Micah AbernathyKNOXVILLE – Bob Shoop probably wouldn’t mind if he had NBA star LeBron James line up as a pass-rushing defensive end or ball-hawking safety for Tennessee’s defense this season.
With that addition an impossibility, the first-year defensive coordinator is using an analogy involving the world’s best basketball player as a way of proving a point to the Volunteers.
Tennessee is blessed with depth at defensive end and defensive back, and Shoop is preaching the importance of being able to play multiple positions as he tries to find the best options for his defense.
“What position does LeBron James play?” Shoop wondered aloud Thursday. “He could play the point guard, he could play the shooting guard, he could play the small forward, the power forward and the center if he has to. That’s what I keep trying to tell Rashaan Gaulden or Micah Abernathy or guys like that.
“The more positional versatility they have, the better they’re going to be.”
Preseason training camp is the perfect time for Tennessee to tinker with who can play where, and while the Vols are experimenting with sliding some defensive ends inside in passing situations, there appears to be more shuffling in the secondary despite the absences of a couple of players this week.
Shoop indicated freshman Marquill Osborne, who spent most of spring practice playing the nickel cornerback spot behind Malik Foreman, is playing more at the outside corner spot this month.
He also suggested Gaulden could have increased repetitions at the nickel spot, where he was set to start for the Vols last season before getting hurt, after spending the entire offseason preparing to play safety, where Tennessee also has Todd Kelly Jr., Micah Abernathy and impressive freshman Nigel Warrior.
“I don’t necessarily like (Gaulden) at safety as opposed to nickel. I like him at both,” Shoop explained.
“I like him at safety because I think he’s a great quarters safety. I think he can play man-to-man, I think he’s tough and he’s a blitzer, but let me put it this way: The same skills that are required to be a great nickel are the skills that are required to be a great safety. There’s not really any reason I like him more at one position than the other.
“Ultimately it’ll be about getting the best five players on the field. That’s really what it’s about, and if ultimately that means he’s a nickel, Abernathy’s here, Kelly’s there or Foreman’s here, Gaulden’s here, Kelly’s there – I feel very, very comfortable and confident with all those different scenarios.”
Like Gaulden, Abernathy played the nickel spot as a freshman last season and transitioned this offseason to safety, where he has impressed Shoop essentially since Tennessee hired him from Penn State in January.
The play of Abernathy and Warrior – Shoop said it was “safe to bet” the son of former Vols star Dale Carter would play “real early” – could explain why Tennessee is toying with moving Gaulden back to the nickel.
“The guy who’s played the best and most consistent through the first 10 practices or wherever we are is Micah Abernathy,” Shoop said. “I think that guy’s a real legit player. First of all, he’s an even better person. He’s an ultimate teammate. He’s unselfish. He practices hard and he practices the right way. He’s focused, he’s intense and he’s intelligent.
“I think he’s a guy who’s going to have a big year.”
Early in the week Abernathy outlined the differences and similarities in the nickel and safety spots.
“Playing nickel and safety, you have to have the same skill sets, whether it’s blitzing or coverage,” the sophomore said. “Being the same type of player is a good thing. They work interchangeably with our defense, so it helps knowing both.
“You have to know what the defensive line and linebackers are doing more at safety than you do at nickel,” he added, “so run fits are something I have to learn.”
Shoop wants to have the defense entirely installed before Saturday’s scrimmage at Neyland Stadium, and from there he would like to form the defense’s identity and identify which players “made the team” and who will play what roles.
By then the cross-training will decrease as the coaches hone in on their preferred lineups for certain packages and game situations.
“We have some good pieces to the secondary,” Shoop said, “and I always joke around that positional flexibility’s going to be the key there.
“We’re just trying to get the best five players on the field in the secondary for us.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.