Tennessee football: 10 offseason improvements Vols must make before 2019

8. Short-yardage runs

We all lost count on how many times Tennessee football failed to convert on 3rd or 4th down this year with less than three yards to go. But it’s safe to say the number was far too many, and that comes despite the fact that they had two power running backs.

There were 12 times this season in which the Vols were stopped on a drive because they failed to convert on such plays. On top of that, they also committed two false start penalties, a holding penalty and had a fumble on a fourth down conversion to add four more drives that were stopped after failing in such situations.

Add in the two safeties they allowed on the year after simple run plays just to get out of their own end zone, and what’s clear is that these guys could not move the ball at all when it was a short-yardage situation. Those stats didn’t even include their failures on 2nd and 2 or less, nor did they include times the Vols may have failed on 3rd and 2 or less but converted on fourth down.

Simply put, the short-yardage game was awful. And with the addition of Madre London this past year combined with freshman phenom Jeremy Banks, there was no reason for it to struggle that badly. As a result, this is something they need to work on all offseason.

Of course, part of that requires certainty on who they will bring in as offensive coordinator. But Jeremy Pruitt is a physical coach. So there’s no reason for him not to work on those things anyway. And with his boss being a former offensive lineman, Phillip Fulmer probably doesn’t want to stand for it either.