The first time the glare of television spotlights and flashing digital recorders shone on freshman Tennessee football player Shy Tuttle back in January, he was a quiet man of few words.
Turns out he makes most of his noise when the pads go on.
The 6'3", 315-pound mid-term defensive tackle spent most of this past recruiting cycle comfortably in the shadow of 5-star Kahlil McKenzie. But with the expected jewel of UT's recruiting class not arriving on campus until this summer, spring is Tuttle's time to perform.
Thus far he's putting on a show.
Following the first day of live-action hitting, Tennessee coach Butch Jonesa man from the throwback days of cautious optimismgushed over the Lexington, North Carolina, product to GoVols247's Wes Rucker:
The one individual who I thought really stepped up and really made his presence felt was Shy Tuttle. I thought he had a very, very productive and a very good first day. He had an unbelievable interception with a tipped football and then finished it off with making the catch, as well.
He came off the football, and you could see the disruptive quickness, you could see the explosiveness, you could see the use of his hands. The thing I really liked about it was you could see his competitive nature. You could see his competitive character, and you could see his confidence. And hes very, very athletic. You could see instincts.
The praise from Tennessee's coaching staff, and just his hulking presence at practice, have set off a mini firestorm on Twitter.
