Tag Archives: Justin Coleman

Tennessee spring football: Catching up on video, photos and .gifs from Day 3

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — The Tennessee football doesn’t practice on Wednesday, and by the time the Vols return to action on Thursday, the temperature may have dropped from 72 to 32.

Bugs swarm around Haslam Field on Tuesday (photos by Evan Woodbery)

On a positive note, that might kill the bugs that plagued Tuesday’s practice. And, yes, I made a .gif of them, too.

For some much better photos, check out Adam Lai’s gallery here.

Butch Jones wasn’t entirely pleased with Tuesday’s practice, the first in full pads. He said some of the newcomers weren’t prepared for the pace. He called out one player for putting his hands on his hips — a big no-no in Jones’ world.

Beyond that, what conclusions can we draw through three practices — 20 percent of the spring total? Not a whole lot. All four quarterbacks are getting reps, and we’ve heard good things about Riley Ferguson. I would still be surprised if there’s a firm decision by the end of spring.

Quarterback Joshua Dobbs throws a pass to Justus Pickett (photos by Evan Woodbery)

Running backs break down the huddle during practice (photo by Evan Woodbery)

Depth at the running back spot seems at least serviceable behind Marlin Lane and Jalen Hurd. That’s a good thing because two more scholarship backs are arriving this summer.

Emmanuel Moseley (photos by Evan Woodbery)

In the secondary, coaches clearly like Emmanuel Moseley a lot and are grooming the freshman for a big role in 2014. He’s working as the “first team” cornerback now, with Justin Coleman working at nickel.

Butch Jones faces 1st off-field incident of his tenure after 9 Vols arrested or cited Sunday

The apartment complex where Knox County Sheriff’s deputies arrested or cited 25 people on Feb. 9, 2014. (photo by Evan Woodbery)

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Tennessee coach Butch Jones learned on Sunday that not only were nine of his current players arrested or cited, but that some of his most trusted and experienced players were included on the list.

News Sentinel subscribers can read the full report of Sunday’s incident here.

Jones and his staff have likely spent the last 24 hours weighing how to react. After all, most of the players swept up in the massive police presence at Quarry Trail apartments were likely the victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Underage consumption of alcohol, while illegal, is something so common on college campuses as to barely register notice.

Allegations against A.J. Johnson and Danny O’Brien, as well as former player Dontavis Sapp, are more serious. But we don’t have any track record for how Jones handles off-the-field disciplinary matters, as this is believed to be the first arrest of his tenure.

Here’s the tally of the 12 current or former members of the Tennessee football team who were arrested or cited:

Current players

Arrested

LB A.J. Johnson: providing alcohol to underage persons; resisting arrest

DT Danny O’Brien: underage consumption of alcohol; resisting arrest; false impersonation

Cited

LB Curtis Maggitt: providing alcohol to underage persons

LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin: providing alcohol to underage persons

LB Jakob Johnson: providing alcohol to underage persons

OL Dontavius Blair: underage drinking

DL Dimarya Mixon: underage drinking

CB Justin Coleman: underage drinking

DL Malik Brown: underage drinking

Former players

Arrested

Dontavis Sapp: providing alcohol to underage persons; resisting arrest

Isaac Mobley: underage drinking

Cited

Daniel Sola: underage drinking

Tennessee football position preview: Defensive backs will face fresh competition for jobs

[gdoc link=”https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AgBQnqCTaaxzdFVlX0lHSjZXRS0zbWhMN3FCUm13VlE&single=true&gid=1&output=html&widget=true” width=”100%” height=”525″]

The eighth in a series of position-by-position reviews of the Tennessee football team with an eye toward the start of spring practice in March.

Justin Coleman warms up before the Kentucky game (photos by Evan Woodbery)

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Tennessee is returning all of its starters and more than 90 percent of its snaps at defensive back in 2014, which might normally be construed as good news.

But as the Vols’ defense has struggled at times over the last two years, the defensive backs have taken a heavy load of the blame.

While not all that criticism was fair, Tennessee’s lack of speed and depth were factors at times in 2013. That should ensure that no one’s job is safe in 2014.

Well, almost no one.

Cameron Sutton, who played a team-high 746 snaps on defense as a true freshman in 2013, can probably be safely penciled in as one of the cornerbacks.

Justin Coleman could be an option to shift to nickel if the Vols’ can find another Sutton waiting to blossom among their crop of new players.

Brian Randolph and LaDarrell McNeil could also face added competition. At the very least, all the starters should have backups that coaches feel more comfortable giving playing time.

