UT's Kahlil McKenzie celebrates a recovered fumble in the game against Western Carolina Saturday, September 19, 2015 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.KNOXVILLE - Kahlil McKenzie hopped on the scale not expecting to see the number he spent months trying to reach.
The Tennessee defensive tackle underestimated himself.
The mammoth sophomore is a little smaller nowadays after dropping roughly 15 pounds this offseason to weigh in at 315 as the Volunteers began preseason practices.
"It was kind of a shock, to be honest," McKenzie admitted Tuesday. "I didn't think it was really going to happen, but it's a great feeling getting back down to that weight.
"You just feel a lot better and you can move a lot better, and you're not winded as easily."
A lighter and slimmer McKenzie could be poised for a big second season with the Vols.
The former five-star recruit was expected to set the world on fire right away, but those expectations were never realistic, especially for a player who sat out his 12th-grade year because he was ruled ineligible after transferring from one high school to another.
The last time McKenzie played at his current weight was his junior year at California powerhouse De La Salle, where he had 74 tackles and 12 sacks.
"I definitely see him being more explosive than he was his freshman year," Tennessee defensive end Corey Vereen said. "That's a good sign. He's using his hands better. We were really on him last year about using his hands and not just shouldering people. This is the SEC: You have to use good hand work and violence to get off blocks."
McKenzie arrived on Tennessee's campus last summer weighing closer to 350 pounds, and though the coaching staff was pleased the shape he was in then, they've been on him to drop weight to improve his conditioning.
Reaching his goal required an overhaul of McKenzie's mindset to eat and train a certain way.
"You've just got to be smart with your body," he said. "You know what to put in your body. We watch a lot of things on NFL players and what they do that makes them great. If you put McDonald's in your body, you're going to perform like McDonald's. You've just got to know what to eat and how to train.
"Really it's conditioning your mind to be able to take that next step, to be able to say no to McDonald's when you know it's an easy meal or not going as hard in a rep or a run or a sprint in the summer."
During the first week of practice McKenzie already could feel the weight loss paying dividends.
"I'm not dying by the halfway point of practice," he joked. "Being able to perform at a high level in practice is really what has helped me the most, and being able to go full speed the whole practice. I've got guys around me who are always going full speed on the defensive line, the defense and offense."
The offensive linemen blocking McKenzie have noticed how the weight loss has changed how he plays.
"He was one of our heavier guys, but now he's moving quicker," guard Dylan Wiesman said after Saturday's practice. "It used to be when you were with Kahlil, you had to bear down and really get ready for him. Now you have to be ready for him to move and shake and push and pull and all that stuff."
As a rotational player last season, McKenzie finished with only one tackle for loss, a sack against Missouri in the season's 11th game, but the expectations are much higher for his second season and the Vols are expecting a rejuvenated, more confident version of the McKenzie they saw a year ago.
"I always said that, at 300-and-whatever he was last year, he was more athletic than I thought, but he needed to toughen up," first-year defensive coordinator Bob Shoop said. "He's plenty big enough. It's all in his butt and his legs as you watch him out there. He's still big enough and strong enough, and now he's even quicker and more athletic.
"It's kind of done something for his mentality and his toughness, too, and I feel like he's got a little bit more confidence in himself after having lost the weight. I think he can play more than a handful snaps at a time. It's critical that he loses that weight so he can execute at a high level for multiple plays in a row."
McKenzie may not be as big as he was last season, but he should be much better.
"He looks a lot faster," linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin said. "There's been a couple times in practice the quarterback gets out of the pocket, normally plays where they would have scrambled out, and Kahlil's right there on them giving them a good chasing and keeping them under pressure.
"I just want him to keep improving. I think he's made great strides from the spring. Even from last year to the spring and from the spring to now, I think he's continuing to improve. If he stays on the track, he'll be a great D-tackle for us."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.