10 Jeremy Pruitt quotes that stood out through 10 days of camp – 247Sports
Jeremy Pruitt is scheduled to meet with reporters following Tuesday’s practice, likely recapping Sunday’s closed scrimmage — the first scrimmage of fall camp for his Tennessee football team — while updating the progress of his Vols.
Players were off on Monday before returning to the practice field Tuesday afternoon for the 10th workout of the preseason.
SIGN UP NOW AND GET 30% OFF AN ANNUAL VIP MEMBERSHIP TO GOVOLS247
Here are 10 quotes from Pruitt that stood out over the first 10 days of camp:
ON WHERE THEY ARE AT THIS POINT IN FINDING FIVE OFFENSIVE LINEMEN, CONSISTENCY UP FRONT (Saturday)
“I don’t think we’re anywhere close to finding the first group of five. I think we have an idea who the 10 or 11 guys are that we’re working. We’ve worked several combinations and it has been good for the group. We’ve had several guys that have put a couple good practices together. But we’re looking for consistency with the entire group. We have good competition there.”
ON ERIC GRAY’S PERFORMANCE SO FAR IN CAMP (Saturday)
“Eric’s very mature. When you watch him practice and go about his business, he gets it the first time. He learns from other people’s mistakes. He’s got really good ball skills, good vision, is a good competitor. He jumps out there. He’s very mature, when it comes to football-playing ability. We’re excited about him. I think he’s had a really good camp so far. Again, this will be a guy that has been really good in the drills, really good at practice. Let’s see how he does when we get over here to the stadium. Looking forward to seeing that.”
ON HENRY TO’O TO’O AND J.J. PETERSON (Wednesday)
“JJ is still in a black (non-contact) jersey. He’s right at, this is probably four months and two weeks, he’s about to ready to go full contact probably Monday or Tuesday of next week. Henry is a guy that things have come really easy to him, picks things up. Instinctive, can cover, fits the runs. What you’re looking for in a linebacker. He’s pretty advanced for a young guy at that position. He’s capable of being the signal-caller. He’s a guy that can play all three downs. He goes out there and works everyday. He’s a hard working guy. He’s tough, he’s physical. He just has to continue to do that. Work hard to improve everyday.”
ON DARNELL WRIGHT (Wednesday)
“You know Darnell is no different than most offensive linemen at their first college practice. Offensive line, it takes five guys to work together. The defense, lots of times, can dictate your blocking assignments, whether they move around or they’re in even front or odd front or a linebacker moves to the end of the line. It changes your blocking scheme and call. So obviously he don’t know all those yet. But when he knows what to do, you can see ability and he flashes that. We just have to be patient with him and have realistic expectations, give him a chance to grown and develop as a player.
ON WARREN BURRELL AND HIS MENTAL RETENTION SINCE THE SPRING (Sunday)
“He’s a smart guy. Football is important to him. He’s very conscientious, works hard in the weight room, has put on some weight this summer and in the offseason. He’s a guy that competed really well in the spring and we expect him to keep doing that.”
ON HOW HIS TEAM HAS HANDLED THE HEAT DURING THE FIRST TWO DAYS OF PRACTICE (Sunday)
“Well it really hasn’t been that hot. So, it don’t really get hot in Knoxville. I’m sure it’s hot in Gainesville.”
ON THE FOCUS TO START FALL CAMP (Thursday, Aug. 1)
“Just talking to our team, our coaches, one thing we really need to focus on in fall camp is just hardcore fundamentals. Knowing what to do, how to do it, knowing why it’s important to do it that way. I’ve never been around a really good football player or a great team if they didn’t have toughness. Physical, mental toughness. It’s something, you have to train that way. You have to do it, it has to become a habit for you. And it’s something we really need to focus on.
“When you talk about winning football games, the first thing that you have to be able to do, you can’t beat yourself. General Neyland’s Maxims, the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win, right? So something we really have to focus on is we have to become a smarter football team. Got to know what to do. Got to be able to do it, got to be able to execute consistently and be able to do it over and over again, which goes back to practice habits. That’s something that we’ve really got to focus on in this fall camp.”
ON IF KUROTT GARLAND GAVE HIM ANY INDICATION ON WHY HE DECIDED TO TRANSFER AND HIS ASSESSMENT OF THE DEFENSIVE LINE GROUP (Thursday, Aug. 1)
“You know there are lots of guys that go into the transfer portal. I’ve been a proponent of it. It gives folks an opportunity to find their way. When they go into the portal, it doesn’t mean they’re going to transfer. So we’ll let that situation play out and we’ll see where it goes.
“We’ve not practiced since the spring. We’ve got lots of inexperience (on the defensive line). We’ve got one senior and one junior. We have lots of talented guys. We’re bigger, we’re stronger, we’re faster. I think the guys have worked hard this offseason. So it’s a big camp to create depth and competition there and we’ll evolve.”
ON MENTIONING ON THE PAUL FINEBAUM SHOW THAT HIS PROGRAM NEEDS TO HAVE CONFIDENCE (Thursday, Aug. 1)
“One of the things, when you do something a bunch of times over and over again, you obviously get pretty good at it. So whether you’re playing right tackle and you block the same running plays, you know, if you’ve been there for three practices opposed to 300, you gain experience and you get pretty good at what you’re trying to get done. When you get good at something, you gain confidence in it. Looking at our football team, we have lots of guys that have played a lot of football. Talking about Jauan Jennings, Marquez Callaway, Jarrett (Guarantano), Daniel Bituli, Darrell Taylor, Nigel Warrior. Lots of guys that have played a lot of meaningful snaps around here. Guys that have a chance to be really good football players. And then you look at some others parts of our team, whether they’ve been here for a couple years in our program and they’ve just now put their bodies in a position to be able to compete at a high level in this league, or they’re true freshman that are coming in here for the first time and going to get a chance to get a look at what big-time college football is about. I have confidence in our football team. I have confidence in our coaches. The plan that we have, the way I’ve seen our guys work in the offseason to either change their bodies or do what they’re supposed to do in the classroom, it takes a lot to be a good football player. It takes a lot to be a good football team. And we have made a lot of progress in that the last six months with this 2019 team. When you do something over and over, you gain confidence, right? And you get good at something, you become confident. And that’s something we have to do. We have to develop more confidence as a football team and a football program.”
ON THE IMPACT OF TWO NEW COORDINATORS AND IF HE CAN STEP BACK AND MANAGE THE GAME (Thursday, Aug. 1)
“With Jim (Chaney) and Derrick (Ansley), and Tee (Martin) also, we have a really good coaching staff with the addition of these guys. A lot of people say ‘I have the best coaching staff in the country.’ Well, most people that say it haven’t been a part of the staffs I’ve been a part of, which has been some really good ones over the years. I truly believe the men on our staff, and I told them this morning, when you talk about teaching and recruiting, relationships, character, all the intangibles that comes with being a football coach, I truly believe that we have the best staff.”
Comments
Post a Comment