“The beauty of our offense,” Warren says, “ is that there are options all across the board.”
-- Photo By Wade Payne | ApJacob Warren could probably organize an entire spring practice on his own for the University of Tennessee since the veteran tight end is entering his sixth season with the Vols.
Warren redshirted his first season, 2018, and took advantage of the extra year of eligibility players received because of COVID to return to Rocky Top this year.
The former Farragut High star has been a major asset for tight ends coach Alec Abeln, who is in his first year in that position for the Vols after working as an offensive analyst the last two seasons.
“I’ve said it before, but he really is like another coach for us,” Abeln says. “When I’m watching a guy that’s going, as guys are coming off the field, he’s grabbing them and teaching them.”
The 6-foot-6, 252-pound Warren had 12 catches for 153 yards last season for Tennessee while playing behind Princeton Fant. Now that Fant has departed for the NFL, Warren is likely to see his role increase as a red zone target while still adhering to his blocking responsibilities in the rushing attack and passing game.
Tennessee added more tight end experience to the roster this season in McCallan Castles. The redshirt senior transferred from UC Davis after spending his first two years of college at Cal.
Warren and Castles are joined by four-star freshman Ethan Davis, Charlie Browder, Hunter Salmon, Titus Rohrer, Cody Duncan and Luke Shouse in the tight ends room.
Given the varying levels of levels of experience and potential playing opportunities, Warren realizes his familiarity with UT can be beneficial to the group.
“I’ve seen it a lot, you know what I mean,” Warren says. “I’m used to the workload that it takes to get through spring ball, so now it’s just a matter of locking in the details of the little things. I think for everybody else, like for the younger guys especially, just learning how to not survive, but how to thrive through it, and how to take what it is, right?
“It’s hard. It’s not easy. We’re waking up early, there’s a lot of meeting time, just being able to process everything and just push through it and just build a little bit of mental toughness.”
Warren, who earned his undergraduate degree in kinesiology in 2021, has embraced his sixth spring as a chance to further master the tight end position.
“I think for me, personally, just a little bit more intentionality,” Warren says about what has changed from the past five springs. “Kind of going into each day thinking about ‘What do I want to get better at today? ‘What was bad yesterday?’ Or, ‘What do I need to work on?’ Or being able to take notes and look at my notes and be like, ‘OK, tomorrow, I’m gonna emphasize getting that extra yard or whatever on third down, or being quick to the tuck whenever I’m catching the ball over the middle.’ Or just anything like that.”
Abeln has encouraged Warren to take a proactive approach to helping out his teammates given his experience and knowledge.
“He is such a pro just the way he approaches every day, but now understanding you have earned the respect of the guys in the room, continue to push leadership and continue to be vocal with it,” Abeln says. “You do not always have to be a rah-rah guy, but when you see something going wrong, not being afraid to step up and fix it.”
Although Warren only has 37 catches for 416 yards in his career, his value to the team has gone beyond personal statistics.
“He is as unselfish of a guy as we have in the program. There’s times where stuff was designed to go with him that did not necessarily play out like that,” Abeln says. “The beauty of our offense, too, is that there are options all across the board, it is not just one guy that is getting a target. Sometimes, those targets are something that is intentional, but as a whole, I think those are really earned and something that, as he continues to get better this spring, he will see more of those.”
Tennessee’s 11-win season in 2022, which included victories against Alabama and Florida and an Orange Bowl win versus Clemson, has generated excitement around the program. But Warren knows the Vols can’t get complacent if they want to achieve even bigger things.
“Man, last year is over,” he says. “We had a good year last year, a great year last year, understanding that we can’t just show up and have that happen again, right? We’ve got to put the work in. Last year’s team put a lot of work in to get where we were. So, you know, being able to match that, right?”
‘Big Orange Caravan’ Dates
Football coach Josh Heupel, basketball coaches Rick Barnes and Kellie Harper and athletic director Danny White will be touring the state in April and May as part of this year’s “Big Orange Caravan.”
Hosted by Bob Kesling, the tour will make stops in Memphis (April 18), Nashville (April 19), Knoxville (April 20), Chattanooga (May 1) and the Tri-Cities (May 3). Tickets for each tour stop are $20 and include light food options. They are available at AllVols.com.
The tour kicks off the week after the Orange & White Game, which is scheduled for April 15, 2:30 p.m. EDT, in Neyland Stadium.
Doors to each event open at 5 p.m. local time followed by a meet and greet with the headliners 5:30-6:15 p.m. A cash bar, as well as light food and appetizers, will be available. Each program begins at 6:15 p.m.