Everything Kelsey Pope Said Ahead of Tennessee Football's First Fall Scrimmage

The Tennessee Volunteers completed a big practice on Friday, which is the final practice ahead of the first scrimmage. Following the practice, Kelsey Pope and select players spoke to the media. Here is what he had to say.

Incase you would rather watch the video: click HERE.

Kelsey Pope on Joakim Dodson

"Yeah, I think those types of moments, they definitely add to confidence. But I think ultimately as players, you've got to choose to use that. And Joe has done that so far in camp. For him, just coming off the offseason, individually, his biggest focus for me was just to be more consistent, and we’ve got to be able to really be able to add value in the run game for the position that he plays. So coming off of that touchdown, I think he's done that and he’s tried to take advantage of that momentum. He’s had a solid camp so far.”

Kelsey Pope on Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley Feeling Established

“I think the key to having that edge is not saying what you just said, feeling established. At any moment, once they feel like I’ve arrived, that’s the wrong mentality. And so I think what I’ve got to do as a coach is gauge that, right. If I sense one of them or both of them looking too far ahead or feeling established, I’ve got to nip that in the bud right now, and I think what I’ve got from those guys this camp is two hungry guys that are going to break the strain and compete every single play. We put Mike up in the team meeting, the offensive unit meeting, for like four plays, and he didn’t touch the ball on either one of them. But it’s his effort and his strain and the way he’s competing without the ball. Braylon and Mike, both of those guys had success. I’m talking to them about becoming complete receivers. We ain’t talking about going over 1,000 yards or knocking out 10 touchdowns or these milestones or accolades when it comes to numbers. What we want to focus on is being complete wideouts, and I think all the other things–success, that stuff will come.”

Kelsey Pope on Braylon Staley and Mike Matthews' To-Do List

"Yeah, they got different skill sets, so I think, for one, it’s important for those guys to identify what their superpower is. Once you go to the next level, you’ve got to be able to translate into an NFL system right away. So understanding what my superpower is, no matter what day, what the weather looks like, how I’m feeling, that has to be concrete. And then it’s time to check off things that I need to get better."

"For Mike, it was about him playing on the lower pad, whether that’s releases, topping routes, any of that stuff. And also just finishing catches, contesting catches. The hardest ones are when I’m by myself, but I think he struggled a lot with catches, not because he had a hand-eye coordination issue. It was just a focus issue. Like, it could be things in my eyesight that distract me, and I lose focus, so trying to put him in those situations."

"For Braylon, his superpower was he’s got to be able to separate at every level. He’s got to be the best separator in the conference, in the country. That’s got to be constant, no matter who you play. And then you add on to that things that he had to get better at, which is playing with more physicality in the run game. When guys are pressing him, I’m able to play with physicality in the pass game. And also start making those 50/50 catches, deep balls, jump ball situations, getting used to those. And so what you do is, you talk to them, you compile a detailed plan, and you have checkpoints that you can see and tell them periodically. Are we on the path? Are we making momentum? Are we making leeway to where we want to get to? And I think those guys, those are training you in the right direction.”

Kelsey Pope on Radarious Jackson Coming Out of the No-Contact Jersey Ahead of the Scrimmage

“Radarious has always got the right mentality, man. He’s usually the hardest worker in the receiver room. You don’t have to really get a fire lit under him for him to get started. I’m telling all these guys, we’ve got to play well under the lights. We’re going to play a lot of teams in this league that are really good. So my focus to these guys is: in games where we have to be perfect, will you be able to? Because it’s easy to say you’ve been strain and live with the results. Well, in this league we play, effort don’t get you results a lot of the time. So in situations where we have to be perfect, third down, two minutes, any of the situations, when we go in that stadium, it’s no different. You guys have to perform. So putting pressure on those guys to make sure mentally and physically they’re ready to go and do just that when we go under the lights. So it’s not just for Radarious, it’s for all those guys. I’m kind of trying to get a clue into that. We have to play well in the stadium.”

Kelsey Pope on the Pass Game Coordinator Check List

"As far as the coordinator thing, I’m really looking for things that we may not have had answers to last year. You look at different looks or games you feel like you struggled. Or even games where you felt like you may have scored a lot of points, so we were good productively. And we just felt like we could add a new wrinkle. So, I think being able to add on to those, to where it still is within your identity. For me, as a pass game coordinator, those are the things I’m usually paying attention to to help keep us balanced on all things.”

Kelsey Pope on Getting Mike Matthews to Finish Every Play

“You’ve got to want to. You’ve got to remind these guys of their goals and dreams and why they’re here. We do a segment called word of the day. And I asked the guys a question a couple practices ago. I’m like, what do you need to be reminded of when you’re tired? And you get a wide array of different answers. One guy’s like, man coach, I need to be reminded about me and my mom and siblings, we used to stay in the homeless shelter when I was seven or eight years old. And another guy, his answer is, man, I need to be reminded that my mom’s in the hospital back home and I’m the only one that she won’t depend on. It’s got to be want to. You’ve got to be inspired. Even when you don’t feel like it. So, I think that’s part of a coach is you’ve got to know the guys are in your room so you can press those buttons when they need to be. And for him, Mike’s a naturally motivated kid. For him, it’s just putting things in perspective. Sometimes he’s too motivated. One bad play can kind of get him in his head. So, for him, as he’s grown, talking to him about letting go of that one and playing the next one. And you’ll be way more productive than you just honing in and compartmentalizing on one play.”

