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Tennessee football 2020 preview by position: Special teams

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 12: Brent Cimaglia #42 kicks the ball held by Joe Doyle #47 of the Tennessee Volunteers against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - OCTOBER 12: Brent Cimaglia #42 kicks the ball held by Joe Doyle #47 of the Tennessee Volunteers against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Neyland Stadium on October 12, 2019 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images
Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images /

Kickoff specialist

Paxton Brooks; Junior; 6’6″ 194 pounds; Lexington, S.C.

Even when he was the backup punter for Tennessee football, Paxton Brooks was the Vols’ kickoff specialist. In two years, he has kicked the ball off 116 times, and 69 of them have gone for touchbacks. His leg power has been reliable here, so he’ll hold onto this role.

Brooks has also proven himself to be elite on onside kicks. Jeremy Pruitt has tried five surprise onside kicks, and all of Brooks’ kicks were elite. The problem was only one of them was executed, and Eric Gray, who we say should be the top punt returner, was the one who executed it.

Long snapper

Matthew Salansky; Sophomore; 5’11” 235 pounds; Morristown, Tenn.

One of the biggest losses from this past year is Riley Lovingood. Once a special teams player of the week in 2016, Lovingood was a reliable long snapper, and he will be severely missed. However, Jeremy Pruitt has options for his replacements.

An in-state sophomore out of Morristown West High School, Matthew Salansky’s seniority has us penciling him in here. As of right now, though, we’re only basing this on experience, and as we’ll show on later slides, he has competition, so he needs to be careful.

Holder

Brett Graham; Redshirt senior; 6’3″ 200 pounds; State College, Pa.

Paxton Brooks was the holder for the Vols last year. However, he struggled on a couple of holds, one of which was clearly the reason for a Brent Cimaglia miss. Since he’s already punting and kicking off, this job should go to Brett Graham, a graduate transfer from the UConn Huskies.

Coming out of State College Area High School in Pennsylvania, Graham is a longtime holder at this level. He should have no problem stepping into that role here, and it’s why we’re penciling him in as the starter.

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