VolNotes: Shifting Focus

[orange+white=heaven]

On Monday, the purpose of the practices becomes beating the bears. Scrimmage tomorrow should make the two deep more clear, and I certainly hope the passing game steps up a notch.

I'll be taking next week off. It'll be gameweek when I return and the thought of that makes me downright giddy.


Some Notes to read over a bowl of Cheerios...

TFP: The Rico Statute

First it was Rico McCoy's newfound aggressive attitude. Then it was his continual improvement.
Thursday, Fulmer just needed to mention a single play to illustrate his satisfaction.
During a situational scrimmage in the first of the day's two practices, McCoy hammered running back Arian Foster on a third-and-short near the line of scrimmage, forcing a fumble.
"Rico McCoy made a good hit, probably as good a hit that's been out here in a year," Fulmer said. "That was good to see. We need more of those. That will help us create more turnovers."
McCoy called it "one of the better hits I've had in a while."

When practice opened nearly three weeks ago, Fulmer expressed concern about McCoy's blitzing, coverage and consistency. That uneasiness seems to have dissipated.

"Experience means a lot," Fulmer said. "He is learning how to practice and be in the right place, and he is getting better. It appears he is coming closer to reaching his potential."

Foster and fumble...

"What I wanted to see was him respond better to the events afterward, and get up and hustle off and put it behind him," Cutcliffe said. "We don't want to ever fumble the football, and we'll strive not to. We weren't a fumbling team a year ago, nor was Arian. It was a great hit, but we still have to find a way in traffic to put two hands on the ball and protect it."
Senior tight end Chris Brown said "that's how you lose football games, big fumbles like that."

"Arian's kind of down right now, but we're going to build him up," Brown said. "It happens, but we need to take care of the ball more. No one's mad at Arian. He'll be the hardest on himself. He just has to take care of the ball when we get in those situations."

McCoy called Eric Berry's end-zone interception of Erik Ainge a "big-time play." The 6-foot Berry stepped in front of 6-8 tight end Brad Cottam for the pick.
"Shoot, he's improving by the day," McCoy said of Berry. "That was against Ainge, so that's pretty impressive.
"He's a smart kid. He's caught on to the coverages real quick. He's just out there showing his natural ability."

Fulmer said the right side of the offensive line is "doing better" and Ramon Foster "gives us a solid player, whether it's a guard or tackle." ...

Fulmer said Moore has "unbelievable talent" and "can be really special." ...

Fulmer praised Montario Hardesty's consistency and said the tailback "had a very good scrimmage."

TFPBs

Marsalous Johnson's shoulder might not be back to 100 percent, but Tennessee's sophomore cornerback said he's "going to go all out" in Saturday night's scrimmage at Neyland Stadium.
He clearly sees a threat to his position.
Super recruit Eric Berry

"Nobody in the secondary wants to be out right now, with all this competition," Johnson said.

Though a demotion would hurt, Johnson sounded sincere when he said the Tennessee newcomers' talent has been a welcome sight.
"Fans should be excited about new recruits," Johnson said. "We get excited, too. It's going to help out our team in the present and the future. I like competition.
"McKenzie makes Jarod better, and Berry and all of those guys make me better."

Regardless of their names, the Vols essentially have interchangeable left and right safeties -- defensive backs coach Larry Slade calls them "mirrors" -- and both are responsible for pre-snap reads. That could ultimately be what keeps Parrish on the field, though continuing his recent trend of consistently being near the football will also help.
"Jarod does a great job of being where he's supposed to be," Ainge said. "He doesn't bust coverages and stuff like that, so I think that he's a reliable guy to have back there.
"Is he as fast or as athletic as some other guys? Maybe not. But it's close, and if you're at the right spot and you're a good athlete, you're going to make more plays than a great athlete who doesn't know where to go."

