Tennessee may not have won its season opener, but the Vols’ offense had some moments that impressed coach Jeremy Pruitt.

Although Pruitt saw some positives, he also saw other things that needed some work, and he discussed both during the SEC Coaches’ Teleconference on Wednesday.

  • The guys on our offense, they are willing. They try to do everything we ask them to do. They didn’t start well, that was obvious, but they kept on keeping on. We really shot ourselves in the foot there. When they knew what to do, they competed and played hard, but we have to give ourselves a chance by knowing assignments and going the right way the entire time.

The Vols lost, 40-14, in the season opener against West Virginia. This week, they play East Tennessee State in their home opener and Pruitt’s debut at Neyland Stadium.

Here’s a look at other topics that Pruitt discussed on the teleconference:

On if walk-on defensive lineman Paul Bain has been put on scholarship:

  • We are still in the process of figuring that out. We are trying to make sure we have all the info before making that decision.

On incorporating redshirt senior quarterback Keller Chryst into offense:

  • I don’t think using Keller would disrupt anything. We have not decided on how we will use him, but we believe he deserves to play. We need to develop a backup … and the only way to do that is for guys to play.

On winning a national championship with East Tennessee State coach Randy Sanders while at Florida State:

  • I think it starts with the head coach, which was Coach [Jimbo] Fisher. I thought me and Randy worked well together, we had really good football players. There were some games the offense carried us, some games the defense carried us. We had a really good staff.
  • I asked Randy a lot of questions, he’s been doing this a long time and having a lot of success. He helped me grow as a coach, he really helped me out a lot … two minutes before the half, coming out of the half. … We have stayed in contact throughout the years, I have tremendous respect for him.

On RB Trey Coleman leaving the program:

  • Any time we have turnover, unfortunately, people elect to leave and we wish him well. He worked really hard, worked hard in the classroom. … We have five RBs on the roster.

On injured RB Ty Chandler:

  • I think he’ll be day to day.

On redshirt junior OL Brandon Kennedy:

  • He’s tough, he’s smart. He wants to play ball, that’s why he came here, to get an opportunity. I think he’s improved since he got here, he will continue to improve because he’s made the right way.

On running onto home field for first time:

  • Well, I tell you what. Before any game, that’s why you work so hard, for the games. Yeah, definitely, running out onto Neyland Stadium. I get goosebumps running out on the practice field. We have a lot to improve on and a lot to prove to create an identity for our football team.