What Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope said on Tuesday

Everything Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope said during his press conference on Tuesday, looking back at the play of his position group through three games:

If it takes two years for receivers to get comfortable in this offense

“Yeah, I don’t think that you try to aim for two years. I think anytime you get guys here, I think the goal is try to push them and get them to have an immediate impact. But in reality, it doesn’t always work out that way. And I think what guys got to make sure they do is, they all come in with goals. I think as long as they set daily habits, as long as those guys stay steadfast, I think ultimately they will find success and it’s showing in the things that we do. I also think that it’s a testament to the way we’re developing guys here. It’d be easy to say, guys come in transfer from a high school and they’re making plays right away. It’d be easy to say they were already ready. But you guys can see the maturation, literally. You see it physically through the years and how guys get comfortable and how they start playing fast. It’s a beautiful process. So you don’t aim for a two-year process. You want to get them in as fast as they can, but I think ultimately we just got to push them (and) whenever it clicks for them, it just happens naturally.”

Chris Brazzell II making big plays, if it’s confident or technique

“I think it’s a combination of both. He and I sat down extensively multiple times this offseason, watching his targets. All of his targets. We watched his deep ball targets.We watched the ones he made, we watched the drops. We went back and watched other guys. I mean, Donte’s got a like skill set. They got a like build. We watched guys like Nico Collins in the NFL, but I think having those meetings, a lot of those guys will see it visually. I think they retain that a lot better and they go train it after. I think in the situation, it just makes them more comfortable and confident. I think always when you come down, when you come in those situations, it comes down to how confident are you in your ability to make the plays. And he was able to do that. He’s been doing that. We’ve seen it in camp when he got back. So it’s not new for us. We just gotta keep him consistent and keep him confident. And I think he’ll continue to make plays.”

Tennessee’s receivers playing well with so many receiver recruits on campus

“It’s awesome. I think it just helps the buy in. They’ve seen it. They’ve seen the results. They’ve heard what you’ve said already. That’s gotten to this point. That gets them to the game. I think once they see those results, they’re bought in. We had a couple of conversations this weekend already with some guys that we’re in a really good spot with. I think this game is going to help us get over the hump down the road. So I think as much as you can show those guys that the things that you’re telling them, that you’re preaching, that it’s real, it helps some buy in. And that’s the name of recruiting.”

How pleased he was with how Tennessee’s wide receivers handled Georgia’s physicality 

“I wouldn’t say pleased, I think we expected. We got a really good DB group in our facility, we practice against every day. It’s a coming out fall camp and spring ball. We know that that DB group gets us ready for the physicality of this league. So surprised, I wouldn’t say. I think those guys knew they were ready and they were just ready to go display it to the rest of the world. The tough thing in that is like in this league, every team you got really good corners, every team’s got a really good defense. We got to continue to take care of our bodies to stay healthy and continue to win those matches.”

The type of deep ball Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar throws being conducive to receivers making plays

“That’s a very underrated point. Catching deep balls, a lot of times it ain’t about arm strength. You usually gotta give guys a chance. When balls are perfect, we’ll take those obviously. But 60% of the time, 50% of the time, the receiver’s gonna have to go make a play. Joey does a really good job of just giving our guy the chance. It’s a catchable ball, right? Like he’s putting air up on it. So even if it’s you’re not running this route, I can go up and attack it. Because a lot of times in man coverage, the DBs eyes are on us. He can’t play it. So he does a really good job of giving those guys a shot to go play it. And I think that makes a whole heck of a lot of difference in a wide out, that you’re going to have a shot to go make this play, regardless of what the look is at the end of it.”

The versatility of Tennessee’s wide receivers, that allowing them to be more creative

“I think that’s twofold. Last season, we left the playoffs and as an offensive staff, man, we felt like we got to evolve. We got to go seek and learn get some different things. We had to take accountability and look in the mirror as coaches. And I think we did that with the things that we’re showing on offense. It’s completely foreign to what Tennessee offenses has looked like here so far. I think the other part of that is I think the players, they wanted that. They wanted some more concepts, route patterns, route dips, like whatever. But I think they got to take accountability and be able to master that and handle the workload and capacity. And I think those two things had married and now we’re in a really good spot. Like the creativity, you can go get to anything. You can move guys in different spots. Braylon Staley’s playing outside. Mike’s playing slot. Chris is playing slot. I think that just helps you as an offense, not only be cohesive, but your multiple and it’s hard for defenses to like pick one spot and guard one concept and guard one guy. It just helps us stay multiple.”

What it looked like keeping Chris Brazzell’s confidence high last season

“(Talking to him) Everyday. Wide outs, like they’re receivers. If you let them get too far drawn away from the road, you got to steer them back. That’s just the nature of this position. I played it and I tell them that all the time. I was the exact same way. Coach, would get steered off the road and my coaches would have to bring me back. So it’s literally an everyday thing. And I think what happens with coaching this position a lot of times is it’s strenuous. And it’s exhausting and a lot of coaches get like they fall to the war of attrition. And I think the coaches that really care about this position, that study it, that are really passionate about the receiver position, I think that passion fuels them to stay on their guys every single day and not let up. And I think ultimately those guys, the coaches and those groups are able to separate themselves eventually.”

Expecting that a receiver is going to be dissatisfied 

“They all want the ball. They all want to go for 200 yards. It’s just not realistic. So I think you’ve got to give them reality. I talk to them all the time about situations that I have been through. My senior year of college, I came back as All-American for my junior year and big man on campus and first three or four games, I probably got three catches total. And the portal didn’t exist there, but it had it existed, like, I would have had to have a conversation with my family. I’m telling you guys, it’s like, but anytime you stick it out, man, it’s so much more worthwhile. It’s so much more worth it. And not only that, but you got these type of stories that you can now give back to guys that you’re going to talk to and speak to and they can eat off of those and they can benefit from those. So, yes, a daily thing, man. I love prayers. You keep us in your prayers.”