KNOXVILLE - It's possible no Tennessee football player helped himself more in the first preseason scrimmage than freshman safety Nigel Warrior.
If coaches had any reservations about Warrior's natural ability, the son of former Volunteers star Dale Carter removed them with his performance.
Though the former four-star recruit may not start Tennessee's opener against Appalachian State in 10 days, Warrior likely won't have to wait long to break into the defensive rotation.
"In the scrimmage last week, Nigel was dynamic," defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said Friday. "He was all over the field. He made plays. He just needs experience. He needs repetitions. He's gotten so much better.
"He's very coachable. In the meetings, the upper-class guys have really tried to help him out in every way, and that's really what's been kind of cool about our unit back there. He's done a really good job, and he's got a very, very bright future."
Wearing the same jersey number (18) his father wore in his two-year All-American stint with the Vols in 1990 and 1991, Warrior made a positive impression on teammates and coaches shortly after arriving in Knoxville this summer. The 6-foot, 186-pounder showed why nearly the entire Southeastern Conference (including Alabama, Georgia and Auburn), tried to land him out of Peachtree Ridge High School in the Atlanta area.
Warrior appears to glide across the field in practice, and coaches and teammates were impressed at how he always seemed to show up near the ball.
"We've just got to get him to learn the package," secondary coach Willie Martinez said earlier this month. "It's easy to evaluate DBs, because they're space players. When you're dealing in special teams and guys trying to make plays (on defense), you either can make it or you're not. When you see those guys run down there on kickoff or they're doing kickoff return or they're doing some type of space drills and they succeed, that's when you know, well, that guy's pretty good, that guy's got a chance, and now it's up to us as coaches to continue to work on the fundamentals and the techniques to improve for him to succeed as a player.
"These young players, it wouldn't be fair to ask too much of them not that we won't play them. If they deserve it, we're going to play the best of the best. If we've got a lot of guys, we'll play a lot of guys."
As the opener nears, Warrior has put himself in position to be one of those guys.
Shoop identified six players - Warrior, Todd Kelly Jr., Micah Abernathy, Stephen Griffin, Rashaan Gaulden and Malik Foreman - he feels comfortable playing at the two safety spots and the nickel position. Emmanuel Moseley has edged ahead of Justin Martin at the cornerback spot opposite Cameron Sutton.
The preseason play of Abernathy, who likely will start alongside Kelly, and Warrior prompted coaches to slide Gaulden back to the nickel spot, where he's pushing Foreman to start even though the incumbent finished strong last season.
"I came in late to the recruiting process, so I didn't have a long-standing relationship with Nigel like Willie or Thig (linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen) did," Shoop said. "I feel like he's the type of guy that you have to every day earn his trust and respect. You've seen me out there - I'll coach the guys hard.
"At first he kind of looked me a little cock-eyed a couple of times, but through individual conversations and through the unit, he and I have really developed a good relationship where he recognizes, I think, clearly that I'm just trying to help him be a better player. He's responded to aggressive coaching and he's responded to the leadership of the upper-class guys.
"Without question, he's a unique talent and is going to have a bright future. He's just got to continue to embrace the process and continue to get better."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfree press.com.