Brian Jean-Mary Details Responsibilities of Tennessee's Linebackers

Brian Jean-Mary made the move from Michigan to Tennessee because the opportunity was "too enticing" to pass up. Mary will serve as Tennessee's inside linebackers coach this fall, and he inherits a thin room full of young talent. 

"They've been great; the guys have been attentive and very eager to learn Coach (Tim) Banks's new system," Jean-Mary said of the room he inherits. "They've come in with a bounce in their step with some of the things Coach (Josh) Heupel has installed so far for the program. So, it's been great every day we have got a chance to get together. Those guys have been sponges getting to the point where they are a lot more comfortable asking questions and obviously, they wanted to get a chance to know me as an individual coach and learn Coach Banks system as far as defense. But everything has been positive so far, and I have no complaints."

Jean-Mary will expect the most out of his linebackers, a position he believes holds a natural leadership role. 

"With any defense, and I know there is different defenses, fronts, and responsibilities with every defense you have, but the middle linebackers are always going to be the captain of the defense and through history that is proven," Jean-Mary said. "So, that guy is going to have to be the captain, he's going to have to be the guy that communicates with the front four guys, and the defensive line and outside linebackers and communicate with the secondary. So, there is a leadership role that comes with that position and he's going to be the captain of the defense, whether it's obviously not necessarily the captain of the team or not, he's got to take a leadership role and be one the guys that the rest of the defense looks to right the ship on the field without the coaches being there with him."

When Tennessee kickoffs Spring practice on March 23rd, Jean-Mary will get his first honest look at his linebacker room. 

"Spring practice is one of the most important parts as far as building a team," Jean- Mary said. "As you saw last year with teams not getting a lot of spring practice because of the COVID-19 pandemic, you saw how slow some teams started and guys were probably having to figure each other out with coaches and players because they didn't have the spring practice. So, I think it's very important and as far as the staff and the players, it is our first introduction to football, 11-on-11 with us putting an actual game plan in and watching these guys run around and that's the closest thing we'll get to a game. So, it's going to be very important and like I said it's a process because they're getting to know us and we're getting to know them. 

"We know their strengths and weaknesses. We'll know them a lot better once we get out of spring practice. But I think with some of the veteran guys we have on staff here, they've been in a lot of different systems and have had the opportunity to obviously coach under a bunch of different coaches. So, it's been a seamless transition with those guys. Coach Banks has done a great job of bringing in his package and allowing guys to fit with how they see things to that package and it's been good. Obviously, we want to see how that works going into spring practice, but everything has been great so far."

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