Tennessee running backs coach De’Rail Sims met with the local media on Wednesday morning a day before the Vols’ second scrimmage of fall camp.
While Dylan Sampson is the clear cut go-to guy in the running back room but there’s plenty of competition behind him. Sims discussed that competition, redshirt freshman DeSean Bishop impressive fall camp and much more. Here’s everything Sims said.
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On how Tennessee freshman running back Peyton Lewis has improved
“No doubt about it. Every single day Peyton has the next step forward, which is really, really good. So he’s getting more comfortable every day in offense. So he done a really good job in terms of learning practice habits. You can tell by his demeanor practice that he’s getting more comfortable every day.”
On what makes Tennessee redshirt freshman DeSean Bishop ready to play after missing last season due to injury
“I think just his practice habits and his meeting habits. That, when he goes into whether it’s scrimmage or practice situations, everybody trusts him. Beause he knows what to do and then he goes in there, operates at a high level. So that’s kind of gaining the trust of the coaches and also of his teammates as well.”
On Tennessee sophomore running back Cam Seldon’s recovery from injury and progress in camp
“He’s been doing a really good job. He’s day by day in terms of him in the means of attacking it in practice, doing the things that he’s able to do. But he’s done a really good job in terms of putting himself in a situation to where he’s mentally focused and then his practice habits are good as well.”
On what Peyton Lewis brings to the table and what he likes about his skillset
“I think when you settle down and look at Peyton, you look at, number one, how big he is when he puts the shoulder pads on. He looks like a grown man. Number two, you see the explosive characteristics that he has about him. He’s able to break tackles and continue to go, plus-two past contact. But then at the same time, when he’s able to get an open field, he’s the guy that taking the distance. And he’s not scared to put his face on people in pass protection. That’s the number one deal that you see from a young guy. Sometimes it’s not necessarily how physical they’re going to be, and understanding where to go. But he’s physical, he’ll go put his face on people. Then at the same time, he knows what to do. So he’s done a really good job from that stand.”
On what he knew about DeSean Bishop when he got hired at Tennessee, was he has learned about his mentality
“So number one, you can tell the confidence factor when you get a chance to meet him. I recruited DeShaun a little bit at a previous institution, so I already kind of knew his background. And then his work ethic. When you walk in the building and you see this guy walk into the weight room, how he attacks it. When he walks into the meeting room, no matter if it’s special teams meeting, team meetings or position meeting, he always has his notebook. He always is taking really, really good notes and he has really good questions. And then when he attacks it on the field, he’s going to be the first guy out there. He’s always going to be the last guy to leave because he’s always getting extra work in. So his mentality is a bulldog mentality, in terms of he’s going to attack it every day.”
On Tennessee junior Dylan Sampson and if they’ve had to hold him back a bit in camp as a veteran
“You kind of tell him like, hey, you understand what’s going on, you know what to do. Coach up the younger guys. We understand what you can do. Let’s make sure we’re sharpening your tools in the toolbox. But he’s always ready to go. In every situation he wants to take all the reps. So that’s when we just have to manage him.”
On working under Tennessee coach Josh Heupel and what makes him different
“It has been really good. I think the thing that jumps off to you is the competitive aspect of the practice. How high tempo it is. How everybody is flowing and everybody’s kind of moving in the same direction. But when it’s time to put the ball down a spot at both sides of highly competitive, which is really, really good. And it gets a competitive from the coaches as well, which is good. So it’s iron sharpening iron every day here, which is phenomenal.”
On the balance of making sure Dylan Sampson is fresh for the season, but also still getting in work during camp and what he’s doing to get better
“Coaching up the guys. He’s sitting up there taking the mental reps when he’s sitting up there on the sideline and he’s taking his reps when he’s not in on that drive. He’s doing a really good job of seeing and envisioning what’s getting ready to happen. And then if he sees something from the younger guys that’s in there, he’s the first one to go attack it coach them up and kind of give him some pointers on, hey, this presents itself again, here’s some things that you could do to kind of help yourself out. So he’s been a really, really good leader from that standpoint.”
On what it’s been like watching Nico Iamaleava
“I’m very impressed with him. I mean the way he goes out and commands the whole entire offense. He doesn’t get flustered when things kind of go break down a little bit— he don’t get frustrated. So you see the leadership qualities about him, and then you see the arm talent. The different arm angles that he’s able to get the ball out the way, he’s able to present the ball down the field and then when he escapes the pocket as well he’s dangerous from the running standpoint as well. So I think he holistically is a really, really good person and a really, really good player as well.”
On how Dylan Sampson has improved as a power runner
“You kind of look at his body, how his body has changed over the summer. He’s put on really good weight and then he does a really good job of second effort. Not allowing one guy to bring him down exploding from plus-two pad contact, which we talk about all the time. So the extra weight gains that he’s put on in a good way has helped him tremendously and it hasn’t made him lose one step with speed or quickness that he has. So that’s been good.”
On what the focus has been for Khalifa Keith this offseason
“In terms of Khalifa, you sit up there and see a guy that’s 230 pounds that’s explosive in terms of his first 20 yards. He does a really good job of running behind his pads and he does a really good job of putting his face on people in pass protection. I think Khalifa is totally different from what he was in the spring, holistically. I think in the spring mentally he knew what to do but he was trying to think too much instead of just cutting it loose and going out there and playing. Like right now he’s actually going out there playing. He’s cutting it loose, he’s maximizing his runs when there’s nothing there he’s going in there banging it up in the line of scream, trying to run through the smoke and doing a really good job of getting us either some positive gains or helping us stay out of negative yardage situations.”
On where he feels like his group is collectively in pass protection
“I feel like right now we’re doing a really good job. Number one, it always starts with our identification process. Understanding who the mike point is and then understanding who we have off of that I think fundamentally is something that you always can continue to get better at. Because sometimes guys know who to get and then they go in there so aggressive. It’s kind of like a bull in the China shop mentality just a little bit. But they’ve done a really good job of sticking their face inside, making sure that they keeping the quarterback up right and we haven’t had too many busts in terms of pass protection this camp. Knock on wood.”
On how he’s seen the group improve as pass catchers
“They’ve done a good job in terms of taking the opportunities that they are given on the perimeter when we’re able to get the ball in their hands. All of them bring a different skillset from that aspect. But all of them have reliable hands to where we’re able to put the ball in their hands on the perimeter and then it is all about what you do after the catch. The yards after the catch that come with it, but they’ve all done a good job of putting themselves in situations to catch the ball out of the backfield.”
On how he would describe DeSean Bishop as a running back
“I think when you look at DeSean, he’s kind of a throwback football player from a mentality standpoint. Like he doesn’t get flustered. He does a really good job. He has his routine in terms of his body maintenance. He does a really good job when he comes out here and attack. He’s very, very hard on himself. So if he makes a mistake he’s frustrated with himself, but it doesn’t affect him on the next play. And then when you get in that he does a really good job running behind his fast. He’s quick in between the tackle, he got really good short area quickness.
His acceleration’s good. He has good hands out of the backfield. He knows the things that he needs to fine tune and kind of work on. But like for me, in terms of what I look at with him, I see him as an old school throwback player. To where it’s like that guy that you can just keep hitting and hitting and hitting and he just keeps getting stronger and stronger as the game goes along.”