Kelsey Pope on What He Wants to See From Travis Smith Jr. This Season

“Physical. Travis has got to be the most physical guy in my room. Just like you, when everybody comes to our practice, the first thing they ask is, who is number one? Because physically, he looks like Goliath. And my message to him is you never want to look like Goliath and play like Jane. You want to be physical the entire time. We’ve got to go be that, right? And for Travis, he’s got to work at it because it doesn’t come naturally to him. But he’s done a really good job of embracing physicality. And you start to see him kind of turn that corner and play physical. For him, it's just doing it consistently. But that’s my message to him is just go be the most physical guy in the room. And he wants to. He absolutely wants to.”

Kelsey Pope on the Search for a Third Starter

"I am still searching. We’ve got to get consistent right now. So it’s literally a search. If you know somebody, let me know. It’s wide open right now. And for me it's just consistency daily. Like not being up and down and that's what I am getting right now.”

Kelsey Pope on TK Keys Being in the Mix

“He’s right in there. He's in the mix. So between anybody in the room, really. They can breathe and they’re in the room, that third spot is open for them. I got guys some days that are peaking, and then the next we go down. But right now, I’m still looking. We have to show consistency. For me as a receivers coach, I’ve got to be able to put my name and stamp on it. We only got one guy that can play, we’ll play in the freaking 13th personnel. We got two; we’ll go 12. If we got three, we’ll play an 11, but it's got to be earned.”

Kelsey Pope on What Would Catch His Eye During the Scrimmage

“That’s a good question. I think going into a stadium like Neyland, a cool resource for us because it’s imposing. You go in there, and it feels like this is important. So that kind of adds pressure, which translates to game day. So for me, it’s just like who is the moment not to big for? You know what I mean? You go into Neyland a lot of times and guys look completely different from what they’ve done on the practice field because that’s an imposing place. We’re going to play there. There’s going to be 100,000 more people in there when we get there. Like who's not afraid of the moment/ Some guys get in there, and the game just looks sped up for them. You see the play snapped and the eyes are all over the place and not going through the progressions, pass game, run game, whatever. That kind of indicates that, man, this feels like everything’s moving too fast. When you see some they go in, and they cut it loose, and then they play after play and they’re asking for more. That’s when you know guys are ready.”

Kelsey Pope on Putting His Wide Receivers in Uncomfortable Moments

"When a guy is ready you will know. Part of my job also as a coach is I got to kind of push them into uncomfortable situations. Two-minute drill, guy may be tapping because he’s tired. As a coach, a lot of times, I’m going to leave you in to see what you’re made of when you’re tired and if you’re strained. Now, I have to pick and choose when I do that to make sure it’s not harmful for them physically, but that’s part of that is on me as a coach to make sure I’m putting them in situations to show that the moment is not too big.”

Kelsey Pope on TK Keys Being Gifted

“Man, the kid is gifted, we knew that coming into him. We knew that when we evaluated him. The highs we see. I’m sure you guys saw the clip on Twitter of the catch. He just does stuff that you can’t coach. Now, you go to the opposite end, and some days it looks like polar opposite. From a pad-level standpoint, the eyes during the play when I’m talking about it, he just looks sped up at times and not understanding progression. Part of that is being a freshman. You understand there’s going to be ups and downs as a freshman, but what you never want to coach is guys’ ability to strain and compete, and that’s what he’s constantly doing. He’s always competing, even if he’s in the wrong spot. My message to him, just like those other guys, if you want to do this, no matter who you are and how talented you are, you’ve got to be consistent, and that’s what we’re focusing on right now.”

Kelsey Pope on the Leadership of Braylon Staley and Mike Matthews

“I’d say those two guys, I’m more proud of those two than probably anybody that I’ve coached in terms of leadership. When Mike Matthews got here, he was highly recruited. He’ll tell you he was probably entitled in a lot of ways. There was a lot of breaking scar tissue and building trust and three or four talks a week. I spent more time talking to him on the week than my wife. Now to see, before I’m even coaching up another guy, Mike’s already sprinting to him, or he had a deal today where his eyes weren’t in the right place, and we weren’t in the right spot when the ball was thrown. Before I can even say anything to him, like, coach, I know, I should have been there. It’s like no hesitation.

“Braylon, the same way. Those guys are coaching each other up. They’re coaching others up, and they’re holding the standard. They’re not afraid of conflict with the other guys. They had an off day recently, and Mike and Bray led the entire group in a walkthrough and an install on their own. So obviously those guys are self-confident and comfortable within themselves, but to be a productive receiver in the SEC and still not be entitled and arrogant, I think that’s hard to do nowadays. So kudos to those two. They’ve done a really good job of trying to uphold the standard that I’ve set even when I’m not around. So I’ve been really, really pleased with those two.”

Add us as a preferred source on Google