Continue reading →

GVX Reporter’s Notebook: Vols physical in Tuesday practice (with video)

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Tennessee coach Butch Jones delivered on his promise of a physical practice on Tuesday — at least in the brief viewing period open to the media.

The Vols (4-5, 1-4 SEC) play No. 7 Auburn (8-1, 4-1) on Saturday at Neyland Stadium (TV: ESPN, noon).

Tennessee lost to Missouri 31-3 last week and Jones said the Vols were dominated on both lines of scrimmage.

Jones referred to the offensive line as “Club 90” on Tuesday for the number of rushing yards Tennessee managed at Mizzou.

He interrupted the pre-practice stretch — “Listen, we don’t need no elaborate stretch!” — for his Circle of Life drills, which are essentially one-on-one blocking competitions in front of the entire team.

“Everybody wants in (to the Circle) until you’re hit in the mouth,” Jones said.

We’d need another two or three entries for all the players who got called out as soft today. But his banter with running back Marlin Lane was most humorous.

After criticizing his weight room efforts, Jones asked running backs coach Robert Gillespie, “Robert, why do you have bigger traps (trapezoid muscles) than your running backs?”

Another line to Lane, a Daytona Beach, Fla., native: “We’re working on a trade to Bethune-Cookman.”

How much actual hitting took place after we left is unclear, but give Jones credit for advancing the storyline effectively while we were there.

* The only players in green non-contact jerseys Tuesday were true freshman tight end A.J. Branisel and safety Brian Randolph. Both players have been wearing green for weeks and still playing in games. Safeties Byron Moore and LaDarrell McNeil and cornerback Justin Coleman were all in orange.

* Lot of good music today, including B.o.B., 2Chainz and apparently unedited Young Jeezy. Song of the day, however, was “Tha Block is Hot” (feat. Juvenile and B.G.), which was on Lil’ Wayne’s debut album in 1999.

Tennessee football practice: Vols prepare for No. 19 Florida

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — One day after Butch Jones reopened the race for Tennessee’s starting quarterback job, he also decided to keep any secrets from leaking out about who the choice might be.

For the first time in recent memory, media were not allowed to video or photograph Tennessee’s practice on Tuesday. Jones allowed reporters to watch a small window of practice, but it offered no clue about the Vols’ quarterback race.

Unlike last week, when freshman Josh Dobbs worked with the scout team, all four quarterbacks were working out with the main unit.

Dobbs and fellow true freshman Riley Ferguson are pushing for playing time against starter Justin Worley and redshirt freshman backup Nathan Peterman.

Continue reading →

Tennessee football: Preparing for Austin Peay (videos)

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Tennessee’s season opener against Austin Peay is only 48 hours away and the first week of in-season practice is coming to a close.

The video above, shot Wednesday, has a look at defensive backs coach Willie Martinez in action.

Good news! We’ve won our legal battle against Rich Homie Quan and his team of attorneys and our video from Tuesday (which had been flagged for copyright violations) is now back online. You can view it below.

As always, watch the videos in your highest available HD settings for best results.

Tennessee football practice: Video highlights from Day 3

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — After three consecutive days of practice in the hot sun, the Vols are starting to get sore and tired and players could be excused for being a bit cranky.

But coach Butch Jones continued to be pleased with the team’s effort on Sunday.

“I challenged our leadership; I put them in stressful situations. For the most part I thought they responded,” he said.

The Vols resume practice for a fourth day in a row at about 4:40 p.m. on Monday. For now, check out the video above from Day 3.

Tennessee football practice quick hits: Shells on and intensity heats up

Alex Ellis, Tennessee

Tennessee tight end Alex Ellis looks in a pass from the JUGS gun during a practice drill on Aug. 4, 2013 at Haslam Field in Knoxville. (Photo by Evan Woodbery)

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Tennessee players wore shells (shoulder pads and helmets) for their third practice on Sunday, so while full-pad hitting is still a couple of days away, there was room for a little more contact.

We’ll talk to players and coach Butch Jones when practice ends this evening. For now, here are some quick observations from the media viewing period.

* The first of several one-on-one competitions at midfield featured running back Alden Hill against linebacker Kenny Bynum. Because these scrums are surrounded by a wall of players, we didn’t see who won.

Continue reading →

Tennessee football practice spring standouts (with new video)

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — The best way to find out who is catching the coaches’ attention in practice?

Ask them.

The media had our weekly visit with assistant coaches after Thursday’s practice, the final one before spring break. (You can read other coverage from today here and here.)

When coaches are given an open-ended question about players, the  first name out of their mouths is the one I go with. Given enough time, coaches usually hit the entire roster in the name of diplomacy.

So who is standing out? Here are some names we heard:

Continue reading →