As Tennessee football running back coach DeRail Sims enters his second year with the program, he’ll have to manage the season without his bell cow back, Dylan Sampson. Instead, he has three somewhat experienced options in Duke transfer Star Thomas, redshirt sophomore DeSean Bishop and sophomore Peyton Lewis.
This brings up a question on Sims’ philosophy in rotations. A year ago, Sampson played 598 of the Vols’ snaps at halfback. The next most were Bishop at just 168 and Lewis at 130. So, will Sims go back to one running back getting the majority of reps, or will he spread it out among the three like UT has done in the past under Josh Heupel?
When meeting with the media on Tuesday, Sims didn’t seem to want to commit to a certain mentality one way or the other. Instead, he noted that the rotation is something that will take care of itself in practices leading up to and during games. There’s always a plan, but often you just have to ride the hot hand.
“Yeah, so we kind of throughout the game we go through as a staff and we kind of talk about what the rotation is going to be about,” Sims said. “The rotation takes care of itself during the week in terms of who’s competing. Who has the less (missed assignments), who’s doing a really good job protecting the football, protecting the quarterback and who’s being highly productive. I think going by that in the game, it kind of always sorts itself out. You know, you always kind of got a plan. I know last year, Dylan (Sampson) was in the first two series and then (DeSean Bishop) came in the third series. Not necessarily saying it’ll be that way this year. I think it kind of works its way through. But also, you got to look at how is the offense moving when you’re in the game. That’s why I always challenge the guys with, is it being highly productive and going up another level? Is it staying consistent when you’re in the game? I think by that token of it, it always works itself out.”
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Without Sampson, there is still an expectation that the running back room is effective. With the way Tennessee lines up on offense, it can create favorable numbers in the box.
In all of Heupel’s seasons with the Vols, the program has had an effective rush attack. Whether it’s been one primary back or a mixture of talent getting the job done, UT has done a great job of establishing the run.
“I think it’s being in a rhythm and a flow with your offense, number one,” Sims said. “I think the way that we play ball allows us to have the box counts that we do. But also at the same time, it’s a mentality. Everybody understands that we’re going to run a football in this program. And I think the mentality that the offensive line says to what the tight end said, to what we’re sitting in the running back room, that’s allowed us to be successful in the run game. And they understand that. They understand the standard and the expectation of us. Man, in this league, you got to be physical and you got to be able to run the football. No matter how many they put in the box, you got to be able to get downhill on people and go hit them in the mouth.”
The season will begin on Aug. 30 against Syracuse in Atlanta. Kickoff in Mercedes-Benz Stadium is scheduled for noon ET on ABC. The home-opener is set for the following weekend on Sept. 6 against ETSU. The SEC opener is at home against Georgia on Sept. 13.
