KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee football wrapped up its first week of fall camp on Thursday morning at Haslam Field with lots of optimism surrounding its experienced and strengthened offensive line.  

With four of the five starting linemen returning from a year ago, the unit is making leaps and bounds. After learning the system, and the tempo, of the offense down solid last year, the men in the trenches are progressing greatly with a year under their belts.

“Progressing fast, this time last year, it’s night and day,” redshirt-junior Dayne Davis said. “Getting more guys in the room up there, getting in the playbook more, knowing their stuff. That way, ball, snap, quick got to know what you’re doing. Defense is going to change right before the snap. Knowing the inside and out of that playbook. I just feel like our O-line group is really tight. I think we’re with each other. Sometimes we battle back and forth but competition is good for the room, and we’ve got a lot of that right now.”

“Once you get used to something, it becomes natural to you,” junior Javontez Spraggins added. “Since last year, the offense has been fast. It’s been fast this year. It’s always going to be fast. We have figured it out, and now we have to run with it. Play ball now.”

The offensive line added a pair of highly-touted newcomers that enrolled early and went through spring practices in Addison Nichols and Brian Grant. This allowed both freshmen to not only to learn the system, but develop both physically and mentally.

With such a deep group, the expectations of offensive line coach Glen Elarbee have grown, and he has seen a response from his group. Accountability and leadership from all corners of the meeting rooms is just an example of the steps the guys are taking to grow.
 
“If you make a silly mistake, that can’t be us—can’t be what we’re about,” Elarbee said when taking the podium. “They all know better, man. They get in the meeting room it sounds like a freaking chorus or something, like the answers of the questions and everybody saying the same word.”

The growth seen by the offensive line has come from more places than just the football field. Cooper Mays is primed to step into the leadership role left by his brother, Cade, thanks largely in part to his experiences with the VOLeaders Academy summer immersion experience in Rwanda.

“Something that I took with me is servant leadership,” Mays said. “They talked about something called ‘leading from the bench.’ Whether you’re the star player, the worst player, in the middle or hurt, it doesn’t really matter where you are. You can always make a difference no matter where you’re at.”

The Running Back Room Gets A Bit Deeper

In addition, Tennessee’s running back room was bolstered on Thursday with the addition of Clemson graduate transfer running back Lyn-J Dixon. The redshirt senior signed his financial aid agreement on Wednesday and went through his first practice on Thursday morning. Dixon, who spent the spring at West Virginia, owns two seasons of remaining eligibility. From 2018-21, the Butler, Georgia, native played in 41 games at Clemson and rushed for 1,420 yards on 218 carries with 13 touchdowns. He played in three games last fall for the Tigers.

Looking to the Weekend

The Vols will have their first off day of fall camp tomorrow before returning to Haslam Field for a shoulder pads practice on Saturday morning. Camp ramps up the next day as the team has its first full-pads practice of the fall on Sunday. 

Offensive Line Coach Glen Elarbee 

On how Gerald Mincey, Jeremiah Crawford and Dayne Davis are performing at left tackle this fall… 
“They’re all doing well and competing. It was the first day of pads yesterday. I thought they all, including those three, kind of melted a little bit with the heat. They came back today, were flying around and doing well. To say who’s where or what, I couldn’t do that for you if that’s where this sucker’s heading, but they’re competing really, really well.” 
 
On if there is much difference between the left and right tackles in his scheme… 
“Not really, just because of how we protect and the tempo piece of it. There’s not a huge difference at all.” 
 
On if he has a timetable of when he would like to get set at the left tackle position… 
“Typically, you hope that you have a direction after the first scrimmage, and then you kind of solidify after the second scrimmage. Some years, you’re fortunate that it happens before then if there are a bunch of returning guys. Hopefully by the first scrimmage, you have an idea, and then for sure by the second scrimmage, you probably need to know and give those guys a chance to play as many snaps together as they can.” 
 
