Tennessee opened fall camp Tuesday, and Butch Jones met with the media afterwords. You can watch the video above, or you can read everything he said in the transcript below:

(Opening Statement)
“Well, I thought this was a very, very productive first day. We have a lot, a lot of work to do but it was a long day for our players and I thought they handled it well. We talk about being a tough football team and part of it is emotionally and mentally, with a full day of classes, meetings in the morning and having a couple of meals before coming out for an evening practice.

“I liked their intensity. I liked their effort and particularly, I wanted to see their retention; our retention from the meetings to the classroom. I thought for the most part, our older players did a good job. I thought our younger players, for their first time and with the volume of installation, that they handled it pretty well. Now, as we all know, it’s the progression of training camp. Now you have to progress from Day 1 to Day 2 with the installation. A lot of times with younger players, the mind starts to tie the feet up, so we have to make that they are in their playbooks and that they’re also balancing their academic workload, as well. Our practice ought to get into our habits and for the most part I was pleased.

“We still have to get much better on some little nuances with the way we practice. Also, our tempo, our details, what it takes to play winning football. We have to continue to improve our tempo but I thought it was improved from the Spring. Then, just our overall communication. It’s communication with installation. Like I spoke about at the press conference, communicating down and distance, and all of the things of situational football. I thought for the most part, they did a great job.

“But we need to be a better job overall in the throw game. I thought our execution was a little bit off, our timing was a little bit off which will get corrected. A lot of times that happened on Day 1. But overall, we talk about getting one percent better and I thought we were able to get one percent better and I was pleased with Day 1.”

(On Sheriron Jones)
“Going through the introductory stage, so to speak, of a freshman quarterback participating in his first practice, you could see where Quinten [Dormady] has that experience under his belt. Quinten did a great job of really coming out and you could see the command presence, where Sheriron is still digesting the playbook and all of that. He’ll work exceptionally hard to get better. But I was really, really pleased with Quinten and he did some really good things. It’s just the growth and maturation from Spring Football and you could see the momentum from the Spring game carry over into Practice #1.”

(On Alton Howard’s growth)
“He continues to develop and he’s come a long way. He knows all of the wide receiver positions. He works exceptionally hard, he understands the expectations and now, he’s learning how to take care of his body. So, he has come a long way.”

(On the difference between this year’s first practice and years prior)
“The first glaring difference is the team’s speed, particularly in our backfield. Obviously, with Jalen Hurd andAlvin Kamara, it’s the speed in the back field and then you throw David Abernathy in there. You throw Joe Youngin there, you throw John Kelly in there; it’s visibly different from a speed-level standpoint. I just think the overall maturation, culture maturation in a football team and understanding the standards and the expectations but I think the overall confidence level. We have had two very productive days in terms of meetings and expectations and players understanding how you approach the day, how you approach meeting days now as training camp goes on.

“I also see them really trying to mentor our younger players. We had a great leadership opportunity and Cam Sutton took full advantage of it. When our second defense didn’t sprint onto the football field, he called them all back and had them re-huddle and spring onto the football field. He said, `That’s not the way we do things at Tennessee.’ And he took advantage of that leadership opportunity. So I think it’s the maturation and growth of a football team, a football family and a football program. You see that. And our bodies. I think our bodies have changed in the weight room as well. So, it was a lot different.”

(On the offensive line’s growth)
“They have and obviously, they’re in helmets so there is only so much that you can do. But the biggest difference today in Practice #1 in growth and development from Spring, from the way we concluded Spring or I’m sorry, from the summer, was just our overall pad level. Even in walk-thru, we have challenged them with their pad level, their hand placement and you could see that. Today, the pad level was the best since we have been here in terms of overall leverage and low pad level.”

(On Jauan Jennings at wide receiver)
“I’m excited about Jauan. You know, he’s kind of sipping through a fire hose right now at the wide receiver position but I see an individual who is a very, very gifted athlete. He’s very, very competitive and he has very good hands and he loves to compete. He made some catches today where you kind of did a double-take and he got you excited. So, for Day 1, I was very, very encouraged with him.”

(On managing Curt Maggitt’s and Derek Barnett’s return)
“Yeah, we’re going to have to [manage them] because they only know one speed and that’s full speed. We are going to have to do a great job because it is a long camp. We chart everything, live repetitions, we chart it all. So, we make sure we manage them and the great thing about them is they have great maturity in terms of recovery from practice, getting the necessary fluids in, the protein and nutrition and then obviously going through the recovery circuit as well. But yes, we’re going to have to [manage them].”

(On the level of competition witnessed today)
“Yes, and that’s the other glaring difference. We’re still not there yet with our competitive makeup at all of our positions, but you could see the competition. The other great thing though was even though there is competition, they’re helping each other. They are coaching each other. But there is competition and we have some very good football players. We still need to recruit and there is still going to be an opportunity for players to come in here and play right away but in the growth and maturation of our football program, you could see the team’s speed continue to grow. You could our bodies, our strength levels continue to elevate as well. It’s very, very encouraging.”

(On who stood out at linebacker and how Darrin Kirkland Jr. is looking)
“[Darrin]did a good job for Day 1 and I thought all of our freshman did a good job. They were very focused, they had good retention from the classroom to the field, which is what we wanted to see. Kenny Bynum did a great job of lining everyone from a communicative standpoint. And again, there is only so much you can do in shorts, but the athletic movements, the communication, the lining up, the fundamentals and fine details, I was pleased with them. Austin Smith is very, very athletic. He has some explosiveness. I was really, really encouraged by all of our freshmen.”

(On wearing the new Nike gear)
“Well, we all know about the brand of Nike and what it means. Just to see the look on their faces; they didn’t receive any Nike gear over the summer. So they were all waiting for report day at training camp and they were like kids at Christmas.

“You have to feel good and that is a part of the investment our institution has made into our student athletes. They love it. And if they love it, I love it. It was great to see it out there and our players looked forward to today. Now we have to make sure we represent the Nike brand just like we represent the Tennessee brand.”

(On where he sees Austin Smith fitting in)
“Right now, it’s at Mike linebacker. He can play Will linebacker and he can play Sam linebacker. He may even grow into a hybrid Sam linebacker or a Leo, kind of like Curt Maggitt. But what he possesses is that he has a frame where he will continue to put on weight, he’s very explosive and he runs very well. And his retention was very good today from the classroom to the field.”

(On the linebacker unit’s strength in numbers)
“We are very youthful there but we have some youthful talent, which is very encouraging. But the big thing for us is to continue to grow and get better mentally, as camp moves on. Like I said, this was just Day 1. This was probably one ninth of our schemes on offense, defense and special teams. Now there becomes a cumulative effect when you add – if you’re a defensive player – you have defense and some us may play on every play if you’re on special teams. Now you add those fundamentals and that scheme and all of a sudden, they’re everywhere. So, we’ll know a little bit more as training camp progresses.”

(On having Curt Maggitt back on the field)
“It’s a big impact and like we just spoke about, we are going to have to make sure that we do a great job of monitoring their progress. But it was great to get him back on the field; not just on the field but on the field from a leadership standpoint. They were anxious to get on the field, as well.”