KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — No. 10/11 Tennessee football returns to Neyland Stadium looking to close out a perfect regular season home slate when it welcomes UTEP for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff on Saturday. The Vols will host Senior Day during the pregame festivities, honoring multiple seniors who have been instrumental in revitalizing the program since 2021.

A pair of seasoned veterans spoke to media during Tuesday’s post-practice availability, providing some insight on the program’s impact on their lives during their careers on Rocky Top.

For redshirt senior wide receiver Bru McCoy, he will proudly look back on his time in Knoxville as a period of growth and maturation. The Southern California native discussed the shift in culture and mindset during his time with the program and how the standard has been raised.

“These last few years have been instrumental in my development as a young man,” McCoy said. “I’ve also found a home here, and I’ve made a lot of great relationships. I have really enjoyed my time around my teammates and coaches … I’m a kid from southern California, but now when people ask me, “When am I going home?” I’ll be talking about Knoxville. It’s a very special place to be, and all the emotions haven’t really settled in yet.”

Senior defensive lineman Omari Thomas has been a cornerstone of the Tennessee defense since his freshman campaign in 2020. The Memphis native has seen action in 58 career games for the Vols, the most of any position player on the 2024 roster.

Thomas expressed his gratitude for the program, how rewarding it has been to represent his home state and help guide the Vols back to national prominence.

“It’s amazing to be a part of something like that, because you get a chance to be a part of the change,” Thomas saif. “I know when I picked this school, I wanted to be a part of something that was going to change, going to head in the right direction and become an elite program. Tennessee was everything that. We’re just continuing to grow, and that’s where we want to continue to go – just be a good program, good people, with good culture.”

Full comments from Tuesday’s availability with tight ends coach Alec Abeln and linebackers coach William Inge can be viewed below, along with select quotes from McCoy, Thomas, freshman running back Peyton Lewis and redshirt junior defensive back Jalen McMurray.

Tight Ends Coach Alec Abeln

On how impressed he is with Miles Kitselman…
“Yeah, I think he’s a 10-year NFL guy to be totally honest with everybody here. Just the stuff that he does, not just in the box, but in the route. He’s everything you want in a guy you get to coach. I obviously wish I had more time with him, but it’s been a pleasure.”

On what areas the offense can improve on at this point of the season…
“Yeah, I think it starts with just playing smarter. Eliminating mistakes that we’re in complete control of. To me, that’s the basis of it. Obviously, throughout the year, the best teams in the country are getting better every single week. And that’s not just schematically, adding new wrinkles, but your base fundamentals, your base run footwork, your base how we’re catching the ball, how we’re putting it straight to the tuck. As the year goes on, you have to continue to get better in the fundamentals. For us right now, it just starts with playing smarter.”

On how Ethan Davis can earn more snaps…
“He’s continued to take steps, and I think for him as he realizes the weeks that he practices really well translates to playing better on Saturday. He’s in a spot right now where there’s just two guys ahead of him that are playing at a really high level. I have all the belief in the world in E (Ethan Davis) and certain games, depending on how much 12 personnel we’re in, he gets more snaps. Depending on what the third down menu is, he can see more snaps there, but he’s just got to continue to invest and earn it during the week and he’s done a really good job. Today was one of his best practices.”

On what the challenges are to playing smarter…
“It’s just doing your job one play at a time. You know you can take the environment; we talk a lot about, you don’t block out noise, your brain doesn’t work that way. When things are going on, you’ve got to focus on your assignment, your job, keying the football, making sure my eyes are in the right spot. It’s just the detail and focus. During the week, I think our guys do a really good job preparing where they can tell you exactly what it is. Once you’re out there, especially in environments like Saturday night, it’s a hyper focus on your job and doing it one play at a time.”

On why Miles Kitselman has been the go-to guy on the first drive in recent games…
“On any of those concepts, could’ve been anybody’s ball just based on what you’re getting. I think he’s a guy that I never have to worry, ‘is this kid ready when that ball is snapped?’ To be able to go execute the first drive the way we did was awesome. Obviously, have to continue that.”