On the toughness of Cooper Mays and what how he has performed in camp so far… 
“He’s a tough son of gun—both him and his brother. The guy loves the game of football. He loves the physicality part of it, will absolutely throw his body around and is just old school in the fact that you try to tape it up and keep on going. He’s done a great job this camp. I think his offseason was even better than the previous one. I think Coach (Kurt) Schmidt did a great job with him. He’s stronger. He’s able to lift and sit some things down that he wasn’t doing last year. He’s freaking smart, way smarter than his coach.” 
 
On if he is set on having Darnell Wright play on the right side and if it’s unusual for someone to want to switch sides… 
“No, I’m not at all set with Darnell on the right. I think you have to find who the best tackles are and where we can go have the best chance to win. As far as him playing right, it’s as unselfish and team-oriented as anything can possibly be. We had a talk after the season and felt like, to give us a chance, he needed to take some reps at right and see if he’d be able to do that to help guys who had only played left. Without skipping a beat, it wasn’t even like a blink of an eye. He was like, ‘Man, whatever helps us win and helps us be the best.’ I think that’s part of his maturation process. That’s part of him just getting a little bit older and more mature. He’s just a team guy. He talks in the meeting room. He’s taking notes and he’s fun to be around. He had a great day yesterday. He was probably the highlight of yesterday, and I’m hoping it looks just as good today.” 
 
On the progression of Addison Nichols from the spring to fall camp… 
“I think all of the freshmen are a lot different—him for sure. I think the game has slowed down a lot for him. When he makes a mistake, he already knows it versus having to go into the film room, watch it and talk about it. It’s instantaneous. ‘Man, I should have called this or I should have done this.’ Now, the challenge for him is he’s taking a few reps with two’s and starting to move and take some reps at different positions. Handling all of that mentally and the physical part of starting to go against better bodies, the technique has to be a little cleaner. The play has to be a little faster. He’s done a great job. It’s a lot on a freshman.” 
 
On where he is currently playing Nichols on the offensive line… 
“He took reps everywhere during the summer. In fall camp, it’s been center and guard mainly.” 
 
On the overall progression of the offensive line and its confidence… 
“100 percent. Now, the questions in the meeting room are so much different. They see the whole picture. They understand the whole scheme. They can correct one another. They can help young guys. They can be out there, and the defense puts something crazy in for install and on the fly, they’re putting bodies on bodies and doing it really fast. The technique that goes with the play starts to clean up because they know what they’re doing and they’re not having to think as much. It’s just all of those things that happen in the second year. I think two, J.C. (Jeremiah Crawford), Coop (Cooper Mays) and even Spragg (Javontez Spraggins) and Dayne (Davis) are being super vocal. If something’s not the right way, they’re getting it fixed and are just a fun bunch to be around.” 
 
On Masai Reddick and Savion Herring… 
“I think they are both adjusting to the speed of the game right now. Not just the tempo piece of it, it’s just so much faster than what high school and junior college is. They’re both absolutely trying to learn as much as they possibly can all summer through this point. It just takes a little bit of time. I think they’re both doing really, really well for (having) the least amount of experience in the room. Savion is not there right this second, but he’s grinding at it. Both of them, ss long as they keep on the path where day one was this, and then day two was this, and then day three and day four, and they keep slowly building, they’ll be fine by the time we get where we need to be. You can’t hit that lull. I think that’s the toughest part sometimes your first time in college camp: in the middle of it, how you hit that wall and you’re done. They’ve just got to keep grinding.” 
 
On how differently he coaches the returning starters… 
“100 percent, yeah. Especially, if you make a silly mistake, that can’t be us—can’t be who we’re about. They all know better, man. They get in the meeting room it sounds like a freaking chorus or something, like the answers of the questions and everybody saying the same word. The accountability, and if something isn’t right, it definitely pisses you off a whole heck of a lot more.” 
 
On what he looks for in a center… 
“Intelligence has to be up there, just because you’re making decisions so fast. You’re the coach out on the field, because you have to change it on third downs and get us right, and there’s so much involved with that. Obviously, you have to just be unbelievably tough. I think that’s kind of got to be the cornerstone of the offensive line. That guy better be the toughest son of a gun on the field. And then the athletic ability, because we do pull that guy. And then, obviously, as much girth, width, anchor ability as you can possibly get.” 
 
