The weather was warm and windy on Thursday, and Tennessee’s coaches were fiery and upping the intensity and tempo during the Vols’ spring practice session today.
Practice wasn’t open for very long to the media, but there was plenty to observe during the open portion of practice today.
Here are our takeaways from the Vols’ Thursday spring practice session.
- Tennessee Athletics Director Phillip Fulmer was in attendance for Thursday’s practice session. He spent most of his time watching the Vols’ offensive linemen go through drills.
- Defensive line coach Tracy Rocker is probably the most intense coach on Tennessee’s staff, though offensive line coach Will Friend can give him a run for his money. Rocker was pushing his linemen extremely hard today, and he made several lineman run through drills again because he wasn’t satisfied with their effort.
- One grouping in the defensive line who didn’t draw the ire of Rocker was Kyle Phillips, Shy Tuttle, and Jonathan Kongbo. Those three showed some great tenacity and toughness today. Paul Bain showed off some leadership as well.
- Alexis Johnson and Kivon Bennett are getting plenty of work in the defensive line unit, and Rocker is making sure those two and every lineman on the roster are giving their best on every snap during drills. This unit is getting a complete makeover, and it’s weeding out who cares and who’s just there to look good.
- Tyler Byrd was still with the receivers during practice today. Many of the other players who switched positions on Tuesday were still at their “new” positions.
- Once the offensive line gets some players back for the fall, I think they could end up being decent. Their biggest concern right now is just complete lack of depth. There are some good players at that position, and Will Friend is doing all he can to improve their conditioning and intensity right now.