Chris Brown said Parrish "is always around the ball" and a more physical player than most think.
"They thought he was more of a finesse player," Brown said. "He's really downhill, and he really hits you when he gets the opportunity to. McKenzie might be more athletic, but Jarod's in there right now, and we support Jarod, and I think he's going to be the man."

Parrish can't consistently unload as viciously as linebacker-sized McKenzie, and he can't run as fast, but what he can do might be enough.
"I have the experience, and I feel like I've always been a good player," Parrish said. "I just have to keep going out there every day, get myself in position to make plays and then make plays."
For Parrish to have a chance of backing up Fulmer's predictions of a possible Chris White-like senior year, he'll have do at least that. White emerged from nowhere in 1985 as an All-Southeastern Conference player who helped lead the Vols to an SEC title and stunning Sugar Bowl win over Miami.

TNsean:Notes

Bleary eyes and weary legs were evident in the morning, and the players couldn't hide it from the staff.
"I think we're tired," Fulmer said. "I think the older guys knew how to fight through it."
Added senior safety Jonathan Hefney: "I know I'm tired. We're just trying to get right because we know what's ahead of us."
Not helping morale was inconsistent play on offense. Quarterback Erik Ainge threw an interception in a short-yardage situation and Foster had the fumble.
After the afternoon session Fulmer was upbeat, saying he liked the energy level, specifically with the younger players, and gave praise for the effort.
"We're getting better," Fulmer said. "I'm pleased."

Josh Briscoe is making it a point during fall camp to instruct the younger receivers to concentrate on blocking.

"Coming here and playing in the SEC, you have to make that block to make the run go from a 10-yard run to a 20-yard run," Briscoe said. "Or you might catch a hitch route, and, as you saw (last season) with Bret Smith and Jayson Swain, they would block downfield for Robert Meachem and it turns into an 80-yard gain. Simple stuff like that that you really don't think about when you're in high school."

TNsean:Ryan Karl

...on Monday, the Franklin native returned to practice in full pads and was cleared for limited contact.
And he was finally able to say the words he's been waiting to say for two months.
"I feel pretty good," Karl said.

The coaching staff said Karl was itching to get back to action as soon as possible, but he was also responsible and patient.
"It's always a balancing act when an athlete gets hurt or wants to come back and jump right back into the swing of things," said UT head strength and conditioning Coach Johnny Long. "You can't. Right now, Ryan just has to get his football conditioning back up and build some strength levels back up. But we have a good two weeks left before the season actually starts."

As impressed as his teammates are with Karl's recovery, they're just as relieved about him being back in the starting lineup, perhaps as early as the season opener at Cal on Sept. 1.
"Ryan Karl shows exemplary strength and mental toughness," UT senior defensive end Xavier Mitchell said. "Him being a guy who came in with me, I'm just glad to see him being back out there and a part of this defense again."
And to make the comeback even more memorable, it should be noted that his return to contact on Monday was a special day for another reason.
It was his 22nd birthday.

Have a great day friends...

Tennessee Volunteers

 

[OWB]

Thanks for the notes.

 

[VolintheNooga]

Thanks for the notes OWH! Have a wonderful vacation. Who is going to pick up the slack while OWH is gone?

 

[Rasputin_Vol]

McCoy hammered running back Arian Foster on a third-and-short near the line of scrimmage, forcing a fumble.

:ermm:

 

[Hens67]

In another article Fulmer stated that out of the 11 receivers he has 5 that are ready to play in game. He said he wants 8 or 9 that could go. I didn't know we had 5? Who would they be?

Taylor - starter
Rogers - starter
Jones
Moore
Hancock

O'Neal & Vinson are not ready but what I have been reading.

 

[volmanjr]

Thanks OWH!!

 

[VolinArizona]

In another article Fulmer stated that out of the 11 receivers he has 5 that are ready to play in game. He said he wants 8 or 9 that could go. I didn't know we had 5? Who would they be?

Taylor - starter
Rogers - starter
Jones
Moore
Hancock

O'Neal & Vinson are not ready but what I have been reading.

