Below is the transcript from Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt’s media availability on Wednesday evening.
Opening Statement
“We’ve had three really good practices this week, you can tell that our players are excited about the opportunity to play. We know that we are playing a very well-coached team that’s got very good players. With our guys, we l know that we are going to make some mistakes in the game, and we are going to play through them. Our guys have got to play fast. Hopefully, we’ll get better as the game goes. We’re excited about this week. We’ve got to continue to improve over the next two days, we have a lot of work to get in in all three phases and can’t wait to do it.”
On Trey Smith…
“Everything that Trey does, he takes seriously. He’s a very serious young man. He’s had a plan. He’s really tried to work his plan while he’s in college as far as getting involved in the community. He’s got a big heart. The guy has worked extremely hard to overcome some things from a health perspective to be able to go out there and play like he does on Saturdays. I know he’s excited about this game coming up. He’s worked hard to prepare, and he’s got an opportunity to practice many more times than he has the previous two years and I’m glad he’s getting this opportunity.”
On the defensive line…
“Well, our guys are going to play hard. In every game you make mistakes and we will make mistakes in this game. We just have to go back over to the sideline and don’t make them again. These guys do a really good job on the offensive side of the ball, so defensively, we have to able to make adjustments during the game. There’s lots of history here so we obviously couldn’t for everything coach (Mike) Bobo’s done over the last 10 years. You try to do that and follow some things, but we’ve tried to really focus on the core stuff and give our guys a chance to have success.”
On the backup quarterback battle…
“We’re going to continue to work all our guys and as we get closer we will make a decision on that.”
On Cade Mays’ waiver …
“There’s been a lot of questions about this. I’ve said numerous times what a great job Greg (Sankey) has done leading us through this pandemic. I just know about Cade and I know that he’s met with lots of professionals and it was submitted to the NCAA and they felt like he needed to play this year. Nobody from the SEC has contacted us and asked to meet with Cade. Based off the decision from the NCAA, I don’t know how they would keep him from playing unless they say it’s a rule that we voted on. When you sit in somebody’s home recruiting them, you’re involved with 120 kids every day, the circumstances that have gone on, not just in the last six or seven months but my whole coaching career, our first priority has got to be our student-athletes. To me, keeping them working towards a degree and being the best football players that they can possibly can be. In my opinion, we have to sit back and really look and see what really is the right thing to do here.”
On if there is anything that concerns him more about this year’s opener than a normal year…
“No, I mean we got to play aggressive knowing that we’ll make mistakes in the game. We got to play with confidence. Don’t turn the ball over, get turnovers. All the coach speak, you know? Create explosive plays, gang tackle, score touchdowns when we get in the red area, keep them from doing it. That’s what wins and loses games. We’ve got 60 minutes to prove that we’re the best team on Saturday.”
On if he feels more comfortable about the special teams units…
“The one thing we got to do was do a lot of walkthroughs during July, so we definitely took advantage of that, but there’s nothing like live reps in special teams. Just getting the guys in there and getting as many opportunities as we can is what we’ve been focused on.”
On if he thinks the secondary is one of the strongest units on the team…
“We do have some guys that have some experience, really in all three levels, but last year has no affect on this year. How we play Saturday for those 60 minutes, that will be who we are so far this season, so we want to be at our best.”
On the return of Joe Doyle after entering the transfer portal over the summer…
“Joe wanted an opportunity to earn a scholarship and he had plenty of schools that offered him scholarships, he had a lot of places to choose from. We fully supported him, wherever he was going to go we were going to support him, that way he would be eligible. Some of the opportunities, because of the COVID, conferences didn’t play so he elected to come back, and we were very happy to have him back.”
On Robert Muschamp and what he has brought to Tennessee’s staff in his role as graduate assistant…
“He does a really nice job for us. Very hard worker, very knowledgeable. Really good young coach that one day will have a chance to probably be a coordinator or head coach. Works extremely hard and we’re very excited that we have him.”
On what he saw from Trey Smith during his health issues…
“(I saw) a guy that stayed positive, that thought about others instead of himself. A time when he couldn’t do what he loves to do, instead of sitting around and dwelling on it, he looked for a way that he could have a positive impact on others. Trey is really been a fantastic leader around here. One of my favorite guys that I’ve had a chance to be around and coach over the years.”
On coaching against Mike Bobo, who he worked with at Georgia…
“You just look at the whole body of work. It’s like this for the first game or the first two or three games every year. People can change, but when you’ve done it as well as he’s done over the years, I wouldn’t suspect he would change a whole lot. Mike is one of the best coaches in the country, great competitor. I loved working with him. We’ll get after each other on Saturday and probably talk a little trash during the summertime.”
On his running backs and who else might play other than Ty Chandler and Eric Gray on Saturday…
“Like I said before, we’ll play these young guys (Tee Hodge and Jabari Small) this season. We need depth at that position. Our numbers have been down. I’m not going to sit here and say somebody is going to play, specifically, but these guys will play throughout the year.”
-UT Athletics
