What Tennessee secondary coach Willie Martinez said after Monday's practice

Everything Tennessee Football defensive backs coach Willie Martinez said during his press conference after the Vols held their ninth practice of fall camp Monday morning at the Anderson Training Center:

His first impressions of Tennessee transfer corner Colton Hood

“On tape, I’ll just start from there, we saw an athletic player. He can actually be very versatile in playing different positions. He didn’t know anything about his personality when he first came on campus the first time. Boy, you can tell that he could fit into our room just from those standpoint of maturity. He kind of commands and moves with confidence. Ultimate team guy. He’s a team-first kind of mentality. And then obviously when he starts working out with us, you see the movements, you can see the traits. And he’s taken that from the summertime with his teammates and bonded really well with our team, especially in the back end, connecting with everybody, which we really see some leadership skills. And then obviously in camp here, he’s really had a great ball camp up into this point. He gives us the versatility where he can play corner, he can also play star, he can play dime, which he’s doing.” 

How much Ty Redmond has helped Tennessee in the secondary with other players out

“Ty had a really good spring. And he’s like, right where he left spring, he’s really tacked on here in the fall, showing a lot of consistency, playmaking ability. We feel really comfortable with Ty, what he’s been able to do here, one-on-one situation with some of our great wide receivers. And he has a good command of our package, meaning he knows our scheme, he knows how to play to it. 

So you build a trust obviously within the staff and the players. And he gives us, again, the versatility that I was just talking about with Hood. I mean, he can move guys around. Whenever you got guys that can play on the edges, like Rickey (Gibson), like Jermod (McCoy), those kind of corners, you have a lot of flexibility inside.”

The importance of Jalen McMurray and his versatility

“Yeah, I don’t want to sound repetitive, man, but the reason why we took him when we did take him is the same reason why we took Hood. First, yes, he’s got to be athletic. He’s got to be talented as heck, man, but he’s got to come in that room and have the leadership skills to fit in the culture that we built here since we’ve been here. And he’s done that from day one. And then now moving forward, now that he’s obviously taken a really good shot inside playing star, he’s got that ability because he had it where he came from. We didn’t really play as much last year. We didn’t need to, even though he knew it. 

But again, he does a really good job of knowing where everybody’s at, communicating with everybody. He’s got great communication skills. He’s really good in meeting rooms. He gives us the experience that you want, just like very similar to what Colton, bringing Colton here, you know what I mean? He gives us the depth that we want. That we need.”

Rickey Gibson III saying that Jalen McMurray is the most competitive player on the team 

“Yeah, I think there’s a lot of really good competitors in that room. I’m not going to disagree with it. Again, if he’s not in, he’s coaching. And I say that in the meeting room. I mean, if we’re sitting there trying to go through a scheme and stuff and talk about the ins and outs of the position, he’s on this side over here. He has a good awareness of the room. If it’s a young guy that really doesn’t, probably doesn’t know what he’s supposed to do or it’s not coming quickly, he’ll move his seat to get where he’s got to be, doesn’t disrupt the meeting. Those are little things that, again, the guys in the room can see that. And again, it’s the culture that we’ve built here. And that’s why those are the guys that we want to bring in here. That kind of, again, that pour into the team first before themselves.” 

Where Rickey Gibson III is better now than last year

“Rickey is extremely smart. Always has been. I’ll say the skills, he’s a lot better with the ball skills. He’s really been intentional about being more, you know, improving his ball skills to track and locate stuff. You can see it when he’s doing drills. Maybe earlier in his first year or two, he was dropping balls in drills, and now it’s like it’s a competitive thing with him. I mean, he’ll catch it even if he’s got a bad hand or a bad finger, from a skill standpoint.

“But his attention to detail, very similar to what I just said about Jalen here. He’s always been coaching the young guys. Even when he’s been a young guy. He does a really good job. He’s smart. He got into a lot of plays last year at the end of the year. As the season was going on, he was the most consistent, to be honest with you, on the edges. I know Jermod had an unbelievable year, don’t get me wrong, and the plays he made were phenomenal, but Rickey, we leaned on Rickey a lot because again, he’s a guy that knows the scheme. He knows it really well. He’s been able to help Jermod last year when Jermod was learning defense. But he’s a lot smarter. He’s more aware of what the safeties are doing and he knows how they work with each other. And great leadership, man.

“I really love that room, man. That room was built with some guys that have been around here and have taken it from some of the guys that have left here. Whether it’s been Tank (Jaylen McCollough) or it’s Alontae Taylor or Theo Jackson. You can see it in the room. It’s running on its own gas.”

Jermod McCoy returning to Tennessee practice, his recovery

“When you made the comment about who’s the most competitive person in the room, I can arguably just say Jermod McCoy. I mean, he’s itching to do whatever it takes. He’s always been that way, but I’m not surprised that he’s hit all the benchmarks to this point where he needs to hit. The guys feel it, they sense it. He’s in our room, he’s engaged. So it’s not like it’s like a one-time thing where you saw on the field doing some drills the last practice and fire everybody up to see him go through the individual drills. But they see him also in all the things he does in the room, in the team room, the energy he brings each and every day. It’s exciting, it really is.”

The continuity of Tennessee’s defensive staff

“Coach Heup’s done a great job with our staff. I mean, it really starts with him and the coaches that are on this staff. And even when you elevate somebody or you bring in a new guy, it’s just like, it just flows. And that’s a credit to Coach Heup. And knowing, obviously, Coach Banks for a long time and being a part of his life for a very long time. And, obviously, Rodney (Garner) and I have been in the same, you know, been doing this 13, 14 years together. So it helps, especially when you’re on the same side of the ball. Tremendously.”