KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee wrapped up its third practice of the week on Wednesday night at Haslam Field. As preparation for UTEP continues, the Volunteers are striving to be productive and take advantage of every opportunity each day, including those that are presented to the scout team.

“Everywhere that I have been, we have had guys that are probably our best players that started on the scout team,” head coach Jeremy Pruittsaid. “I have seen a bunch of first rounders play on the scout team, and they played it like it was their game every day.

“If you want to be a good football player, you are going to take every opportunity and do the best with what you can do with it.”

Thompson Displays Perseverance
Freshman cornerback Bryce Thompson was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Monday after strong practices and a career outing in Week 2 of the season.

“I think it was a perfect lesson for everybody on our team,” Pruitt said. “I think Bryce would be the first one to tell you that he didn’t play very well against West Virginia, but he came back and practiced extremely hard and it showed the way he played on Saturday.”

The Irmo, S.C., native made his first-career start in the Volunteers’ 59-3 blowout victory against ETSU on Saturday afternoon at Neyland Stadium. Thompson filled the stat sheet with four tackles, two tackles for loss, a pass breakup and his first-career interception, which he returned for 21 yards to the ETSU 3-yard line to set up UT’s third touchdown of the contest.

On Tuesday, Thompson was also named to the PFF College SEC Defensive Team of the Week.

UT Supporting Families Affected by Hurricane Florence
On Wednesday, Pruitt expressed the importance of prioritizing the safety of players’ families who have been affected by Hurricane Florence. Nine student-athletes on Tennessee’s roster hail from the Carolinas.

“For all the guys that have family that’s kind of in the wake of the storm there, to me that’s got to be their number one priority, their family’s safety. I’m sure that it’s on their mind, it’s on everybody’s mind that’s there, that’s not even associated with Tennessee. It’s an unfortunate circumstance that happens and we’ve tried to do everything that we possibly could to help alleviate some of the stress of the family members of our players who could possibly be affected by the storm.”

Earlier in the day, Tennessee Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer extended an invitation to families displaced by Hurricane Florence to attend Saturday’s game against UTEP at Neyland free of charge.

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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The path that led to playing at Tennessee wasn’t the easiest for junior linebacker Daniel Bituli as he moved from the Congo to the United States when he was just three years old.

“My family was fortunate enough to get here to the states,” Bituli said. “The lifestyle as a whole was difficult. My parents didn’t know how to speak English and both went to school. My dad worked two jobs just to feed us. My mom stayed at home and took care of the kids every day. My siblings and I were really fortunate to have the parents that we have.”

When first arriving to the U.S., Bituli along with his four siblings and parents, lived in Charlotte, Tenn. They then moved to Bellevue, about 13 miles southwest of Nashville, where he attended Nashville Christian High School.

“I have been fortunate enough to meet people in my life that have made my job easier,” Bituli said. “From my coaches picking me up from practices and dropping me off. And then going to Nashville Christian, I had such a warm and loving family there with people that truly cared about me. It is really an amazing feeling.”

One of the hurdles that Bituli had to get over was learning English. He would have to take extra classes to become fluent in the new language.

“It took a good two-and-a-half years,” Bituli said. “Fortunately enough for me, I was just a young kid. But it was very difficult for my parents because they spoke Lingala. My mom actually speaks eight different languages. Her knowing all those languages and then having to learn a whole new one when they got to the states, it was really hard.”

Bituli started his journey in football at a young age in elementary school, just by playing the sport during recess with his two best friends.

“I would just run as fast and hard as I could,” Bituli said. “I would get a touchdown like every day.”

His friends started encouraging him to play football outside of recess and would invite him to practices. Eventually in fifth-grade, he attended his first football camp and his love for the game grew from there.

Bituli also competed in basketball, starting in fourth-grade and continuing into high school. He would also run track.

At Tennessee, he has become one of the top linebackers in the Southeastern Conference and is an emerging leader for the Vols’ defense this fall.

After playing as a reserve as a freshman in 2016, Bituli led Tennessee with 90 tackles as a sophomore in 2017.

Playing primarily at MIKE linebacker, he had a career-high of 23 tackles and a forced fumble against Georgia Tech in the 2017 season opener and added a pick-six at Alabama.

As a junior, Bituli has logged two starts at linebacker and contributed eight tackles against West Virginia and ETSU.

Throughout his time as a Volunteer, one of his highlights was the Virginia Tech “Battle of Bristol” game held at Bristol Motor Speedway on Sept. 10, 2016. The Vols routed the Hokies, 45-24, in front of the largest crowds in American football history (156,990).

“It was the greatest thing I have ever seen,” Bituli said. “Just the Vol Walk was truly amazing and breathtaking.”

But for his family, seeing his hard work pay off at a collegiate level and earning an education at the same time has meant the most overall.

“It means the world to us,” Bituli said. “It really shows that hard work truly does pay off. When you have a really tight-knit family that supports you in everything you do, it just makes the job easier.”

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