What Tennessee coaches have said about the Vols' freshmen, transfers

Tennessee football is two weeks into fall camp and less than three weeks away from opening the season against Virginia on September 2 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

Here’s what Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel, his coordinators and assistant coaches have said about the Vols’ freshmen and transfers so far during camp:

Head Coach Josh Heupel

On transfer linebacker Keenan Pili: “A guy that has great maturity and athletic traits that we were looking for. He’s the guy that in spring ball was just trying to figure out what we’re doing schematically and how he needs to improve every day. This summer, he took a huge leap in having command of the guys around him. The maturity … I think will show itself as we go through training camp and as we get into season.” 

On transfer receiver Dont’e Thornton: “He has great length, natural hands and (is) a great route runner. He had one of the fastest GPS speeds in the transfer portal. I’ve loved how he’s approached coming into our program by wanting to earn it. He’s become a relentless worker. He cares about his performance and how he prepares in a really good way. He’s spent a lot of time understanding and trying to grow inside of our offense really quickly. I’m looking forward to seeing him this fall. There’s great competition and some flexibility at the wide receiver spot. I’m looking forward to seeing how that unfolds here during the course of training camp.” 

Tennessee defensive coordinator Tim Banks 

On transfer linebacker Keenan Pili: “He was a great addition to our team this spring. He’s a tremendous young man and a tremendous family man. He’s big, athletic, physical. We’re super excited about watching him continue to develop during camp. I think all of our team, particularly on our side of the ball, really respects him because of his work ethic. He’s not really a real vocal person at this point, but I think as he continues to get more comfortable with our team, I think you’ll see him get even more vocal.” 

Tennessee offensive Coordinator Joey Halzle

On freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava: “That guy is mature beyond his years. He didn’t come in like a true freshman, he came in, one wanting to learn. Not thinking, ‘I’m a highly rated recruit, I got it figured out.’ He came in understanding, I want to learn, I need to know. The way that guy has his calmness on the field, just his demeanor, I think the guys believe in him as well. If he’s called upon to do a job, that dude will step in and compete at a high level and perform at a high level. We have a ton of confidence in that guy.” 

On transfer receiver Dont’e Thornton: “He does, to use your word, he has freaky talent. A guy of his size that can run like that is rare. There’s good players and guys that have rare traits. That guy is extremely rare in what he can do on the football field. Whenever we come in and it’s completely different from what most people doa, there’s a learning curve. He spends as much time with the quarterbacks as anybody. He’s always with Joe (Milton III) as well, like ‘Alright, how do you want that, how do you see that? Do you see it the way I’m seeing it?’ He’s once again not an older guy that’s come in, like I got it, kind of trying to be a mercenary. He’s trying to learn too and trying to do it the way we do it. Really happy with where we are. Tomorrow it’s time to show that you got it.” 

On transfer tight end McCallan Castles: “McCallan being older when he came in, he had less to do physically than the freshmen. He’s already a big strong kid. He’s since then put on about 15 pounds. He looks amazing right now. He can run, he’s a guy that can get in and out of his breaks really well, and it’s fun to see guys with that kind of skill set when they get so comfortable with the offense and now, they just go play.”

Tennessee tight ends coach Alec Abeln 

On freshman tight end Emmanuel Okoye: ”He’s got a chance to be the most athletic guy to play the position. I truly believe that. He is as physically gifted as anyone I’ve ever been around. He’s got to continue to make steps every day, but just from a raw athletic standpoint, the ceiling is unlimited.”

On transfer tight end McCallan Castles: “From McCallan’s UC Davis tape you see a playmaker, really athletic. You see a guy not afraid to stick his face in it. A guy that’s played in a bunch of different systems and knows football at a base level pretty well. This spring, kind of the same thing with Ethan (Davis), he’s trying to figure it out. He’s obviously older, he’s played a lot more, so he came a little bit cleaner form. But now that he knows what he’s doing, being able to really focus on the detail things and play fast.” 

Tennessee linebackers Coach Brian Jean-Mary

On transfer linebacker Keenan Pili: “He’s a bigger guy, but he’s super athletic. We don’t mind putting him in space, blitzing him or putting him into coverage. I want to be careful about saying traditional because we like to consider both of our guys versatile enough to be outside and inside linebackers.” 

On freshmen linebackers Jeremiah Telander and Jalen Smith: “Obviously, with what we do offensively, we have to be able to get aligned fast. I love it, because you have to be able to think on the run. I think that’s the part, the biggest wow factor for them coming out of high school. I thought the spring helped a lot. They’re getting better, but the processing has to happen a lot faster. Which is great for us, because if you have to process fast, it means you know what you’re doing. Obviously, with the physical part of the game, the speed of the game, it has to keep coming. There are still some times, if they’re a step late with their read, the ball has passed them. We have to get better there, but we’ve been happy with what they’re doing. They’ve all flashed. I’ve said I’ll put Arion (Carter) and obviously Kalib (Perry), Elijah (Herring), Ben Bolton), all of those guys, they’ve all flashed a bunch. I think, like I said, their best football is ahead of them.” 

Tennessee offensive line coach Glen Elarbee 

On transfer offensive lineman John Campbell Jr.: “I think two things with John. I think he’s a little bit healthier. He played all of last year and had the injury, and I think he’s just moving better, but also, for sure in shape. Then it’s just the confidence of knowing the offense a little better. The more you know what you’re doing, and have confidence in it, the faster you’re going to play as well.” 

Tennessee defensive line coach Rodney Garner

On transfer defensive lineman Omarr Norman-Lott: “I definitely think Omarr is an upgrade for us. He’s a young man that has a body of work, even though it was in a different conference. He has a little bit more maturity to him. When you sit there and look at this kid, he has a skillset. He has power, initial quickness. He knows how to maneuver his body, slip and naturally make some plays. He can really run. Initially coming into camp, I thought he was just a tad bit too heavy. I think that now, he’s starting to trim down, and his athleticism is starting to show even more. As he continues to really get himself into better shape, I think we will see a much better product than what he’s shown thus far.” 

Tennessee wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope

On transfer receiver Dont’e Thornton: “We are working him in different spots. We are doing a good job of trying to use his skill set to put him in some different situations. Just his growth the most was getting in here and learning what we do, learning how we operate on the field and in the building. There is a work ethic. I think that has been brought on by the players. It is expected here now. So, with him learning to play ball, with him getting in here and creating habits, he’s fit right in with these guys and has done a great job so far.”

On freshmen receivers Nate Spillman and Nathan Leacock: “Both of those guys have been great in the classroom. Both of those guys still have some work to do on the field, but they both have traits. They’re both physically gifted. They’re both determined and want to be good and that’s really all you need. We’ve seen a lot of guys in our room get developed. If guys are competitive and determined, we can develop you and you can be as good as you want to be. They have shown every tool in the world to be successful in what we do and in this league.”