As far as brief track records go, Tennessee football assistant Kelsey Pope has a pretty good one.
One season into his career as receivers coach of the Volunteers. One Biletnikoff Award winner.
Pope certainly did his share to help Tennessee attain an 11-2 record last season that was capped by a 31-14 victory over Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Jalin Hyatt was recognized as college’s premier receiver after racking up 1,267 yards and a program-record 15 touchdowns, and the new-look lineup of Ramel Keyton, Bru McCoy and Squirrel White in Miami Gardens was a success after Hyatt and Cedric Tillman bypassed the bowl to prepare for the NFL draft.
What could Pope possibly do for an encore?
“I think that’s to be seen,” Pope said Monday during a news conference. “That’s why you’ve got to stay in it. Part of the word ‘process’ is that you never know what the end product will be. We could start out hot and not have the type of work ethic we want, and things could go the opposite way.
“My main focus really isn’t the end result. I just want to see these kids operate and build habits, because that’s ultimately what will take over once bullets are flying.”
Tennessee passed the halfway mark of spring drills Monday with its eighth workout. The Vols will practice again Wednesday and will scrimmage for a second time Thursday before taking the Easter weekend off.
Pope was an offensive analyst for the Vols in 2021, when Kodi Burns was receivers coach and when Tillman amassed 64 catches for 1,081 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was promoted in March of last year after Burns left for the same role with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints, and all seemed secure with Tillman returning for his fifth-year senior season.
Tillman had nine catches for 162 yards and the winning touchdown in Tennessee’s second game last year, a 34-27 overtime victory at Pittsburgh, but he sustained an ankle injury the following week against Akron that required surgery and forced some adjustments to Pope’s position group.
Pope doesn’t feel any differently now.
“You never want to feel comfortable,” he said. “You’re in a continuous pursuit of growth, and that’s what I try to maintain. In this league alone, if you feel comfortable, you’ll probably get worse.
“For me, it’s continuing to be aware of my players and what they need and to put pressure on myself to get that to them every day.”
Tennessee not only returns its starting receiver trio from the Orange Bowl but acquired Oregon’s Dont’e Thornton through the transfer portal. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound Thornton had 17 catches for the Ducks last season that averaged 21.5 yards, and he has been working at the slot with the 5-10, 165-pound White.
Having different receiver body types has not been a problem for Pope, who actually views it as a plus.
“We had Velus Jones, who was a bigger slot built more like a running back, and we had Jalin, who was a 10.4 guy in the 100 meters with long strides,” Pope said. “Even Ced was 6-3 and 210 and was a 50-50 ball guy. As an offensive coach, you have to tailor your system of what you do around the skill set of your players.
“Being successful with a bunch of different body types and a bunch of different skill sets shows recruits that it doesn’t matter what they look like. They see that we can put them in a position to win and that we can help them get to where they want to get to.”
Keyton has been in the program the longest and leads the room, according to Pope, who also has been impressed with redshirt freshman Chas Nimrod and national top-100 midyear enrollee Nathan Leacock. Nimrod, a 6-3, 196-pounder from Bentonville, Arkansas, played in two games last season but did not record any stats.
“I think Chas has a shot to be really special,” Pope said. “His versatility is the reason he has that shot. You can line him up on the outside. He’s smart enough to play slot. He’s nimble enough to get in the slot and make people miss. He has a big enough catch radius on the outside to hold a point and go get balls down the field.
“He’s grown mentally and has started to develop a dominant trait similar to what Ced had. He just wants the ball in his hands.”
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.