KNOXVILLE – Haslam Field, the site of Tennessee’s football practices, has a different look about it these days, and it’s not because of the orange temporary fencing hinting at the coming expansion to that space at the heart of campus.
The new look is because such household names as Josh Dobbs, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Derek Barnett and Cameron Sutton have moved on, leaving the new-look Volunteers searching for new mainstays.
There are some veteran holdovers, however, and the primary one on defense is linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr., the former freshman phenom whose promising second season never got off the ground due to a significant ankle injury.
For the most part, the heart-and-soul players he watched and played alongside the first two years of his career are gone, and Kirkland has taken the responsibility to fill the void upon himself.
“Like I was telling my father, it’s my third spring now,” Kirkland said after Thursday’s second spring practice. “It’s a lot different, because I’ve always been a good player surrounded by great players. Now I’m kind of the last Mohican now, so I find myself being the main guy, the leader of the defense, and I’ve embraced that role.