Tennessee offensive line coach Glen Elarbee identified endurance as a major issue for the Vols last season, and his players aren’t disputing that assessment.
Elarbee said Tuesday that Tennessee’s offensive line was not necessarily lacking size or strength. Instead, the group needed a bigger “fuel tank.”
“I think our fuel tank needed to be longer,” Elarbee said.
Tennessee’s offensive line showed promise early in the season, according to Elarbee, but struggled to sustain its level of play as the year progressed.
“You know we weren’t unbelievable the first six games, but I thought we were solid, and I just thought we wilted that last half, and we just couldn’t sustain,” Elarbee said.
That assessment was echoed by Tennessee offensive tackle David Sanders Jr., who did not play until week five last season, but noticed a decline in production.
“I feel like we started off very dominant,” Sanders said. “You know, being able to finish games really good, and towards the end of the end of the year, you know, guys kind of got out of it, you know, a little bit out of shape, not really finishing games through, not finishing plays.”
Sanders said finishing became a major emphasis throughout offseason workouts, spring practice, and now preseason camp.
Tennessee junior offensive lineman Jesse Perry was even more direct about what happened.
“Last year we definitely did run out of gas,” Perry said. “We started out hot. We just didn’t finish the right way.”
Elarbee and his players believe the offseason work under sports performance coach Derek Owings has Tennessee better prepared to avoid a repeat.
“We’re trying to build our gas tank,” Elarbee said. “Do has done a great job with his part of it.”
Sanders has seen the impact of that work firsthand. He said he returned in January weighing approximately 295 pounds before getting above 310 while also lowering his body fat percentage.
“I just feel like I’m able to run a lot faster,” Sanders said. “I’m a lot stronger than I was last year. So just being with him throughout the off season was very beneficial. I think not only for myself but for everybody.”
The offensive and defensive lines also trained together during the offseason, creating another layer of competition. Sanders said players pushed each other in the weight room and during conditioning, whether it was trying to lift more weight or run faster.
That competition has carried into preseason camp.
Perry said Tennessee is already showing signs of progress despite practicing in hotter and more humid conditions than a year ago.
“I think we played better in the fourth quarter of practice than we did the first day, and it’s just stacking days at this point,” Perry said.
Perry added humor when he revealed he believes the offense is leading the competition at the moment.
Meanwhile Elarbee has noticed a physical difference, too. He said Tennessee’s offensive linemen look stronger coming out of the offseason, though the unit is still working toward sustaining that level throughout an entire practice.
The objective extends beyond getting through preseason camp. Elarbee wants Tennessee prepared to maintain its physicality when the season reaches the point where his unit faded a year ago.
“Now it’s us just tricking ourselves every single day, so that man when we get halfway through the season, it’s nothing we can go finish and hammer the way we need to,” Elarbee said.
