James Wilhoit is all too familiar with the sounds of spring. The Tennessee senior kicker has heard them before.

Whistles, trash talking and Phillip Fulmer’s yelling are just part of the ambience.

UT’s football coach has been hard to miss this spring. Onlookers have been able to hear his vocal disdain from the sidelines. Often times, it has been directed toward the field-goal-kicking unit.

The concern is timing.

"We’ve been a tad bit slow. Coach Fulmer’s always going to get on us," Wilhoit said with a smile. "It wouldn’t be spring if coach Fulmer wasn’t in my ear yelling at me. But I think we’ve done a good job."

Wilhoit is smart enough to understand the challenges. After all, he graduated with a degree in communications studies last year. His 3.6 grade-point-average was the highest of any scholarship football player. And he’s on course to complete his master’s degree in sports psychology this December.

The challenge for Wilhoit and UT’s coaches is completing the kicking trio. Backup wide receiver Casey Woods is back as UT’s holder.

But the trio is one man short. The search for UT’s next snapper is under way after four-year starter Adam Miles departed last year.

It’s not often that a head coach discusses a holder unless he’s done something terribly wrong. Fulmer, however, recently cited Woods’ importance.

"We’re fortunate to have Casey back as a holder," Fulmer said. "They should all be strengths for us."

To be strengths, the trio must first be complete.

"Our biggest question right now is finding a new snapper," Wilhoit said. "Ryan West is first in line. He’s doing a good job but you have different timing with Adam Miles leaving."

The timing has caused Wilhoit to hesitate when the ball is snapped. That can lead to chaos instead of trust.

"The more reps and the better we do, the more you trust somebody," Wilhoit said. "We want to get the ball off in a certain amount of time. As long as you can trust that snapper and holder, you go at that certain time and get the ball off pretty quick.

"That’s our biggest question right now is getting trust in the snap and hold and getting it through the uprights."

West, who is from Brentwood, clearly has the inside track but Fulmer also cited Morgan Cox from Collierville as a possibility if West struggles.

"Ryan has been here and done it enough and Morgan Cox is consistent enough," Fulmer said. "It’s just a matter of how well they can continue to develop as to which one of them will do it."

Wilhoit is front man of the kicking trio. He fields the blame for the group if something goes wrong and receives most of the public praise when things go right. More times than not, things have gone right for Wilhoit.

The Hendersonville native has made 68.3 percent (41-of-60) of his field goals during his UT career. He kicked a career-high 74-percent (14-of-19) last season after returning from surgery to remove a loose bone particle in his kicking foot.

"I’m kicking it real well," Wilhoit said. "The biggest thing is just getting back in the swing of things."

Fulmer recently complimented Wilhoit’s consistency. But Wilhoit knows he needs help from his two partners to be successful and avoid an undesirable sound of fall ? boos.