On the offensive line getting more physical… 
“The weight program was different, the way they had to push and strain. Even going against each other during the summer in drills, they were just different. So, it’ll be exciting. Third down’s really kind of around the corner here, third and shorts. We’ll find out. It’s great news, you always do.” 
 
On how comfortable he feels with experience now returning… 
“If you stay healthy, maybe. It’s fun. I love the room. I love walking into it, being around the guys. That sense of comfort knowing where they’re at, and the guys that are getting better—the Lampleys [Jackson Lampley], Ollies [Ollie Lane], Daynes [Dayne Davis], everybody competing and getting better. There’s a level of comfort to a certain extent, but to be honest, probably not, because season’s coming and you’re thinking about all the stuff.” 
 
On Javontez Spraggins… 
“Man, I think his biggest improvement has been protection for sure. He’s always been just a freaking grinder in the run game, but his eyes, knowing where he’s supposed to be, who the ID is, staying in a pass-pro position, not getting out over his toes, and using his hands. Pass protection for sure has been night and day different from last year. He’s put in a lot of time and work to get to that point.” 
 
On if he prefers rotating guys or not… 
“Any time you have depth and you feel comfortable, I mean, it’s awesome. Give guys a breather once or twice a half, let somebody take 20 or 30 snaps a game, maybe even more, or split it, definitely helps. Looking forward to staying healthy and having that ability.” 
 
On Darnell Wright’s improvement from a year ago… 
“I think Darnell’s just growing each day. Just so proud of him. The way he practiced yesterday was just unbelievably physical, the questions that he asked in the meeting room, the attention—you can just see him trying to be different in the way that he focuses, and even things he’s trying to work technique wise. Just not, like on our case, that if we’re not helping him get to a point, man, he wants to get there. He wants extra drill work, he wants extra reps, he wants to work. I think that’s something, I’m not sure, he probably did a little last year, but it’s so pronounced this year. He’s just such an improved player, and I’m just excited for him. I hope he keeps it up and just has a phenomenal year.” 

Junior OL Cooper Mays

On what the key ingredients are to being a good center…
“It kind of depends on your body type and everything, but for me, I like to use my intelligence and athleticism a lot. I think that’s kind of what wins me a lot of my battles. I think if you can get as strong as you can get and then win with your mental game if you’re a smaller guy like me, you’ll be fine.”
 
On how it feels this fall camp to be competing while healthy…
“I think the biggest thing for that is, like I said, in the summer you have to work really hard to build your body up. That will kind of take care of it. It’s been amazing these first few days, honestly. You feel really fresh and springy. You see how it goes in camp and you kind of get camp legs. I’m just trying to stay where I’m at. It’s been a great four days.”
 
On what he learned about himself last season…
“I was helped a lot by the thing on my shirt: VOLeaders Academy. They kind of preached something that I took with me and it’s about servant leadership. They talked about something called ‘leading from the bench.’ Whether you’re the star player, the worst player, in the middle or hurt, it doesn’t really matter where you are. You can always make a difference no matter where you’re at. I think finding my role being in the back more as a teacher and helping out my teammates who were able to play, it was cool to find my spot there.”

RS-Junior OL Dayne Davis

On where the offensive line is at…
“Progressing fast. This time last year, it’s night and day, getting more guys in the room up there, getting in the playbook more, knowing their stuff. That way, ball, snap, quick got to know what you’re doing. Defense is going to change right before the snap. Knowing the inside and out of that playbook. I just feel like our O-line group is really tight. I think we’re with each other. Sometimes we battle back and forth but competition is good for the room, and we’ve got a lot of that right now.”
 
