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- Oct 22, 2003
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Notes
*** correction. For anyone who saw the first few notes, for some reason the youtube channel played a video from last month introducing the offensive staff. That wasn't today.
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>Today was a great day for our program starting with pro day. It's a great opportunity for our guys that have finished their careers. Our guys did a great job representing themselves and the program.
>This afternoon was exciting, having an opportunity to practice and compete... make a whole lot of mistakes, and get better from it. Saw a tremendous amount of energy and effort. They took coaching well and were really positive with each other.
Questions...
>Our roster has stayed status quo as far as portions go. As spring practice progresses, we'll find out more about them and can find guys who may have a better opportunity.
>On quarterbacks, part of it is what you do... we pushed back spring practice so guys could have a better understanding of our playbook and scheme, and terminology. We use the code word attack, that's a big part of who we are inside or our building. I thought our guys did that, especially the quarterbacks. They handled the tempo portion really well. Played within themselves. They made some mistakes but did a lot of really positive things. We've challenged our quarterbacks not to make the same mistake twice. Be coachable and accept coaching in a positive way. Today I saw guys accepting coaches and challenging each other to get better.
>In spring, as you continue to go you get more guys healthy, hopefully. We need our guys to get themselves in a position where they are in good enough shape to learn to play the game and not just survive practice. For the most part, our guys handled it extremely well today.
>As a program we're in a race to be as good as you can as fast as you can. That's the challenge every single day. We have to enter the building with great urgency. But you have to balance it so your kids aren't overwhelmed. It's year one, practice one. We have to spoon feed them a little bit. That's a part of why we backed up spring ball, so they could get some of the playbook digested.
>Defensively our staff has great chemistry. We have a bunch of guys who believe in what we're doing. We have great confidence in coach Banks. Some of those guys have worked together. The chemistry and trust is important, and our players can feel that. They're playing with great energy and did a good job of communicating today.
>Kaiden Salter wasn't at practice today as he's one of the group who has been suspended from team activities. There is no timeline for those guys to return. As we receive information, we'll act accordingly.
>Every day is about competition. We want to recruit great competitors. Our staff is built and wired that way. I think our players appreciate that. We have a lot of guys here who are prideful and not excited about last year, who think we can be a whole lot better. That's what we're working towards every day. We have high standards and will make sure our players meet those standards.
>The thing I love about this group, there's a leadership that's starting to take place among the players, where they're staring to hold the guy to the left and the right accountable. Great teams, it's always built from within the locker room. This group is starting to grow in that way.
>It's year one, day one of spring ball. You have to develop the talent you have. Develop depth. Go recruit some players and create some of that depth as well. We have a long ways to go but I like this group because they are prideful, they care, they're coachable. They're going to work extremely hard when they step between the white lines.
>We had great energy. That gets a little tougher on day two. Who are we when we come back in a couple of days. The energy and effort, the way that they took coaching, tells me there's a high care factor. To see some leaders start coaching guys in their position group is a really positive thing. Those things tell you that this group has a chance.
>Guys have been great in the meeting room and putting in extra time. There's an NCAA requirement of maximum hours coaches get with players. Great players and great teams go above and beyond that. Our guys are learning to have really good work habits.
>The opportunity to step on the grass (or turf) today, there's so much time that leads up to this. It's exciting. I have a note full of things we need to correct but I love the energy and effort. If you get those things, then its a group that's a lot of fun.
>Anytime you get an opportunity to compete in Neyland Stadium -- it's an unbelievable venue. Excited to be able to showcase who we are as we build our foundation.
>Your program is always about who is in your locker room and guys in the building. Not the guys who aren't here. We're on a long journey of where we want to go. Our guys are competing and trying hard to meet expectations. We welcome anybody back that wants to be a part of that, but it's about the guys inside the locker room.
>We balance our practice on offense and defense. When we got into our tempo periods our skill players operated in a pretty good way. They had a good grasp of how we want to operate.
>It's a prideful group of kids. The expectations and standards here are extremely high and that's why they came to Tennessee. That's why I came to Tennessee.
>On the offensive line, communication is the biggest thing for those guys. The have to be able to see, recognize and communicate really quickly. It's a group that will continue to get better. Today was a tough day to see much, but we'll find out more when we get into helmets and shoulder pads in a couple of days.
/the end.
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