Tennessee is thrilled to have the experience of senior cornerback Kayin Lee, even if none of that experience is with the Volunteers.
Lee is a Southeastern Conference veteran, having spent his first three seasons at Auburn, where he made 36 appearances and earned 25 starts. He is not alone in his new environment, with Vols first-year cornerbacks coach Derek Jones returning to the SEC for the first time since his days as an Ole Miss graduate assistant in 1999.
“You have to coach all the guys the same,” Jones said this week in a news conference. “I think one of the things you want to make players understand as coaches is that every day is a new day, every week is a new week, every month is a new month and this is a different season. This is also a different scheme. I’m a different coach, and Kayin can’t rely on anything he’s done in the past.
“As a matter of fact, you have to coach that guy a little bit harder, because when he does things, everybody else follows. He has to be on the same page as me, and I have to be on the same page as him. In addition, I’m trying to help this kid obtain his goals here at the University of Tennessee, as well as his long-term goals.”
The Vols were off Thursday but will resume practicing Friday and will scrimmage Saturday inside Neyland Stadium for the second and final time this preseason.
Lee, a 5-foot-11, 191-pounder from Ellenwood, Georgia, has put on 17 pounds since transferring back in January. His three years at Auburn yielded 1,560 defensive snaps, 81 tackles, 17 pass breakups, three interceptions, two tackles for loss and one forced fumble.
In 648 coverage snaps combined over the past two seasons, Lee gave up only one touchdown catch, with that coming in 2024.
“I feel like I’m an older guy here,” Lee said. “I know the scheme. I know why they’re calling the calls, and that helps me play faster. When I first transferred here, I didn’t feel that I had a good feel for the playbook, but during the offseason, I took that next step of watching more film and getting into the playbook to be able to be more comfortable in the system.”
Lee, who earned the nickname “Big Play Kay” during his time at Cedar Grove High School, is expected to start at cornerback opposite sophomore Ty Redmond, who was thrust into action in last year’s opener after Rickey Gibson III sustained a season-ending elbow injury on the 19th defensive snap. The Vols were already without cornerback Jermod McCoy due to a torn ACL injury, and this year’s secondary has taken hits of its own with season-ending injuries to junior safety Edrees Farooq and senior cornerback and Miami transfer Jadais Richard.
That’s where Lee’s experience becomes an even bigger asset for Jones, new secondary coach Anthony Poindexter and new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, even though he is still learning as well.
“Kayin has been very well-coached, coming from where he was,” Jones said. “It’s just a matter of picking up the things that we’re doing. It’s a matter of elevating his game to the next level. When you look at a guy coming out of his sophomore year, you want him to be better in his junior year, and when you look at a guy in his junior year, you want him to be better in his senior year.
“My job as a coach is to go look at him and see the things that I can help him to refine and improve on, so that’s just kind of what we’ve been doing.”
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Lee has already seen his share of quality SEC receivers, and he’s getting to face two more — Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley — every day in practice.
“They’re electric,” Lee said. “They can get off the ball fast, and Mike really has speed. I think we’re the two fastest on the team, so running with him is definitely a challenge every day.”
‘Smokey Grey’ return
Tennessee announced Thursday that the Vols will wear their “Smokey Grey” uniforms on Oct. 3, when Auburn visits Neyland Stadium for the first time since 2013. The Vols and Tigers annually met from 1956 to 1991 but stopped when they were placed in opposite divisions in 1992.
This year’s Smokey Grey collaboration between the school and Adidas pays homage to legendary coach Robert Neyland.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com.