On his confidence in offensive line group as a whole…
“Confidence level is huge. You can tell that by, last year I feel like it was older guys and everybody –  young guys obviously – everybody in the room was having to learn the playbook. It was whoever knew something told the other people. We knew different spots of the playbook. Now these veteran guys, me, Cooper (Mays), Jerome (Carvin), every time we see something, coach Elarbee is always asking us to speak up in the room. If he misses something on tape, for us to speak up in the room. If he misses something on tape, for us to speak up and say, ‘hey right here, tackles if you see this, do this’. I feel like veteran guys, as we know the playbook, we are able to help those guys so much more than what we were because we are so confident and it in return makes those guys more confident. I’m bumping in to right guard, and I have Brian Grant beside me a lot, so being able to help him in game is a lot better than to help him in front of a fan when you are sitting in a cool room. You can do that really easy, but when you get out on field, explaining to those guys, like being at tackle with Masai Reddick at guard. Being able to teach those guys and show them on the field what you are talking about in the room really helps them transfer from the room to the field, so I feel like it’s been great.”
 
On where the most progress on offensive line will be…
“Finishing, to be honest. Finishing late in the play if you want to get individually about play. I feel like sometimes, myself included, late in the play not finishing for that extra two, three yards. I feel like this year, really making a point to finish on the inside of guys, finish up field with guys, push that extra five, six yards to where we make seven, eight yard plays into 10, 12, 14 yard plays and just keep trucking down the field.” 

Junior OL Javontez Spraggins 

On goals for the offensive line and how they can achieve those goals…
“The only thing the offensive line talked about is winning the Joe Moore award. We strain every day to the end of everything. When you get run offense, it’s because you have offensive linemen down the field straining to the end of the play. All that matters is straining, energy and effort.”
 
On his relationship with Cooper Mays…
“As far as Cooper Mays goes, he’s almost like my brother. When you come into a place like this and you go away from your family, you have to build new relationships. I built a relationship with my brothers. Not only the offensive line, but everybody in this system.”
 
On getting used to the system and how fast the offense operates…
“Once you get used to something, it becomes natural to you. Since last year, the offense has been fast. It’s been fast this year. It’s always going to be fast. We have figured it out, and now we have to run with it. Play ball now.”

-UT Athletics

The Tennessee Volunteers were back out on the practice field Thursday for preseason practice 4 at UT.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The intensity ramped up Wednesday morning at Haslam Field as Tennessee football put on shoulder pads for the first time this fall. Three days into preseason camp and working within Tim Banks‘ defensive system for the second year, UT’s players and staff are embracing that continuity while focusing on building depth for the upcoming 2022 campaign.
 
“I feel like we’ve gotten better in our second year in the system,” linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary expressed to local media following Wednesday’s practice. “We haven’t added that much. We’ve tweaked a couple of things, but the guys are a lot more comfortable with what we’re doing.

“(The coaching staff) are all looking at each other and can almost complete each other’s sentences. That’s what you want. We are comfortable with each other, and that does add to growth, because you can expand on things—whether that is offensive, defensive, the team aspect of it and what’s good and bad. We can trust each other and know we are going to make the right decisions. I know that’s going to play out well for us once the season starts.”

Entering his sixth year with the program, redshirt senior linebacker Solon Page III spoke to the importance of depth in the linebacker room and the benefits of rotating fresh players in the middle of defense.

“Having that extra depth in the linebacker room is very crucial, especially because we want to be one of the hardest hitting and hardest playing linebacker corps in the country,” Page said. “With that being said, having that depth, having guys that can rotate in and out and not have a drop-off, that’s huge for a defense.”

“With the way we play and score, we have to have several linebackers ready to play,” Jean-Mary added. “Especially with the wear and tear that you get in this conference, the more quality linebackers that you have, the better chance you have of being better on defense.”
 
Three days into the rigorous training regimen of defensive line coach Rodney Garner, Tennessee’s veteran defensive lineman are becoming accustomed to the tough practices and shared plenty of praises for their position coach when meeting with media on Wednesday.
 
