KNOXVILLE - As far as running back tandems go, Tennessee boasts one of the best in the Southeastern Conference with stars Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara.
The Volunteers may not be too far from expanding that group to a trio.
John Kelly finished Saturday's Orange & White Game with a team-leading 65 yards on 15 carries, and teammates and coaches seem to want to call the sophomore anything other than a No. 3 running back after his impressive spring.
"He's just got a swagger about himself when he gets on the field," Kamara said after Saturday's annual intrasquad game that concluded spring practices. "That's one thing that really catches everybody's eye. He plays with intensity. He works hard. When he messes up, he's mad about it. You can tell it matters to him. He wants to learn from Coach (Robert) Gillespie and guys like me and Jalen.
"He's done a lot of maturing from last season to this spring, and he's done a lot of maturing over the spring. He's going to keep getting better. He's going to be a good weapon for us going into the season."
Life in a position group with two likely future NFL players - Hurd and Kamara - can't be easy for Kelly, the 5-foot-9, 212-pounder who turned down offers from two Big Ten programs in his home state of Michigan when he chose the Volunteers.
As a freshman last season, Kelly's 40 carries came in blowout wins against Bowling Green, Western Carolina, Kentucky, North Texas and Northwestern (Outback Bowl). He finished with 165 yards and one touchdown.
If Hurd and Kamara remain healthy this season, Kelly may find his role on offense limited to mopping up again.
"I've never seen any impatience in terms of him with that," Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. "He's an individual who understands his role, accepts his role and competes every single day and never says two words about it. John Kelly is a great, great team player.
"He's learned so much from those other two individuals, but he's going to compete against them now. John Kelly's going to walk in, and he's going to expect to play and start. That's just (him) as a competitor."
Kelly's biggest contribution last season came on kickoff coverage, when he forced a key fumble to spark Tennessee's comeback win against Georgia.
His performance Saturday included a 4-yard touchdown run - on which he ran through one tackler and bounced off two more defenders - and a 27-yard gallop against the second-team defense.
With Hurd and Kamara seeing limited action, Kelly and walk-on Jayson Sparks received the bulk of time at running back in team periods. Sophomore Joe Young was out due to an undisclosed injury and freshman Carlin Fils-aime won't arrive until the summer.
"He's a very good player for us on special teams, but towards the end of the year we felt very comfortable with having him in the game (on offense) and we had a lot of confidence in him," Jones said.
"He's an individual who just loves football. We always talk about do you live it, love it or like it, and he lives it every day. That's a tribute to him. Our players feed off him, and he's extremely competitive."
That became obvious during spring practice.
"When he gets in there, it's full speed, full go," Kamara said. "He's trying to hurt somebody. He'll hurt himself. He'll run through a wall, for real. He lays his body out on the line. He wants to make this team better.
"That's what we love about John Kelly."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.