Tennessee defensive linemen work through a drill during practice Tuesday at Haslam Field in Knoxville.KNOXVILLE - Because there is so much Tennessee doesn't know about its defensive line, there needs to be one thing it can count on from its group of big guys up front in 2018.
"Kyle Phillips, Shy Tuttle, Paul Bain and Alexis Johnson are going to need to play well," first-year Volunteers head coach Jeremy Pruitt said last week before preseason practices began. "If you look at the teams that have age on them, sometimes it equals success."
In Sunday's open practice at Neyland Stadium, it did equal some success for the defense, which managed to consistently pressure quarterbacks Keller Chryst and Jarrett Guarantano.
Bain, Johnson, Phillips and Tuttle are seniors, and three of them were pegged as tackles in Tennessee's 4-3 defensive front last season, when the Vols finished a dismal 4-8. Now that Pruitt and his 3-4 front are in place, there is technically just one tackle, but that's not going to stop Tennessee from getting multiple tackle-type bodies onto the field at once to try to stuff opposing running backs.
The more of those veterans Tennessee can cross-train to play any position on the defensive line, the less it will have to rely on the group of relative unknowns comprising the rest of the position group's depth chart.
Junior college transfer Emmit Gooden provides an intriguing option on the defensive line, while sophomores Kivon Bennett and Matthew Butler played sparingly a year ago. Greg Emerson, Kurott Garland, Kingston Harris and John Mincey are freshmen who bring depth but are still acclimating to the college game.
"We need to be leaders because, for the young people coming in, they are still trying to come into their own groove and their own rhythm in the team," Bain said. "Especially when you are coming into a situation like this, it can be very shaky and very nerve-wracking for a young player. So, it is essential for older players like myself to help them and nurture them.
"It's a lot of change coming from high school to here. You aren't talking about playing with 15- to 18-year-olds. You are talking about 18- to 23-year-old grown men."
Defensive coordinator Kevin Sherrer said the Vols would like to rotate "as many as we can" through the defensive front, perhaps even three deep at each spot.
"We're going to play as many guys as we can because that's our philosophy," Sherrer said. "We're not going to go out there and keep guys fresh on the sidelines. We're going to put them in and let them play."
Pruitt added in regards to the defensive line that "everyone that we can get that know how to play and knows the intangibles that we want to play with will help us."
It all starts with the senior four, though.
"Those four guys are the only seniors we have up front with the exception of (outside linebacker) Jonathan Kongbo," Pruitt said, "so we need them to play well."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidWCobb and on Facebook at facebook.com/volsupdate.