On WR Cedric Tillman’s success against Alabama
“I think who you are, your maturity and how you approach everything every single day shows up in your consistency as a player. His consistency as a player is a direct result of who he is off the field. It’s a direct result of the effort and strain that he puts in while we are in the building. Meeting, practicing and when coaches aren’t with you, what he has put into it. He plays with great confidence because he understands his job at the highest level. The game is never moving too fast for him because of his preparation during the course of the week. That’s why he’s able to go out and perform and play extremely hard and efficiently.”
On the excitement to hit the recruiting trail this weekend and the feedback his staff has received
“In particular, inside of the state, the way our coaching staff has put an emphasis on it and communicated with the coaches in the area. As soon as we got an opportunity to get out—with COVID, obviously no spring recruiting—the way we’ve hit the state and will continue to, this week is a big part of that. Just developing relationships and a line of communication with the coaches here has been instrumental in us continuing to push forward on the recruiting side of it. We have great feedback from players. They see the brand of football that we’re playing. It’s an exciting brand of football in all three phases of the game. They know we’re going to be aggressive. They know we’re going to play fast, not just in tempo, but the way our kids are able to cut it loose. They know we’re going to call it aggressive in all three phases of the football game. It’s something that is really attractive to players. The ability for them to see the environment inside of Neyland Stadium like it was a week ago and has been early in the season, is a huge part of the recruiting push that we have been able to make too.”
On what he will be doing this Saturday
“I will definitely be around my family. My son and I will probably play catch and do something in the morning. My daughter will settle up on the couch with me in the afternoon and we’ll watch some football for sure.”
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