KNOXVILLE - Darrell Taylor was one of the last Tennessee football players to depart Haslam Field after the Volunteers wrapped up their fourth spring practice Tuesday afternoon.
Even after finishing his media obligations, the third-year defensive end felt he needed some extra work with a padded blocking dummy.
Such are the requirements when you're trying to live up to the hype of your teammates and coaches and become more than the most popular hashtags of Tennessee's 2016 season.
"I'm determined to prove (something to) a lot of people," Taylor said, "but that comes with work, that comes with patience, that comes with time in the weight room and on the field, just practicing stuff and doing things and repetitions and things like that."
To many of his teammates, Taylor is a special player just waiting for the chance to shine. The 6-foot-4, 254-pounder from Virginia looks like he was generated in a factory for pass-rushers. His long arms, chiseled frame and freak athletic ability - he's one of the fastest players on the team - predict success.
Yet his career resume includes just nine tackles, one tackle for loss, a pass break-up and three hurries, and most of that came when he was unleashed on Tennessee Tech last November.
Taylor's bigger claim to fame last season was the hashtag (#WGWTFA) that grew a life of its own after a short video went viral of him declaring the Vols were going to "whoop their (expletives)" when asked by a fan as he waited to take the field against Virginia Tech at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The main reason Taylor's role was so limited as a redshirt freshman was the presence of All-American Derek Barnett, who rarely left the field, and two seniors in Corey Vereen and LaTroy Lewis, and while the Vols slid most of their defensive ends inside when injuries ravaged them at tackle, Taylor was too light to play inside.
"It's frustrating," Taylor admitted, "but you've just got to work hard every day, and when your time comes you've got to answer."
Barnett, Vereen and Lewis now are all gone and took 50.5 careers sacks with them, so Taylor's time is now.
"We're trying to fill those same shoes," Taylor said. "It won't be the same, you know, because we've got different players, but I feel like we learned a lot from them. Me and Jonathan Kongbo and the rest of the D-linemen learned a lot from them about pass rush and run-down things and many other things."
Tennessee coach Butch Jones praised Taylor for becoming one of the more vocal leaders on a new-look team, and Taylor said he's just trying to lead by example by working hard on and off the field.
"He's still work in progress, and he's doing a very, very good job," Jones said. "The thing I like about him is he's really trying to lead our football team. He's holding himself to a very high standard, a very high standard of expectations, and he's holding his teammates around him (accountable) as well.
"I know our players respect him. He's been outward and vocal, and he's put in the work. He's work in progress. He's going to continue to get better each and every day."
Quick hitters
» Center Coleman Thomas will miss the next few practices after undergoing an appendectomy Monday night.
"He had a procedure sometime last night," Jones said. "He's doing well. Time frame, it could be a week, it could be two weeks, we'll know a little bit more in a couple days. But he's doing great."
» With Thomas out, working with the first group on the offensive line during the open portion of practice were Drew Richmond, Ryan Johnson, Jashon Robertson, Jack Jones and Trey Smith, who is getting work at both tackle spots.
Robertson, Jack Jones and Johnson are getting work at center.
» Jones spent most of the open period of practice speaking with Jerry Glanville, the former head coach of the NFL's Houston Oilers and Atlanta Falcons who now lives in Knoxville, though he made the team redo the second period of practice and demanded the quarterbacks set a better tone to drills and the skill players not to drop passes.
» Cornerbacks Justin Martin and Baylen Buchanan practiced in noncontact jerseys.
» Some of the last players to leave the practice field Tuesday were wide receivers Latrell Williams and Brandon Johnson, who stuck around to get some extra work in with new position coach Kevin Beard.
Defensive tackles Quay Picou and Kahlil McKenzie also stayed well after practice ended for some extra drill work.
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.