KNOXVILLE - The first true unveiling of Tennessee's defense under first-year coordinator Bob Shoop won't come in Saturday's Orange & White Game.
That certainly won't happen until the Volunteers open the 2016 season in September.
Then again, Shoop and his players haven't exactly been secretive in describing how Tennessee might look different defensively under new leadership.
"I've never met a blitz I didn't like," Shoop said before Thursday's practice. "We like to come after you. We're going to be aggressive. We're going to be in your face in all situations. We like to challenge every route.
"I'm a big believer in that's what you do nowadays in football. You watch the two teams that played in a Super Bowl. That was a clinic in an aggressive style of defense right there."
Tennessee's desire to become more aggressive defensively is a refrain multiple players have touted publicly this spring. It's not the first time the Vols have had a new coordinator promoting that brand of defense ahead of his first season. The changes Shoop wants to bring probably are more welcomed, though, given certain moments last season and his own pedigree.
Shoop's penchant for blitzing off the edge and/or bringing pressure up the middle in certain situations has been evident in scrimmages and other 11-on-11 work the past five weeks.
As Tennessee exits spring practice, Shoop is pleased with what his defense has accomplished, particularly with how much of his scheme the Vols installed.
"Conceptually, I'd say 100 percent," he said.
"The entire package itself isn't in," Shoop added, "but I'd say a concept from each segment of the package is in that we can build on as we move forward."
Shoop started the spring installation with different coverages, then began adding blitzes after the team returned from spring break in March. The Vols added a dime package (six defensive backs) and one with a three-man front last week. The defense used the Saturday scrimmages to employ what it had installed that week in a live setting.
After facing the same defense for a couple of years, Tennessee's offense benefited from the new looks it faced in Shoop's first spring.
"It's been great. It really has," offensive coordinator Mike DeBord said. "When you play against a stagnant front you can get false hope, because maybe you're doing things where the front's not moving and you're doing it well. But when you're going against a moving front, there's a lot of technique things that have to be right on.
"It's really, I think, made us a better blocking team because of having to go against it."
As his players adjusted to some new concepts, Shoop adjusted to facing an up-tempo offense every practice, which he did not have to do the past two seasons at Penn State.
"Our players were more accustomed to the first day of practice than I was," Shoop said. "They just look at it like another day at the office. I was all worked up about it, and they're like, 'We got this, Coach, don't worry.' Generally speaking, that's what offenses are today."
Shoop began his first spring at Tennessee with three specific goals.
He wanted to create what he called a "championship culture," which he believes was set based on the leadership of players such as Danny O'Brien, LaTroy Lewis and Darrin Kirkland Jr. in the absence of some of the defense's better known names. There was a fundamental focus on improving the tackling techniques and increasing takeaways and ball disruptions.
The final point of emphasis was finishing practices, drives and plays in the hopes of getting Tennessee to close games better defensively than it did a year ago.
Shoop believes the Vols accomplished all those goals this spring, and he's eager now to get to August, when he'll finally have a full deck of players at his disposal.
"I'm banking on the fact that the guys who aren't practicing this spring are as good as everybody tells me they are," Shoop quipped, referencing the numerous spring absences on the defensive line.
"I'm banking on them being fine," he added. "I think the young linebackers have developed. I think we have really good depth in the secondary, which will provide us the opportunity to match people up.
"That back seven, all those guys can run pretty good."
Shoop plans on unleashing them, but not until the season.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.