“I give (Coach Garner) a lot of the praise for the growth that I’ve taken,” junior defensive lineman Tyler Baron said. “He’s helped me mature a lot, more mentally than anything. Just having a different outlook and being more conscious of everything I’m doing. Attention to detail has been a big thing for me, and just being disciplined. He’s been preaching those to me since day one, and I think this summer and this spring was just the first time I really took his words and put it in action. I just continue to do that and just trust in him.”
 
“The way he coaches, that’s the way I want to be coached,” said redshirt junior lineman Da’Jon Terry. “He brings out the best in you. Every day, he’s going to stay on you. When he stays on you, you know that means he loves you. You just keep going at it every day.”

Linebackers Coach Brian Jean-Mary

On linebacker Juwan Mitchell’s performance this fall…
“The first three days have been really good. Juwan has been a model of consistency these first three days. It’s really the first time probably in almost a year and a half to two years that he’s felt healthy. He’s gotten all of the surgeries behind him and he’s probably as healthy as he’s been in a long time. You’re starting to see the best parts of him. He’s been really good these first three days.”
 
On what having Juwan Mitchell healthy will do for Tennessee this season…
“Like every team in the country, everybody is trying to build depth. If he’s able to come in and be able to contribute at a high level, we’ll feel like that just adds to our numbers. With the way we play and score, we have to have several linebackers ready to play. Especially with the wear and tear that you get in this conference, the more quality linebackers that you have, the better chance you have of being better on defense.”
 
On the amount of competition the linebackers have compared to last offseason…
“I think it’s high. I do. Obviously, Jeremy (Banks), with the snaps that he played and the level he played at at times last year, we have to still push him. He’s one of the guys that we can count on. Aaron Beasley has had a great camp, too, these first three days. When the pads came on today, he showed up a couple of times too, which is great. You can see him growing. Obviously, we spoke about Juwan. Solon Page III has had a really, really good camp. He’s shown that he can give us quality minutes. We’re really excited about some of our young depth. Pakk (Kwauze) Garland has been really good these last three days. Elijah Herring, William Mohan, Nick Humphrey and then obviously the young guy Kalib Perry is doing some really good things also.”
 
On how Tennessee’s linebackers can impact the pass defense…
“We’re tied to coverage. In 95 percent of the coverages we have, the linebackers are involved in it. We’ll never point the finger at the secondary or the D-Line as far as pass rush. We have to do a better job. I think our number one thing in pass coverage is getting to spots, being able to periph the quarterback, find receivers in our zone and being able to make plays. I think when you watch the film, we were in position to make a couple of plays on the ball and we didn’t. I tie that in to the pass rush. We’re a very aggressive defense and we blitz considerably. As a linebacker, your pass coverage as a blitzer is to get that quarterback on the ground and get him off his spot to make him uncomfortable. All of those things tie together. We take as much responsibility in that as anything. I feel like we’ve gotten better. In our second year in the system, we haven’t added that much. We’ve tweaked a couple of things. The guys are a lot more comfortable with what we’re doing.”
 
On what linebacker Jeremy Banks needs to do in order to reach his ceiling…
“I’ll say this, until he gets a gold jacket, everybody can get better. I think with his maturity—which I think he’s grown in leaps and bounds since I’ve gotten here—and playing under control, he’s done that in these first three practices. That’s been impressive. Jeremy is not always going to be the most vocal leader, but he does lead by example. He kind of does predict the temperature of the team. I think when he comes out and has the right type of energy and juice, the whole team feeds off of that—obviously the defense more than the offense. If he keeps going in that direction, expect for him to have a big year in every aspect as a stack linebacker, a blitzer and a coverage linebacker because he has that kind of ability.”
 
On if he is comfortable with the amount of snaps Banks played last season and if he would like to rotate linebackers more this year…
“We would always like to rotate because it comes down to freshness. In this league, you’re playing a quality team and most games are going to come down to the fourth quarter. The guys who are the freshest, if it’s an equal matchup, that’s probably the team that’s going to win or give themselves the best opportunity to win. I thought we got wore down near the end of games. We’re going to try to, obviously, keep guys as fresh as possible. We’re not going to rotate just to rotate. We’re going to rotate quality guys who give us a chance to play good defense and win games.”
 
