McKenzie
Myers-White
One of the most closely contested battles for a starting position has been more lukewarm than red hot during Tennessee's preseason practice.
Seniors Adam Myers-White and Nevin McKenzie are competing to take the first snaps at strongside linebacker for UT's season-opener against UCLA. But with little more than a week remaining before kickoff, it's still too close to call.
And a little boring, for that matter.
"It really hasn't sorted itself out that anybody's just distinguished themselves," UT coach Phillip Fulmer said. "Neither one of them have really taken hold of that yet, not that either one of them have done poorly necessarily. But neither one necessarily have done great."
In a word: Blah.
But the strongside linebacker's impact on the defense is anything but bland.
In defensive coordinator John Chavis's scheme, the strongside linebacker is responsible for calling the defense and making any pre-snap adjustments.
Or, as Myers-White explains: "We call the strength of the defense, then from there on it all trickles down to the last check. We have to know what everybody's doing, what's behind us, what's in front of us and what's on the side. It's a lot of responsibility."
In addition to the mental demands, the position also requires a player who can be physical against the run but still be able to drop into coverage on a consistent basis.
And, hopefully, become a force while doing it.
"We're looking for a guy who can make plays there," Fulmer said. "It's a position that you're kind of a hybrid guy, you've got to be able to play the run, be kind of a tough guy on inside stuff. When they come out in open sets, you've got to be able to play almost the old rover, monster man, strong safety kind of position out there in space."
McKenzie, a junior college transfer who spent most of last season at safety, has the background to fit the job.
But McKenzie said learning two positions - and then missing most of spring practice with a knee injury - has made getting up to speed at strongside linebacker a challenge.
"It's not too hard physically," he said. "It's kind of hard mentally to learn everything mentally as a safety and then turn around and learn it for linebacker. But I'm catching on."
Myers-White, who has spent nearly his entire career at strongside linebacker, has a good grip on scheme.
Athleticism isn't a problem for McKenzie, and neither is his ability. During scrimmages this fall, he's shown an ability to come off the edge on the blitz and cause problems in the backfield.
"Nevin's a natural football player, whether he's a safety … or whether he's at linebacker," Fulmer said. "He's just a football player. Adam's a smart guy. Both of them just need to make more plays. That's what they're out there for."
Fulmer said both are "solid," noting that the two aren't splitting first-team snaps in practice. Both have worked with the first team at times, however Myers-White has started all three scrimmages.
And exactly which player will be on the field with the first team when UT's season begins Sept. 1 at UCLA isn't a big concern right now for Fulmer.
"They're going to both play," Fulmer said. "They're going to both play a lot. And they're both going to help a lot on special teams.
"Both of them have ability (to make plays), but they've got to play better at that position."
Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.
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Comments » 26
tnmantravel#531151 writes:
not that bad of a problem to have with the strong side linebackers
GO VOLS DESTROY UCLA
BRING THE SEC SWAGER TO THE ROSE BOWL
gavol2572 writes:
You have to admit that these coaches will call a spade a spade. If the players are not playing up to par ol Phil is sure to tell us.
cjraney writes:
I think McKenzie has had TFLs in every scrimmage but don't remember M-W with any. Also believe McK has been averaging about double the number of tackles.
Don't fully understand the "they're not splitting the first-team snaps" statement. I guess M-W is showing more in practice than he has in the scrimmages?
CoverOrange writes:
cj, my guess is MW has got the brains but not the brawn and vice versa with McK. Not saying McK is stupid just hasn't been playing SLB for four years like MW. As soon as he gets it down we probably won't be seeing much of MW. Probably after the Florida game.
Orangebrewbasher writes:
Hopefully they are both goshdarngoodball players. I'm worried about williams, what does the guy have to do?
txsvol#372416 writes:
Nevin McKenzie, from San Antonio Jay High School (usually one of the weaker schools in a powerful district), will play more snaps than Adam M-W, IMO. It's a shame that a part-time player will be depended upon to get the defense into the proper formation. Looks like Chief is the one not thinking, here. Why not have the MLB, or one of the 'leaders' of our defense, have that responsibility? Go Vols! SAVol
GreenDevilVol writes:
txsvol,
Agreed !!
NOLAvol writes:
As to why have the MLB make the calls...
I think it's comparable to the catcher's responsibilities in baseball: He's in a better location to see that everyone else is lined up correctly, AND he doesn't have to do as much shifting himself -- unlike outside LBs and safeties who have to be constantly responding/adjusting to shifts by the offensive backfield and receivers as the O breaks huddle, lines up, changes formations, etc.
But, hey, I coached soccer--what do I know? (9 yr. old Division Champs!)
turner_c writes:
I'm a little confused with the doublespeak:
1. "UT coach Phillip Fulmer said. "Neither one of them have really taken hold of that yet, not that either one of them have done poorly necessarily. But neither one necessarily have done great."
2. "In a word: Blah."
To me, the situation appears to be that we have 2 starters at SLB. CPF is a master motivator and constantly uses the media to motivate one player against another. Was it significant that their position coach wasn't interviewed?
scvols writes:
Nevin McKenzie was a playmaker last year after he finally got on the field. Let someone else call the plays.
