“Right now, I love the depth,” Mack said. “It’s the first time since I’ve been here that we have multiple backs that we have a lot of trust in as an offensive staff. You see with Jaylen Wright and Jabari (Small) that those guys have been staples in our offense the past few years. Dylan Sampson continues to grow and show that he can be a playmaker in this offense.
“I’m really impressed with the younger guys, like the Cameron Seldon’s of the world and the Khalifa Keith’s. They’ve done a really good job of coming in here in the summer and spring time, learning and getting adapted to what we are trying to do offensively. Right now, the depth is in an extremely good place.”
Watch: Tennessee running backs coach Jerry Mack previews the 2023 season
Third-year running backs coach Jerry Mack met with media on Tuesday and previewed Tennessee’s 2023 season.
The Vols will kick off its 2023 campaign on Saturday versus Virginia.
Kickoff between the Vols and Cavaliers is slated for noon EDT at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee. ABC will televise the season-opening matchup.
Tennessee leads the all time series versus Virginia, 3-1. The two schools last played each other in the 1991 Sugar Bowl. Tennessee was victorious, 23-22.
The Cavaliers’ lone win in the series took place on Nov. 1, 1980 at Neyland Stadium (W, 16-13).
Third-year running backs coach Jerry Mack met with media following practice.
Mack discussed his early impressions of freshman running back Khalifa Keith.
“Big, strong, powerful guy,” Mack said. “He is everything that, when we recruited him, we thought he could be. He came in about 225 or 230 (pounds). He has continued to maintain about that body weight, and he can move with it and make plays with it. One thing about him, he does have really good hands. He was a former basketball player in high school, too, really athletic.
“His deal is really just learning our system and how we go about doing things here at Tennessee. I think as a player, you are going to see that guy involved in a lot of special teams this year. Coach (Ekeler) is extremely excited about his role and what he can be. As a runner, he is a lot further along than I really even anticipated right now. Running between the tackles, people do not want to come up and tackle him too much. He just has to continue to learn, to play his way into shape more than anything else. He is going to contribute this year for us in some kind of capacity.”
The 6-foot-1, 230-pound Keith enrolled at Tennessee in June. He is from Parker High School in Birmingham, Alabama.
Running backs Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright are more interchangeable in 2023 for Tennessee.
Tennessee practiced for the 13th time during fall training camp on Friday at Haslam Field.
Third-year running backs coach Jerry Mack met with media following practice.
Mack discussed the interchangeability of running backs Jabari Small and Jaylen Wright.
“They definitely are more interchangeable than a year ago,” Mack said. “Jaylen has really grown as a pass protector, he has grown with his hands, he can catch the ball out of the backfield now. Jabari has grown as a pass protector, so I do not feel like he has a lot of deficiencies from that aspect. The goal is to always recruit and always have three-down backs in your room, guys you feel are athletic enough to catch the ball out of the backfield.
“At the same time, those short yardage situations and those pass pro situations where you know you are going to get those, some of those exotics and things like that, those guys are stout enough, big enough and strong enough to hold up and not get blown back into the quarterback. I think over the years, that is what you have seen, both of them are playing at a really high level right now.”
Jabari Small (2). Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Small enters his fourth season at Tennessee. He has two seasons of eligibility remaining, including the 2023 campaign.
The 5-foot-11, 213-pound running back has appeared in 34 games, recording 1,647 rushing yards, 22 rushing touchdowns, 207 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns at Tennessee.
Small led Tennessee in rushing yards (792) in 2021 during Josh Heupel’s first season as head coach.
Jaylen Wright (0). Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Wright enters his third season at Tennessee.
The 5-foot-11, 210-pound running back has appeared in 22 games, recording 1,284 rushing yards, 14 rushing touchdowns, eight receptions and 30 receiving yards from 2021-22 at Tennessee.
Wright led the Vols in rushing yards last season (875). He will wear jersey No. 0 in 2023.
Mack discussed if junior running back Jabari Small could handle 20-25 rushing attempts per game in 2022.
