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Tennessee's roster is stacked with freshmen and sophomores who in many cases are bigger, faster and stronger than their elder teammates. The result is a highly competitive fall camp that has younger players pushing the upperclassmen for starting positions.
Junior cornerback Marsalis Teague has no problem with the competition, which he says is making the Volunteers better every day.
''That's one of those things you can't dwell on as a junior or a senior,'' Teague said Sunday. ''Once you're out there, you're all competing against each other, but at the same time you're competing with each other. The competition level is at a high point for us. I feel like with everybody out there competing for each other and competing with each other, I feel like it's going to make our team a whole lot better.''
Tennessee's roster has a bit more depth a year after back-to-back coaching turnovers. Still, freshmen and sophomores outnumber upperclassmen two to one, with 26 juniors and seniors on scholarship, compared to 27 sophomores and 26 freshmen.
Only a few upperclassmen, such as senior running back Tauren Poole and senior defensive tackle Malik Jackson, have clear roles as starters, leaving others to be role-playing guys who are called on for specific schemes or plays.
''I had a real frank meeting with our football team right in the beginning,'' coach Derek Dooley said. ''It's our job as coaches to bring in the best talent that we can bring in, to promote competition.''
Dooley enjoys the competition because he knows it will push individual players to improve on a daily basis, which will in turn make the youthful squad better come Sept. 3 when Tennessee opens the season against Montana.
One spot in particular that's seeing a lot of competition is the Vols' secondary, which boasts 17 players for the four defensive back positions, 10 of whom are freshmen or sophomores. Several of those young players have caught the attention of their coaches, and freshman Justin Coleman is being talked of as a potential starter at cornerback.
That leaves the roles of redshirt seniors Anthony Anderson and Art Evans a bit murky for now.
''Nothing is given to you; you have to work for it,'' Anderson said. ''To me, it's good that we've got guys coming in mature early, strong and that are maybe ready to play. The goal is for the best person to play. I'm for whatever coach's choice is. I'm continuing to work hard as one of the leaders and older guys on the team. I'm 100 percent behind the freshmen, whoever they put on the field.''
That's the kind of attitude that will make a coach very happy.
''Our seniors have been great,'' Dooley said. ''Their attitudes have just been great, and I've been appreciative of that, and that's the way it should be on a team.''
Even redshirt junior Prentiss Waggner, one of only two Vols among the 82 players selected to the Southeastern Conference coaches' preseason teams, isn't promised a starting job. Waggner has spent time at both cornerback and safety and could fill a number of roles for the Vols.
''There's a lot of young guys, a lot of (junior college) guys stepping up, learning the playbook real well and going out there and making plays. I think it brings the best out of us because we look for guys to push us, and we know those guys are quality guys that can push us and help us be better players.
Right now we don't know what the depth chart is going to be like because coach is just throwing all the guys out there into the mix, getting everybody equal number of reps, equal number of looks.''
