Tennessee linebacker Curt Maggitt celebrates stopping Missouri on 3rd down during the Vols’ football game against the Missouri Tigers on Saturday, Nov. 22, 2014, at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.KNOXVILLE – Steve Stripling laughed at the notion he’s been more irritable toward Tennessee’s defensive linemen during practices this preseason.
If that indeed has been the case for the veteran defensive line coach, it’s because he’s serious about his position group’s potential in 2015.
Tennessee enters the season with a deep and talented defensive line that has the potential to be one of the best two or three in the Southeastern Conference. With a group like this, Stripling acknowledged his approach might have changed.
“You think so?” he said, laughing. “You do (change), because the expectations of your room change. I would have never talked to the room in the past about leading the SEC in sacks. That’s a conversation we’ll have now. The expectations are different with this group than they’ve been in the past few years.
“I always try to tell them on the field sometimes I’m rough, sometimes I’m easygoing. But at the end of the day in that meeting room, I want them to know exactly what my thoughts are, and I try to express it to them.”
After losing its entire starting lineup from 2013, Tennessee relied on a thin rotation on the defensive line to finish fourth in the SEC in sacks (35) and tackles for loss (91) last season. The Vols last recorded that many sacks in 2001. Freshman Derek Barnett totaled 20.5 tackles for loss, the fifth-most in a single season in program history.
Barnett and Curt Maggitt return to form one of the SEC’s top pass-rushing defensive end tandems. Corey Vereen and Danny O’Brien were multigame starters in 2014, and LaTroy Lewis and Owen Williams also return experience. The Vols have been pleased with the offseason progress of Kendal Vickers and Dimarya Mixon.
Oh, and there are three freshmen whose names you might have heard. Kahlil McKenzie and Shy Tuttle, two of the nation’s top defensive tackles prospects, are big and talented, and defensive end Kyle Phillips already is drawing comparisons to the freshman version of Barnett.
“We have a lot of depth on the D-line,” Barnett said. “And we’ve got a lot of talent.”
The program simply has lacked depth for years, and most of the best defenses in the nation have the ability to rotate players and stay fresh into the fourth quarter of games and late into the season.
“Best-case scenario would be having 10 guys, then at that point you would be able to mix and match a little bit based on what you’re seeing that week,” Stripling said. “The job of description of a D-lineman is being able to hold the point in the run game and being able to pressure the quarterback in the pass game.
“Those are tough skill sets to come by, but I think we’re starting to get more and more of those guys in the room. I know rotations and capable bodies in the past have been an issue, but I’m hoping this year’s more like a puzzle. I hope I struggle each week to figure it out, which pieces to put in there.”
The depth will benefit the two freshman tackles as they progress. Conditioning always is a work in progress for first-year defensive linemen, but neither McKenzie nor Tuttle will have to play 60 snaps per game. The Vols can get as many quality snaps out of them as possible as they progress, and if they get tired, there’s three other players who can come in for them.
Tennessee’s defense could be really good this season, and it likely will start up front.
“We’ve got a really talented room, and a lot of guys are coming along,” Maggitt said. “A lot of guys got experience. I feel like we’ve got a really good unit. I think we’ve got a close-knit defensive line group, starting with Coach Strip, who’s a real good coach that cares about us a lot. That trickles down to all of us as players.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com