Tennessee’s defense is not trying to hide from the inconsistency that has surfaced during preseason camp.
The Vols are trying to coach their way through it.
With Tennessee replacing several key contributors and adjusting to new defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, defensive line coach Rodney Garner and LEOs coach Andrew Jackson have delivered a similar message during camp: flashes are not enough.
“Obviously, you know, just even this time yesterday, just been very inconsistent,” Garner said. “You know, you got a good day, got a bad day. Obviously, you know, moving the needle when you’re going up and down, can’t have those roller coaster moments.”
Garner, entering his sixth season on Josh Heupel’s staff, is one of the holdovers on a defensive staff reshaped around Knowles. Jackson was hired in January to coach Tennessee’s LEOs.
The transition comes as Tennessee attempts to replace experience up front. Garner said the growing pains were predictable after losing five players from his group, but that does not change the timetable.
“I’m not shocked,” Garner said. “Okay, but you know, we just got to accelerate.”
Part of that acceleration involves finding players capable of setting the standard themselves.
Garner said Tennessee needs its defensive front to become more player-led instead of depending on coaches to provide all of the urgency. He included himself in the responsibility for getting the group there.
“I got to coach better, and they got to do better,” Garner said. “I mean, that’s all of us. There’s nobody that’s immune from it.”
There have been encouraging developments.
Garner identified transfers Xavier Gilliam and Jordan Norman as two of Tennessee’s most consistently productive defensive linemen during camp. Gilliam, a 6-foot-2, 305-pound redshirt sophomore, arrived from Penn State after playing 409 defensive snaps in 2025. Norman, a 6-foot-4, 265-pound redshirt junior, recorded six sacks and eight tackles for loss at Tulane last season.
“They have probably been our two most productive guys out there consistently,” Garner said. “Those two young men got to be able to help us.”
Garner also wants that production to translate into leadership. He said Gilliam needs to become more vocal, while Norman’s performance has given him an opportunity to command attention even if speaking up does not naturally fit his personality.
Jackson is confronting many of the same issues with Tennessee’s edge rushers.
FDP asked about Knowles describing the pass rush as “touch and go,” Jackson pointed directly to inconsistency. His approach has been to make players evaluate their own performances and understand why individual reps succeed or fail.
“You have to expose them to the details of being wrong,” Jackson said.
That process is part of Tennessee’s attempt to speed up the development of a defense that does not have the luxury of waiting for experience to arrive naturally.
For Garner, the standard is simple. Good practices have to lead to more good practices.
“There’s guys that splash. There’s guys that had good days. There’s guys that have bad days,” Garner said. “And we just gotta continue to stack good on good and continue to grow.”
The growing pains may have been expected.
Tennessee’s coaches just don’t intend to use them as an excuse.
