USC Transfer McCoy Has 'Been a Pleasant Surprise' For Vols During Fall Camp
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Tennessee is still awaiting the eligibility status of Bru McCoy, but that hasn't stopped the talented transfer from working and pushing to be the best he can be in the meantime. Today, Vols wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope was highly complimentary of McCoy.
"Bru has been a pleasant surprise," Pope said after Tennessee's Thursday morning practice. "He's been really good. For a guy who hasn't played in a season, he obviously has had to build stamina back up. But, when you talk about just a physical specimen, some things you can coach and some things you can't. That guy has a lot of things that you just can't coach. For him, it's just honing in on the details and getting it polished up for him really to become a technician. He's a big athlete. He's physical, twitchy and he can run. For us, it's just about being able to get his stamina up, get him back in shape and then polish up the little things with him."
Obviously, along with getting in shape, one of the other challenges for a newcomer is picking up what Tennessee expects of its receivers and wants to do schematically. According,
"It varies. It depends on what kind of learner you are. Some guys are visual, some guys are kinesthetic, some guys can get on the board and write. I think for Bru, he's a kinesthetic guy. He's not a rep guy at all, but he's a kinesthetic learner. In our walkthrough in the afternoon when he's not in the game and when he's watching the guy who's in, he's taking mental reps on the side and walking through reps. All of those things are extremely important for him, especially since we've got to catch up his stamina. He's got to take advantage of the rest when he's not physically going."
Tennessee continues to work multiple receivers opposite Cedric Tillman, but if McCoy become eligible and continues to come on strong, he can have a chance to factor in early on.
McCoy did not work during Tennessee's scrimmage on Tuesday, but the Vols will hope to have him there on Sunday as they scrimmage again.
