KNOXVILLE – The injury situation for Tennessee’s defensive line is to the point where even position coach Steve Stripling is wearing an arm sling as he guides what’s left of his group through spring practice.
Seriously.
“I’m just trying to be one of the guys,” Stripling joked last week.
At minimum the Volunteers are operating without six defensive linemen this spring. Ends Derek Barnett, Kyle Phillips and Andrew Butcher and tackles Shy Tuttle and Kendal Vickers are unavailable as they recover from offseason surgeries. Tackle Alexis Johnson remains suspended after his arrest last month.
Additionally, Corey Vereen’s participation is limited by a conflicting class schedule, and the Vols hold a guy out of practice every now and then.
All the absences have left Stripling and Tennessee a small group of young linemen, but there’s no slowing down.
“I just keep telling them to embrace it,” Stripling said. “It’s an opportunity to get reps and an opportunity to get better. It’s a great chance to work on your mental toughness, because that’s something that as a defensive lineman, it’s a really big part of the makeup of a D-lineman.
“It’s hard to practice, except for taking a lot of reps, getting tired and pushing through.”
Four of the seven healthy scholarship defensive linemen are entering their second years with the Vols, and that group – tackles Kahlil McKenzie and Quay Picou and ends Austin Smith and Darrell Taylor – is getting as much work as it can handle.
“It’s just a great opportunity for those guys, and we have to be smart,” defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said last week. “Obviously you can’t kill them every single day, so that we can have good scrimmages when we want to go live and tempo things the way we want to tempo them.
“It’s great experience for Austin Smith and Darrell Taylor out there at the defensive end. They’ve got good leaders ahead of them. LaTroy does a great job leading those guys.
“Danny O’Brien’s been a good leader. Kahlil’s a massive dude. I’ve been excited watching Quay continue to develop. He always says, ‘Don’t underestimate me, Coach.'”
The limited numbers, though bolstered by a few walk-ons, mean those linemen often play a handful of consecutive snaps without substitutions, which is building their conditioning and toughness.
Stripling has no problem throwing those underclassmen into those comfortable situations and letting them learn the hard way what it takes to become an SEC-caliber defensive lineman.
“They’re young and they haven’t experienced it yet, but there’s certain young men like Barnett and Phillips that had that kind of built in when they got here,” he said. “It showed up day one. It’s great that they’re behind them and they’re talking to them about it and they’re encouraging them.
“I think the older guys, the ones that are out, have done a great job of coaching – watching the footwork, watching the hand placement and those kinds of things. It’s one thing if Coach Ollie (graduate assistant Nathan Ollie) or myself are yelling at them, but it’s different if Derek or one of the guys is talking to them about it. It’s good stuff.”
Redshirt freshman Taylor and converted linebacker Smith remains projects, though both have flashed some signs of promise this spring, particularly in pass-rushing situations.
“You don’t even recognize him,” Stripling said of Taylor. “He walks in the room and he looks like a totally different person. His numbers are unbelievable. He’s put on so much weight. His energy level continues to just be outstanding. He’s really developed.
“Austin Smith is going through some of those growing pains moving from linebacker,” he added. “Today we hit the sled. Well, some of the guys that haven’t hit a thousand times, that sled was winning some reps today.
“It’s great experience for Darrell and Austin.”
Listed at 6-foot-1 and 266 pounds, Picou is the opposite of the mammoth McKenzie, but his agility and quickness have been noticeable at various points in the spring’s first six practices.
“He’s a change of pace,” Stripling said. “It’s like our tailbacks. There’s different styles. He adds a different dimension. I always tell him to play to his strengths, which is the mobility (and) the quicks.
“Quay is one of the young men that mental toughness is an issue, where he’s got to fight through some things. When he learns to do that and learns to utilize his assets – the quickness and the speed – I think he can be a really good player.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.