Josh McNeil

KNOXVILLE — Josh McNeil’s offseason philosophy was simple.

Tennessee’s All-SEC center couldn’t run for months after knee surgery, so he worked harder on his upper body in the weight room. He couldn’t get practice repetitions in coordinator Dave Clawson’s offense, so he studied harder in his playbook.

McNeil will open preseason practice next week with a larger upper body and a more extensive knowledge of the game, but he refuses to call himself prepared.

“I’ve learned everything by paper,” McNeil said. “But it’s a different thing to actually go out there and run it when everything is running 90 miles per hour and the defense is switching right in front of you. I know the offense, but I have to go out there in camp and show I can run it.”

McNeil said missing spring practice was “even more frustrating” because Clawson’s offense puts significantly more presnap responsibilities on the center. McNeil declined to add specifics, echoing Clawson’s hopes for early-season surprises, but the Vols are implementing some strongside-weakside flips for the first time in Phillip Fulmer’s 15-plus seasons as head coach.

UT’s coaches are optimistic that McNeil will quickly assimilate into the offense, and the center hopes his added size will pay dividends. An illness dipped the 6-foot-4 Mississippi native under 270 pounds last season, but he said he’s near 290 entering preseason camp.

“I’ve been doing a lot of upper-body work ever since I hurt my knee,” he said. “Ever since June, I’ve been concentrating on getting my legs back where they were last summer. I’ve had a lot of time to work on my upper body, and I can tell it’s made a big difference.”

UT returns the top six players from last season’s offensive line, a unit that allowed a Division I-low four sacks. It will be difficult to match that number under new starting quarterback Jonathan Crompton, but McNeil said the line is “excited” by its high expectations.

“Our kind of experience, you really can’t teach it.” McNeil said. “You can’t explain how important that is. Including Vlad (Richard), we have six guys who know how to play. If we play the way we’re capable of playing, we should be one of the strong points on the team.

“A lot of guys have made some big jumps. Guys are continuing to mature. I don’t want to single anyone out, because everyone’s been working really hard and getting a lot stronger and better.”

Big Brown year?

Senior defensive end Robert Ayers said he’s expecting a “breakout year” from his likely starting mate, junior Wes Brown.

Brown, a 6-foot-4, 260-pounder from Athens, Ala., followed a solid spring effort with a strong summer in the weight room. He’ll need to impress to stay on the first team, since sophomores Ben Martin and Chris Walker are two of the Vols’ best young talents.

“Wes Brown is going to be a guy to watch this season,” Ayers said. “He’s going to have a big season. He’s doing really good, and he’s making the coaches proud.”

The Vols struggled to pressure the quarterback most of last season, finishing eighth in the SEC and 79th in major Division I with 24 sacks. UT had just 14 sacks in nine SEC games, with six coming in a five-overtime win at Kentucky.

Returning players recorded just 5.5 of the Vols’ sacks last season, with Brown sharing one against South Carolina.

The Vols open camp Aug. 2. They’ll have two practices in helmets and shorts before donning full pads on Aug. 4.

Grand occurrence

Fulmer on Monday added another title: grandfather. His oldest of three daughters, Courtney Peace, gave birth to Joseph Phillip Peace in Austin, Texas. Courtney is married to former Vols linebacker Robert Peace.

Joseph was 7 pounds, 3 ounces and 19 inches long, and UT officials said “everyone is doing well.”

Fulmer and wife Vicki flew to Austin and were present for the occasion.