On how the coaching staff avoids being predictable based on personnel or alignment…
“We’re not a team that has a set ‘these are the plays we run, and this is all we run, and we may formation it different.’  … A lot of ways that defenses gameplan us and throw out new schemes for us, that’s how we attack every week on offense. There’s core concepts, there’s core menus, but it’s more designer and more built for who you are than any other week. As the 12 (personnel) continues to grow, just finding more efficient ways to do more things out of it.”

On what he saw in Nico Iamaleava’s performance against Georgia…
“Yeah, I mean he’s a dog. I think all the guys know that that kid is tough as hell. When the moment’s big, it’s not too big for him. I think as he continues to settle in and play more, that’s a guy that the entire team is going to be behind.”

On the season that Holden Staes is having…
“I think he’s grown so much from what spring, early looked like. He’d be the first to tell you, just his improvement, little by little throughout the course of the year, and you look up and it’s like man, he’s a really, really good football player for us. There’s tons of stuff to clean up, just like all of them. But really proud of just, man a guy that came here because he wanted to be developed and has taken steps every single day to get better.”

On the intangibles that have allowed Miles Kitselman to emerge in the tight ends room…
“I think I’ve said it in here before, he just loves football. I think that’s, truly if you want to be great at this game, if you want to have the success that he’s had, it starts with a genuine love of the game. That is as intangible as it gets.”

Linebackers Coach William Inge

On challenges linebackers faced against Georgia…
“Some of the unique misdirection things, bringing guys back across the formation. We just have to continue to keep checking our eyes and making sure our eye discipline is where it needs to be. Often, there weren’t a lot of errors from our standpoint. We just have to continue to play and make our plays.”

On Jalen Smith’s development…
“Jalen Smith has really been doing a great job earning his sweat equity when it comes to things he’s doing prior to games from a preparation standpoint. He is awesome, being in the room with and around the guys, getting the information, and passing along information to the rest of the guys on the team. He’s putting himself in a position to be able to be successful play-in and play-out. He is really someone who I would say is very reliable and dependable with respect to the things that we need him to be able to do.”

On who is a leader among the linebackers…
“We are seeing a lot of the leadership really continue to come from Arion Carter and Jeremiah Telander and that’s exactly what is supposed to happen from a linebacking core standpoint. We have to be the leaders because our main job is two things: it’s leadership and it’s production. We have to be able to grab the bull by the horns, lead the defense, and do everything that we are supposed to do to make sure we can be great on every play. We’ve definitely been pleased with the leadership ability of those two guys thus far since we lost Keenan Pili.”

On the leadership of the seniors…
“In any organization or any program, those are the guys who have obviously been around the longest and have put in a lot of sweat and tears and in some cases, blood. You always want to make sure that you can have a specific dedication for those young men and or women, whoever is in the program for you. We have a lot of respect for those guys and the things that they do. You always want to make sure you can go and represent them because there are a few moments in your career that you know you will never forget. That’s something that we were talking about with our guys in the meeting room today. You are never going to forget the last game that you played at home. You’re never going to forget the last game that you played on the road, and sometimes you are never going to forget your last game overall. Sometimes, it can be one of those two. We want to do everything we can to make sure that we keep the main thing the main thing, and have our preparation in mind where it needs to be. We have to go and represent and play for all of those seniors who have really done a great job of helping this program transform over the last four to five to six years.”

On how teams are attacking the defense…
“That is part of today’s college football because how are you on the field, they are always going to try to come after you. We have to counter that by making sure we are great from an eye-discipline standpoint. There are times when you have to fit a gap but also, make sure your eyes are true because if someone is telling you, don’t go to this particular area, you have to have your eyes where they need to be. You can really play the next play and something that we try to do on our end is what we call try to think forward. When we see a play, we are trying to think about what is going to be next play and put it in their mind so they can be ready and prepared for what’s yet to come. That way, we’ve talked about it, we’ve seen it or when a new play happens, you’ll see everyone on the sideline say hey that play was new for us. We know that as long as you know and understand your rules, and you apply your rules, you are always going to be okay on every given play.”

