Hendon Hooker believes chemistry is the biggest difference for the Tennessee players and coaches from last spring, as everyone seems to be more comfortable following the coaching transition for Josh Heupel’s staff.

Now that he’s a year into the playbook, Hooker admitted that he’s more comfortable with the mental side of the game.

“I can get in there with the coaches and go over film, talk through different situations and just approach the game from the meant standpoint as a player-coach on the field and being in total control of the offense and just being efficient,” he said.

Hooker added that he’s being told to slide more in order to protect himself this season, and he’s taken it to heart because he still wants to bring the same “energy and juice” in order to give it his all on every play.

Hooker then explained what else he’s working on for this season — studying defenses.

“That’s something I’ve been trying to implement into my game from last year, as I transition into this year,” he said. “Just studying defenses and studying how they’re thinking and their responsibilities helps me manipulate them and move them out of spaces so I can hit my guys running through windows or sitting in windows. So it’s a learning process and getting reps in practice and experimenting here and there has definitely helped me.”

H/T 247Sports.