Josh Heupel likes Tennessee’s first scrimmage, talks quarterbacks, receiver rotation, more
Tennessee conducted its first full-scale scrimmage of fall camp inside Neyland Stadium on Thursday morning. Josh Heupel was typically somewhat tight-lipped about the specifics of the scrimmage, but overall the Vols’ head coach sounded pleased with what he saw from his team.
The biggest news of the day was Heupel confirming that center Cooper Mays, who has missed the last several days of work, would be out for an indeterminate amount of time following a ‘procedure’ on Wednesday.
With Mays out senior Ollie Lane got a good deal of work at center today with Jackson Lampley getting some reps with the first team at left guard.
Not having Mays on the field, who is crucial in helping the offense operate at its breakneck pace, there was more pressure on quarterback Joe Milton to be organized and handle all the pre-snap communication.
Heupel liked what he saw from the veteran signal caller on that front as the Vols operated under ‘game day’ conditions with the coaches off the field.
“Joe, I thought operationally was really good,” Heupel said. “The situational stuff that we can be better at, coming out situation. We did some four-minute things at the end as well, so it’s a great opportunity.
“(The) Coaches are completely off the sidelines, coaches are up in the box, guys gotta learn how to operate in between the white lines, so there’s growth in that way for Joe. All in all, I’m really pleased with his decision making, what he did with football all day long as command.”
Milton has looked like a guy who is very comfortable sliding into the starting quarterback role and embracing everything that comes with that.
Tennessee players have espoused a tremendous amount of confidence in Milton during camp, and the same has been true of the coaches.
Following today’s scrimmage work Heupel reiterated that he was pleased with the strides that Milton is making.
“He’s operating and handling (things) at a really high level right now, decision making, understanding protections and how to get himself protected or throw hot,” Heupel said.
“His eyes as far as what he’s seen from the second level pre-snap and, and on the snap, he’s been really good at that part of it.
RECEIVER ROTATION IS ‘FLUID’
Tennessee is replacing a couple of highly productive receivers this fall following the departures of Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman, but the Vols aren’t exactly devoid of talent at the position.
Bru McCoy looks poised to take another step after making 52 catches for 667 yards last fall. Oregon transfer Dont’e Thornton has impressed from the start of spring practice with his size, speed and athleticism and Ramel Keyton (31 rec., 562 yards) and Squirrel White (30 rec., 481 yards) are coming off productive 2021 seasons.
The Vols also have a couple of sophomores in Kaleb Webb and Chas Nimrod who Heupel singled out as making some progress.
It doesn’t sound like the rotation has been narrowed down just yet, but it does sound like the Nimrod and Webb are pushing to get in there.
“I think the rotation piece is gonna be a little bit fluid with all of those guys. Some of our young guys continue to grow and make some real strides to — Chas Nimrod, Kaleb Webb,” Heupel said. “The four older guys (McCoy, Keyton, Thornton and White) continue to push and compete. I like what they’ve been doing.
“They’ve operated really efficiently in what we’re doing offensively and within the scheme of what we’re doing. I think they’re playing with great fundamentals and techniques, so all in all, like what they’re doing. The back half the training camp — we’re essentially at the halfway point as far as pure training camp before we get into school — back half of it will be really important too.”
Thornton, at 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds with sprinter’s speed, just looks like a big play waiting to happen. With the success that receivers have found in Heupel’s offense in two years in Knoxville there’s plenty of anticipation to see what Thornton can accomplish this fall.
There’s some question about ‘where’ he might accomplish those big things we’re looking for. Is he a slot guy? Does he line up outside?
We’ve seen him work a lot in the slot during spring and in camp, but Heupel doesn’t feel like Thornton is limited to just one spot.
“Dont’e’s got the ability to play both (inside and out) and I think for us this year we probably have a little bit more mobility,” Heupel said. “Guys can do multiple things within the offense, (more) than probably how we’ve played them, the first couple of years that I’ve been here.”
NEW TIGHT ENDS OFF TO STRONG START
Even before last season ended it was pretty apparent that the tight end position was going to be one where Tennessee had to find some help for 2022. That was true even after Jacob Warren decided to return for a sixth year, had he not made that decision the Vols would have been in a huge bind.
Even with Warren returning the Vols, who more often than not play with two tight ends on the field, had to find some capable help for Warren.
The Vols took a step towards accomplishing that by grabbing McCallan Castles out of the transfer portal from UC Davis in December. Then in spring practice it started to look like freshman Ethan Davis, an early enrollee, would be able to help sooner rather than later.
Davis suffered a broken collarbone in the spring game, but was full speed by the start of fall camp and a little more than one week in it looks like both he and Castles are going to be contributors. Which is exactly what this team needed to have happen.
“Both those guys will play a ton of football. At this point really believe that both of ’em will play at a really high level when they’re out there on the field,” Heupel said of Davis and Castles. “McCallan, really both of ‘em, are really so much further ahead than they were when they finish spring ball. Both of ’em are seasoned in what we’re doing offensively.
“McCallan’s been really good out on the perimeter; Ethan Davis, too. It’s really natural for those guys to be playmakers out in space. That’s true today. It’s been true through the first seven practices before we got out here too. (They) have the ability to be dynamic in, in the pass game, both of ’em have gotten really comfortable and continue to grow inside the core too. And, Callie, I thought yesterday was his best day inside the core. Really pleased with what those guys are doing.”
THE NICO REPORT
If everything goes according to plan Nico Iamaleava won’t see the field this fall other than in mop up duty of blowouts. That doesn’t mean that Vol fans aren’t interested in his progress though.
Iamaleava may be a back-up, but as on3’s top ranked recruit in the nation from the 2023 class, he also represents the future of the program. As a result, his every move this fall is going to be scrutinized by fans.
No one is scrutinizing Iamaleava like Heupel though, and so far the head coach has been encouraged by what he’s seen from the freshman quarterback.
On Thursday Heupel was asked if was inclined to be patient with Iamaleava because of his back-up status, or if was really being pushed to be developed.
Heupel left no doubt about the course the staff is taking with the freshman.
“You gotta grow. You gotta grow. You gotta be pushed. We install it. He’s running everything, man. You know, you’ve heard me say that when they finish spring ball, when they come back beginning training camp, they should be a different player. He’s a different player,” Heupel said of Iamaleava. “He’s got great command in understanding what we’re doing, understands protections, understands how he’s gotta get us out of could be run-run checks, pass-run checks, whatever it might be.
“He hasn’t been perfect, but he’s grown. One of the things that we talked about is not making the same mistake twice. He doesn’t make the same mistake twice. He learns from it. There’s a rep yesterday, as he’s going through his reading progression, tight window on the inside, throws the ball while he’s standing in the pocket. You can see him visually like, hey man, I should have got out to the next one outside. He’s intentional and has great work habits.”
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