Bottom line for offensive line: Being the very best : govolsxtra.com

Tennessee's football team had the pads popping a little bit on Monday and Tuesday. But today it all begins in earnest with UT's first practice in full pads after spending the early part of the week in shorts, shoulder pads and headgears.

And it's hard to find anyone more excited about contact than center Josh McNeil.

"It's been since Wisconsin since I even thought about hitting anybody," said McNeil, a junior who spent spring practice on the sidelines after undergoing knee surgery in February. "We got some good licks in (Monday). It was good to get those first few licks out of the way, and now I'm back feeling comfortable and picking up where I left off."

Tennessee's offensive line didn't leave spring practice in the greatest place.

New coordinator Dave Clawson's offense brought big changes to the line, and the group struggled at times during spring practice.

The early returns this fall have been good, says offensive line coach Greg Adkins.

"I want to keep seeing progression made," he said. "I have seen progression from spring practice to the what I've seen these first three days out here. We're playing faster. We're still nowhere near ready to play a game, but we're playing faster."

Now that the NCAA's four-day acclimation period is over, the pace will continue to pick up. But junior guard Vladimir Richard said the pace has been pretty quick already.

"We don't think once we get in pads that's when it really starts, because I feel that teams that are able to practice in shorts are teams that are going to be great," Richard said. "Those first few days in shorts, it was still physical, it was still intense. We're able to practice in shorts. Before we weren't such a good team practicing in shorts. Once the pads come on, it's just another step. It's more intense."

Doubly so for McNeil and UT's centers.

Clawson's offense puts a lot of responsibility on the center, and today will mark McNeil's first day of full-contact work in the new offense. Junior Cody Sullins, who will figure into UT's rotation up front, and senior guard Anthony Parker have also worked some at center.

"There's a lot more pressure on the center in this offense," said Adkins, noting that a lot practice reps for UT's centers are critical. "You're making more calls and being more in charge, so to speak, than in the past."

Another big change was terminology and the strongside-quickside concept that has players lining up on either side of the line on a given play.

Adkins praised his group's retention from spring practice and said a few slight changes seem to have helped.

"I thought it has been excellent so far," Adkins said. "We helped them a little bit. We tweaked a few things within the system to help my guys in particular, some verbage. That seems to have helped so far."

Despite being viewed as one of the strengths of the offense with all five starters back, UT's line still has work to do. The move to full-contact work will accelerate the process, which has been going on since offseason workouts, McNeil says.

"The biggest thing is the expectations that ourselves as an offensive line have set are way higher than what everyone else is thinking," he said. "We come out here every day wanting to be the best. That's the attitude we took through the summer. All six of us worked out together. That's been our big focus, just being the best offensive line we can be.

"And we know that can be a very good one."

Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.

Bottom line for offensive line: Being the very best

McNeil back at work with enthusiasm