Watch: Tennessee running backs coach Jerry Mack's Tuesday press conference

Tennessee running backs coach Jerry Mack met with reporters on Tuesday, breaking down his position group and previewing Saturday night’s game against South Carolina:

Tennessee sophomore RB Dylan Sampson’s production against UTSA and his response to not playing at Florida

“First of all, I think the way that he ran the ball really well … the way he pressed the double teams, made a decision at the last second, (a) full-speed decision. And then you kind of saw a natural ability, kind of expose itself in the open field, breaking tackles, being able to use his off arms to try to step on guys and stuff like that, to get away from bodies. So just the amount of work that he’s put in to work on his craft, to make sure he understands the game plan and just make sure he understands where those three hitters are down in and down out.

“As far as coming into this last week where he didn’t get a chance to very play very much, if at all, the previous week (at Florida), like just the way he handled himself, you see a lot of guys, especially young guys who kind of have an attitude and they’re different when they come in the building at times, especially when things don’t go their way. But Sampson didn’t do that. He worked the same, matter of fact, probably worked even a little bit harder to show us that he deserved a role in every game playing. And I think the more you see him on the field, I think he’s constantly get better every time he touches the field.”

What Dylan Sampson can improve on to consistently be in the rotation

“They all can improve on certain things. Nobody’s perfect. But just from the standpoint of how we kind of rotate the guys a little bit, right now, depending on the game plan, it just kind of depends on what the game plan dictates and who put in first the last few weeks. You can see Jay Wright runs out there first, last week, Jabari (Small) ended up with more snaps than Jay Wright the previous week. Jay Wright ended up with more snaps than Jabari. As far as how (Sampson) fits in that entire role, it just depends on what kind of package. I think there’re always gonna be a package or a set of situations that we will have (Sampson) in the game just because of the skillset is a little bit different. Like all three of them, all three of those guys skill set is a little bit different from one another. But I think going forward you going to see quite a good other for sure.”

What makes Tennessee’s Jaylen Wright so effective as a runner and what he needs to do against South Carolina

“The way Jay Wright runs the ball from a violent standpoint, like extremely physical guy that can break tackles. When you look at his yards after contact, they’re really good right now. He moves the pile, we like to say, forward. He’s a guy that runs physical, he runs with better pad level than he has in the last two years. And I think that’s what allows him to have some success As far as where he fits in South Carolina, I mean, just do the little things that I highlight, that’s really all it’s about. He doesn’t have to do anything special outside of the framework of what he normally does. Just do all those little things like we talk about. Ball security is what he’s gotten really good at. Pressing the double teams, being able to read the blocks, protection, make sure his eyes and discipline is the right place. If he does all those good things at a high level, he’ll have success.”

How much of the running back rotation is determined by what the Tennessee offense needs in that particular moment

“I think that’s where it all starts. Like you take a couple weeks ago against Florida, we didn’t get as many snaps as we would like during the game. We found ourself in a position where we had to play catch-up on some things. So from a standpoint of maybe throwing the ball a little bit more, pass protection, obviously Jay Wright and and Jabari are a little bit bigger than Dylan Sampson, so those were some situations where we felt like, hey, we gotta get a little bit of a stouter guy. But then as the Florida game goes, if it is going back and forth, there’s always gonna be a situation where you need that certain, say that burst, that pop that Sampson gives the game. Obviously he can catch the ball in perimeter extremely well, and he’s what we call space guy. When he gets the ball in space, it’s hard to, to tackle him. He can make defenders miss. He has a really good feel of bodies and especially awareness around him.”

How he would grade Tennessee’s running backs in pass protection through the first four games of the season

“I do think they’re probably a B-plus right now. From the standpoint of I like where their eyes are in the protection. I like that they’re always are where they’re supposed to be. I do want to see more physicality at the point of attack, making sure there’s nobody at all around Joe (Milton) or whatever quarterback’s in the game. So the physicality standpoint has to continue to improve. But as far as pad level and where their eyes are starting, they rarely, if at all, I think in the last four games, really were ever out of position. It’s just about making sure there’s more attack.”

What Tennessee has seen on tape from the South Carolina defense

“The front seven is really good. I’m really impressed with the linebackers. Those guys fly around. They’re really aggressive, physical. You can see the improvement they had in that group from year to year over the last few years that we’ve been playing. I think in my position, specifically, we just gotta do a really good job of continuing to run with physicality. In between the tackles, there’s gonna be tough, tight runs in those windows and those lanes are going to be smaller as we get into more SEC play. Some of those other games, sometimes the grass that the offensive line is creating is extremely big on some of the competition that you’re playing. Man, in the SEC it is not like that. That grass or those seams become smaller, and when they do open up, they close a lot faster just because of the people that we’re playing. So we gotta do a great job of seeing those, making decisive decisions and accelerating when we get that opportunity.”

If one of the three Tennessee running backs in particular could have more success Saturday based on what they’ve seen from the South Carolina defense

“Man, it’s interesting you asked that question because we just had a conversation about that in the meeting room the other day, about how all three of those guys skillset is distinctly different and they have nothing but ultimate trust from our coaching staff. I think all of them, I never know who’s gonna have the big game. It’s been Jaylen (Wright) obviously it’s been Jabari (Small) over years as well. Now you see Sampson emerging, like all three of them guys presenting different skillset and it is just really about the flow of the game. There may be an opportunity for Jabari or Sam, whoever to go out there and catch something on the perimeter or break a tackle in the backfield and next thing you know it’s 67 yards because they all have dynamite, quickness and speed as well. So I really don’t ever know, who’s gonna get that opportunity. I can’t tell you this, we trust them 100%, whoever goes in the game.”

The importance of chemistry in the Tennessee running back room in an era where backs have to split carries

“Man, we’re blessed to have a group of young men and a group of kids that really understand that. In the past we have not had that opportunity to say, hey, look, these guys are going to distribute carries around the room. Because we haven’t felt comfortable putting all those different people in the game at that certain time. And now what you see is over the course of years, Jaylen has had some injuries over the years. Jabari’s had some injuries over the years. So now, you add the addition of Dylan Sampson, his role is increasing. I think they welcome that opportunity to understand that hey, as a team, we’re trying to go and to get to accomplish our goals, we’re gonna all have to be here for one another. And the selflessness that they have, that’s really extreme. That’s different than what you see across the country right now. You don’t really see that. There may be a time though, this coming year where one of those guys may have to have 25 carries a game. It just depends on what the flow of the game kind of dictates. Right now, we haven’t had that luxury, which you do see guys getting 20-plus touches whether we throw the ball to on the perimeter or whether we do some different things with in the backfield.”

How much Joe Milton’s running the football can help Tennessee’s running backs

“Oh, that’s huge. The ability to have a running quarterback or a true dual-threat quarterback, especially one that can cross the goal line with speed like Joe did on it on the long run. I mean, that presents some problems all the time. So whether it is more opportunities for the running backs because those defensive ends and those linebackers, they’re in their read keys, they understand that the quarterback is a valuable threat. It changes the box, it changes what it looks like on the roof as well from the safety position. So like there’s a lot of things that having that dual-threat style quarterback can open up for us. It creates more touches for us, which I mean, they’re all welcome to that.”