Everything Tennessee receivers coach Kelsey Pope said following Wednesday’s workout

Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope has more depth than he’s ever had at the receiver position. The result has been a very competitive spring with the arrive of highly acclaimed 5-star Mike Matthews along with Brayl0n Staley and transfer Chris Brazzell. 

Pope likes what he has seen from his group who can’t afford to take a day off. Following Tennessee’s practice Wednesday morning, Pope visited Wii the media to update his group ahead of Thursday night’s second and final major scrimmage of the spring. 

Here’s everything Pope had to say. 

It seemed like Donte last year was kind of hitting his stride going in late in the season and had that injury. Just, just kind of, how did he approach that and how much more comfortable 

does he look outside? 

It was exactly what you said. He was starting to excel, once we got him outside, he looked a little bit more natural. It was unfortunate that he dealt the injury right after that transition. But he’s picked up right where he left off. He’s been consistent this spring. He’s been playing fast trying to make sure we watch his play load and his volume and make sure we keep him healthy. But he’s competed at a high level. He’s had really good energy this spring. He’s done a great job of leading us as well. He’s vocal in that room. 

A lot of guys look to him for answers and advice. He’s done an awesome job of being able to be that leader for one of those leaders. 

Brazzell and Thornton look looks similar, I guess both six five similar body type, but they’re playing opposite sides. Can you, how similar are they and how different are they in terms of their skillset? 

I think they’re different in their skill sets. Similar in build for us, that entire room, man, we’ve done a good job and it’s a testament to coach Heupel of getting longer on the outside. Like you talk about those two, Donte and Brazzel, you talk about Bru (McCoy) who’s coming back. You talk about Chaz and Caleb and the addition of, of Mike and Braylon, like you got some real length and why we’ve done a good job of being able to acquire talent, but also a certain body type that helps you win in this league. 

So both Chris and Dante can have different skill sets, but the length on the outside is going to help us create separation and win 50 50 ball consist at this level. 

You talk about acquiring talent. You appear to be deeper than you’ve been previously. What’s the competition like? What’s the competition level in your room right now? 

It’s high. This was practice eight and we’ve had eight different rotations with the ones. The freshmen have been in with ones. We’re trying to mix up that, that first rotation with as many guys as we can to force that competition level to continue to grow the talents there. I think we’ve gotta really talented group, we gotta build consistency and to do that it is gotta be highly competitive every single day. And those guys, old and young have done a great job of embracing that and they’re taking on the challenge right now. They’ve been awesome. 

Coach, what’s been the physicality like this spring and how have you receivers gone up against the DB’ getting separation, that sort of thing? 

It’sbeen physical and it is good to see, I’ll tell you this also, some days the defense wins, which you don’t always like as a coach, but you do like to see which guys will respond to tough situation. That’s one of the things we have tried to put an emphasis on this spring is putting our guys in more physical situations. Last year, I can’t tell you if we got a pass interference call. You are probably not gonna get one. So we gotta start practicing that way and not even anticipating it, regardless of what happens. Like you gotta go make plays regardless of who you is draped over or pulling you. You won’t get that call in this league. So that physicality piece is definitely something we emphasize and run game too. Those guys, you can’t just be a pass catcher, like whether I’m a true freshman or I’ve been here four or five years, like you gotta be able to be an asset in the run game. You gotta be able to block your butt off, be a good teammate and help the run game be efficient. And I think as a group, we have been, you really good in that area this spring. 

Kelsey, going back to Chris you said talked about creating separation, 50 50 balls, things like that. What, what else can he do in his game? He is not just a downfield guy, right? What else can he do again, fit into what you guys do on offense? 

Chris has got a unique skill set. He’s 6-3, 6-4. He’s loose like a slot. He’s smooth. He can obviously make the deep catches. You saw that on this film last year. But he’s really, really subtle and smooth in his transition. He’s a big guy who has the ability to play small as well in tight spaces. So we’re fortunate to have him. His presence here has been seen and for some other guys they’re stepping their game up because they see that it’s real competition in that room.  So it’s been awesome to have 

What’s jumped out to you about Mike Matthews at this point? 

Mike is highly competitive. Like super competitive. He hates to lose. He  always wants to dominate. When he first got here, we had to control some of that because typically you won’t win every rep. You are a true freshman coming into the SEC, so we had to control some of that. He was getting frustrated when he did lose and that would lead to the next play. But he’s done an awesome job for one to compete, but two the kid is in the building every day. Him and Braylon Staley are in the building on their own every single day getting extra meetings, doing walkthroughs on their own. They’ve kind of seen the way we operate here and they jump right in, which is why they have seen some success so far. Those freshmen have, have done a tremendous job of coming in here and just going to work and it’s been paying off on the practice field for them. 

Coach, obviously a lot of the success that you, your guys have depends on being on the same page of the quarterback. What have you seen from Nico as, and him taking ownership as spring practice has gone on? Moving on from the bowl game? 

I think you just said it. I think ownership, Nico, he’s owned it. He’s taken accountability. He’s kind of taken the bull by the horns. You see him a lot of times after reps before I can get guys and coach him up. He’s pulling ’em to the side, they’re talking through what they see and trying to get on the same page. So he’s done an awesome job of doing just that, taking ownership. 

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