KNOXVILLE - When defensive tackle Jonathan Kongbo intercepted a screen pass and returned it for a touchdown in Tennessee's late-season win over Missouri last year, it helped create the defensive end Jonathan Kongbo who has drawn raves from the coaches this preseason.
What's the difference, aside from a move back to his natural position?
"Relaxed, cool, calm and collected," the redshirt junior said Friday.
Kongbo arrived in Knoxville last year with lofty expectations and initially resisted an in-season position change brought on by the Volunteers' injuries at defensive tackle.
Finally, when the Missouri game arrived, so did a new mindset for Kongbo in his adjustment from junior college football in Arizona to the Southeastern Conference.
"Missouri week is the week I was like, 'OK, I'm going to play defensive tackle,'" Kongbo recalled. "'I'm going to do what they want me to do and see where it goes.'"
Kongbo's new mentality was validated when he set off a celebration in Neyland Stadium with a leaping interception and 40-yard run to the end zone late in Tennessee's 63-37 victory.
"It meant a lot, just the way my teammates reacted," Kongbo said. "Sorry, I get a little emotional. It meant a lot, man. It made me feel like I belong here. It was probably one of the top moments of my life."
The Vols would love for Kongbo to add more top moments in 2017 as he leads a talented but inexperienced group of defensive ends into next Monday's season opener against Georgia Tech's flexbone offense at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Kongbo, redshirt sophomore Darrell Taylor and junior Kyle Phillips are atop the Vols' depth chart at the defensive end spots after playing little there in 2016 behind departed pass rushers Derek Barnett, Corey Vereen and LaTroy Lewis. Tennessee's coaches have indicated that true freshman Deandre Johnson will be the fourth defensive end in a group short on depth.
"At end you don't have the numbers maybe," defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said. "But I've said this before, I think between Kongbo, Taylor and Phillips, that's a pretty solid group right there - highly recruited players who are very athletic.
"They're going to have a real challenge in this opening game. You have to be disciplined. You have to play your techniques properly and things like that."
Despite the deficient depth and relative inexperience, Shoop called the defensive ends "a position of strength for us."
The prospect of being part of a group tasked with replacing Barnett, the Vols' all-time sacks leader, is not a concern to Kongbo.
"I think we'll be good," he said. "I don't think there will be a drop-off. I'll just say that."
Several of Tennessee's coaches have said Kongbo clearly was driven this offseason, including first-year defensive line coach Brady Hoke.
"He was on a mission to become a more complete football player," Hoke said. "His weight is up to about 275. He's handling that well. He's just matured. I wasn't here a year ago, but he's told me he was kind of an angry guy a lot of times and didn't really like playing inside and all that. He's come to me and said, 'Coach, I'll play wherever you want me to play.'"
This year, there's little question. Kongbo is a defensive end - and a more relaxed, cool, calm and collected version of himself.
"Looking back at it, I think (2016) was good for me in my development as a player and a person," Kongbo said. "The difference between that and now is I'm much more comfortable. I know what to expect from the social aspect, the media and all that.
"It's just a lot different."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.