On how teams are trying to deceive the defense and the challenges…
“What it tries to create is more what we call inefficiency in movement. They want you to take a false step or a misdirection step, and now it will equalize everything. Everybody runs obviously as you know they run so fast and it would equalize them to where, if I took one false step to the left and I’m supposed to go to the right, now it gives an offensive lineman or person one more step on me. They are in front of me getting there instead of me being in front of them. That’s what some of the misdirection things lead to and that’s what we work on from a day-to-day basis. It always starts with our eyes, feet, hands, shoulders, and eyes. Those are the five things that we work on from a linebacker standpoint on a day-to-day basis. We call it the Fab Five for linebackers. If we manage and maximize those things it will lead to efficient movement and that’s all you want. If you can have efficient movement on the field, you are going to love the results often because most of the time success is going to find you.”

On being impressed by Tim Banks‘ work…
“On my end I feel extremely fortunate because I know I am probably with one of the best coaches in college football in Tim Banks. Having him and his mind and his leadership around the guys, it adds to all of us being able to work very good as a staff. When you have someone like him, you want to work better, you want to work efficient, you want to make sure that everything that we do, the players can be able to experience success on any given play. That is what you are seeing as we continue to take steps. Believe me, it has been a great blessing to have an opportunity to work for coach Banks.”

On if inexperience has hindered the defense with young linebacker room…
“No, the biggest thing that inexperience does is it allows the slate to be clean. Because for me as a teacher, that is my responsibility to make sure that everything is going to be fine. Now, I have to be able to think forward to see the booby traps as they come. If I can do that and keep them out of harm’s way, then usually some of those conversations are usually going to be pretty minimal. I take a lot of pride in me doing that for myself and those players because those players have to know I am going to give them my best, because if I give them my best we will end up being first most of the time. It is good to see that they have been able to really experience some of that daily.”

On Jeremiah Telander and Arion Carter fueling each other’s growth…
“I think that is really good because number one, you have friendships. We probably do more teaching and preaching of how you can be when you are away from the building. Those are the two guys that are kind of like two peas in a pod — when you see one you are going to see one another. Jalen (Smith) has become kind of the third Stooge. Should we call them the Three Stooges? You are going to see Larry, Moe and Curly together walking through the building fairly often. Most of the guys did not even know what the Three Stooges were, I had to explain it to them, we had to pull it up on the internet. Seeing those two guys work together — and that is what you want from a leadership standpoint. You want those guys to be building and developing together. We know when we get our other recruits here, that is the message we tell them. This will always start with leadership. I am going to train you to understand how to be a very good leader, because if you become a very good leader and a very good actor from an action standpoint, most of the time success is going to find you, and that has been one of our biggest recipes to success.”

Freshman RB Peyton Lewis

On the game slowing down for him at this point in the season…
“I would say as the game goes on, like when I first got here everything was moving fast and I’m still trying to find out all the stuff that I needed to focus on, and now that I’ve gotten more reps and I’ve gotten more comfortable playing in the game, it’s slowed down a lot for me and it’s helped me see things that I didn’t see before. I’ve definitely gotten way more comfortable.”

On how much Dylan Sampson has helped him in his development…
“(Dylan Sampson) has helped me a lot in so many ways. Different aspects besides just football. Any questions that I have in a meeting room, we sit next to each other, so I might ask him a question, might help each other out. He’s always there for me just in case I’m a little confused or he just wants to reiterate something that coach (Sims) has said, but he’s definitely helped me out a lot, for sure.”

