Tennessee football was back at practice on Monday morning as it prepares for the spring Orange & White Game in early April. After practice, Vols wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator Kelsey Pope met with the media.
Pope was asked about his returning stars, positions up for grabs, five-star freshman TK Keys and more.
Here’s what he said.
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On the spring Radarious Jackson and Travis Smith are having as they try to replace Chris Brazzell
“Funny you mention that. We kind of try to always pull video evidence of where it got started and where they are now. Today, we had one of those sessions, kind of singled out those two from a year ago to now. Both of them are playing fast. Their growth opportunities are kind of in different directions, but they’re both urgent. They’re both competitive. Both their bodies are changing a lot. They look like completely different people than a year ago. So, I’ve been pleased. I think the rest of spring ball and going into fall camp, they guys continuing to do the little things to separate themselves. So, that’s the emphasis the rest of the way for those two specifically.”
What is similar and different about their skill sets (Radarious Jackson, Travis Smith)
“I think similarities is the glaring thing. They’re both really big receivers. Both of those guys got a lot of lanes, big frames and they look like SEC guys. For a guy like Rad (Radarious Jackson), he just brings the tenacity and the physicality that you can’t coach. He reminds you of the old school wideouts back in the day when there were no rules and everything went. That’s helped him a ton. Travis (Smith) is a bigger athlete, but he’s so fluid for his size. The things that he can do with his size are special because of his hips and the way that he’s loose and his ability to have ankle flexion at the top of the route. What I try to preach to those guys is to just be you. Don’t be something that you feel like coach Pope thinks you should be or something that you’ve seen. You go be you and the rest will take care of itself.”
On TK Keys getting criticism from a social media clip while practice not at 100 percent
“I think it’s a bunch of different lessons in those instance. Clips go around all the time. A year ago, a clip went out of us dropping the ball in spring practice and everybody went crazy. These guys came out and had one of the best years from receiving corps that you’ve seen in school history. The first message is, we never pay attention to what’s going on online. Even if you’re aware of it, you’ve got to just let it go and do you. Trust your process and whatever that is.
“Tristen, from a readiness standpoint and a preparation standpoint, he’s been as good of a freshman as I’ve been around. He’s competitive. He cares. He’s a sponge. He wants to go over those things. He almost sometimes wants to know too much. You’ve got to slow him down because he just wants to take in all the information at once, which can be harmful sometimes for freshmen. He’s been really good. He’s in the building every time that you need him to be. He’s in the building next to you. He’s coming in early. He’s staying late. From a preparation standpoint, he’s serious about what he’s doing and where he’s trying to get to.
“For us as a staff, we’ve got to make sure that we’re intentional with his workload and the physical capabilities that we’re putting him under. He’s coming along. His timeline is ahead of schedule and we’re looking forward to him getting back here pretty soon.”
On the transition to a new quarterback for the wide receivers, and if there is an adjustment to catching passes from different guys
“In general, there’s really not. Some guys have got more zip on the ball than others, but both of those guys (George MacIntyre and Faizon Brandon) are pretty comparable. The only time you talk about a difference from a receiver’s perspective that you’ve got to get used to is when you’ve got a left-handed guy. I think that spin is a little unique. We’ve got to work some things to emulate that, but with both of those guys being righties and (Ryan) Staub being a righty, like we’re just kind of playing ball and controlling what we control no matter who’s back there.”
On adding the title of passing game coordinator this offseason and what that entails for his role on the staff
“It’s a cool title, but I’m just still doing the same things. I’m trying to invest every day. I’m trying to come up with new ways for us to use certain skill sets that we have, like we’ve got a lot of different skill sets in the building now than what we’re used to. You’ve got three or four guys that are standing over 6-2, 6-3. You’ve got three or four guys that are hitting 21, 22 miles per hour consistently.
“So we’re getting more volume with high-caliber athlete(s). So for me and from my perspective, like I want to go find new things that can help us and that fits us, but new things to where we can expose defenses and take advantage of those type of skill sets. In general I’m kind of doing the same things that I’ve been doing. I would like to think that I’ve operated with that title before it was given to me. Coach Heup was just gracious enough to go ahead and do that, so that’s the only difference.”
On keeping Braylon Staley and Mike Matthews motivated coming off breakout seasons, and if the approach with them is different or similar because of their personalities
“They are different. They are motivated by different things. I think you see that super early in the recruiting process. Once you start to get to know these guys and you can implement it, and the way you motivate guys who have had success is you motivate them with success. We talk about failure and persevering and getting through hard times, but success is just as hard to be able to overcome because it fattens you. It makes guys big-headed a lot, so a lot of times that’s exactly what you have to fight.
