KNOXVILLE - Josh Dobbs is 500 miles away from the University of Tennessee campus, competing for a spot on the Pittsburgh Steelers' roster, but the former Volunteers quarterback is still serving as a resource for his alma mater.
First-year Tennessee quarterbacks coach Mike Canales said Sunday that he and the Vols' quarterbacks talked with Dobbs after his start in the Steelers' preseason opener on Friday night, a 20-12 win against the New York Giants.
"What a great example we have in Joshua Dobbs," Canales said. "To see him and what he did in his first preseason game. Then I got on the phone with him, we asked him some questions about his preparation. I was able to repeat that to what we're doing right now. What a great opportunity we have to pick up the phone, call someone who is doing it in the National Football League. It's a great resource."
What Tennessee is doing now is trying to identify Dobbs' replacement.
The Vols' Sept. 4 season opener against Georgia Tech at the Mercedes-Benz Dome in Atlanta is approaching with Jarrett Guarantano and Quinten Dormady still locked in a battle to be named the starting quarterback. Head coach Butch Jones reiterated at Sunday's preseason media day event that there is no timetable for the staff to make a decision.
"When it manifests and it happens, it happens," Jones said. "I see both individuals competing exceptionally, exceptionally hard."
Jones said Guarantano "probably had the best practice he's had" on Saturday night, when the Vols practiced in Neyland Stadium for the first time this preseason. Dormady has remained "very, very consistent," Jones added.
Little goes unnoticed by the staff in evaluating the two, both on and off the field. The ability to sling the football and understand the playbook are just the beginning of what the detail-oriented Jones is looking for.
"The mark of a good player is they elevate the play of others around them," Jones said. "I want to see our quarterback step up and elevate the play of others around them and have a command presence about them."
Every move the quarterbacks make during practice is captured on video and pored over by the coaches. Even the moments between plays are captured on what Jones called "a quarterback leadership camera."
Where the cameras stop, Jones' eyes continue.
"I watch who they sit with at the training table," Jones said. "Are they getting around other factions of the team, the offensive line, the running backs, the tight ends? Being a quarterback, there are so many demands that go into it. There's so much off the field. What are you doing off the field in terms of being around your teammates and getting to know everyone? That's where you build your trust amongst your peers. I've been very, very pleased."
Canales said the staff is having daily discussions about the quarterbacks, and the constant evaluation is "not something they're shying from."
"They come in and we have open discussions. We talk about it, the expectations, the standards and what this position entails," he said. "They want that. They want to be the starting quarterback at the University of Tennessee. It's a global position."
Behind Dormady and Guarantano, freshman Will McBride is just an injury or a transfer away from being the backup quarterback.
The prospect of a quarterback transfer "is something that's always in the back of people's minds," Canales said. But the new quarterbacks coach is counting on the relationships he has built with his players, should a conversation about a potential transfer opportunity arise.
"I believe there is no greater quarterbacks coach out there to coach my guys than me," Canales said. "I'm honest with them. I say, 'You find anyone who coaches you like I do.' They won't find it. I guarantee they won't find it, because I give them everything I've got, one-hundred and ten percent, every single day.
"I'm here to develop them and make them the best quarterback they can be at the university, and if God blesses them with that opportunity, to go on to the National Football League."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com