PRACTICE OBSERVATIONS
1. Coach Butch Jones quickly amped up the team’s competitive juices with three wide receiver/defensive back one-on-ones from the 5-yard line after the Vols finished their stretching period. The offense won each rep with freshmen Brandon Johnson and Tyler Byrd and junior college transfer Jeff George catching touchdown passes. Johnson hauled in a back-shoulder throw from Jarrett Guarantano against fellow freshman Baylen Buchanan, Byrd snagged a slant pass from Josh Dobbs with D.J. Henderson draped all over him and George used his 6-foot-6 frame to easily catch a fade pattern from Quinten Dormady against Marquill Osborne.2. The slimmed-down Kahlil McKenzie is moving much easier, and his conditioning already appears to be much improved over last season, when he was nearly 35 pounds heavier than he is now.3. Wide receiver Jauan Jennings (knee) looks better than expected, though coaches have been urging him only to push himself as much as he can, but defensive tackle Shy Tuttle (leg) looks to be much further away from 100 percent in terms of his movement and his conditioning.4. Running backs coach Robert Gillespie was so unhappy with how a couple of walk-ons were serving as coverage men during a kickoff-return drill that he told them to watch as he ran the scout team for the blockers.5. During one drill Brett Kendrick was working at right tackle and Chance Hall flipped over to left tackle. Hall finished last season as the starting right tackle, while Kendrick is battling Drew Richmond for the starting left tackle spot. The Vols always have worked different combinations up front with their offensive line.
KNOXVILLE - No Tennessee football newcomer took Haslam Field on Monday night for the team's first practice with more hype than Jonathan Kongbo.
The junior college defensive end transformed the perception of Tennessee's 2016 signing class when he picked the Volunteers on signing day in February, and since then he's eyed making an immediate impact for Tennessee's defense.
The 6-foot-6, 282-pounder has a long way to go in what will be just his second full season of football, but he clearly passes the eye test.
"He's a grown man," linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. said after Monday evening's practice. "I've seen him lift (weights). I haven't actually seen him practice, but he's a grown man, a man amongst boys. I'm really looking forward to seeing him on the defensive line this year."
Kongbo was rated a five-star prospect by Rivals.com and was ranked the top junior college player in the country by 247Sports.com coming out of Arizona Western, where he had 55 tackles, 16 for loss and 11 sacks last season.
Prior to winding up there, Kongbo redshirted his freshman season at Wyoming after playing football for the first time as a senior at Holy Cross High School in British Columbia. He also played basketball and ran track. Kongbo's family moved from the Congo to Canada when he was 5 years old.
Kongbo committed to Tennessee in late November after his official visit for the Vanderbilt game, reopened his recruitment in early January and picked the Vols over Ole Miss, Florida State and Southern California after whittling down his choices from an offer list including Alabama, Oregon, Florida, Ohio State, Washington and more.
"He looks good," defensive end Derek Barnett said. "He's still learning a lot of stuff. He's just raw talent right now, and he's going to be a good ballplayer for us."
As the buzz around Kongbo crested heading into August, Tennessee coach Butch Jones understandably tried to temper expectations and preach patience Monday.
"Jonathan is a very prideful young man," Jones said. "He's very, very competitive, and he wants to do well. For him, we have to be careful that we don't put too much undue pressure on him. There is no pressure. You just have to work to get better every day. And if you can just get a little bit that much better - last year we talked about becoming 1 percent better.
"If he can do that, everything will take care of itself. We have to be careful that we don't put too many expectations on him and let him develop at his own pace and be patient. The great thing is our older players will help bring him along, along with Coach Strip (defensive line coach Steve Stripling) and Coach (Bob) Shoop and everyone on the defensive side of the field.
"Sometimes we have to slow him down, which is a good thing, but he'll be fine and we have to be patient in his growth and development."
The Vols are deep and experienced at defensive end with Barnett, seniors Corey Vereen and LaTroy Lewis and junior Dimarya Mixon. Sophomore Kyle Phillips, another former five-star recruit, is a difference maker when healthy. Second-year players Darrell Taylor and Austin Smith add more depth.
With his size and Tennessee's lack of depth there, Kongbo could slide inside to tackle to help the Vols in certain situations, but such conversation is probably a little premature a couple of practices into the preseason.
There's confidence already, though, that Kongbo will help the Vols right away.
"He's going to help us this year, and everybody knows that in our (meeting) room," Barnett said. "He's the only new guy in our room. He'll be ready when the season comes, but he's just a work in progress taking it day by day.
"He's still learning our defense and stuff, and that's going to come. He's not a freshman, but when he came in he's still learning the defense. When I came in, I didn't know the defense and just grew, grew, grew each day. He's going to do that, and he's been doing that."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.