“I give those type of guys a lot of personal experiences of pitfalls or hurdles that I’ve dealt with in those same instances, and that’s helped me a ton being able to get through to them early. Mike and Braylon are unique because both of those guys are headstrong. They’re both really, really ambitious and they want to be perfect. They’re perfectionists. So I don’t have to give a lot of speeches for them. I’ve just got to make sure I’m putting things in big-picture perspective for them, and usually when I do that, guys like those two, they end up meeting that standard and exceeding it every single day.”
How Braylon Staley and Mike Matthews have taken control of the wide receiver room as the older guys at the position
“It’s weird, it feels like just yesterday they were coming in here and they were the young guys that everyone was wanting to know about. But it’s gratifying to see those kids come in with big eyes and curiosity and not really knowing what’s to come – really a lot of them of unknowns.
“They buy-in to a program. They buy-in to a coach. They see success, and now they’re preaching the same things that I’m preaching. Sometimes I’ve got to stop them, because they sound like me from saying the same things because they’ve heard it for two years now. I’m super proud of the way that they’ve taken on that role off the field. They took guys to spring break. They went somewhere in Florida or something like that. They’re actually doing a good job of keeping the camaraderie together in that room.
“I’m blessed to be in that room because it’s no selfishness. Nobody’s got individual agendas, and it starts with those two. It starts from the top. So when those guys go about their business that way, it kind of trickles down, and it’s a positive effect on the room.”
On recruiting after adjustments to the offense
“Yeah, I think that’s a good question. I think in recruiting, people just want to know the truth. They go to these schools and everybody says what they say. When they get here, it’s my job to kind of anticipate that. Before they even ask questions, to already have answers. When they sit down, and I’m able to show them those things, I kind of already know what people are saying about us because I overcame it. We’ve overcome it a lot before.
“So, sitting them down and showing them the truth of what we’re actually doing and giving them proof of concept, I think is the biggest thing. Recruits just want to know the truth. And the other thing I tell them is this. There’s a lot that’s evolved since we got to Tennessee. When I got in this building, we weren’t getting a bunch of five-stars in here. We weren’t having SEC Freshman of the Year. And so, literally everything that we’ve done here has been created on our own. I know a lot of people try to take credit for what we’re doing here.
“I appreciate this and that, but, you know, Tennessee’s been successful at widening the offense consistently over the last couple of years because of who’s in this building. And so, they see the consistency. They see the truth and they gravitate to it. And you just try to keep it real with them. And I think people in general always gravitate to what’s real.”
On second-year WR Joakim Dodson
“I love Joakim Dodson, and I hope somebody clips this up. But I love Joakim Dodson because he’s a kid that if you tell him something wasn’t right or it wasn’t the way that you would like it to look, he’s going to stay after it as long as he can to get it fixed. Like kids like that are always going to find success and they’re always going to find a way to add value because they’re that competitive that they can’t leave the building without getting things right.
“Like we left a scrimmage the other day, and he had one play specifically that should have been better. And it’s a recruiting day, so we have recruits, and I’m with families, and he’s calling me nonstop. And I’m, like, nervous because I think something’s wrong that’s going on. I finally get him, and I’m like, what’s up, man? And he’s like, Coach, I just need 10 minutes.Like, you can go ahead and play.
“And, like, those are the type of kids that if you can continue to get those type of mindsets in the building and that type of DNA, you’re going to continue to be successful. Like that kid, regardless of what he’s doing and what position he’s playing, like he wants to do it at a high level, and he won’t stop until he gets it right. So he’s one I’ve been super pleased with just from a preparation standpoint and how to go about getting him prepared and just get himself ready.”
On using video as motivation
“I think two things, it comes from is just knowing the crowd and the demographic. Like these guys got short attention spans, that’s why TikTok’s so popular. But they have to be able to see things. When I was in college, my coaches could just tell me something, and I bought into it because it was kind of the way of the world at that time and as things have evolved and there is more of an information age, you’ve got to be able to give them the why behind the line, and you have to be able to show them the results, what they can get to.
“And I think you get a lot further with these kids knowing who they are. And so a video for me is just being able to show them proof. A lot of times speeches and the things we watch, we like to watch a lot of Kobe Bryant videos. He was kind of my favorite athlete. But a lot of those is just so those guys can understand and see someone who’s done it at a high level consistently for so long and what their mindset was every day and what it took to get there.
“So I’ve always found that showing this age of recruits and this age of athletes video, it just helps you stick and register a lot faster than me just giving my opinion on coaches just kind of saying it. So that’s kind of what we’re going with this stuff because we’re.”
