KNOXVILLE — Tennessee redshirt sophomore linebacker Edwin Spillman was quick to answer Saturday afternoon when asked after the Orange & White game who had more good days this spring between the offense and the defense.
“The defense,” Spillman said smiling. “Yeah. C’mon. C’mon.”
The Volunteers held their 15th and final spring workout Saturday, which was also their third inside Neyland Stadium and their first in front of fans. While the offense returns experience at every spot except quarterback, the defense has worked in recent weeks under new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles and his three new defensive assistants.
New co-defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter and new edge rushers coach Andrew “AJ” Jackson worked under Knowles last year at Penn State, while new cornerbacks coach Derek Jones was under Knowles a decade ago at Duke.
“I’m really excited about how it came out,” senior linebacker Jeremiah Telander said. “It’s really been more like 15 weeks of it now, because we’ve been working on it since January. We’ve definitely gotten better every single day, and that was the goal.