Tennessee Vols' Kahlil McKenzie continues pursuit of greatness

Defensive lineman Kahlil McKenzie (99) takes a break on the bench. The University of Tennessee Orange/White Spring Football Game was held at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville on April 16, 2016.
Defensive lineman Kahlil McKenzie (99) takes a break on the bench. The University of Tennessee Orange/White Spring Football Game was held at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville on April 16, 2016.

KNOXVILLE - Kahlil McKenzie arrived on Tennessee's campus as a freshman last summer with greatness as the goal for himself and for his football team.

Nearly a year later, the objective remains the same for the big defensive tackle.

Now, though, McKenzie has a better grasp of how to attack the mission he's trying to accomplish heading into his sophomore season with the Volunteers.

photo Defensive lineman Kahlil McKenzie (99) takes a break on the bench. The University of Tennessee Orange/White Spring Football Game was held at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville on April 16, 2016.

"You come into college and you want to be great," the former five-star recruit said earlier this month.

"Then you realize that everybody wants to be great, so then you have to figure out what's going to be that thing that sets you apart. That's what I think I'm doing right now, is finding that thing that's going to set me apart, that's going to make me different to make me the best football player I can be so I can be great.

"That's what I'm really looking forward to, and that's what I hope to get out of this offseason."

There's help for McKenzie as he chases greatness.

His position coach, Steve Stripling, can be demanding, particularly of the players he believes have the most talent.

"With his family background he sees what coaching can do," Tennessee's veteran defensive line coach said. "He gets it, that we've got to continue to improve."

Bob Shoop, Tennessee's first-year defensive coordinator, challenged McKenzie's pursuit of greatness shortly after taking the job in January.

"He asked me, 'How bad do you want to be great?'" McKenzie recalled. "I was like, 'Shoot, Coach, the words have not even been invented yet.' That's what really stuck out to me.

"He's so smart and he knows everything that's going to work and things that can put you in the best position to win."

McKenzie's bloodlines and background helped prepare him for the pressure cooker that is Tennessee football.

His father, Reggie, played at Tennessee and in the NFL. He's currently the general manager for the Oakland Raiders, a position he obtained after nearly two decades in the Green Bay Packers organization. Reggie's brother, Raleigh, also played for the Vols in the early 1980s.

Reggie was in Knoxville for nearly every home game during his son's freshman season, when Kahlil had 24 tackles and one sack in 13 games, and he spent nearly a week in town when Tennessee held its pro day at the end of March.

Kahlil is grateful to be following in his family's footsteps, and he's also appreciative his father is around as often as he is.

"I don't tell him a lot," Reggie said after pro day. "I just tell him to work hard, grind it out, listen to your coaches. The key is trying not to make the same mistake twice. You don't want to be one of those players that keeps doing the same thing over and over again wrong. That's the quickest way to find yourself on the bench."

As one of three available scholarship defensive tackles, McKenzie spent little time anywhere else but the field during spring practices. The increased repetitions are exactly what he needed after sitting out his senior season of high school and missing a chunk of preseason camp last August. It allowed him to continue working on what it will take to become great.

McKenzie has aspirations on becoming an every-down tackle instead of just a run-stopper. Thus his focus is on improving his conditioning and how he uses his hands. His offseason video study is loaded with some of the NFL's top pass rushers, such as J.J. Watt, Jared Allen, Von Miller and former Vol Malik Jackson.

There's that and, of course, leverage.

"As soon as you guys see Kahlil," Stripling joked, "tell him to get down, get lower. You guys can all pass on that message. Every day in film I stop the camera and say, 'Coach yourself.' He says, 'Leverage.'"

McKenzie laughed about what his coach said, but he understands the message.

"He'll point that out every day. Every day," he said. "He loves to make sure I know, but it's something I need to work on, is staying lower. That's what he always tells me. And the proof is in the film. That's what I like about him.

"He's not BS-ing you. He is right. He shows me the film, and if my pads were lower, there's a couple of times I might throw guys. There's a couple of times where somebody might actually get thrown. That's really what it comes down to with him.

"He knows what he's talking about. He's right. Most of the time he is right. You've just got to shut up and listen. He's not going to lead you astray."

As high as expectations were for McKenzie's freshman season, they're only going to grow for one of the biggest Vols.

"He's going to be a different guy," Reggie said, "just mentally and especially physically."

Perhaps he'll even become great.

"Everything takes time and everything takes reps," McKenzie said. "That's the thing that if I could go back and tell myself, that's what I'd say. Don't get caught up in how fast you want things to happen.

"No matter if you have done it before or if you want to do it and you know what you need to do something, it just takes time and takes reps to be able to have your muscle memory to be able to just do it and not even think about it."

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.

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