#VolReport: Week 3 Underway

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — With just a little less than three weeks to go until the season-opener against Bowling Green in Nashville, Team 119 opened its third week of training camp on Monday out at Haslam Field.

Monday’s practice finished with the removal of two more black stripes among Vol freshmen. Quarterback Quinten Dormadybecame the third true freshman and fourth player overall to have his stripe removed as head coach Butch Jones performed the honors.

“He’s smart,” offensive coordinator Mike DeBord said of Dormady. “He’s picked up a lot of things, he worked hard this summer, and he’s had a really good training camp. I think he would tell you too that Josh Dobbs’ leadership has helped him through that process.”

Quarterback-turned-receiver Jauan Jennings was the second Vol to have his stripe taken off on Monday. Jennings has impressed in his move to receiver.

The pair join, the first three to have their stripes removed: running back Alvin Kamara along with defensive lineman Kyle Phillips and Shy Tuttle.

Dividing Defensive Snaps

With a handful of preseason practices remaining before the Vols enter their game-week preparations for Bowling Green, defensive coordinator John Jancek is pleased with the progress the defense has made as a unit.

“I think, collectively and as a group, we are playing really good team defense,” Jancek said. “It is not just one guy. It is a culmination of all of their efforts. They are really communicating at a pretty high level, better than we have since we have been here. It seems like they are pretty comfortable with everything.”

Studying depth at various positions and finding out who will receive playing time have been just as important for the UT defense as battles for starting spots.

“Who is going to be able to give us 25 to 30 snaps a game?” he said. “Because, as you guys know, last year we just played too many snaps. Our inside linebackers had 1,000 or 1,200 snaps, and you cannot do that in today’s game with the tempo and all that.”

DeBord Seeks Assignment-Minded O-Line

As the Tennessee coaching staff continues to work towards determining its five starters along the offensive line ahead of the season-opener on Sept. 5, questions emerged after practice on Monday as to whether the consistent rotation of players up front could affect that unit’s cohesion.

In offensive coordinator Mike DeBord’s mind, questions of such continuity are important, but ultimately secondary to a fundamental aspect to any position on the offensive line: know your job.

“On the offensive line–and I know what you mean by continuity–but I really believe if a guy knows his technique and when he’s working a combination block with another guy, as long as he does what he’s supposed to do, then continuity doesn’t really mean anything,” DeBord said. “That’s what we’re really trying to do, is to get guys to do their job.”

That’s not to say that the first-year offensive guru doesn’t want to identify his five starters as quickly as possible, especially with just 19 days remaining until kickoff.

“As we’ve said from the start of this, we’re going to find out who the five best are and then who No. 6, 7, and 8 are. That’s just the process that we are and we want to try to zero in on that as fast as we can.”

SOUND BITES

• Offensive Coordinator Mike DeBord

(On the running game versus the passing game)

“The running game should always be ahead of the passing game, but our passing game is just continuing to get better and better as we go through this.”

(On Junior QB Joshua Dobbs’ work ethic)

“His accuracy is really good. Right now, he’s getting better every practice. I just see it coming for him and I’m really excited about that. I think he’s always had great work ethic. He’s always been a hard worker. He’s always spending extra time. He does all the little things that you have to do at quarterback. So, I’ve always been excited about his work ethic and his work habits.”

• Defensive Coordinator John Jancek

(On impressions and surprises of Fall Camp)

“It looks like they are in a good rhythm, so it’s been positive up to this point. We still have a lot of work to do. We have some big personnel groupings that we have to get to. We will start to gravitate toward those in regards to install, but, overall as a group, they have played well together.”

(On younger student-athletes pushing veterans)

“You know competition is the greatest motivator. When you know that number two guy or number three guy is on your heels, it really pushes you as a guy that is taking those first-team reps.”