On how far along linebacker Elijah Herring has come…
“I think now, the lights are on for real. We’re preparing for a game. I think he was a little nervous with the magnitude of we’re getting into camp and we’re a month away from playing. Elijah is as mature of a freshman as you’ll find. Sometimes I forget. He looks like he’s 25 years old when you look at him in the face. You forget this was a kid who left high school early and was able to come through spring. I think his comfort level with what we’re doing on defense and just understanding the tempo of how we play on offense and how it’s going to be on Saturdays has helped him. I look to him to be a contributor this year. Obviously, still being a freshman, he still has a lot to prove, but we’ve been very excited about him as a whole staff.”
 
On if having multiple seniors in the linebacker room gives him comfort…
“It does. I think that’s a two-part question. Obviously, when you’re in the moment it gives you comfort, but come January you might not feel as good. You always want to have a certain balance with young and old. Obviously, we’re going to lean on some of the veteran guys who have kind of been in the fire a little bit. They are going to make really good decisions in intense situations in games. Our goal is always, with Coach Heup (Josh Heupel) since we got here, the development piece. We have to make sure our young guys are going to develop and be ready to go, even if it might happen this year. Knock on wood, you never want to account for injuries, but we all know they’re a part of the game. For us, to play the way we want to play with the physicality that we need to play with, we know that guys are going to be nicked up. There are going to have to be young guys ready to play this year also. We hope their number is not called if they’re not ready, but we have to get them ready to play because you never know how the season is going to play out.”
 
On how Kalib Perry has taken the new installs of the defensive scheme…
“Kalib, when we took him, was more of an athlete than linebacker, which is what we wanted. Kalib, athletically is probably in the top-10 percent of the team already. He has that type of athletic ability. We just have to get him, fundamentally, to the point where he can play stack linebacker and work within a college defense. We’ve been thrilled with him. He flashes. Just in these three days, he’s done some jaw-dropping stuff. We just have to get him to be consistent where he can go and work within the framework of our defense. He’s a super smart kid. He asks the right questions and I think his best football is ahead of him, for sure.”
 
On the expectations for linebacker William Mohan this fall…
“I kind of put him in the same category. I think he was hurt for most of the year last year. I’m not going to speak for Coach Ek (Mike Ekeler), but we thought he was dynamite on special teams. He did some great things for us. Now, he’s healthy also and we’re expecting some of those same results on defense. He’s a smaller kid but super explosive. He has all of the athletic traits that you want. It’s just the same thing, he didn’t really get a chance to sit and learn the defense, per se, last year. He was more of a core special teams guy. He’s really focusing on learning what we do, but we’re expecting big things from him also.”
 
On if comradery and growth are strengths of the coaching staff…
“Yes, I would say that. We talked about this with the senior group, especially guys that have been together for a long time. I don’t think there’s any substitute for quality time as a unit, no matter what you’re doing. When you look at the meetings, we went over our pre-practice schedule like we were a first-time staff. That’s how you should do it, but we are all looking at each other and can almost complete each other’s sentences. That’s what you want. We are comfortable with each other, and that does add to growth, because you can expand on things whether that is offensive, defensive, the team aspect of it and what’s good and bad. We can trust each other and know we are going to make the right decisions. I know that’s going to play out well for us once the season starts.”
 
On how positive energy and hard work can coexist…
“I think it always starts with the head coach. It’s the culture he (Josh Heupel) always talked about. Before he ever talks about wins and losses, he talks about mindset and how you’re going to go and attack the day. He’s always the first one the players see when they enter the building. I think that means a lot. He always has a smile on his face, no matter what happened the last day. When you talk about culture and positive energy, you really find out how true that is after a player or unit have a bad day. A position group, unit or team didn’t do as well as we want, so how do you approach the next day? How do you approach the next team event that you are doing? I think coach Josh Heupel does a great job of saying, ‘forget the last play, let’s go win the next play’. The kids, they’ve bought into it. Even when us coaches, some who are old school guys, say, ‘we have to get this right,’ the kids can still do it with a smile on their face. They really do believe that the best is yet to come.”

