Kelsey Pope went to the podium this week, and spoke directly to young high school recruits who are looking to play in the SEC and put up big numbers on offense.

“It’s a message to the younger guys in high school, who are looking for an offense to really be prolific in,” Pope said. “You see Ced and Velus and what they did before we got here, and you see what they did when we got here, and it’s like something off a movie, and it’s real. You see us at practice every day, and it’s a different guy every day who’s able to get touches to show what they have. So I think this offense, if you’re a receiver, and you want to be productive, you want to get developed, you want to be a guy, I think this offense for sure is a receiver-friendly offense.”

To Pope’s point, Cedric Tillman and Velus Jones were each in the top 10 in the SEC in receiving yards last season, and they each had at least 60 catches. In 2020, Josh Palmer led the Vols with 33 catches.