KNOXVILLE – Todd Kelly Jr. broke into a smile early Friday afternoon when asked how putting on full football pads instead of running around in a helmet and shorts might change Friday night’s practice for the Tennessee football team.
“Coach (Butch) Jones is probably going to say the same thing he’s said my first three years,” said Kelly, the senior safety whose father starred for the Volunteers at the dawn of the 1990s.
“He’s going to say, ‘Don’t get too focused on full pads. Let’s still be smart. Putting pads on doesn’t mean you can just throw your body around. Let’s continue to play fundamental football.'”
And that’s certainly one way to look at how both Tennessee and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football programs probably should have approached their first practices in full gear, which were scheduled to take place Friday night at both schools.
But UTC equipment manager Mike Royster – now an assistant athletic director for equipment and facilities who’s beginning his 44th year at the school – has a somewhat different view.