SEC football media days: Tennessee Vols favored in East; Texas A&M welcomes new QB

Tennessee Vols football has been building to this moment under coach Butch Jones.

As he enters his fourth season, the Volunteers have 19 returning starters from a team that went 9-4 last season, and now they are favored to win the SEC East, which they haven't accomplished since 2007.

"We have more experience than we've had since we've been at Tennessee, but the unusual thing is we still have only 11 seniors. We have to continue to build depth and build experience," Jones said Tuesday on the second day of SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala.

"But you want those expectations. I think it's a compliment to everyone in our program about how far we've come. But it's what you do with it."

The Vols came tantalizingly close last season. They squandered double-digit, fourth-quarter leads against Oklahoma and Florida, coughed up an early 14-0 lead vs. Arkansas and gave up a late touchdown to Alabama.

Tennessee is 13-5 in its past 18 games, with the losses coming by a combined 25 points. As he has since the spring, Jones emphasized the focus on searching for those few extra points.

"So what are we doing to take the next step as a football program?" Jones said.

"We talked about clutch plays, making critical plays at critical moments of the game, and we showed everyone examples. You look at all of the great players. Why are they great players? Because they make a play when it matters the most to lead their team to victory."

It helps that Tennessee has the best returning quarterback in the SEC East in senior Joshua Dobbs. Running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara form a dangerous tandem. Defensive end Derek Barnett, cornerback Cameron Sutton and linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin are All-SEC talents for first-year defensive coordinator Bob Shoop, who promises a more aggressive style.

The Vols have lost their past 24 games against teams ranked in the top 10 and are on an 11-game skid against rival Florida.

But the talent is in place. Now, it's prove-it time.

"They have not blinked," Jones said of his players facing this season's high expectations.

"That's what you work for. You want high expectations. You want high standards. I remember standing up here at the podium three short years ago, and the room was half filled and nobody was talking about Tennessee football."

--One of the key newcomers to the SEC should be Texas A&M quarterback Trevor Knight, a graduate transfer from Oklahoma. "He has been a very calming force, a settling force, in our locker room," coach Kevin Sumlin said.

Knight went from leading the Sooners to a big win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl two years ago to losing his job to Baker Mayfield last season. Sumlin said Knight's experience, both good and bad, will be valuable as he fills the void left by the transfers of young quarterbacks Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray.

"He has a different kind of maturity level," Sumlin said.

--Sumlin said he has exchanged text messages in the past couple of weeks with troubled former quarterback Johnny Manziel. Sumlin offered public support to the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner who played at Texas A&M. "Look, here's the bottom line," he said. "He's an Aggie. He's always going to be an Aggie. At Texas A&M, we take care of each other."

--First-year Georgia coach Kirby Smart said he can't be sure about his running back situation for the season-opener, and beyond. Nick Chubb is coming back from an injury suffered last October, when he tore three ligaments in his left knee; Sony Michel broke his left forearm on July 4 during an accident on an all-terrain vehicle.

"Very upsetting for him," Smart said of Michel. "He worked hard to be in the best shape of his life."

Both backs, who would form one of the best tandems in the country when healthy, will be limited during fall camp.

One of the potential options at running back is freshman Elijah Holyfield, the son of the former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield.

--Georgia's backfield is further muddled by an on-going competition among quarterbacks Greyson Lambert, Brice Ramsey and true freshman Jacob Eason, who went through spring practice. Eason is clearly the future of the position, but how soon is the future when Lambert is a senior?

"Greyson won 10 games last year, which is the most forgotten thing there is," Smart told the SEC Network. "He makes really good decisions. He is an accurate passer. He helps make a lot of guys around him better."

--Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen said he was not much involved in the university decision to enroll five-star defensive end Jeffery Simmons and suspend him for one game. Simmons was shown on video repeatedly hitting a woman.

Asked about what kind of responsibility he would have if a player with a violent past then injured someone on campus, Mullen answered: "We're all responsible if that happens, all of us, to be honest with you. I'm responsible for all of the actions for every one of my players."

--SEC Media Days continue Wednesday with Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri.