KNOXVILLE – Nothing but an opportunity to compete for playing time was promised to Warren Burrell when he signed with Tennessee and enrolled in January.
Circumstances gave him a chance to not only play for the Volunteers but find a way into the starting lineup for the season opener – and he hasn’t left it.
The 6-foot, 176-pound cornerback from North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, Georgia, is among the first-year players coach Jeremy Pruitt has counted on in his second season leading Tennessee. The next test for the Vols (1-3, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) comes Saturday against No. 3 Georgia (4-0, 1-0) in a 7 p.m. game at Neyland Stadium that will be televised by ESPN.
Entering the preseason, Tennessee’s starting cornerbacks appeared to be sophomores Alontae Taylor and Bryce Thompson. However, Thompson missed two games after being suspended while facing a misdemeanor domestic assault charge – it was later dropped – and wasn’t reinstated to practice until Sept. 11, and Taylor has struggled.
Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Warren Burrell (4), a freshman cornerback, is one of two players in the Tennessee secondary who has started every game this season. Senior safety Nigel Warrior is the other.Burrell started the first two games opposite Taylor, but after Taylor gave up a long pass that contributed to a 29-26 double-overtime loss to BYU, he was replaced by junior Kenneth George in the starting lineup the following week against the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Even before Thompson’s suspension, though, Burrell had been pushing Taylor for a starting spot.
“It’s been kind of surreal to be able to make an impact so early on,” Burrell said Tuesday. “It’s a big deal, something I don’t take for granted. The thing about it is, no matter what level you’re at, football is football. You go out there, play to the best of your ability and try your best to make an impact out there.”
When Thompson returned for the Vols’ SEC opener Sept. 21 at Florida, he replaced George, making Burrell and senior safety Nigel Warrior the only two players in the Tennessee secondary who have started every game this season.
Burrell has 10 tackles, with his season high four against BYU.
“I think Warren has been one of our better players on defense,” Pruitt said on Sept. 11, four days after that loss to the Cougars. “He gave up a few passes last week, but we were playing off cover three; that’s the weakness of the defense. He’s tackled well, he’s been in the right spots, he’s got some guys cut off in the back end. He’s an instinctive guy that needs to develop play strength.”
Pruitt noted Burrell will have to get stronger and “take care of his body so he can survive the season,” but one thing Burrell said he doesn’t have to work on much is his confidence, which he said is “one of the most important things as a DB” at any level of football.
It was Pruitt’s pedigree as a developer of defensive backs during his time as an assistant for programs including Alabama and Georgia that led Burrell to want to come to Tennessee. The combination of the head coach and first-year defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley – the secondary coach for the Oakland Raiders last season before coming back to Knoxville for a second stint – obviously has been good for him.
Burrell admitted to a few freshman mistakes he must address, but he said he’s committed to continuing to improve as part of a signing class that believes it can help change the fortunes of a program tied with Kentucky and Vanderbilt for fewest SEC wins this decade (21).
“I’m a person who wants to win,” he said. “That’s what I’m used to doing, so we’re going to come out here day by day and try to get better because we’re going to get Tennessee back to where it’s supposed to be, which is winning.”
He’s getting that opportunity.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.