CoverOrange writes:
Rich, not sure why you pointed the stick at me. I wasn't advocating either over the other just rationalizing the probable thought process of Chavis as evidenced by R Karl from last year. I'm not Nafslov either, I put value in the cerebralness of the game.
Myers-White has been at the LB for four years and should know all the ins-and-outs, Nevin less than one. Once Chavis has confidence in him calling the sets, look out.
Acutally, I was thinking the same thing about sliding Wilson over (slightly small for MLB) if GW gets his tickets punched.
1manningfan writes:
Fulmer lets make the Wa,WA, Waterboy the strongside linebacker!!! He can also provide us with some quality H20.
longtimefan writes:
Hope they learn how to tackle!
invisiblekid writes:
"To me, the situation appears to be that we have 2 starters at SLB."
chas_turner, the more negative thought process on that would be that when you have two starters you really don't have any starters. Personally, I am a little disappointed and apprehensive that neither guy has seized the opportunity.
txsvol, adjusting the scheme, what are you thinking?
turner_c writes:
Posted by invisiblekid on August 23, 2008 at 1:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"To me, the situation appears to be that we have 2 starters at SLB."
chas_turner, the more negative thought process on that would be that when you have two starters you really don't have any starters. Personally, I am a little disappointed and apprehensive that neither guy has seized the opportunity.
txsvol, adjusting the scheme, what are you thinking?
invisiblekid, if you believe that, you better hope the 2s don't ever get in a game. Oh, that happened a lot last year, Cal and FL being but 2 examples. How do your 1s play when they have 80+ snaps like they did in a few games last year?
The DL coach for the Titans says that once a DL plays 10 plays, you can see his technique and quickness deteriorate, even on film. One Titans DL said he had to play 12 straight plays in one game and was not worth anything the last 2 plays.
Pretty obvious having quality 2s effected us on both sides of the ball last year, just look at 1st vs 2nd half performances. Last year, our DL were flat worn out in the 4th qtr so many times. The last 7 games, we only had 6 guys that could play in the OL, and the stats definitely show a 2nd half dropoff in nearly every game.
Better hope the 2s are closer to the 1s this year than in 06 and 07. JMO
GrnEyedBanditTN writes:
If you guys remember, Mayo was moved back to the outside (WLB) for the Bowl game agains Wisconsin. Wilson was at MLB. It's probably obvious that Wilson is a better fit at Mike and not Sam or Will. With that being said, Wilson, Myers-White, and McKenzie all came to UT as Safeties. M-W was converted early in his freshman year just like Kevin Burnett, Al Wilson, Eric Westmorland, Eddie Moore, and several others. Wilson resisted the move as well, but eventually came around. McK was still used as a DB in the "Mustang" package, but blitzed more like an LB due to lack of pass rush from DL and depth at CB. I agree with invisiblekid in that "we" have co-starters at Sam. As far as Sam calling the fronts as opposed to Mike... these guys were Safeties originally (probably SS). The SS makes all of the secondary calls including in the huddle. They aren't strangers to that.
mlbrown5454 writes:
What's the progress with Savion Frazier?
thesavageorange writes:
Swearinger a Vol.
thesavageorange writes:
For those who don't know, DJ Swearinger is a 5'11 191 lb safety from Greenwood, SC.He runs a 4.4 and holds a 3.3gpa.He is also rated the 4th most physical S in the country.We beat out Auburn, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Vanderbilt,Michigan & Clemson.
mlbrown5454 writes:
He looks good.
Slow competition in the videos, but he has a nose for the ball and actually wraps up in his tackles.
spvol writes:
The Big Orange will be just fine.
murrayvol writes:
tngeoff: He is one in a million. And he has several million reasons to be in New England and not Knoxville.
TurboFan: Not sure "cerebralness" is a word but I know what you mean. There were times last year we looked as if we had 11 players and maybe seven brains on the field.
CoverOrange writes:
Murray, you can make words up as long as you spell them correctly. ;)
TommyJack writes:
Murray: I believe the correct word is cerebral. I learned that in Sale Creek.
txsvol#372416 writes:
Sale Creek is in North Hamilton County. I actually treated a woman last night with a pink T-shirt that said 'Suck Creek.' TJ, you from Sale Creek? I tell incredulous people that I'm from Suck Creek, Tennessee, sometimes, just to get their reaction! IVK, I think that continuity in play calling should prevail, as somebody in the game most of the time, and a 'leader,' should be in charge of the organizational part, because his 'head is in the game.' But, I can accept the explanation that former safeties are trained to spot the keys, too. Go Vols! SAVol
murrayvol writes:
TurboFan: Just like Shakespeare. Keep the faith. Perhaps cerebralness will catch fire like irregardless.
TJ: If you have a Sale Creek zip code, you might be a Spelling Bee washout.
txsvol: There is actually a Suck Creek (unincorporated) near my former home base of Soddy-Daisy. You won't find it in any Atlas but it's there. And just across the road from my boyhood home is Slab Town. You can't make this stuff up.
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