Smith looking for more tackles

Chuck Smith knows exactly how he'd like to address his depth problems at defensive tackle.

The Tennessee line coach is going to need some new technology, though.

"You can't regenerate Albert (Haynesworth) or John (Henderson)," Smith said of the former UT stars. "I'd love to regenerate them, but all I can do is coach what we have.

"Right now it's definitely a position of need, and we'll look down the line to find some of those big guys. But you also can't really look too far into the future. You worry about the future, but you also have to worry about the present. I think the guys that we have in there now, they're working hard to get the job done and that's really just my focus right now because I can't speak on what we will have. You just coach what you've got."

What the Vols do have are a couple really solid options in sophomores Montori Hughes and Marlon Walls at the top of the depth chart, but there's not much behind them.

Officially, UT also lists Arthur Jeffery and Chase Nelson at the position, but the roster is a work in progress as it sorts through some issues up front. The latest guys to jump in the mix are junior Rae Sykes and sophomore Steven Fowlkes, who have added third-team reps at tackle to go with a few at end.

"They're both guys that can go inside and out," Smith said. "It's really a credit to those players for humbling themselves and saying, 'Hey, I want to play and I want to help this team win, what do I need to do?' I'm really thankful that those guys have that attitude.

"Right now I hope our guys keep developing the way they are, and as they get older, we've got some young guys that are playing well."

And in the meantime, the Vols might be keeping an eye out to see who else might want to try to follow in the footsteps of Haynesworth and Henderson.

Hands-Off Parenting: Eventually the Vols will be on their own on the field.

So the UT coaching staff isn't dragging out the process, in some respects turning the team loose and letting them learn from experience without a coach right beside them.

"At some point you've got to kind of cut the cord and it's time to go out there as a unit and go play after play after play and learn to overcome whatever bad play might have happened or go onto the next play even if a good play happened," head coach Derek Dooley said. "Sometimes the coach always wants to be right on top of a player, tell him what to do and every time he makes a mistake, tell him what he did wrong. It's no different than parenting - when you have a young child, you're always trying to watch every step. 'Don't do this, do do that.'

"At some point you've got to let them fall down and when he falls, he hurts. Or you've got to let them touch the hot thing, because he learns. And he's got to do it on his own. So if you don't practice it, when you get out there for the game it's the first time out in the huddle and they don't know what to do."

Bumps And Bruises: The non-contact jerseys are starting to slowly disappear, and the Vols are clearly getting healthier.

But one guy has gone the other way lately, and sophomore linebacker Greg King is still wearing red after going down with a left knee injury last Thursday. His return is still undetermined.

"King tweaked his knee again, and I'm not sure Greg was really ready to get back out there," Dooley said. "I don't think mentally he was confident when he was out there. Usually when that happens you're not going to get back quickly. He's back on the rehab shelf, and hopefully we can get him back out later this spring."