Since Josh Heupel arrived on the scene Tennessee\u2014deservedly so\u2014has been known for its high octane offense. It doesn\u2019t generate the same kind of headlines, but the Vols\u2019 special teams under Heupel have also been largely excellent.<\/p>\n
Mike Ekeler, who also coaches outside linebackers, has served as the special teams coordinator for the last two years. Under Ekeler Tennessee has generally been very good in all aspects of the kicking game from returns, to coverage units to making big kicks.<\/p>\n
This fall Ekeler is breaking in some new pieces in the kicking game. Paxton Brooks has vacated the punter\u2019s job after four years in that role and he\u2019ll be replaced by Australian import Jackson Ross.<\/p>\n
Ross is a great story. He played Australian rules football professionally in his home country before heading to Tennessee last year where he took a redshirt year behind Brooks.<\/p>\n
Ross\u2019 only responsibility this fall will be handling the punting duties for the Vols, but Ekeler enjoys pointing out that athletically Ross is one of the more impressive guys on the roster.<\/p>\n
\u201cRossy is a special dude. I think he\u2019s extremely comfortable, but he works his tail off. The guy is a pro,\u201d Ekeler said of Ross. \u201cWhat people don\u2019t understand about Jackson Ross, when he was 15 years old he was the No. 2 tennis player in the whole country of Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guy is a phenomenal athlete. This summer, we timed him running, he\u2019s in the 4.5s. I kid you not I think he could be a starting wide receiver or us. He might look like an accountant or something, but the guy is uber athletic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ekler noted that Ross\u2019 athleticism also extended to his arm talent.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe claims he has the third strongest arm on this team behind Joe and Nico,\u201d Ekler joked. \u201cBut for me, since he signs my paychecks, I\u2019ll say he\u2019s the fourth behind Heup also. The guy can sling it. He\u2019s pretty special.\u201d<\/p>\n
<<<<<<\/p>\n
Last fall it took Dee Williams a minute to make an impression. The junior college transfer was limited by injuries in fall camp and didn\u2019t really see the field for the first month of the season.<\/p>\n
Tennessee fans got their introduction to Williams when he returned the first punt he touched 58 yards to set up a touchdown in the Vols\u2019 40-13 romp over LSU in Baton Rouge last fall.<\/p>\n
Williams spent the rest of 2022 proving that first return was no fluke. He ended up averaging 18.3 yards per return on 15 attempts with one touchdown.<\/p>\n
Ekeler is looking for more of the same out of Williams this fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is confident, he understands his role. He\u2019s gonna (have) an opportunity to be the best return guy in the country and he\u2019s earned that,\u201d Ekeler said of Williams. \u201cHe\u2019s got the instinct, he\u2019s got the ability.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like on offense when you\u2019ve got a great running back, your offensive line blocks a little bit harder. They know all they gotta do is just give you a crease. And that\u2019s what those guys understand on our return units. All they gotta do is let them get it started and you\u2019ll do the rest. I mean the guy, he\u2019s a real one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last fall it took Dee Williams a minute to make an impression. The junior college transfer was limited by injuries in fall camp and didn\u2019t really see the field for the first month of the season.<\/p>\n
Tennessee fans got their introduction to Williams when he returned the first punt he touched 58 yards to set up a touchdown in the Vols\u2019 40-13 romp over LSU in Baton Rouge last fall.<\/p>\n
Williams spent the rest of 2022 proving that first return was no fluke. He ended up averaging 18.3 yards per return on 15 attempts with one touchdown.<\/p>\n
Ekeler is looking for more of the same out of Williams this fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is confident, he understands his role. He\u2019s gonna (have) an opportunity to be the best return guy in the country and he\u2019s earned that,\u201d Ekeler said of Williams. \u201cHe\u2019s got the instinct, he\u2019s got the ability.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like on offense when you\u2019ve got a great running back, your offensive line blocks a little bit harder. They know all they gotta do is just give you a crease. And that\u2019s what those guys understand on our return units. All they gotta do is let them get it started and you\u2019ll do the rest. I mean the guy, he\u2019s a real one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tennessee\u2019s coverage units have been excellent or the most part since Ekeler has been in charge. Last fall Tennessee allowed just 2.5 yards per punt return and only 17.5 yards per kickoff return.<\/p>\n
In the last two years it\u2019s become apparent that excelling on special teams can be a pathway to a more full time role.<\/p>\n
Tamarion McDonald is one example of a young player who excelled on special teams and built on that to earn a starting job.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s to the point now where guys are clamoring to get on special teams, which is a good problem for Ekeler to have.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty simple, it makes you a complete football player,\u201d Ekeler said of playing on special teams. \u201cIf you have any aspiration of going on to the NFL you might like to become a surgeon on special teams. Our guys understand that and they see it. Like today for example, we showed clips of P (Princeton) Fant on kickoff return for the Cowboys. Yesterday we were showing P Fant on kickoff.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe show those guys every single week. Last week we showed Tillman on punt return. Did those guys play that while they were here? No, but did they train and learn the skills that are transferrable not only to their position, but also get them prepared to play on Sunday. They understand that, and let me tell you we\u2019ve got guys fighting for damn spots on teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
The post Mike Ekeler likes Tennessee\u2019s special teams; introducing the athletic Jackson Ross<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Since Josh Heupel arrived on the scene Tennessee\u2014deservedly so\u2014has been known for its high octane…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14113\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}