Tennessee’s defensive front endured one of the most tumultuous seasons of any position group in college football last autumn.
Volunteers defensive linemen began last season under the tutelage of position coach Jimmy Brumbaugh, but Brumbaugh was fired by head coach Jeremy Pruitt after the fourth game, which was the 34-7 loss to Kentucky inside Neyland Stadium. Though Pruitt took over Brumbaugh’s responsibilities the rest of the way, the defensive linemen never showed any improvement as the program veered into a 3-7 ditch.
The defensive front is now under Rodney Garner’s guidance, and new Vols head coach Josh Heupel liked what he saw Saturday during Tennessee’s second spring scrimmage inside Neyland.
“Without watching the tape, I thought the defense as a whole made some strides today,” Heupel said on a Zoom call. “I thought our front four did a great job of playing on the other side of the line of scrimmage and being disruptive and getting after the quarterback. I thought there were tons of positives on both sides overall.”
Saturday marked the final scrimmage before Tennessee stages its Orange & White Game next Saturday, with that contest having a 4 p.m. start.