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Tennessee OC Larry Scott talks QB competition heading into spring
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Tennessee’s offense is undergoing multiple major changes this spring.
Larry Scott is taking over as offensive coordinator for the recently departed Mike DeBord, and he’ll be overseeing the first quarterback battle since the 2014 season as the Vols enter the post-Josh Dobbs era. UT has four quarterbacks on scholarship – junior Quinten Dormady, sophomore Sheriron Jones, redshirt freshman Jarrett Guarantano and early enrollee Will McBride – who will be working with new position coach Mike Canales. Scott plans to give all four a shot at winning the job.
“All those guys are excited about it,” Scott told a Nashville crowd of UT fans, per GoVols247’s Wes Rucker. “They’re gonna get a chance to work with Coach Canales. It’s gonna be a unique experience, because it’s not [a situation] where those guys are gonna come out and they’ve had a coach there that’s gonna already have a formulated opinion on ‘em. It’s gonna be truly wide open, and he’s gonna be working with them on a daily basis both mentally and physically, him learning them, them learning him and all those types of things.
“It’s gonna be fascinating to watch it all come together. It’s exciting for young college football players.”
While Scott has been an interim head coach before, this is his first time as an offensive coordinator as a college offensive coordinator. When he was interim coach for the Miami Hurricanes in 2015, the quarterback position was settled as starter Brad Kayaa played all but one game.
Scott is well-aware of Canales’ ability to help develop quarterbacks, which is encouraging for the Vols.
Scott: "I've seen what Coach Canales can do for a QB, help develop them on and off the field, that's something that's always stuck with me."
— SEC Mike (@MichaelWBratton) January 20, 2017
As long as Scott, Canales and Butch Jones have good chemistry, UT fans should feel confident that they’ll pick the right quarterback for 2017.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
