Multiple Tennessee coaches have mentioned over the past few weeks that rising sophomore safety Evan Berry is playing his best football. Todd Kelly Jr. seems to have taken that as a challenge.
Kelly spoke to reporters on Tuesday sporting the “lock down chain,” a large golden chain tied around a lock that is given to the defensive back who had the best day of practice.
“Every day I just try to go out and work and learn and perfect my craft,” Kelly said. “I think I got better today, I worked on my weaknesses. At the same time, I have to get even better and have a better practice Thursday.”
The rising sophomore has gotten plenty of reps this spring, as the coaches have given starters Brian Randolph and LaDarrell McNeil some rest, in favor of getting younger players more experience.
Safety is arguably Tennessee’s deepest position, something that head coach Butch Jones thinks has pushed his players to improve.
“The safety position has been extremely competitive for us,” Jones said. “Evan Berry is playing his best football right … Now (Kelly) is starting to play well. He’s really improved over the course of the last couple practices, and again I think that’s a byproduct of competition.”
While those four are pushing each other for time on the field, early enrollee Stephen Griffin is also working to get playing time. The Charlotte, North Carolina native may lack the experience of his teammates, but he’s making up for it in other areas.
“(Griffin) is a young guy and he’s eager to learn,” Kelly said. “With him coming in the spring, really early, it gives him some time to get ahead … Right now he’s just taking as much time as he can, and learn the process. Here soon he’ll be making a lot more plays.”
The Vols got one piece of good news this week as rising sophomore cornerback Emmanuel Moseley has recovered from a bout with mono, and is back on the practice field.
Dormady adjusting to college game: A few weeks into his first spring practice, early enrollee quarterback Quinten Dormady is working on one major aspect of the Tennessee offense: speed.
Jones wants to run an up-tempo offense, and while Dormady’s offense was up-tempo in high school, this is a whole new level.
“I went fast in high school,” Dormady said. “But here you just try to go as fast as you can. With mental errors, we’re just trying to eliminate those and that’s just kind of what we’re working on right now.”
With rising junior Josh Dobbs holding firm on the starting job, the second-string position is up for grabs with three true freshmen serving as back-ups.
Jones has referred to both Dormady and fellow early enrollee Jauan Jennings as a “work in progress,” but for now it looks as if Dormady is slightly ahead of Jennings from a developmental standpoint.
“They’re both going through the stages of consistency and performance,” Jones said. “They’re right where you would expect young players coming into your program. I think both Jauan and Quinten have done a great job of really handling the day-to-day rigors of being a quarterback.”
Special teams position up for grabs: With the graduation of Matt Darr and Army All-American Tommy Townsend not arriving in Knoxville until the summer, the position of punter is currently up in the air.
One of the players hoping to distinguish himself in that area this spring is rising redshirt-sophomore Trevor Daniel.
“It’s a big opportunity and somebody has to step up,” Daniel said. “I’m trying to be that guy. I know there’s competition but hopefully I can be the starting punter. It’s good pressure.
Daniel said he estimates he’s maxed out at 60 yards so far and is just hoping to be more consistent heading into fall camp.
“Consistency, that’s a big thing,” Daniel said. “You’ve heard Coach Jones say it. That’s definitely what I need to improve on … Ball placement is big thing, I need to place the ball on the numbers, that’s what Coach Jones wants. Just to be able to do that consistently is what he would want.”
