Tennessee wide receiver Dont’e Thornton is entering his second season with the Volunteers after transferring from Oregon following his first two collegiate seasons. The 6-foot-5, 214-pound receiver has all the tools to be a dynamic player in the Tennessee offense but didn’t quite reach the heights that he wanted to last season.
Thornton only recorded receptions in six games for Tennessee before an injury against Missouri put him on the sideline for the final two games of the season. The Vols began the 2023 campaign with Thornton playing a lot of slot receiver but began to work him outside with a need open following Bru McCoy’s season-ending injury against Alabama.
The Baltimore, MD, native worked his way up to a starting receiver for Tennessee against Kentucky, UConn, and Missouri, recording 13 catches for 224 yards and one touchdown on the season overall.
While his first year with the Tennessee program didn’t go the way he wanted from a statistical standpoint, Thornton looks to have put in the effort over the offseason to improve his game and his mindset.
“As transparent as I can be, I think mindset,” WR coach Kelsey Pope said on Thornton’s biggest difference from Year 1 to Year 2. “I think when he got here, there’s a ton of nervousness, there’s a ton of anxiety. He put pressure on himself a lot. I think the biggest thing that kid has done this off season, he’s just allowed himself to work as hard as he can and let the chips fall where they may.”
Thornton’s clearer mindset has allowed the senior wide receiver to play looser during his summer ball and workouts, something that the coaching staff is anticipating carrying over to the field this fall.
“You’re not so wound up and tightened up and put pressure on himself,” Pope said about Thornton’s loose nature this summer. “So he’s come a very long way as far as his mental makeup. He’s built a lot of confidence and it’s because of a lot of work that he’s done this offseason to gain the confidence. Dont’e is in a good spot as well.”
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Confidence is critical when it comes to playing high-level football in the SEC. And it’s a strong talking point with some of Tennessee’s players this fall. Junior linebacker Kalib Perry spoke about renewing his confidence over the offseason while junior EDGE rusher Joshua Josephs showed up to his press conference in a Tennessee-branded “Confidence Is a Choice” Nike shirt.
Pope knows that Thornton is capable of reaching great heights and believes that Thornton understands that about himself, too. So Pope challenged his second-year receiver to go out and chase that down this season.
“I think it is, like, these guys read things and they come in with their own expectations and naturally they put a lot of pressure on themselves,” Pope said on Thursday. “So I think when Dont’e came in, it was pressure on himself to kind of go make plays and prove people wrong. And I talked to him a lot this off season about proving himself right. And I think naturally you get a calmness about that when you just make it about you.”
Stay tuned to Rocky Top Insider for more Tennessee football news as fall camp rolls on.
