Vol running backs coach Jerry Mack sees star in Cam Seldon's future
Tennessee’s trio of tailbacks in Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson are three of the most productive in the SEC which is why the Vols league the SEC in rushing.
All three are averaging at least 6 yards a carry with Wright a whopping 7.1 yards a rush.
So the 2023 run game is in good hands provided they stay healthy, but Wright and Small are likely not to be on the roster in 2024 unless they use their COVID year and that means the Vol running back rotation will be very different.
But it’s one that running backs coach Jerry Mack already has confidence in thanks to the growth and development this fall of freshman Cam Seldon. Seldon arrived at Tennessee in January as a high school linebacker and wide receiver. So the adjustment to running back hasn’t been the easiest, but Mack is obviously impressed as are the other tailbacks.
“I think you could talk to any of our running backs in our room right now and they would all tell you that guy is a future star,” Mack said. “First of all the way he approaches the game. Cam is very quiet. He’s mild mannered and he doesn’t get too high and he doesn’t get too low. If he does something great on the field in practice or a game, he’s the same way. He’s even keel all the time and that’s what you are going to need to have success. The other part of it is the development part. He needs to run the ball between the tackles as much as he possibly can to get used to it and to get accustomed to it. We have a lot of football left in this season. We have spring practice. We have fall camp. He’s going to have so much time to continue to grow and get better. But the physical traits you can’t hide. The size, the speed. When he touches the ball on special teams, his burst and his pop is just different than anybody else.”
Seldon is playing on special teams and has carried the ball 3 times offensively for 5 yards and he has one kickoff return for 21 yards. Seldon knows the journey is just beginning for his football career which is why patience is key.
Top 10
- 1New
Bowl insurance
Historic policies for Hunter, Shedeur
- 2Hot
Nick Saban endorsed
Lane Kiffin suggests as commish
- 3
Diego Pavia
Vandy QB ruling forces change
- 4
Notre Dame takes shot
Announcer trolls Fighting Irish
- 5
Stephen A. Smith fires back
Beef with Kirk Herbstreit continues
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
“The hardest part is probably learning the details, because I’ve always trained receiver, I never really trained running back, I just played it,” Seldon said. “So now I’m learning the details of it it’s making more sense.”
One of the most challenge details for any young running back is learning pass protection. It’s foreign to most every freshman when they arrive in college and Seldon is no different. But Mack believes Seldon’s defensive background in high school is actually an advantage for him.
“It’s very difficult and it’s time consuming for a young freshman because usually those freshmen that we recruit, they have been the best player on their team so blocking is not something that really spent a lot of time on if any,” Mack said. “So we are looking for guys that have a defensive background a little bit too. You take a guy like Cam Seldon. He could have easily went to a power 5 school and played linebacker. That’s how physical he was on that side of the ball. So you see some of those traits naturally carry over when you ask him to block on the offensive side of the ball.”
Those natural traits of running and blocking has Mack and Tennessee comfortable about their future in the offensive backfield.
