KNOXVILLE -- On the eve of the start of his third spring practice as Tennessee's football coach, Butch Jones can say with confidence that his program is progressing on schedule.
The Volunteers are returning nearly all of their starters and contributors from a young team that last season went 7-6 and notched Tennessee's first postseason win since 2007, and the talent level is higher thanks to a pair of touted signing classes.
There's just one problem.
Or, well, roughly a dozen of them, to be a little more precise.
In Jones's third spring, Tennessee will be handcuffed by a handful of absences, many of them generated by players continuing to recover from offseason surgeries to fix what ailed them during the 2014 season.
Missing pieces
Tennessee will be without nine players during spring practice, and a handful of other Vols will be either limited in some fashion or managed on a day-to-day basis. Here's a complete list of who's missing and who's not at full go. DE Derek Barnett* LB Dillon Bates WR Jason Croom* TE Alex Ellis* DB Rashaan Gaulden OT Chance Hall RB Jalen Hurd OG Marcus Jackson* LB Jakob Johnson* LB Darrin Kirkland Jr.* DE/LB Curt Maggitt* OL/DL Charles Mosley WR Marquez North DT Danny O'Brien* DE Kyle Phillips* DE Corey Vereen DT Owen Williams * out for spring
The missing pieces make maximizing the 15 practices Tennessee will have over the next five weeks a little tricky.
"The biggest setback are the injuries -- having nine individuals out and then a number of individuals that are day to day," Jones said Monday. "That really hurts the progress of your football team. But if you look on the positive side, it also allows many opportunities.
"We are night and day from entering spring three than where we were spring one. Just our work capacity, our mentality, our players doing the extra. They understand the culture, they understand the standard, they understand the expectations.
"But again, it's also a snapshot that we have not arrived. We're a long ways away from where we need to be from a competitive depth standpoint to really be able to compete at a high level and an elite level."
To further highlight how short-handed Tennessee will be this spring, the Vols will begin practice this afternoon with five healthy scholarship defensive linemen, two of whom are freshmen who enrolled in January, and one fully healthy scholarship running back, another January enrollee.
Though the defensive line was hit the hardest by what's missing, Tennessee will be without key returning players at wide receiver, tight end, linebacker and along the offensive line.
"How do you progress? You get repetitions in the spring," Jones said. "We don't have that luxury, so every rep is criticial. Every rep has to be a winning rep. Every rep has to be a quality rep."
The absences have forced Jones and his staff to develop a different format for this spring practice, which is starting after Tennessee's spring break for the first time under Jones.
While the healthy players on the roster will practice on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, the injured players will lift and go through what would normally be an off day from practice. The off days for the practicing players include film review and lifting sessions. The injured players will have walk-throughs and mental reps on those days.
The points-per-reps system Jones has used to foster competition in the practices won't change, but the Vols may back off on how much they hit and how long they practice as the spring progresses. Obviously Jones and his assistant coaches will be focused on the healthy players they have at their disposal.
The five healthy defensive linemen -- ends LaTroy Lewis, Dimarya Mixon and Andrew Butcher and tackles Kendal Vickers and Shy Tuttle -- will be exposed to a level of detailed coaching from defensive line coach Steve Stripling, graduate assistant and former Cincinnati star Walter Stewart and their sidelined teammates they wouldn't otherwise get.
Mixon is down to 260 pounds to play end full-time after working inside at tackle up until December of last season, and Vickers recorded the team's highest squat, a whopping 710 pounds, during offseason workouts.
"Now's your time, and I told them that in our team meeting last night," Jones said. "This is a big, big spring for Dimarya Mixon. We moved him back to defensive end, his natural position. LaTroy Lewis, he's been in our football program now for a number of years. He'll never have a better opportunity than what he is presented with this spring.
"Kendal Vickers is another individual who is about 285, 290 pounds right now. He's worked exceptionally hard moving to defensive tackle. We're hoping he can be kind of the Jordan Williams of this football team. He's worked hard; now go take advantage of your hard work.
"This is going to be a great opportunity for everyone at that spot."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.