Mathews discussed SEC Media Days, 2020 In-State Recruiting, the Offensive Line, and teaching of technique and player development.
SEC Media Days
SEC Media Days
- Pruitt is taking Darrell Taylor, Daniel Bituli and Jarrett Guarantano with hi, NO secret that these three players are the leaders of this team.
- After SEC Media Days, he is not sure if Pruitt and his staff will travel to the Big Orange Picnic in Nashville. Nothing has been said or discussed about this once big event for fans in Nashville.
- Offensive Line is the "Biggest Question Mark" on this team.
- We will be better on the OL than we were a seasonal.
- As of mid-July he believes that we will feature 3 true freshmen in our Offensive Line rotation.
- He believes that the top 8-9 Offensive Linemen as of mid-July are Brandon Kennedy, Trey Smith (if he plays), KRojhn Calbert, Ryan Johnson, Jahmir Johnson, Jerome Carvin, Wanya Morris, Darnell Wright, and Marcus Tatum. Chris Akporoghene could slip into the rotation after practice begins.
- Ryan Johnson - Plays all 5 position on the OL and one of the strongest players in the team.
- Jahmir Johnson - Caches say he is "mean as a snake". Struggling to maintain weight.
- KRojhn Calbert - The tools are there. Will be a major contributor. Where and how much he plays depends on Trey Smith's status.
- Nathan Niehaus - Bigger and stronger than he was a season ago.
- Marcus Tatum - Athletically is there, but strength remains an issue.
- Jerome Carvin - Willbe a very good OL in time. Needs a redshirt season, but not likely to get one due to the team needing him.
- Riley Locklear - Bigger and stronger than he was a year ago.
- Brandon Kennedy - Will be our starting Center.
- Trey Smith - Likely to be cleared medically, but a decision to play will be made by Trey and his Dad. No word if he will play or if he won't play this season.
- Wanya Morris - Physically ready to play, but a redshirt season would be great for him, but very unlikely.
- Darnell Wright - Physically ready to play, but a redshirt season would be great for him, but very unlikely.
- Chris Akporoghene - Extremely strong. May work his way into the rotation.
- Brad Lampley - Coming along nicely. A redshirt season will help him.
- Ollie Lane - No information on him.
- There are two ideas on what Pruitt, Chaney, and Friend use to develop the Offensive Line. We start the season out playing BYU, Georgia State, and UTC before we take on Georgia. The new Redshirting Rule plays into our wheelhouse this year.
- Play the 3 true freshmen Wright, Morris and Akporoghene and sophomore Jerome Carvin - and any other younger Offensive Linemen as much as they can in the first 3 games. The staff would have 3 games and 200 snaps to develop and evaluate what they have on the Offensive Line and make decisions on who is ready to play and which players could or should redshirt.
- Play the very best 5 Offensive Linemen, work in the other 4-5 players for depth purpose and develop them for the season and the SEC opener against Georgia.
- The State of Tennessee is loaded from a historical perspective.
- There are 20-22 SEC Caliber players in-state in 2020.
- There are 10 Linemen in thew top 20 in-state players.
- 6 Are Defensive Linemen.
- 4 are Offensive linemen.
- Tennessee is actively recruiting 9 of those teen in-state Linemen.
- 9 of the top in-state players are defenders.
- UT is recruiting 9 of the top 15 in-state players in the state.
- There are 6 nose tackles and Defensive ends in this cast of 9 defenders. Tennessee will not sign them all, but expect to land some of them.
- Recruiting Defensive Linemen is our biggest need moving forward, as we lose 2-3 defense give linemen after the 2019 season.
- Has had 2 Spring Practices
- 2 Off-Seasons
- 1.5 Recruiting classes
- 1 Full Season as a head coach.
- There are Two Different Tracks in building a program.
- Fans should understand that Pruitt is building a program not a 1 year season.
- 2020 is a building block for the program, not a snap she of where the program is or where it should be.
- The 2019 team will be better than a season ago.
- There are two important phases for coaches
- Must continue to recruit the best players that we can and bring them to campus and develop them to their fullest potential. This staff is doing a better job of this than prior staffs.
- Approximately 44 players in this team, when the season begins, were recruited and signed by Pruitt. This includes 8 transfers.
- 25 or so of these Pruitt-signed players will see early playing time this season.
- Approximately 40 players on this team, when the season begins, were not recruited by Pruitt.
- Only about half of this team were recruited to fit within Pruitt's scheme, style of play, and fit his desired personality/chemistry.
- Can the players recruited be developed to their full potential and plays up to championship standards?
- Pruitt is an excellent developer of talent.
- Developing talent is teaching the proper techniques and teaching the players to play the system that the coach utilizes.
- Pruitt knows his system and is recruiting players that fit his scheme and stye of play. It is his and his staff's job to teach the the techniques and fit them within his scheme and style of play.
- Mathews watched the defense more than the offense and his opinion, here is where we believes we have done the best of job developing our talent: Defensive Back, Defensive Line, Running Back, Tight Ends.
- Mathews stated that our player=d development at Linebacker, QB, Offensive Line, Wide Receiver are questionable , largely due to the lack of talent at those positions and only being able to elevate the pay to a particular level due to lack of talent.
- Hiring of Derrick Ansley. Pruitt trusts Ansley to teach his defensive t=staff how he wants his scheme and techniques used, taught by Ansley and for Ansley to call plays just as Pruitt did. Ansley is a superb teacher of technique and fundamentals.
- Hiring of Jim Chaney - Pruitt has given Chaney his trust to run the offense. Chaney is a teacher of technique and fundamentals. You doing every thing as he wants you to do, or you do not play.
- Freedom of Pruitt to rove the field during practice and observe his staff teaching the techniques, fundamentals, his style of play, and his scheme. Pruitt will be able to coach his coordinators and his coaches rather than having to focus on teaching individual players. Thus allows for better player development.
- Pruitt, Ansley , and Chaney are the best teachers on this staff.
- Tracy Rocker and Chris Rumphs are also excellent teachers of technique and scheme.
- Mathews says that he does not follow the offense as much but hears that Tee Martin and Chris Weinke are solid teachers as well. He said that he does not know much about the other coaches, but that does not mean that they are not good teachers of the game.
