Tennessee tight end coach Larry Scott with Jakob JohnsonNASHVILLE - Larry Scott wasted no time bringing his exuberance to Tennessee's first spring football practice.
If you think that's simply because he's enjoying the change of scenery or was showing eagerness Monday in his first practice with the Volunteers, Tennessee's new tight ends coach would beg to differ.
"I'm always that way," Scott told the Times Free Press during a phone interview Thursday. "We're fortunate to have the opportunities that we have, and in coaching there's a lot of things that are part of our job, from executive management to administrative (responsibilities) and those types of things.
"But really what we fell in love with and our first introduction to this game, for a lot of us, was playing it. When you get back out on the grass and get back out to practice and teaching and coaching and motivating, the natural energy and passion about having the opportunity to be back out there is what kind of drives me. It just takes over. You love doing that part of it."
Part of what made joining Tennessee's staff appealing to Scott was the opportunity to return to the role of a position coach after helping Miami go 4-2 during his time as the Hurricanes' interim head coach last season. Scott took over in late October when Al Golden was fired in the midst of his fifth season leading the Hurricanes, who were 4-3 at the time and coming off a 58-0 loss to Clemson, the most lopsided defeat in program history.
Former Georgia coach Mark Richt was hired as Miami's head coach in early December, and Scott was hired by the Vols days after their Outback Bowl victory over Northwestern on New Year's Day.
After playing a vital role in the Vols' big recruiting finish last month - Scott's ties in his native Florida were instrumental in the late additions of Tyler Byrd and Latrell Williams - one of Tennessee's two new assistant coaches (defensive coordinator Bob Shoop is the other) was especially easy to spot earlier this week.
Scott is animated and loud while instructing a player during a drill or demonstrating a blocking technique.
"I'm really enjoying him being in the program," said Jason Croom, a former wide receiver who is moving to tight end for his senior season. "He brings a lot of excitement to the program. He's always up-tempo. He's always encouraging. I'm real hard on myself, and he's like, 'You're good, but next time don't make that same mistake.'"
Teaching and coaching have held Scott's interest since childhood. His interest in education was developed first by his mother, a nurse who instilled the importance of learning in Scott and his brother. That interest only grew during his playing career at South Florida.
"As a player, I was always very intrigued about the big picture," Scott said. "I played all three spots on the offensive line, but I was always into the big scheme of things. I wanted to know what the running back's job was. I wanted to know what the quarterback's read and progression were. I wanted to know what our routes were. What are we trying to do?
"I was always into it as a player with the bigger picture, and the first time I was told that I was going to be a coach was from a coach. He told me, 'You're going to be a coach one day.' At first I didn't believe it, but lo and behold, here I am."
In earning the trust and respect of his new players, Scott is taking the simple approach and being himself, which also has contributed to his success as a recruiter.
"It's a give-and-take relationship," he said. "You earn their trust, and you're learning to trust them. It's just like the stages of any relationship, but it's built around those two things. It's built around trust and respect, but it's easily earned when it's genuine and you come in and be yourself with your style of delivery. Things come natural to you being who you truly are.
"You're not trying to be something or someone that you're not, and I think over time naturally trust and respect builds. It's a process. It's a process that we're in daily. I love the game of football, so of course my natural passion and energy is going to always come through. I love to teach. I love to see improvement.
"I love to see players get better as people and as players, and I think if those things are the focus and there's no other hidden agendas, those two things - trust and respect - will eventually take care of themselves."
So far Scott likes the versatility and balance of his position group.
Ethan Wolf will be a third-year starter, and Croom should be a nice weapon in the passing game. Converted linebacker Jakob Johnson may be more of a blocking tight end, but the junior from Germany had some good catches earlier this week.
"They're not all the same, which you really like as a position coach, when you have versatility in your room where you can do different things with different guys," Scott said.
"That allows guys to carve out themselves a role on this football team so that they feel like what they're doing and how hard we ask them to work and how demanding we are of them gives them an opportunity to do something productive for our overall football team and help us win."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.