What Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope said after Thursday's practice

Everything Tennessee Football wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope said after during his press conference after Thursday morning’s practice at the Anderson Training Center:

If there more sense of urgency because of the numbers and the young players in Tennessee’s wide receiver room

“Yeah, I think there’s got to be a sense of urgency. I think we’re absolutely young. I think the good thing about being young is those guys are able to get more reps. And that obviously heightens their sense of urgency. It also creates an energy and gives them experience in practice that will relate to the game. 

So with youth, obviously, you lack experience, but those guys are making up for it by the amount of reps they’re getting at practice.”

What the challenge is to get a first-year player or contributor ready for the Tennessee offense 

“Yeah, I think the first thing with getting any first-year guy, high school or if they come from a different university, I think you got to get them used to speaking your language. I think you got to get them used to seeing things from a like perspective, where we can have the same dialogue. And then once they get here, it’s just about operating. We play really fast. A lot of things we do are really unique. So with those guys, it’s getting themselves in the building and putting themselves in position with the daily habits on and off the field to be able to be successful.”

How this group has done with the extra stuff on a daily basis

“I think they’ve done a good job. I think obviously they lacking experience, but you watch this group and those guys are in the building in their free time, really all time of night. Our assistant receivers coaches and position coaches, both of those assistants are raving about the questions those guys are asking in those extra meetings. And it’s only going to help those guys and help the game slow down for those guys. So they’ve done a good job so far.” 

How much he has seen Tennessee freshmen Travis Smith and Radarious Jackson grow since the spring, if they’re much further along

“Absolutely. I think it’s important that when you see it, you tell them, like verbally, and I think also showing them the difference on film is extremely important. 

I think when they can see those visuals, it add confidence into them and you’ll continue to get some of those results. But both of those guys are light years ahead in terms of how we operate. Also, just being familiar with what we’re doing on offense. They look like different people than they did in spring and April.”

What he sees in his wide receiver room that is different from last season

“That’s a good question. The first thing that stands out is I see young guys stepping up. Mike and Braylon Staley, for instance. Both of those guys came into the room last year, we had a bunch of vets. They’re typically more quiet, trying to feel their way through. From the time they get to the meat room this morning, those guys are setting the tone. They’re already minding guys about coaching points and installs. So I see those guys taking jumps. I think the next thing is guys see how the season ended last year. They understand that we got to be deeper. Regardless of age or how old someone is, we got to be able to be deeper. So it creates a sense of urgency for guys, even if they’re not starting, to be ready at all costs. Those would be the two biggest points that I’ve seen from last year to now.”

Tennessee transfer receiver Amari Jefferson, the progress he’s made and the steps he needs to take

“Amari has done a good job. He’s in the group of guys that is always in the building. I think for him is just continuing to get his body in playing shape, continuing to get his conditioning to the level that he needs to. He’s trending towards that. And I think if he keeps doing what he’s doing, he’ll continue to make grounds towards that.”

If Mike Matthews can play all three receiver positions, if being thinner at the position creates the need for more positional versatility

“I think before you start spring ball, you got to designate, for one, what guys can handle that capacity. And I think guys ultimately show how much they can handle in their mental capacity. Mike is one that has done that. There have been other guys in the room that we have that we designated, yo, you can play any spot, so you got to be ready for it. He’s handled it. And I think he’s handled it well because he’s always willing to prove it. I think for him as a freshman, he was frustrated a lot last year. We’ve talked. He wanted more snaps, but he also understands that he’s got to be able to handle that capacity. And what he’s shown this offseason is not only the conditioning to handle it, but the maturity. When success happens, he’s still got the same Day 1 mentality and motivation to prove it. And when reps don’t go as well, he’s not down on himself, he’s not losing confidence. So I think that maturity paired with his physical conditioning, I think he’s proven to us as coaches that he can be able to handle all those spots, and that’s why he’ll be there.”

Tennessee’s Braylon Staley being a student of the game

“I think Braylon’s awesome because as good as he is, as talented as he is, he’s a really good kid and he’s really curious. He’s a guy that you want other guys to come in the building and try to model themselves after. I’ll give you something else. Mike and Braylon are, like, tied at the hip. They’re best friends, they’re always together. And both of those guys have had a ton of growth from last December until now. And I think it’s directly correlated to the time they spend in my office together and the time they spend with one another together. Extra catches, extra meetings. Those guys are doing things on their own in the summer. I think anytime you got one teammate that’s, you know, in your hip and they’re pushing you and they’re motivated. I think that’s going to make you better. And I think both of those guys have benefited from their friendship and the bond that they have.”

Learning as a coach to give positive reinforcement

“Yeah, I think you take from your own experiences. I played the position, and I remember vividly certain experiences and situations that either I had that helped me or I wish I had that I wis a coach would have did and think it would have helped me. And I think you got to add those. I also think it’s important to know what you’re dealing with with this generation and the type of kids they are. Some kids are triggered by different things, Some kids are motivated by different things. And I think as position coaches, it’s our position to study those guys, know that, and then in turn you get the most out of them.”

Where Chris Brazzell is physically as he works back from injury

“He’s obviously hadn’t had a ton of reps. He’s got to just find him in shape. I think he’s got to do that.  He took a big step in that today. He was able to kind of come along today as far as he’s been this fall camp. But he knows he’s got a ways to go in that realm to be able to play and do what we need to do.”

Making sure Tennessee’s young players don’t lose confidence

“I don’t think you can really, you can’t really, like, create confidence for guys. I think you always gotta talk to them about responding. Cause as coaches, we don’t know the scenario on the field that they’re going to deal with. We don’t know the pressure, the situation on the field. It’ll always be ebbs and flows. I think it’s important to talk to guys about that and talk to them about, yo, when success happens, my mindset should be in this direction. If failure happens or it’s not a great rep, my mindset should be in this direction. That way they got a foundation to get back to. Regardless of what’s going on. I don’t think you want to create confidence for them. Like, I don’t think you want to curate it. I don’t think that’s real. I think you talk to them about what it’s like to play in this league and how drastic momentum and ups and downs can be individually and as a unit. And again, back to my earlier point, I think that you show them game film of what that looks like from a receiver perspective and also an offensive perspective. I think you talk to them and give them a foundation. Yo, when this happens, right, It’s a negative, our mindset’s got to be here. We got to be more positive. We got to choose to stay confident and then we have a good play, a successful play, an explosive play, like it’s got to be day one mentality. Get back to work, get lined up fast, get back to my fundamentals and my cues. I think as long as you give them a foundation, they can self correct. I don’t want to always be the one to correct them. I think if they can self correct, you ultimately get a bunch of coaches on the field and that’s what we want.”

What he’s doing that’s working on the recruiting trail

“Yeah, I think for one, I think being authentic. I think showing those families and those student athletes, you got to show them the real youth. I think it’s so easy in recruiting to just give them all the highlights and the success stories. Like you got to give them the stories where you fail. You got to give them the stories where you’ve dealt with adversity. Because I think ultimately like perfection people can’t relate to. I think once recruits and families, they see the success automatically when they come here. I think once you give them a couple of those stories about, you know, we had to deal with adversity or you weren’t successful, how you battle back, I think that makes you relatable. And I think nowadays kids want more than anything in recruiting— they want to know you can develop and they want to know you can get them better, but they also want to know you care like about them in society and you got to be relatable in order to do that. And I think that’s what’s helped us in recruiting.”