The Tennessee Volunteers employed the quickest offensive tempo in college football last season, averaging 474.9 yards and 39.3 points per game.
Jalin Hyatt missed out on a lot of that fun.
After amassing 276 yards and 13.8 yards per reception as a freshman in 2020, Hyatt's numbers dipped to 226 yards and 10.8 per catch last season as Velus Jones Jr. took control of the slot position with 62 catches for 807 yards and seven touchdowns. Hyatt admitted this spring to being "complacent" after the coaching transition from Jeremy Pruitt to Josh Heupel and echoed those sentiments Thursday as the Vols resumed preseason workouts following Wednesday's day off.
"Last year was hard on me," Hyatt said in a news conference. "I lost my confidence and didn't really know the offense as well as I know it this year. I wasn't going as hard last year.
"I think Velus helped me a lot when he was here. He stood up and took over the role when I couldn't, but this year I'm locked in. I'm ready to go."
Hyatt is competing under his third position coach in as many years, with the 6-foot, 180-pounder - he played at 164 pounds last season - out of Irmo, South Carolina, having worked for Tee Martin as a freshman, Kodi Burns last season and Kelsey Pope now. Pope was an offensive analyst for the Vols last season and was promoted in early March after Burns became the receivers coach for the NFL's New Orleans Saints.
Having witnessed Hyatt's struggles a year ago, Pope has liked what he's seen so far in camp.
"Jalin Hyatt seems like a different guy mentally," Pope said. "Physically, he's gained about eight to 10 pounds. The competitiveness he showed last year he's channeling in a different direction. You see him respond the right way. You see him coach guys up when he's not in.
"He's really taken on that accountability role for himself and also the group."
With Jones and JaVonta Payton having moved on from last season's 7-6 team that finished third in the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division and reached the Music City Bowl before losing to Purdue in overtime, Hyatt is Tennessee's second-leading returning receiver behind preseason All-America candidate Cedric Tillman.
Hyatt would appear to be the likely choice to complement Tillman, who amassed 64 receptions for 1,081 yards and 12 scores a season ago, but Pope said there is still that significant concept of him going out there and doing it.
"If we have 10 good practices and then on Saturday he doesn't show up, you don't like that result," Pope said. "It's a matter of staying on him and not giving him any leeway. Sometimes he gets annoyed seeing my face, but you've got to stay on him."
Hyatt is not lacking for support, crediting both Burns and Jones for their guidance last season and Pope now. It's why there wasn't a peep about Hyatt transferring when last season was over.
"I never had any conversations about leaving," Hyatt said. "This offense is going to be the best in the country. I didn't want to leave at all."
Receiver-friendly
With Tillman and Jones having combined for 25 receptions during Pruitt's third and final season in 2020 and then combining for 126 last year, Pope is definitely out and about on the recruiting trail touting how receiver-friendly Tennessee's offense will be moving forward.
"It's a message to the younger guys in high school who are looking for an offense to be really prolific in," Pope said. "You see Ced and Velus and what they did before we got here, and you see what they did when we got here, and it's like something out of a movie, but it's real.
"You see us at practice, and it's a different guy every day who's able to get touches and show what they have."
Odds and ends
When asked about his freshman receivers, Pope described Squirrel White as "phenomenal" and Chas Nimrod as "a pleasant surprise." ... Pope said sophomore Walker Merrill "plays harder than anybody on the field." ... Merrill said he wears a dark visor in practice due to "ongoing migraine problems" since sixth grade ... Southern California transfer receiver Bru McCoy is "a physical specimen," according to Pope, who added that the former five-star signee is having to rebuild his stamina after sitting out last season.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.