, too many turnovers.
“Offensively, up until this point, operation had been very good, but today was probably the first day we were a little bit off schedule and the offense sets the tempo of practice. We have to do a much better job at doing that. I think over the last couple weeks our kickers have continued to approve their operation. That is a positive side. We’re still trying to figure out who will all be our punter returners and our kick returners. We have Marquez Callaway that did the punts last year and Ty Chandler and a couple other guys that did kickoffs, but we have competition back there. We have to create a weapon with our special teams. We are working hard to do that.
“When you come back from spring break with a week off, I didn’t think there was enough carry over from the previous week. So we have to go back and get started and get back into the grind. The spirit and energy was there early on, but we didn’t finish the way we should finish.”
On if you expect rustiness coming back from spring break or not:
“Well, we weren’t like that the first week of practice. So, the first day we went out there, we were probably a little crisper than we were today. We still have a few quarterback-center exchanges when we’re in the gun with bad snaps. The first thing you have to do as an offense is to take the ball from the center and give it to the quarterback, and you have to do it in a way that the quarterback doesn’t have to make circus catches to catch the snap. So we have to improve there. But I thought not putting in as much stuff this week, we’ve kind of gotten the bulk of our install in in five days and it’s kind of the second time around so you would think it would be a little crisper and cleaner.”
On why it is critical to have coordinators with SEC experience:
“You look at the coaches in this league. All across the league, you have very good coaches on both sides of the ball and in special teams. You get a lot of different looks, so guys that have experience in this league understand the type of players that you’re going to play against, the things that you’re going to see. The more times you play against somebody, obviously the more familiar you get with them. I think having guys with experience is important.”
On Josh Palmer and Jerome Carvin’s improvement:
“I think Josh is a guy that has a good frame. He has good hands and he has speed. He has the physical attributes that you look for in a wide receiver. I think the more you play, obviously the better you get, the more reps you take and all that. This is his third year here, he’s been through spring before. He has shown some progress; I think he’s done much better this spring blocking on the physical side. He’s a guy that’s a big and strong and runs fast and we need to be able to play him on special teams. He needs to be able to do that to give us a guy out there that can run and hit and give us another body. Jerome has played lots of positions. This is his second spring, he went through last spring with a little bit of a broken foot. So he was a little bit limited at times, but he’s played a bunch of positions up front. He worked all at center today. So, we’re just trying to create some depth at that position, and Jerome is a guy that can play multiple spots. So I think the more he plays, the more he’ll improve.”
On the process of learning about Aubrey Solomon and DeAngelo Gibbs’ eligibility for this upcoming season:
“When you file a waiver, there’s a process that it goes through and it’s ruled on by the NCAA.”
On the status of Gibbs and Solomon affecting their amount of work in practice:
“It doesn’t affect anything. Everyone here gets the same amount of reps, so it doesn’t matter.”
On the development of quarterbacks JT Shrout and Brian Maurer:
“Both guys have good arms. They have pretty good athletic ability, they have to speed up, they have to take care of the football. Arm talent is not an issue, but if you’re throwing the ball late, it’s not a good thing. You have to know where to start in your progressions, you have to handle the offense, you have to get them in and out of the huddle. You have to be a good communicator and you have to be demanding. They both need to improve on that and they will. Again, like a lot of guys on our team, they just need to play ball and get reps. They’ll improve as long as they have an opportunity to do that.”
On his plans for Tennessee basketball’s Sweet 16 game on Thursday:
“Every time that our basketball team is on TV, it’s a family gathering for us. I have my three and one-year-olds with me and they have their own little basketball goal, so every time that Jordan or Admiral or Grant or someone shoots one, they start shooting one too. It’s exciting times to watch the way our guys play. All of these guys have been great ambassadors for the University of Tennessee and coach Barnes is doing a fantastic job. We’ll definitely be watching.”
On where retention showed up the most for the team on its first practice back from spring break:
“I think all over. We made mistakes today that we didn’t make the first day. Today was really a review day. We went five days and now we start over. You go back to what you put in on day one and you add a few things to it. Our installs today were really small, so you would think that this is the week that you start creating your identity and playing the right way. Guys have a little bit more knowledge of what they’re supposed to do, so they can play faster. It was there at times, but it was too sloppy at times too.”
On what spring break looks like for the coaching staff:
“The players aren’t here, so we can’t work with the players. You get an opportunity to do whatever you want to do. You can work on football, you can work on opponents, you can spend time with your family, you can play golf, you can fish, you can hunt – whatever anybody else does with their free time.”
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