Expect More Bump Coverage from the Volunteer Defensive Backs this Season

By Joel Hollingsworth Apr 10, 2012, 8:22am EDT

YEAH, LET'S DO THAT. I'm sorry to bring this up, but do you remember how many times over the past several seasons an opponent's receiver had a career day against Tennessee's defense? Alabama's D.J. Hall comes immediately to mind, but we all know there were others as well. Just last year, we had one particular defensive back who, bless his heart, . . . had problems.

Well, I have no idea how the DBs have been coached recently, but I don't recall any news reports of an emphasis on jamming the wide receivers so they can't just go unimpeded wherever they like. So I like what I'm hearing from new cornerbacks coach Derrick Ansley:

"We want to get up and deny the ball," Ansley said. "The thing about it is, you can't let fast receivers run down the field without being jammed, so we're going to get up there and try to challenge as many receivers as we can. We've got guys that are very strong-handed, heavy-handed who can jam. We've got a lot of length back there. I think we should have a really good year jamming people.

And this:

"The main thing is leverage -- pad level and using the hands," new cornerbacks coach Derrick Ansley said last week. "That's one of the things that, to be a good DB, you've got to be able to get your hands on people. I've said this 100 times, 'You can't let fast guys run down the field.'

"We've got to get up there and challenge guys at the line of scrimmage with bump-and-run and press-man techniques. That's the biggest thing. We're just trying to teach them to use their hands."

Yeah. I propose amending the maxims to include, "Don't let the opponent's offense do what they want." Who's with me?

YOU'LL FAIL. Don't even bother to resist making the obvious joke about John Palermo, who recently spent 15 years at Wisconsin, having trouble keeping up with the pace in the SEC:

"I'd say I'm definitely old school," he said last week. "They're killing me right now. Look at me. They're wearing me out.

"You know what, I don't know that it's more than I expected, but I've got to tell you this: the tempo here, in my 38 years of coaching, is about twice as fast as it's been at any place I've ever coached."

Seriously, though, you have to love hearing that. And no, I don't really care whether it's the first entry in "Things New Coaches Should Say to Endear Themselves to Fans."

WHO'S HOT? Rucker has a list of Five Guys on the Rise (which, if they were on the ball, would have been sponsored by Five Guys Burgers and Fries) midway through spring. The list: Stephen Fowlkes, Byron Moore, Rajion Neal, Antonio "Tiny" Richardson, and Trent Taylor.

REALLY. In other news, Tennessee's kickers are practicing kicking. Actually, they're also practicing catching footballs from JUGS machines and taking steps and stuff.

REALLY? John Adams is bored again, and now he's concerned that Tennessee's move to the 3-4 could win the state the national championship in obesity. Don't worry, John's doing his part to balance it all out.

BUT IS THERE VIDEO OF CUONZO MARTIN RAPPING? The Volscars were last night, and here's the list of winners.

Expect More Bump Coverage from the Volunteer Defensive Backs this Season

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