Kelsey Pope spent Tennessee’s offseason looking for ways to make his receivers work differently, and in some cases, literally see differently.
The most unusual wrinkle came with the jugs machine. Instead of the standard setup, Tennessee’s wideouts were catching passes with eye patches on, a twist Pope said was designed to force a different kind of focus. He said the staff bought about 25 eye patches after he heard a podcast discussion about “triggering different stimulus in your brain and covering one eye.”
“We worked a lot of things this summer,” Pope said on Tuesday. “We kind of got creative.
We bought eye patches and covered one eye and caught freaking a thousand balls, but it’s a testament to him of when he does the work, how much easier things will be. We just got to keep working at playing with him.”
Pope said the drill wasn’t limited to a single player. In his words, “Everybody” got involved.
The eye-patch work was only part of Tennessee’s offseason approach. Pope also pointed to the use of tennis balls in drills during fall camp, another way to sharpen hand-eye coordination by making the catch more difficult than a normal football would.
That extra work showed up in Tennessee’s season-opening win over Furman on Saturday, when the receivers combined for 309 yards. Mike Matthews led the group with 132 yards, followed by Radarious Jackson with 38, TK Keys with 29, Travis Smith with 22, and Braylon Staley with eight.
Keys had already shown some curiosity about another oddball training idea after the Dallas Cowboys went viral in August for putting beekeeper masks on their receivers. He said last month that he’d be open to trying it.
“Oh, I did see that, with George Pickens?” Keys said last month.
“Yeah, I seen it. I don’t - I mean, I’ll try that just to see what it looks like, but George Pickens, he’s a great player, and he was trying to bear onto it.
So, I’ll probably try that one of these days.”
For now, Tennessee’s most distinctive offseason work came in the form of eye patches, tennis balls, and a lot of catches.
In Other News...
Tennessee Must Deal With A Familiar Threat In Georgia Tech's Backfield
Georgia Techs season opener gave Tennessee another reminder that early nonconference games can still bring a familiar-looking challenge. Justice Haynes, who has already logged stops at Alabama and Michigan before landing in Atlanta for his senior season, made his first appearance for the Yellow Jackets last week and is now set to see Tennessee this weekend. For a Vols defense getting its first real look at Georgia Tech, the backfield will feature a runner with a well-traveled resume and the kind of experience that tends to show up quickly.
Josh Heupel didnt spend much time underselling what Haynes brings. He described him as dynamic and physical, with good vision, a combination that can make a back dangerous both between the tackles and once he gets a crease. That gives Tennessee another early test in a matchup where the Vols will need to be sharp against a runner who already has a feel for high-level football and is trying to make an immediate impact in his new home. [Read more 🡒]
Arion Carters Return Adds Intrigue To Tennessees First Road Test
Tennessee heads to Bobby Dodd Stadium on Sept. 12 for its first road test of the season against Georgia Tech, with the matchup set for ESPN as Josh Heupel continues sorting through the early-season details that come with a team still forming its identity. One of the most notable pieces of that picture is Arion Carter, whose presence around the program has carried added weight as the Volunteers prepare for a game that will say plenty about where they stand away from home.
Heupel recently addressed the way Tennessee handled leadership during Carters NCAA suspension, noting that Carter served as the teams sole captain while sidelined. The suspension came after an agent paid for a flight during the pre-draft process, and Carter now returns with another layer of motivation, planning to donate money to cancer-related charities based on his defensive performance this season. For Tennessee, it is a reminder that this opening stretch is about more than just travel and opponent prep, with Carters return adding a personal and competitive subplot to a meaningful September test. [Read more 🡒]
Tennessee's Revamped Secondary Faces Its First Real Test This Week
Tennessees secondary came out of the opener against Furman with the kind of grade that is hard to measure, because there simply were not many opportunities for it to be stressed. Anthony Poindexter, the Vols co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach, said the defensive backs handled their assignments well in the season opener, and he pointed to the growth of some younger players as another encouraging sign from a night when the biggest challenge was staying sharp.
Georgia Tech should provide a much clearer read on where this rebuilt back end stands. Poindexter said the Yellow Jackets bring a quarterback who can make plays and a receiving group with enough skill to test communication and discipline, which puts added importance on Tennessees preparation this week. He also singled out players such as Tevis Metcalf as part of the group he believes is trending the right way, but the real answer will have to come once the secondary faces an offense built to force mistakes. [Read more 🡒]