KNOXVILLE -- In the span of about six months, Cortez McDowell changed from a slender freshman safety into a promising young linebacker and Tennessee's top special-teams tackler.
If that sounds familiar, it's because Jalen Reeves-Maybin traversed a similar path one year earlier.
A four-star recruit out of Locust Grove High School south of Atlanta, McDowell knew he was getting only so many chances to get on the field as a freshman last season, but he took advantage of being on multiple coverage units for the Volunteers.
"I was hyped. I'm not going to lie, dude, I was excited to go out there and make a tackle or help somebody else make a tackle," he said after Saturday's practice. "It's always a good feeling to involve everybody else on the team, and I'm just another player out there helping everybody else."
If most of the players they signed could follow a similar development process as McDowell and Reeves-Maybin, Tennessee's coaches would prefer that be the case. The roster situation hasn't given Tennessee that luxury in recent years, though, which is why the Vols recently have had to plug true freshmen into starting positions or key contributor roles seemingly every season.
As a freshman, Reeves-Maybin got his feet wet by playing an important role on special teams and used his first year in the program to develop physically and mentally.
As a sophomore starter on defense, he shared the team lead in tackles and now is one of the Vols' defensive stars.
"Every player develops differently," coach Butch Jones said. "They develop basically at their own pace, but you'd like for an individual to come in and really impact your special teams, get the playing experience, maybe get some situational football, get some quality live game repetitions. Then their second and third year (they'd) really be able to take off. Each position group is different based on your numbers and what you need.
"The mind is obviously very, very critical -- the mental part of playing football. That's why, to me, it's the most difficult sport out there, because not only do you have to rely on your mindset and the mental part of it and your football intelligence and your football IQ, but you have to play at a high pace and a high level of physicality as well. That's what makes it challenging.
"But if you would prefer, you'd like to have a process build up with every player in your program."
McDowell's 6-foot-1 frame always made it likely he could add weight and bulk up to play linebacker, and he made the switch within weeks of preseason training camp last August.
With Curt Maggitt and Reeves-Maybin locked into the top two spots at the position, getting on the field defensively seemed like a long shot for McDowell, who also was a standout baseball player in high school.
"I just wanted to come in and help the team any way I could," he said. "Going through the whole recruiting process and talking to Coach Jones and everything, when I (got) here in the summer my main thing was to get here and play special teams and learn my role every day. But the main thing was help on special teams.
"It was an easy transition going in and knowing my role, not trying to do too much and just doing that specific thing for the team to help the team win."
McDowell's 14 tackles on special teams last season topped Reeves-Maybin's team-leading mark of 11 in 2013.
"Jalen has been a great mentor to Cortez," Jones said, "and they kind of laugh how they're following the same transition."
"He tries to call me his duo, but it's all good," McDowell said with a laugh."It's how we just make fun of each other. It's all fun. We love to compete. It's like two brothers going at it and trying to get at it."
Of course, Reeves-Maybin will be the one keeping McDowell from expanding his role to Tennessee's defense, but that's OK for the rising sophomore.
"Whatever I can do to help everybody," he said, "that's all I'm looking for."
Reeves-Maybin certainly believes McDowell has a bright future.
"I think Cortez is going to be really good," he said. "He's kind of the same-built player as me. He's a little faster than me actually, but don't tell him I said that. He's going to definitely be a good player. He's going to be able to make an impact on the game. He's a playmaker."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.