KNOXVILLE - Marcus Tatum has heard the negativity.
At this point, every University of Tennessee offensive lineman has.
For the past several seasons, many observers have considered the Volunteers' front five the root cause of the offense's struggles. Over the past two seasons, Tennessee is a combined 9-15 and has topped 400 offensive yards in just five games, winning the past three times it did so - against East Tennessee State, Texas-El Paso and Kentucky, all in 2018.
When things go wrong on the football field, there is almost always blame to share, but in the case of Tennessee's offense it seems like much of it has fallen at the feet of an offensive line criticized as being too small to endure the rigors of Southeastern Conference play.
On the recruiting trail and in the weightroom, the Vols are working to change that. Jeremy Pruitt, hired to replace Butch Jones as head coach in December 2017, and strength and conditioning coach Craig Fitzgerald have emphasized developing the size of an O-line that had players as light as 260 pounds trying to block 300-pound defensive linemen last year.
Tennessee offensive line coach Will Friend, shown during a home game against UTEP last September, said the only way for his players to gain confidence is to perform well on the playing field.A redshirt junior who started the Vols' final five games of 2018 at left tackle, the 6-foot-6 Tatum has gone from 265 pounds as a freshman in 2016 to 281 in '17 to 293 last year, and he's currently listed at 316.
The position group has four true freshmen on scholarship, with two of them competing for starting positions, and their presence has added to the expectation the O-line will be better. The linemen themselves have put forth that expectation.
"I'm just tired of losing," Tatum said. "It's really embarrassing to go out there and have everybody blame it on us. It usually is our fault most of the time. I just want to make a difference. I don't want to be that whole excuse of why we are losing and why this university is falling apart."
So the offensive linemen have banded together, with Tatum's size gain perhaps the biggest leap for the group and one that should have him more prepared to compete in the SEC. Others returning members of the line have made progress, too, possibly pushed by the addition of 2019 signees Chris Akporoghene, Jackson Lampley, Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright, with the latter two excellent candidates for playing time this season.
Such competition could lead to improvement throughout the group, and Vols offensive line coach Will Friend knows his players are eager to show they're better.
"I think they all feel like they've played a big part in it," Friend said in reference to the team's struggles, "and I'm sure there are a lot of places that haven't been as successful as they've wanted, and I know they feel like they've been a part of that and they've tried to prove that.
"They're not the only reason why. I do feel like they feel like they're one of the main areas to improve, which it definitely needed to be. I think they sensed that and are tired of having that problem."
If nothing else, the new recruits have helped the line's depth after the Vols were down to six or seven healthy players at the position at times last season. Friend and Pruitt have not yet revealed a starting five, which has kept the competition alive, but with the Aug. 30 season opener against Georgia State closing in, decisions on the first group will be made soon.
Friend noted "nobody has really jumped out and said, 'I'm the guy, you can't get me off the field.'"
Whether that's positive or negative depends on the level of play across the group, but what's clear is the competition to get on the field has been tight. If what emerges is an improved group, Tatum might no longer have to be tired of the line being blamed, and he might not have to be tired of losing so often either.
"The truth of the matter is that those guys haven't had a lot of success," Friend said. "I think that like in anything else, confidence is a big part of what you're trying to do and be successful. I think with being confident, a lot of it is growing and being stronger and knowing what to do better allows you to be more confident, so by being just a year older has helped them there.
"It's time for us to get this program turned around and going in the right direction. The only way for them to gain confidence is do it and do it right and do it well, and anything else is just going to be talking about it."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.