R-Senior LB Solon Page III

On his focus areas to build on a breakout 2021 season…
“Basically just building off of (everything). Working on my footwork in the box, drops, making sure I hold all the intangible things that future NFL teams want to see on film, you know.”
 
On having added depth at linebacker…
“Well, it’s a long season, hopefully we get the extra game in the season as well. So, having that extra depth in the linebacker room is very crucial, especially because we want to be one of the hardest hitting and hardest playing linebacker corps in the country. With that being said, having that depth, having guys that can rotate in and out and not have a drop-off, that’s huge for a defense.”
 
On how year six feels different to start camp…
“Just the fact that it’s year six, it’s the last go-around. Still got a couple of guys here who I actually came in with in my signing class. Just all of us staying here, sticking it out and seeing the change in the program through the years. It just feels different. I mean, last year it showed up on tape. We won a lot more games than some people had thought we were going to win. Hopefully this coming year we do the same.”

R-Senior DL LaTrell Bumphus

On his health going into camp…
“I’m feeling pretty good. I’ve had a long spring of recovery and I’ve just trusted the process. At times it’s been a little hard, but I’ve been grinding it out and trusting the process. I feel like I’m at a good standpoint right now.”
 
On how this year feels different than previous years…
“It doesn’t feel too much different, but you get more comfortable and know what to expect too. I think it makes it a lot easier, and you come in with a better mindset because you have a better grasp of what you’re going to encounter.”
 
On if the team is ready to turn the corner…
“Yeah, just going off last year, a lot of the games – we were into the game and we were like one or two plays away. So, we just want to look back on that and, you know, move forward. We are not thinking about last year, but you want to correct the mistakes so you don’t make the same mistakes and win the close games where we lost them.”

R-Junior DL Da’Jon Terry

On the differences going into his second season at UT…
“It made a big difference. I dropped some weight and I fully grasp plays now. Like, last year, when I came in, I got the plays, but it was kind of hard because it was quick. But now, I grasp all the plays and things like that.”
 
On if Rodney Garner‘s coaching style was an adjustment for him…
“It was. The way he coaches, that’s the way I want to be coached. He brings out the best in you. Every day, he’s going to stay on you. When he stays on you, you know that means he loves you. You just keep going at it every day. Even though you might feel like, ‘man, he’s getting my butt,’ you know it’s to bring the best out of you.”
 
On the confidence of the team this year compared to last year…
“It’s changed the belief tremendously because everyone knows – we won seven games last year. We shocked a lot of people, but we know that we can be better this year. Everybody is coming together and is being as one.”

Junior DL Tyler Baron

On difference in feel of fall camp…
“I’ll start with the team first, as always. As a team you can see how everybody is buying in. How everybody is going towards more so what Coach Heupel wants and not individual goals or individual aspirations. You can see that we’ve all come together and we’re going toward the collective goal of this team and that’s to win every game.”
 
On the depth being developed…
“Saying I’m pleased would be an understatement. I’m excited about how much depth we have and how many guys we’ll be able to rotate in this year. Keeping everybody fresh. When we come out, I don’t think there will be any drop-off. I think whoever is behind me, Byron (Young) and some of the other guys, I think there won’t be any difference. I think they will be able to continue the style of play that Coach Banks wants, as well, and keep the flow up.”
 
On if his buy-in was different this summer…
“For sure, I think just being around Coach Garner to be honest. I give him a lot of the praise for the growth that I’ve taken. He’s helped me mature a lot, more mentally than anything. Just having a different outlook and being more conscious of everything I’m doing. Attention to detail has been a big thing for me and just being disciplined. He’s been preaching those to me since day one and I think this summer and this spring was just the first time I really took his words and put it in action. I just continue to do that and just trust in him.”

-UT Athletics