Saturday is quickly approaching for the Tennessee Vols football team, and on Tuesday defensive coordinator Jim Knowles addressed the media ahead of Furman. Throughout the spring, offseason and fall camp, there’s been a lot of work going into being the best version they can be heading into the season.
From defensive schemes to tackling, Knowles spoke on it all Tuesday. One thing that was put into great perspective was missed tackles.
Knowles has tracked tackling percentages since the spring, and he said they’re up at every position. Where he put it in perspective was on the misses.
“Guys are going to miss tackles, but there’s a right way and a wrong way to miss tackles,” Knowles said. “So we’re teaching them that, too. If you miss, but you’re on the right angle and you miss, you’ll have a teammate or a sideline there to help you. So aside from making the tackle, if you do miss, there’s a right way to miss it.”
That matters for a defense that gave up 427.38 yards per game in SEC play last season, third-worst in the league. Missed tackles play a huge part in a number like that.
Edwin Spillman and Jeremiah Telander return as the two leading tacklers from a year ago. Spillman had 81 tackles, and Telander 80. Telander was called the heart and soul of the defense by Knowles, and Spillman backed that up. He called him a great communicator and that he is always the most vocal on the field. Spillman has noticed Telander’s leadership long before now.
“I noticed it a while ago,” Spillman said. “T’s always shouting in the team meeting rooms and the special teams meeting rooms. So I’ve always seen that from T.”
It’s more than the noise, too. Spillman said Telander is a different player all-around this year. He recalled his athletic progress and work in the pass rush game. Look for Telander on Saturdays. It sounds like he is up for a great year.
Spillman has a clear picture of what he wants his own season to look like as well.
“A bunch of playmaking abilities, takeaways,” Spillman said. “That’s something I’ve very focused on and detailed oriented, is creating more takeaways and destruction in the backfield.”
That falls right in line with what he sees as the defense’s calling card heading into the year.
“We know how to get takeaways,” Spillman said. “That’s something we’ve harped on this offseason, is getting takeaways for the offense, so I’m really excited about that.”
While some may look at the week one opponent as being a walk in the park, it will still give Knowles and Tennessee a read on where the fundamentals are. This should provide the Vols with a prime opportunity to make sure they are on their game before heading into Georgia Tech the next week.
Tennessee kicks off against Furman at Neyland Stadium, Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EDT on SEC Network+.
