Tennessee’s DeSean Bishop has to know what you think of him. The redshirt freshman has to hear how he’s a local player with limited ability compared to the Vols’ other tailbacks. Well, while that may be true, Bishop is making up for any shortcomings with a work ethic that has not gone unnoticed.
“I think just his practice habits and his meeting habits,” Tennessee running backs coach De’Rail Sims said on Wednesday when asked why Bishop, who is listed at 5-foot-10 and 200 pounds, is ready to play. “When he goes into scrimmage or practice situations, everybody trusts him because he knows what to do and then he goes in there and operates at a high level. So that’s kind of gaining the trust of the coaches and also of his teammates as well.”
Bishop missed all of last season after picking Tennessee over mostly smaller schools out of Karns (Tenn.) High School, which is just northwest of Knoxville. Bishop may have not been highly touted as a recruit, but that hasn’t affected his mentality.
“You can tell the confidence factor when you get a chance to meet him,” Sims said. “I recruited DeSean a little bit at a previous institution, so I already kind of knew his background and his work ethic. When you walk in the building and you see this guy walk into the weight room, how he attacks it (stands out). When he walks into the meeting room, no matter if it’s special teams meeting, team meetings or position meeting, he always has his notebook.
“He always is taking really, really good notes and he has really good questions. And then when he attacks it on the field, he’s going to be the first guy out there. He’s always going to be the last guy to leave because he’s always getting extra work in. So his mentality is a bulldog mentality, in terms of he’s going to attack it every day.”
Lewis isn’t the only option at tailback, where junior Dylan Sampson is slated as the starter. As the Vols search for much-needed depth, Khalifa Keith, who is seen as more of a power runner, could also be an option.
“In terms of Khalifa, you sit up there and see a guy that’s 230 pounds, that’s explosive in terms of his first 20 yards,” Sims said of the 6-1 tailback. “He does a really good job of running behind his pads and he does a really good job of putting his face on people in pass protection.
“I think Khalifa is totally different from what he was in the spring, holistically. I think in the spring, mentally, he knew what to do but he was trying to think too much instead of just cutting it loose and going out there and playing. Right now, he’s actually going out there playing. He’s cutting it loose. He’s maximizing his runs. When there’s nothing there, he’s going in there banging it up in the line of scrimmage, trying to run through the smoke and doing a really good job of getting us either some positive gains or helping us stay out of negative-yardage situations.”
The Vols could also eventually depend on sophomore Cameron Seldon once he recovers from a spring shoulder injury that could sideline him until midseason.
“He’s been doing a really good job,” Sims said of the 6-2, 222-pound tailback. “He’s day-by-day in terms of him in of attacking it in practice, doing the things that he’s able to do, but he’s done a really good job in terms of putting himself in a situation to where he’s mentally focused and then his practice habits are good as well.”
While there are options, it’s worth nothing that Bishop was the tailback that Tennessee relied on most during the Vols’ first scrimmage last week. Certainly, part of that was to keep Sampson healthy. However, the days of shortchanging Bishop just because he’s a bit small and a lot local may soon be over.
“I think when you look at DeSean, he’s kind of a throwback football player from a mentality standpoint,” Sims said. “He doesn’t get flustered. He does a really good job. He has his routine in terms of his body maintenance. He does a really good job when he comes out here and attacks. He’s very, very hard on himself, so if he makes a mistake, he’s frustrated with himself, but it doesn’t affect him on the next play.
“He does a really good job running behind his pads. He’s quick in between the tackles. He’s got really good short-area quickness. His acceleration is good. He has good hands out of the backfield. He knows the things that he needs to fine tune and kind of work on, but like for me, in terms of what I look at with him, I see him as an old school throwback player. To where it’s like that guy that you can just keep hitting and hitting and hitting and he just keeps getting stronger and stronger as the game goes along.”
Maybe strong enough to warrant real playing time this fall.
