Big Orange Sunday with Doug Mathews - 2/16/2020 - Heading Into Spring Practice

TennesseeTuxedo · Feb 16, 2020

Big Orange Sunday with Doug Mathews - 2/16/2020

Depth Chart For Spring Practice and Zeroing On Key Positions

Will not include anyone not taking part in Spring Practice
The upperclassmen are not going to get a big look. The coaches want to see the younger players.

Revamped Coaching Staff

Doug is not sure that staff position assignments are complete at this time.
Only 2 of the original assistant staff members are still here
Key Support Staff members have moved on
Pruitt sees these changes in a positive fashion - allows him to correct some things that he felt needed corrected. - Pruitt wanted guys who could not only develop players, but also recruit them better.
Why haven't the staff changes been officially announced? Doug Mathews believes that it is because Pruitt and his coordinators have not settled in thee staff assignments - where each staff member will coach. It could be a contract situation.
Mathews said that he has been told by his sources that Pruitt is extremely happy with and high in his current staff.

Why Have There Been Staff Changes?

Pruitt wanted change.
2 Ways to look at the changes:

Why the changes?
Is it a good idea to make the changes?

Pruitt wanted to make the changes
Pruitt believed that he had to make the changes - there were things that he believed to be fixed on the staff.
Entire defensive staff has been replaced since Pruitt first arrived.
Bringing in Derrick Ansley a year ago, signaled a change in Pruitt's role as at the head coach - he has trust in Ansley and each f the new defensive hires are guys who Ansley knows and is comfortable with.
Will Friend is the only remaining original offensive staff member.
Doug does not believe that the staff changes, which have not been officially announced, position-wise may nt be written in stone.
Pieces (coaches) are in place, but they may be moved around a bit.
Pruitt has full confidence in his 2 coordinators and is happy with the job that they do.
Staff recruited well, but Pruitt wants to up the recruiting emphasis even more.
Jim Chaney is the wildcard, I'm that he can coach any position on offense.

Spring Depth Chart (only includes players taking part in spring practice)

4 early enrollees are taking part in spring practice.
2 of early enrollees are QBs - Harrison Bailey and Jimmy Holiday
Center early enrollee - Cooper Mays. We need depth at center.
DT - Dominic Bailey - early enrollee.
QB room is a very crowded room heading into Spring Practice.
Means that we will see what these QBs can do.
Suspicion is that we will have a QB or 2 leave after Spring Practice.
Bailey is his hand-picked QB.
Holiday is a talented QB who will play some QB, but he is too talented to not play at another position, should he not win out the starting job.
Mathews believes that Holiday will a play a couple of other positions other than QB in his career at Tennessee. He is too talented not to. He needs the ball in his hands.
2 Transfers coming in.
Velus Jones -0 will get a look at him.
Cade Mays - Doug was told this past week that Mays situation is much different than Deangelo Gibbs situation. Ball is in the hands of the Mays family and the UGA AD.
3 Players who redshirted will return.
Gooden is back after sitting out all of the 2019 season with an injury. He was the best DL on the team in 2018 and returns for his final season at UT.
Deangelo Gibbs will be a redshirt junior. Most people believe he will only play WR, but Mathews believes he will see time this spring at both WR and safety.
Brandon Johnson - redshirted in 2019. He returns for his senior season.
Doug is not making promises that Jeremy Banks will be back this Spring, but believes he will be back for this next season and will play inside linebacker.

Key Positions To Zero In On This Spring

Obviously QB, but he said he would not go into this one.
Biggest Keys to watch are OLB and ILB positions.
5 sophomores - Henry T, JJ Peterson, Beasley, Crouch, Harrison - all are talented. All will will play a lot of football if healthy
Harrison and Crouch will likely play at OLB.
Each of those 5 will be key contributors to special teams play, because they are all big, fast, and violent.
The name to watch this spring and next season is red-shirt junior, OLB Kivon Bennett. He got better and better each and every game this past season.
Defense lost a key player from each level of the defense- Bituli, Warrior, and Taylor. We have to replace them.
OLB is realistically down to Bennett, Crouch, and Harrison.
ILB is looking like it will be Henry T, JJ Peterson, and Beasley.
Question Marks at Safety - Theo Jackson, McCollough, Flowers (been injured), Gibbs.
Offense - Lost WRs JJ and Calloway and lost starting TE. DWA.

7 Players You Might Want To Keep Your Eyes On

Jacob Warren red-shirt sophomore TE. - Doug hearing that Warren is really coming on and could make his case this Spring Practice.
Princeton Fant - TE - Has a chance to take the next step forward. Physical player.
Aaron Beasley - ILB and possibly at the Star position.
Kenny Soloman - Played every game last season win special teams. Running track at this time. First speed upgrade that Pruitt brought it.. Needs some experience. Cornerback.
Elijah Simmons - Nose Tackle - can he take the next step?
Deangelo Gibbs - Where does he play?
Kivan Bennett - Inside track to starting position at OLB

1981Vol · Feb 16, 2020