Tennessee defensive line coach Rodney Garner met with the media on Tuesday morning following the Vols’ second open date of the season and ahead of Saturday’s showdown with Kentucky.
Garner discussed the selflessness of his group, how he’d assess James Pearce Jr’s play this season and much more. Here’s everything Garner said.
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On if he expected the defensive line to be this good or if it’s been surprising
“I saw a loaded question in it. Obviously, I feel like we’ve done some good things, but there are a lot of things that we need to do a lot better as far as improving our play. And that’s been the challenge week-in, week-out is to try to make sure that we stay focused and keep the main thing the main thing. But there’s just so many areas when you sit there and you watch the film and you’re critiquing it and you’re being truly honest with what’s taking place, that guys see that there’s so much room for improvement. Be it communications, getting everybody on the same page, be it fundamentals, using the right techniques and the fundamentals where now they can be more productive and even be better players. So that’s our challenge. Hopefully, we’ve spent the off week trying to improve and work on us. The first week off, And now we’re back into scheme and getting ready for Kentucky.”
On the challenge of the players keeping an edge for 13 weeks
“I do think the depth of the room, the way we play the room— I think the healthy competition creates that. Guys know that they have to play hard and they have to play physical or they’re going be out and sitting over there with me. So they got choices. Every man gets to make a choice and based off of those choices and how they perform, that determines how much they play. But the guys have been very good. They’ve been very responsive. That’s the one thing I do like about the room. I like the camaraderie in the room. I don’t feel like there’s any jealousy in the room. I think the guys really enjoy playing for one another. I think they have fun playing together, and they seem to do a really good job of encouraging and critiquing and coaching each other and pushing each other where it’s not always a 100% coach led. That’s when I do think we’re making some progress in that area— when it’s being peer led.”
On how he got the group to put egos aside and not have jealousy
“I mean we’ve spent four years trying to change the culture, trying to instill in these young men how blessed they are to have an opportunity to play somewhere like the University of Tennessee. What an honor it is to have that T on the side of your helmet, and that we’re always playing for something bigger than us individually. Be it, that T on the side of our helmet, that name on the back of our jersey. Those are the things that we represent. I just try to still blend a little old school with it. Just the brotherhood. Just thinking about when I played, how close I was to my teammates and the accountability piece that we tried to hold each other to. Obviously, as a freshman, I had to learn, we had to learn that too from older guys. So I just think just the older guys in that room that’s been there, that stuck with us since day one, they’ve been able to enforce some of those things and let them know, ‘hey, we have standards. This is what’s expected. This is what’s gonna be tolerated and what’s not gonna be tolerated.’”
On Jaxson Moi, if it’s the first Polynesian kid he’s coached
“He is the first one that I’ve been blessed to have an opportunity to coach. I came up second with (Bredien) Fehoko when he came out and he ended up going to LSU. Coach O sold him that he was the d line coach. But I still maintain a great relationship with the kid and his family. So having a chance to obviously coach Jaxson has been a great joy. I mean, it’s everything that I dreamed that it would be. That what he stands for, his character, his work ethic. It’s been really good for that room. And he has fit in great with that room. And I’m really excited about just continuing to see his growth because I do think that he has true natural leadership ability which in this generation, that stuff’s getting harder and harder to find. So when you have it and you find it, man, you got to cherish it.. So I’m really excited about where he’s headed and what he can mean to our program and the direction that we want our program to continue to go in.”
On how he would evaluate James Pearce Jr’s season
“I think if you ask James just like if you ask anybody and he would be totally honest with you and tell you there’s room for improvement. It’s not always about stats. It’s making sure that we’re doing everything within the system, within the scheme. Making sure that we’re executing at a high level. Like I tell the guys all the time, now anytime that we can learn to put aside our personal goals and ambitions and put the team goals and ambitions first, then at the end of the day, they’re going to reap the rewards individually. Because if we do good as a team and we win at a high level. I do believe that we don’t have enough guys for all the accolades that could come. I’m just trying to stress that team concept, and us doing things as a team and doing things for Tennessee and not for individuals. But I think he’s progressing, And I think he’s making strides, and he’s headed in the right direction. So we hope that he will continue to peak as we’re going through this stretch right here.”
On what he’s liked most about Dominic Bailey’s season
“Well the thing about Dom that I admire, he’s a young man that wasn’t given anything. Especially, probably, by me. When I first got here, I had question marks about Dom and all that. So he’s a kid that has really bought in to what we’re doing and how we want to go about things, and he changed his work ethic. He changed his attitude. He’s doing those little things, and he’s worked himself into being a pretty good football player. And I still think there’s even more room for him to grow, and I think it’s important to him. He shows up to work every day. He has a good attitude and I think he’s made of the right stuff. And I think he cares about his teammates, and I think he cares about this institution.”