“I really do,” Mack said of Small. “One thing about Jabari, that he’s done a great job, he’s added armor to his body. You look at the last game of the season, he weighed in around 199 (pounds). This year he’s been weighing in consistently between 212-215, and like that is going to help him down the road.
“As we get into games down the stretch, like being able to finish games, is what we’ve been talking about, so the added weight should help him a ton to try to increase his carries. That’s one of the things we’ve been really focusing on with him in the offseason, and obviously in fall camp, just trying to make sure you understand how to finish the practice.”
Small has appeared in 21 games with the Vols from 2020-21, recording 913 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on 167 attempts. He has recorded 13 receptions for 101 yards.
Jerry Mack discusses fall camp following the Vols’ thirteenth practice.
Tennessee practiced for the thirteenth time during fall training camp Tuesday at Haslam Field ahead of the 2022 season.
The Vols will open its season against Ball State at Neyland Stadium Sept. 1. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. EDT and SEC Network will televise the season-opening matchup.
The meeting is the first between the two schools.
Tennessee will play in the second Johnny Majors Classic Sept. 10 at Pittsburgh, followed by hosting Akron Sept. 17 and Florida Sept. 24 during the season’s opening month.
Following the Vols’ thirteenth practice during fall training camp, running backs coach Jerry Mack met with media. Mack’s media availability can be watched below.
Spring football practices: Jerry Mack breaks down Tennessee’s running backs
Tennessee practiced for the 12th time during the spring on Monday at Haslam Field.
The Vols’ 12th practice came after its second scrimmage during spring on Saturday.
Tennessee’s second spring scrimmage was in replace of the Vols’ annual Orange & White Game. Tennessee did not hold its annual Orange & White spring game due to Neyland Stadium renovations.
Following the Vols’ 12th spring practice, second-year running backs coach Jerry Mack met with media. He detailed Tennessee’s running backs unit. A transcript of his media availability is below provided by the University of Tennessee.
2024 prospect Daniel Hill discusses being offered by Tennessee and playing wide receiver or running back in college.
2024 prospect Daniel Hill has received a scholarship offer from Tennessee.
The 6-foot-1, 225-pound Hill is from Meridian High School in Meridian, Mississippi.
Hill has played running back and wide receiver at Meridian. He is open to playing either position in college.
“Right now, I’m split between the two,” Hill told Vols Wire of what position he would prefer to play in college. “Wherever I can get the ball and produce, then I’ll be fine.”
Tennessee is looking at Hill to play running back in college. He discussed his early impression of Tennessee’s running backs coach Jerry Mack.
“I love Coach Mack,” Hill said. “He makes me feel welcomed and I need a coach like that if I’m going to spend my college career at their school.”
Jerry Mack. Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Hill’s dad, Demetrius Hill, coaches defensive line at Meridian and played at Mississippi State from 1989-90.
“He has the experience, he’s been in the same situation I’m in now,” Hill said of his father. “He knows the things I have to keep doing to succeed.”
Tennessee practiced Tuesday for the sixth time this spring at Haslam Field.
Following practice, Tennessee’s running backs coach Jerry Mack met with media.
Mack discussed the development of 6-foot-5, 227-pound redshirt freshman running back Dee Beckwith.
“Dee is doing a really incredible job of just continuing to learn the finer details of the position every single day,” Mack said. “We talk a lot about just playing with low pad level because he is a taller, bigger back, so just getting his pad level down.
“He played so many different things in high school, and last year I think they moved him around a little bit, so he is finally in a situation where he is kind of getting settled in on a position. You talk about extremely intelligent, answering questions in the meetings and just that quarterback background that he has. You can just tell that he has a sense of the entire game, situational football and how everything kind of fits together, so been really pleased with his progress over the last few practices.”
Photo by Dan Harralson, Vols Wire
Beckwith totaled 25 rushing yards on three attempts in 2020.
He played quarterback, running back and wide receiver at Florence High School in Florence, Alabama.
