KNOXVILLE - The conversations between Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop and his brother, John, may have developed a new theme and increased in frequency in recent days.
When the Volunteers host Florida on Saturday, the Gators plan to start backup quarterback Austin Appleby, who played for John Shoop the past two seasons at Purdue.
"I talk to my brother all the time any way," Bob joked Wednesday. "The quarterback situation at Florida may have come up."
That connection came up plenty during Shoop's 15-minute media session Wednesday, and after the fourth question about it he just laughed.
"You guys are killing me," Shoop said playfully. "We want to win here, don't we? Am I supposed to tell you all the things I know about the guy?"
The Shoops never coached against each other in the Big Ten while John was at Purdue and Bob was at Penn State, but they faced off in 2010 when John's North Carolina beat Bob's William & Mary 21-17.
John was Purdue's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach the previous three seasons, and under him Appleby played in 17 games with 11 starts and threw the same number of touchdowns as interceptions (19).
"My brother gave him a tremendous compliment," Bob said. "He compared him to Ben Roethlisberger in the pocket. He said he's a big, strong kid. We're very well aware of that. He's got people hanging on his body and can throw the ball. He played very well against Michigan State a couple years ago. He's played in big games.
"He's not going to be intimidated by this environment. He's a fifth-year senior who is mature and highly football intelligent. My brother said he prepares very, very hard, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. He's the type of guy that's a great story in college football, and I certainly wish him the best of luck in every game but this weekend."
Appleby announced in January he would leave the Boilermakers as a graduate transfer who would be immediately eligible at the program he chose, and Florida was in the market with former Alabama walk-on and Oregon State transfer Luke Del Rio and Treon Harris the only returning quarterbacks on the roster. Harris wound up leaving in July.
In two appearances for the Gators, the 6-foot-4, 240-pound Appleby attempted only five passes against Kentucky and North Texas and completed two of them for 30 yards against the latter after starter Del Rio was injured.
Part of the preparation for Tennessee's defense this week includes watching film of Appleby's games at Purdue and readying for Florida to throw in a wrinkle of playing either of its two freshmen quarterbacks, Feleipe Franks or Kyle Trask.
"The analogy is the NFL veteran quarterback who signs as a free agent and competes for the starting job," Shoop said. "That's what he is. This was the best option for him, and he's going to be ready to go."
Both Shoop and Tennessee head coach Butch Jones recruited Appleby out of Hoover High School in North Canton, Ohio, when they were at Vanderbilt and Cincinnati, respectively, so there's familiarity there for a player set for his first Southeastern Conference start.
"They have very, very good players around the quarterback position," Jones said. "That's the thing - they're not going to ask their quarterback to win the game. They're going to ask him to manage the game. When you have a big, strong, very imposing offensive line, when you play a number of running backs that are very good football players and then when you have the speed they have out on the perimeter, you just have to manage the football game. Austin has played in a lot of games.
"I know a lot about him (because) we recruited him when we were at Cincinnati. He's played in a lot of meaningful games. He has experience, he's mature, and I know they're very, very confident, and rightfully so."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.