KNOXVILLE - Hundreds of high school football coaches from East Tennessee and beyond patrolled the sidelines at the University of Tennessee's Haslam Field on Thursday afternoon, getting a glimpse of how first-year Volunteers coach Jeremy Pruitt does things on the practice field.
It was the start of the program's coaches clinic, which will feature David Cutcliffe, Phillip Fulmer and Peyton Manning as keynote speakers Friday and continue through Saturday, when the visiting coaches will watch the Vols scrimmage at Neyland Stadium for the first time this spring.
"We want to make our coaches clinic the best in the country," Pruitt said. "Like everything else, we are starting over."
Pruitt has said he wishes for the Tennessee program to be the most accessible in the country to high school coaches. If the turnout at Thursday's practice was any indication, Pruitt and his staff are off to a good start. Coaches from as far as West Virginia - and some from the Chattanooga area - were spotted on the sidelines during practice.
Sprinkled into the weekend's lineup of speakers is University of Tennessee at Chattanooga wrestling coach Heath Eslinger, who will lead a Fellowship of Christian Athletes breakfast Saturday morning at Thompson-Boling Arena.
"My goal every time I speak to coaches is just to encourage them to address the human side of the athlete," said Eslinger, who has built a reputation as a motivational speaker since taking over the UTC wrestling program in 2009.
"About seven years ago, I realized how trainwrecked the sports world was," Eslinger said. "I had two options: I can be a part of the problem or part of the solution, and I just kind of made it a vow that I was going to be part of the solution, no matter how big or small that part was."
Eslinger said he is anxious to meet Pruitt and Tennessee's new staff and hopefully learn some things even as he imparts his wisdom to the gathered coaches.
"Really, my goal Saturday morning is to get them to kind of look a little deeper and not just develop strategies on how they can have a better defense, have a better offense or a better special teams," Eslinger said, "but how do we develop a better culture of team in a society where nothing really points to team anymore."
New Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel, New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, and coaches from NCAA Division II national champion Texas A&M-Commerce and Division III national champion Mount Union will also speak at the event.
"We are going to have a bunch of great guys coming in here to share," Pruitt said. "I'm excited about that, and I'm thankful these guys are doing it for us."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.