Extra senior Keenan Pili leading his way
Tennessee linebacker Keenan Pili has been a leader from the day he stepped on Rocky Top. He was almost immediate placed on the teams leadership council and his leadership along with his play is vital for Tim Banks’ defense this fall.
But if you are looking for the ‘extra senior’ Pili to be a towel waving rah-rah guy, then you are going to be thoroughly disappointed.
“For me, all the great leaders I know from when I started playing that I looked up to, they showed you want to do by how they did it,” Pili explained. “And they did it every single day. With the people around me, I try to be the most consistent guy. I’m pretty much the same guy every day. That kind of work ethic and that kind of example really influences them when you talk to them and you try to help them. A group of young guys, you can’t just tell them what to do. You have to show them how to actually get it done from the experiences you have. You have to be able to show them this is what makes a great team. This is what makes a great teammate, makes a great player. If I can show them that way then I’m doing a good job.
“I’ve never been a guy who’s been fueled or gained energy off of that. There’s always been a different kind of fuel for me that came from home or from a purpose with things I was going through. That was my real purpose for what I came in everyday. So I feel like personally I haven’t been the most energetic guy or give bunch of energy. But I am very much intense in the way that I go about things. I feel like that intensity and that urgency can be felt.”
Urgency is a good way to describe the Las Vegas native who will be 26 this season. A season he didn’t expect to be playing on Rocky Top, but one Pili believes can be special this fall.
“My goal is to win. Part of the reason I came back is I feel like this team can win,” Pili stated. “You see the talent around. The type of players here. It only takes one year to spark what could be a great season. It has to come from us in the locker room and to mold those pieces because talent is talent but if you have the pieces, you put in the work and people are actually buying in to what’s going on, I feel like we have got a special season.”
Pili looked poised for a special season for himself last year. He garnered plenty of praise last August and started the year as the Vols middle linebacker, but his season abruptly came to an end after 29 snaps thanks to a torn bicep tendon.
“I’m pretty in tune with my body and I knew it was something that probably was not good,” he recalled. “I knew in the third quarter when I couldn’t keep playing through it, I was like this has to be pretty serious if I can’t hit someone.”
For Pili, the bus ride home from Nashville and the next day were the toughest, but said his teammates and coaches rallied him.
“It took some time but I feel like I was surrounded by some good people to help me. The team and the coaches really rallied around me. It was difficult to go through. I felt like it was a stupid injury compared to others. It was a freak, random deal and it was a lot harder to come back from than I thought,” Pili offered. “I feel like I needed some mental space for a day or so, then once everyone rallied around me and helped me out I was good. It was time to move forward.”
The way the program loved on Pili wasn’t a surprise. The culture of family and unity is what led Pili to Tennessee when he decided to leave BYU.
“The program as a whole matches a lot of who I am, what I base my values on and the principles I live by. That’s been one of the main reasons it’s been a good match as you say. Being able to live by those standards every day as a member of this team.
“I could feel it from the first moments I was here. I didn’t go on the rest of my visits. I feel like once I came here, met people and looked them in the eye. I felt like I know what Tennessee was about and I was ready to commit to that environment.”
Pili’s commitment now is returning to the game he loves and to finally play in Neyland Stadium as a Vol. He played in the historical venue as a member of BYU.
“It was the best environment I have played in,” Pili said.
It’s an environment that Pili has been dreaming of being a part of. The path to getting that point hasn’t been easy, but it’s a road he believes was chosen for him and it’s a road he glad to be traveling.
“It was trusting in God’s timing and God’s plan because bigger and great than me. I think we understood that. Maybe I that moment, I was like what’s going on, what should I do. I’m going to be old. All of that goes through your mind. It’s not like it just passes by so to come to terms with all of that was a little bit difficult. But it’s understanding this is the road I’m paving, whatever that road looks like just as a long as I get rolling again.”
Pili found himself to be back in mid-April, noting punching blockers finally felt good and felt strong. He also felt a comfort level with new linebackers coach William Inge. Pili and former linebackers coach Brian Jean-Mary are extremely close, but Pili said his new position coach is a good fit.
“Great coach. Came in out of no where. He make a quick switch. We are going through a lot of changes, but I think he’s just been a perfect fit for Tennessee especially our linebacker room. He’s built a lot of confidence in us. He will be bring the juice. He’s the same guy everyday. He demands a lot from our room. He expects a higher standard than most live by. He brings some energy.”
Inge suggest similar things about the guy he called his uncle grandpa.
“When you have someone who has really been there and done that, that’s exactly what you want,” Inge said. “He has an open mind for learning and when you have someone who is a true veteran and understands football like that’s probably the best thing that we’ve learned about Keenan is he really understands football. So him being able to do that on a day in and day out basis and a play in and playout basis, that’s something that really, really, really helps our defense and we look forward to really pushing him to being one of the best linebackers in America.”
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