Tennessee football began its 2024 fall practice on Wednesday morning inside the Anderson Training Center. The first day of practice meant the Vols were only in helmets and no other pads. It also meant the media got to watch a little bit more practice than we will the rest of camp.
The first five portions of practice were open to the media meaning we were able to watch approximately 30 minutes of practice including some receivers vs. defensive backs one-on-ones.
We’ll discuss our offensive and defensive observations first and then have the result of every single one-on-one at the bottom. With that, it’s on to the notes and observations.
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Offense
Let’s start with absences and injuries. Freshman receiver Mike Matthews was out on the practice field without a helmet on as he went through stretches but didn’t do any routes on air work. Offensive tackle Larry Johnson was in the same boat while running back Cam Seldon was in a red non contact jersey. Bru McCoy was fully dressed out but did not go through the routes on air or one-on-one portion of practice.
Seldon will be limited throughout fall camp as he recovers from a spring shoulder surgery but he did do some light drill work on Wednesday which was an optimistic sign to open camp.
On the offensive line, nearly everyone was full go after a number of key players were held out for large portions of spring practice. Dayne Davis worked as the first team left tackle while Andrej Karic was the first team left guard. The rest of the first team offensive line (working left to right) was Cooper Mays, Javontez Spraggins and John Campbell Jr.
Lance Heard worked as the second team offensive tackle while Jackson Lampley worked beside him. Would be pretty shocking if Heard isn’t the starting left tackle when the season begins but that is still worth noting. The left guard battle between Karic and Lampley is one of the most interesting in fall camp so it was interesting to see Karic work with the first team on day one.
At running back, everyone was full-go besides Seldon. Freshman Peyton Lewis missed spring practice but is just an incredibly impressive prospect for a freshman. We’ll see how much he can learn and hit the ground running in fall camp but with opportunities available at running back, he’s one I’ll be watching.
Moving on to routes on air. With Bru McCoy not participating, Chris Brazzell and Donte Thornton were the outside receivers working with Nico Iamaleava while Squirrel White was the slot receiver and Ethan Davis was the tight end.
The second team receivers working with quarterback Gaston Moore were Nathan Leacock and Kaleb Webb out wide, Chas Nimrod in the slot and Holden Staes at tight end.
I didn’t watch all of the routes on air portion of practice but it wasn’t particularly crisp while I was watching. Chris Brazzell slipped a couple times making cuts and there was a combination of inaccurate throws and dropped passes. Nothing crazy but just not super sharp.
Defense
Less injuries or absences on the defensive line. Defensive end Dominic Bailey and freshman linebackers Jordan Burns and Grier Short (walk on) did not have helmets on and did not go through drill portions of practice. I also didn’t spot junior linebacker Kalib Perry on the practice field but it is possible that I just missed him.
Defensive lineman avoided Rodney Garner’s ire for the most part during the open portion of practice. Junior college transfer Jamal Wallace did earn some yelling during one drill. The managers received more yelling from Garner than anybody else while I was watching as they didn’t have things set up for two separate drills that Tennessee was doing.
One drill that was at least new to me was one where two Tennessee defensive linemen were on their knees and pushing a sled on the whistle before resetting and repeating the process.
The linebacker room was a little light with the noted absences but the three main guys in that room— Keenan Pili, Arion Carter, Jeremiah Telander— were all full go and looked good going through drills. I also really like the physical makeup of freshman Edwin Spillman. I think he would be able to hold up between the tackles as a freshman, but how he plays in space and in pass coverage will be the question.
One note in a healthy defensive backfield is that Christian Charles worked with the corners during the drill portion of practice. Defensive coordinator Tim Banks told us Tuesday that he would be working at safety though so we will see.
The three main targets to start at STAR— Christian Charles, Jourdan Thomas, Boo Carter— all went through drills with the safeties. Those guys will likely move back and forth from the safety and cornerback room during camp.
We’ll get to more of it in a second, but Jordan Matthews had a real nice day at corner. Rickey Gibson also looks more fluid and confident out there while Jermod McCoy is the most physically put together of the three sophomores.
One-on-One Results
This part of practice goes by lightning quick but I was able to record notes on every rep during the open portion of practice. However, on some of them I might miss the route that was run or who was in coverage. Apologies for the results that do not include every detail.
-Nico Iamaleava appeared to complete a corner route to Dont’e Thornton with Jermod McCoy in coverage (the play was on the far sideline and it was hard to tell if Thornton kept his feet in bounds).
-Iamaleava completed a slant to Ethan Davis with Christian Harrison in coverage.
-Squirell White burned Boo Carter on a crossing route and hauled in the pass from Iamaleava.
-Iamaleava connected with tight end Titus Rohrer on a slant.
-Jourdan Thomas broke up a Gaston Moore pass to Nathan Leacock on a slant.
-Moore was off target on a throw to Miles Kitselmann.
-Chas Nimrod dropped a slant from Moore.
-Chris Brazzell couldn’t haul in a Moore throw behind him on a slant route.
-Jake Merklinger completed a slant to Nathan Roberts. Kaleb Beasley was in coverage.
-Holden Staes made an impressive one-handed catch on a quick out route. Merklinger made the throw and Andre Turrentine was in coverage.
-Dayton Sneed dropped a slant from Merklinger. John Slaughter was in coverage.
-Ethan Davis burned his defender on a slant and hauled in a pass from Merklinger.
-Jack Henry-Jakobik beat Colin Brazzell on a slant and hauled in the pass from Navy Shuler.
-Shuler connected with Rohrer on a slant. Edrees Farooq.
-Christian Charles broke up a Shuler slant intended for Jackson Locke.
-Shuler connects with Nate Spillman on a slant.
-Thornton slips cutting on a comeback but hauls in a contested catch from Iamaleava. McCoy was in coverage.
-Davis put Jakobe Thomas on a blender and caught an Iamaleava pass.
-White beat Jourdan Thomas on a slant and caught an Iamaleava pass.
-Rickey Gibson makes a nice play to break up an Iamaleava pass intended for Brazzell.
-Leacock couldn’t haul in a low pass from Iamaleava. Matthews had strong coverage.