On how he’s taking advantage of the opportunities he’s seen on the field…
“I try to treat every rep that I get in practice as a game rep. We’re going full speed and I try to practice like a pro. Any opportunity that I’ve gotten to play, I’ve just tried to smash it in the mouth. Near the beginning, I didn’t have as many and now that I have the opportunity to come up and get these reps, I’ve just tried to take advantage of my opportunity.”

RS-Senior WR Bru McCoy

On what being at Tennessee has meant to him and what it’s going to be like on Saturday…
“These last few years have been instrumental in my development as a young man and maturity. I’ve also found a home here, and I’ve made a lot of great relationships. I have really enjoyed my time around my teammates and coaches. It has created a second home for me. I’m a kid from southern California, so now when people ask me, ‘when am I going home?’ I’ll be talking about Knoxville. It’s a very special place to be, and all the emotions haven’t really settled in yet.”

On being a part of the change in the program and what it means to him to watch it…
“It means a lot because I think part of the mentality that I carry just as a competitor is this expectation to win in everything you do. I was not around prior coaches, and I didn’t see much of the Tennessee records, but I know that when I got here, the standard stopped being ‘we might win’ and (it became) ‘we expect to win.’ I think following that in 2023 we had an expectation to win, and that bar got pushed a little higher and then a little more higher. It’s to the point where no one is thinking about 2020 or 2021 necessarily. This new standard of Tennessee should be in the SEC championship. They should be competing for championships every single year, and we should have 10 season wins consistently. I’m proud to have been a part of that change.”

On what kind of impact wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope has had on him…
“We look at clips all the time to see how far we have come. He’s been someone that I’ve looked up to as a mentor. Being so far from home and family, you look for men in your life that can give you guidance and teach you how to live right. He’s been instrumental in that, (and) for me, he’s one of a kind. You won’t find any other coach that cares more, pours more into his guys and pays more attention to detail. He never takes a day off and doesn’t let you take one off. Some days you wake up and don’t want to get out of bed and go to practice. Having a coach like him doesn’t allow it. If you show up tired, he will wake you up, he will make you work hard and he will make you repeat reps. If you drop a ball, he will make you go again and catch three or four more times just to gain confidence in yourself. He’s hard on you, so when you get to the field on Saturday, it’s easy. I couldn’t be more happy to experience being coached by him.”

RS-Junior DB Jalen McMurray

On how different of a player he feels now vs. when he first got here…
“Obviously, being here and playing in the SEC, that’s a big step from where I was at. I feel like I adjusted very well. The main thing was my intelligence of the game. All of the coaches I’ve interacted with have allowed me to grow in that aspect in my game.”

On things needed to be worked on after the Georgia game…
“It’s just playing smarter football. I mean, that’s it. I know we had quite a few penalties, and that’s something that’s obviously fixable. Just playing smarter football.”

On what he’s seen from Jermod McCoy that’s allowed him to have the season he’s had…
“Jermod is a pure athlete. He’s always in position to be able to make a play and pick the ball off. Even during practice you see him do things that not a lot of people are able to do. He’s a heck of a player and the sky’s the limit for him.”

Senior DL Omari Thomas

On how the team blocks out all the noise caused by the College Football Playoff rankings…
“We’re guaranteed this game, this week. We have to be able to play this week, that’s the mindset that we’ve been talking about. I’ve been talking to the team, just telling them that we have to be ready to play. We can’t control anything that’s on the outside, playoffs or anything like that. We have to continue to come in every day (and) get better. We feel like we still have a lot to play for this season, so we just have to continue to grow and get better as a team to get where we want to go.”

On the most rewarding part of being at Tennessee during the evolution of the program…
“It’s amazing to be a part of something like that because you get a chance to be a part of the change. I know when I picked this school, I wanted to be a part of something that was going to change and going to head in the right direction and become an elite program. Tennessee was everything that (fit that criteria). We’re just continuing to grow and that’s where we want to continue to go is just be a good program, good people with good culture.”