Cam Sutton has been practicing in the nickel position this offseason, something that is new to the junior cornerback.
Last year, Justin Coleman took the reins at the nickel position, providing the extra spark that the Vols. With Coleman now graduated, Sutton may have his chance at being the Vols’ downfield coverage guru.
Defensive backs coach Willie Martinez said that the importance of having a strong nickel back down the middle of the field is vital.
“When you got a nickel that can shut down the middle of the field in a passing situation, you’ve giving yourself an opportunity on defense to do more,” Martinez said. “We wanted to look at one of our best players play the nickel position. It’s only natural for us to think that way. We felt the same way about Justin (Coleman).”
Not shying away from competition: Shy Tuttle was anything but shy in his first taste of spring practice action this week.
The Midway, NC native is turning heads already at practice. One of those heads is associate head coach and defensive line coach Steve Stripling, who says that seeing Tuttle perform so well as a freshman is “refreshing”.
“As soon as he got here, we were still recruiting, and the older guys were just calling me like, ‘I love this kid’,” Strinpling said. “Shy’s got that kinda sneaky smile attitude.”
Tuttle will look to add extra firepower to a defense that picked up 35 sacks last season—it’s most since 2000. The team also allowed its fewest amount of rushing yards in a season since 2008.
Backfield Muscles: The Vols are bringing in what many consider to be one of the most impressive backfields in recent memory.
Although the Vols lost senior Justin Coleman, they are bringing in top recruits Micah Abernathy and Justin Martin. The Vols secondary also includes big names and fan favorites, such as Cam Sutton, Evan Berry, and Todd Kelly Jr. to name a few.
No one seems more excited than Martinez to see what his kids can do.
“I love it because of the competition,” Martinez said. “They wanna beat each other out, but also, they’re great teammates. They’re not selfish. That’s what’s great about it.”
