Jerry Mack likes his room, competition at running back
Tennessee kicked off the final week of spring practice on Tuesday and for the Vol running backs it’s about continuing to build off what’s been a really solid spring.
The Vols are without Jabari Small, who had shoulder surgery in January, and they have limited Jaylen Wright’s workload.
But the result has been competition and improvement from some young guys. Dylan Sampson is five pounds heavier and has had a good spring highlighted by a long touchdown run in the second scrimmage after a really nice first scrimmage. Newcomers Cam Seldon and Desean Bishop have had good moments as well as they continue to grow in the offense. All three earned praise from the head coach last week.
“I thought the running backs as a group did some really positive things,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said Thursday after his team’s second scrimmage of spring camp. “Dylan Sampson made some people miss, did a great job pressing double teams. Cam Seldon did a really nice job running the football, good job taking care of it. DeSean Bishop. There were a lot of really good things from that running back room in particular.”
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Running backs coach Jerry Mack likes the make up of his group as well is the different types of backs they are. The result is plenty of competition not just this spring but heading into this summer as well and for Sampson it will be a very different summer as he continues to settle into the offense.
“It’s like night and day,” Mack said of Sampson’s progress. “We knew from a protection stand point he had to come a long ways and continue to grow. You see right now where his eyes are from a progression standpoint. The physicality and power that he has because he’s put on some weight. All of that stuff, getting thrown into the fire last year helped him develop and grow. When you look at him he’s probably further ahead than anyone we have had going into year two.”
