Kiffin brings new attitude to Tennessee practices

Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess

Head coach Lane Kiffin looks on during a spring practice at the University of Tennessee on Tuesday.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — When coach Lane Kiffin kicked off Tennessee's spring practice, he promised things would be done his way.

That meant speeding up drills, tossing the quarterbacks' green no-contact jerseys and instilling a sense of competition among players.

The players seem to be enjoying the new attitude.

"Obviously, he knows what he's talking about," quarterback Jonathan Crompton said after a recent practice. "He's won championships before. We're trying to practice at a championship level because we know what we're capable of doing. We're trying to have fun doing it."

Kiffin has challenged the veteran players to prove themselves during the spring practice period because when fall practice arrives, it will be the incoming freshman class' time to shine.

Previous starting experience won't count, either. Only All-American safety Eric Berry has been tagged as a starter for the 2009 season.

"When coach Kiffin first came in he said, 'Practice is going to be all about competitiveness,' and that's exactly what it's about every day," said C.J. Fleming, who is competing for playing time in the secondary.

To encourage the competition, the coaching staff is keeping score during scrimmage-style drills at the end of every practice. The offense and defense can earn points based on their performances in the 11-on-11 drill.

During one recent practice, the 11-on-11 drill got so competitive that Kiffin had a hard time ending practice.

"I tried to end the practice three times, but the guys kept calling the other side out. The defense had won, and then we were done with practice, but the offense called the defense out. So they came back on them, and then the defense called the offense out," Kiffin said.

"I finally I just stopped it, but it was great to see. They kept wanting to go and kept challenging each other."

Kiffin and his staff want their players to be fast on the field, and new strength and conditioning coach Mark Smith has helped speed things up a bit with his drills.

Players must jog from drill to drill during practice. Every conditioning drill must be performed at full-speed, and stretching is done to music to encourage extra energy.

"It takes more energy, so at first the guys were a little gassed," linebacker Rico McCoy said. "Now it's second nature. It's part of our practicing. It's how we're expected to practice. It's going to make us better."

Kiffin isn't 100 percent satisfied with the players' efforts, so he shuffles things like the practice schedule and the depth chart.

"It's never as good as you want it to be. We have to figure different ways to motivate them and figure different things to do," he said.

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