Actually, O'Neal is ready and Ainge is pushing for him hard. O'Neal will definitely be in the top 4.

 

[jakez4ut]

and from what i've read about Vinson, great ability, but needs to add some weight.......Taylor said you could "slide him under a door right now".......

 

[TennTradition]

Taylor
Rogers
O'Neal
Moore
Jones

That sounds about right....

 

[zehr27]

Taylor didnt say you could slide Vinson under a door he said you could slide Ahmad Paige under a door. He just says Vinson is in the wrong frame of mind and needs to get mentally prepared. I am worried that Vinson is going to in up being a bust.:no:

 

[orange+white=heaven]

Trooper is always cracking me up, in a GVX article today, he's talking about his WRs blocking, and says he wants them 'on the red kool-aid'...

In Taylor’s terms, it’s all about getting on the red Kool-Aid.
“To me, when you’re on the red Kool-Aid, you’re all hyped up and jumping around,” Taylor says. “That’s the temperament and body demeanor that we want when we go out there. We want safeties looking at us rather than fitting into that C gap, making tackles on our backs.”

red Kool-Aid...:lol:


GVX: Link

 

[TennTradition]

Trooper is always cracking me up, in a GVX article today, he's talking about his WRs blocking, and says he wants them 'on the red kool-aid'...



red Kool-Aid...:lol:


GVX: Link

That is hilarious.

 

[TennTradition]

Taylor didnt say you could slide Vinson under a door he said you could slide Ahmad Paige under a door. He just says Vinson is in the wrong frame of mind and needs to get mentally prepared. I am worried that Vinson is going to in up being a bust.:no:

Well...TT mentioned that they were going to have to deprogram Hargrave out of Vinson and then build him back up. I thought that he would be much more ready for SEC ball than he is - and I was suprised to hear that they had to coach Hargrave out of him and then build him back up. I thought of prep school as at least being a step in the right direction from high school, but it doesn't sound like it when you hear stuff like that.

And - good call on Paige vs. Vinson. I hope that Paige will be ready to play SEC ball by next year (physically). As for Vinson, I'm not ready to get too worried about a bust just yet. I'll give the coaches time to complete their strategy of building him up...then we'll see what he can offer.

 

[NationofVols]

Rogers and Taylor starting isn't big news if you think about it. We all held out hope, but those two will start early but they'll obviously rotate nonstop. They'll just be in on key situations, 3rd downs, etc.

They'll end up serving the new guys up in the slot when we go 3 and 4 wide, which I'm sure will be often against Cal's so-so defense if we have troubles running the ball.

I just hope they don't try to send them deep every play in hopes of them burning a defender and thus wasting a route. Then again, we don't go deep like we used to or as often as we used to so we'll see.

 

[IPorange]

I am beginning to feel really good about both our secondary and receivers.

The Foster fumble disturbs me. I know Mayo can hit, but Foster specifically was trying to vastly improve from his mistakes in the bowl game... Then again, maybe a reality check will be good for him now, rather than in Berkeley.

I got two choices: be optimistic at this point, or doom and gloom. I will choose optimistic. It's more enjoyable. Always can be doom and gloom later.

 

[WA_Vol]

Its 2 weeks until the opener. We'll know how good they are or not real soon.

 

[utvolpj]

Taylor didnt say you could slide Vinson under a door he said you could slide Ahmad Paige under a door. He just says Vinson is in the wrong frame of mind and needs to get mentally prepared. I am worried that Vinson is going to in up being a bust.:no:

What Trooper actually said:

Brent Vinson: “Brent Vinson can play fast,” Taylor said. “He’s got to forget everything he learned at Hargrave (Military Academy, where he played last fall) and start over.
“It’s like deprogramming and building back up. He is a playmaker. The fans will be glad we signed him. He will help us this year.”

 

[rexvol]

When it's all said and done Paige could end up being the best of bunch.