Tennessee Vols wide receivers coach Kelsey Pope was honest on Thursday when asked about UT’s wide receiver room.

Pope was specifically asked if the wide receiver room’s inexperience has created a sense of urgency.

“Yeah, I think there’s got to be a sense of urgency,” said Pope. “I think we’re absolutely young. I think the good thing about being young is those guys are able to get more reps — and that obviously heightens their sense of urgency.

“It also creates an energy and gives them experience in practice that will relate to the game. So with youth, obviously, you lack experience, but those guys are making up for it by the amount of reps they’re getting at practice.”

Tennessee’s most experienced wide receiver is redshirt junior Chris Brazzell, a Tulane transfer who played 555 snaps for the Vols last season. Second year receivers Mike Matthews and Braylon Staley, who saw a combined 282 snaps last season, are the next two most experienced receivers on Tennessee’s roster.

Beyond those three, the Vols will be relying on several true freshmen (Travis Smith, Radarious Jackson, and Joakim Dodson), and a redshirt freshman (Amari Jefferson) who has zero career college snaps.

The good news for Tennessee is that it sounds like Travis Smith and Radarious Jackson have made significant progress between spring and fall practice.

“Both of those guys are light years ahead in terms of how we operate,” said Pope when asked about Smith and Jackson. “Also, just being familiar with what we’re doing on offense. They look like different people than they did in spring and April.”

The Vols’ wide receiver room is full of elite talent. But that talent is young and unproven.

Tennessee’s coaches, however, are making sure that those young wide receivers feel the urgency.

“Young guys don’t have time to be young,” said Vols head coach Josh Heupel at the start of fall camp. “It’s been one of the things that we’ve talked about as a program since we got back in January. Our coaches are responsible for that. Our players are too, the guys that are vets inside those position rooms. I really like the guys that we have inside the wide receiver room. That’s athletic traits, playmaking ability, their attention to detail.”

If Tennessee is going to return to the College Football Playoff in 2025, its wide receivers will need to grow up fast. Really fast.

Tennessee Volunteers News

‘We refuse to partner with someone who doesn’t feel the same way’ – Danny White stands up for Vols fans while announcing deal with Adidas

The Tennessee Vols officially announced on Wednesday that the program is switching apparel providers. After a decade with Nike, Tennessee is officially returning to Adidas starting on July 1, 2026. Vols athletic director Danny White commented on the new partnership in a statement. “Our mission is to build the premier athletics department in the country […]

Zach Ragan