Kelsey Pope shares leadership standing out for Tennessee receivers

Finding leaders at receiver has been a big priority for Tennessee football this spring. With the departures of Jalin Hyatt and Cedric Tillman for the NFL, there is plenty of room for players to step up.

Volunteers receivers coach Kelsey Pope identified a few names who have separated themselves through the first couple weeks of practice. He specifically singled out Ramel Keyton and Bru McCoy as well as redshirt junior Jack Jancek.

“A bunch of guys stick out,” Pope said. “Bru McCoy. Jack Jancek is one that is a phenomenal leader. You can mark my words: he’ll be an awesome coach one day. Elite coach.

“Our guys, I tell them all the time (that) leadership a lot of times calls you. Even when you aren’t ready or you feel like you aren’t ready. If the group needs you to step up and do something, we’ve gotta be willing and selfless enough to go do that for the greater good of everybody. It’s been a bunch of guys step up and lead. Those are just a few.”

McCoy is Tennessee’s leading returning receiver with 52 catches for 667 yards and four touchdowns. The former five-star recruit transferred from USC last season and had the best year of his career after taking over as the No. 2 option due to an injury to Tillman. Although McCoy has been out this spring after undergoing surgery on his elbow, he is still expected to take a step forward as a leader during his second season in Knoxville.

Keyton brings the most experience as he is entering his fifth season at Tennessee. That alone makes him a prime candidate to take on a leadership role, and he also had a career season in 2022 to finish with 31 catches for 562 yards and five scores.

Jancek walked on to the program in 2020 and has made limited contributions on the field. He recorded the first stats of his college career last season with three catches for 44 yards across five games. Still, Pope has seen his leadership ability in practice this spring and those contributions will make him a valuable asset for the Volunteers.

Tennessee had the No. 5 passing attack in the country last season with 326.1 air yards per game. However, in addition to Hyatt and Tillman, the Volunteers also lose starting quarterback Hendon Hooker. With that in mind, Tennessee has a lot of work to do to stay at that level of production in 2023 as Joe Milton takes over.

The Volunteers will get the opportunity to show where their passing game is at when they host their annual spring game on April 15.