Usually, coaches shy away from providing bulletin board material. But new Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop has provided some for every team on the Vols’ schedule this fall.
“We’re going to stop the run,” Shoop told host Jimmy Hyams on WNML-AM radio in Knoxville on Monday night. “Nobody will run the football on the ‘Orange Swarm.’ Nobody will run the football on Tennessee.”
That’s heady stuff, considering Tennessee was 45th nationally in rush defense in 2015, allowing 151.6 rushing yards per game. In conference games only, that figure was 159.4 per game.
That said, the Vols return eight starters on defense and Shoop is fully aware of the experienced talent he’ll be working with in ’16.