Vols 'have to be smart' with star running backs this spring

Tennessee running back Alvin Kamara (6) runs drills with teammates during spring football practice at Haslam Field on Tuesday. Kamara and Jalen Hurd are proven players whose contact work is being limited.
Tennessee running back Alvin Kamara (6) runs drills with teammates during spring football practice at Haslam Field on Tuesday. Kamara and Jalen Hurd are proven players whose contact work is being limited.
photo Tennessee running backs Jalen Hurd, left, and Alvin Kamara celebrate Kamara's touchdown against Western Carolina last September in Knoxville. They intend to be even better in the 2016 season.

KNOXVILLE - As good as Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara were for the Tennessee Volunteers in 2015, both running backs and their position coach would tell you they can be better in 2016.

The backfield duo has the potential to be one of the most dynamic in the Southeastern Conference and nationally, and both Hurd and Kamara will be key ingredients to Tennessee's potential success this season.

Not that they need to be told that, of course.

"I think they know that's why they came here," running backs coach Robert Gillespie said Thursday. "Obviously we know Jalen came here for a purpose, to help us get this place back going, and Alvin came along at a time where he felt he was the missing piece for us to get going. Both of those guys understand the expectations for the team."

The expectations for spring practice, though, are much different.

Hurd and Kamara, who combined for 2,467 yards of offense and 25 total touchdowns last season, will be more spectators than participants more often that not in Tennessee's remaining seven practices.

In last Saturday's scrimmage, the two stars maybe played 10 combined snaps, leaving the bulk of the work to sophomore John Kelly and walk-on Jayson Sparks.

Kamara missed a couple of practices after a knee scare in the first practice, and Hurd has been held out, too.

The reasons for the precautions are obvious.

"You look in the NFL - I talked with guys from the Seattle Seahawks - and Marshawn Lynch doesn't need to get hit during practice," said Gillespie, a former SEC running back who played at Florida under Steve Spurrier. "He's going to be in car wrecks all Sunday 16 Sundays out of the year.

"You have to be smart with those guys. I think you can work on ball security in individual periods. I think you work on ball security when you watch it on film. You have to constantly talk about it and emphasize it, but I don't think you have to worry about Jalen Hurd understanding how to take a hit. You want to try to limit those as much as you can, especially in the spring.

"I think this time of year, you get guys that have played in the system for a long time, you want them to get better at the small details of it. As a coaching staff, I think we do a really good job of understanding when to put those guys in those situations and when not to and save it for a younger guy that needs to take some of that contact."

To set the tone for the offseason, Gillespie had his running backs review last season and pick out clips of five plays they wish they could have back.

For Hurd, those plays were him getting tripped up or tackled low when a long run was there for the taking.

Fix those and the 6-foot-3, 240-pound power-back will become a "household name," Gillespie believes.

"Jalen's gotten better every year," the running backs coach said. "You guys watched him in year one, and he was a good back. This year he became a more complete back. I think year three's going to be even better. He's confident.

"Anybody who's good at what they do, they always find little ways to get better. (NBA star) Steph Curry doesn't look at the shots that he made. I'm sure he goes back and looks at the shots that he missed to see where he thinks he can do better."

In pitching him to stay at Tennessee instead of entering the NFL draft, the coaching staff laid out plans of an expanded role for Kamara, who Gillespie said doesn't want the label of a "third-down guy or a specialty back."

Both Gillespie and offensive coordinator Mike DeBord have been mum on how his role might change.

"We can't tell you that, but we talked about doing a lot of things with him to feature his skill set," Gillespie said.

"Last year we were learning what he could do well and what he couldn't do well," he continued. "As you could see late in the season, we started to use him a lot more. At the beginning of the season, we didn't know how he would respond in pass-protection situations. We didn't know how he would respond in short-yardage situations.

"Now we understand what he can do and how much to put on his plate, and he understands what the offense entails."

Hurd and Kamara appear locked in this offseason, which means a big season could ensue for both backs and the Vols.

"When you're the tailback at Tennessee," Gillespie said, "there has to be a sense of confidence when you walk around the building because of what we do as a group and what we do as an offense.

"You have to walk around and carry yourself differently."

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com

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