New Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, right, is confident the Vols have lots of good options in their secondary, including Stephen Griffin, center left.KNOXVILLE – A couple minutes into his post-practice meeting with the media Thursday evening, Bob Shoop was asked how Rashaan Gaulden has looked five practices into Tennessee’s spring.
The first-year defensive coordinator could not hide his grin.
“He’s good, man,” Shoop said. “He’s really good.”
Gaulden isn’t the only defensive back who has Shoop smiling.
As Shoop raved about what the Volunteers have in the secondary, it became clear the new coordinator believes it can be the strength of the defense this fall. That strength showed during an 11-on-11 third-down-and-short period Thursday, when Stephen Griffin and Cameron Sutton each made nice plays in run support.
The Vols must replace veteran defensive backs Brian Randolph and LaDarrell McNeil, who combined for 88 starts and 529 tackles in their careers but were seniors last season. Shoop believes Tennessee has multiple quality options, starting with Todd Kelly Jr., Micah Abernathy, Evan Berry, Gaulden and Griffin.
Berry is out this spring after offseason surgery, but the healthy quartet has impressed Shoop.
“Safety – which is maybe initially perceived as a position of weakness when you lose Randolph and McNeil – could be a position of strength,” he said.
“T.K. is a leader. T.K. is a guy who has six interceptions in two years, who’s played a lot at critical times for us. Rashaan we’ve always felt is one of our more talented players. He got dealt a bad hand last year when he got hurt, and he’s practiced really, really well. Micah Abernathy’s practiced really, really well.
“If you were out there today, Stephen Griffin had a really nice tackle down in the red-zone period. He’s a guy who I think may be a step behind those guys but has really kind of progressed each and every day.”
Under Shoop, Tennessee will go back to using the more traditional free and strong safety setup after implementing left and right safeties the previous three seasons under coordinator John Jancek. Shoop believes there are some “interchangeable parts” on the back line of his defense, though.
“Everybody wants to be a complete safety,” he said. “You don’t want to be classified as a box safety or as a center fielder. You want to be a guy who can play in the box and have linebacker toughness, a guy who can have a corner skill set and cover and have range, and a guy who’s got a quarterback’s mentality to be able to communicate and get the guys aligned and make calls in front of 102,000 people on a Saturday afternoon.”
This spring, Kelly and Griffin are the free safeties, and Gaulden and Abernathy are battling at strong safety. Presumably Berry will play free safety when he’s healthy. All of those players have been trained at both positions.
“The best two would play no matter what,” said Shoop, a defensive backs coach by trade.
At cornerback, Shoop said Malik Foreman, maligned for most of last season until he came on strong late, has been the secondary’s “most consistent and most productive player” this spring. On Thursday, Shoop said, Foreman blitzed and knocked down an option pitch, which turned into a defensive touchdown.
Shoop believes there are other quality players at cornerback, too.
“Everybody talks about our recruiting class, but the best thing about our recruiting class is we signed our top free agent, Cam Sutton, when he came back,” Shoop said of Sutton’s decision not to enter the NFL draft. “He’s just a pro. He plays with good fundamentals, good techniques.
“Justin Martin’s got the length everybody’s looking for. Emmanuel Moseley has continued to improve since he got here and looks like he has a chance to take the next step as an SEC player.”
Shoop also likes what he’s seen from the group’s two newcomers, former four-star recruit Marquill Osborne and junior college transfer D.J. Henderson.
“He’s swimming a little bit,” Shoop said of Osborne. “I think it’s a lot for him to process, but he has a skill set that demonstrates that he can be good. And D.J. Henderson made a great play today in the red zone on a fade ball, too, so he’s got length and speed.”
The depth and versatility in the secondary, Shoop believes, could allow the Vols to employ some “unique” defensive packages this season.
Trying to figure out how to use an abudance of talent is a good problem for any coordinator to have.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.