KNOXVILLE — If Drew Richmond knew last August what he knows now, his first season at Tennessee probably would have made more sense to the big offensive tackle.

As a freshman Richmond went from a five-star recruit coveted by the entire Southeastern Conference to a redshirting rookie who navigated a routine different from nearly all of his teammates.

When he arrived on campus last summer, Richmond thought he was ready to be a star. Now he knows that wasn't the case.

"My football IQ wasn't up to par as it should have been," Richmond said Saturday afternoon after the Volunteers wrapped up their scrimmage inside Neyland Stadium.

'That's expected going from high school into a complex offense, to learning different things and learning different techniques. In high school, I was bigger than everybody, more athletic than everybody, so things came easier. Here you've got to be more than just that, because everybody's that (good), especially in this conference.

"You've got to learn use your mind. You've got to learn to use other different things to win. It's just not based off your athletic ability and your size anymore."

Richmond insists he's learning something new every day as he works through spring practice as the first-team left tackle. He understands the value of each drill and each snap he plays as he works toward next season.

"He continues to improve every day," quarterback Josh Dobbs said.

"I've really liked his mentality. He's looking for various ways to get better. He's walking through the complex the other day, and he saw Kyler (Kerbyson), who was around for pro day. He's like, 'Kyler, come talk to me and watch film with me.' He's looking for ways to get better and he's continuing to grow.

"Obviously he has some things to work on, but I like how he's coming along."

It took roughly half the season for Richmond to embrace his redshirt year, and he now believes it helped him mature as both an offensive lineman and as a person.

He credited some teammates for helping navigating his few months in the shadows after a couple of years in the spotlight.

"I had gone from being everything to not playing," the Memphis native said. "It was hard, but guys stuck around me. Alvin (Kamara), Curt (Maggitt), they made sure I was always OK. They made sure they stayed in my ear, giving me wisdom and making sure I stayed up.

"I had to embrace it, because you can either get worse or you can get better with the redshirt process. It took me a minute to get there, but I had to embrace it and move on and get better from it."

After playing exclusively right tackle, Richmond had to make some adjustments to playing on the left side. He started attempting to do normal activities with his left hand to become more comfortable operating that way on the field. He'd type text messages, eat his meals and even open doors with his off hand.

"I tried to do everything," he said, "to get my left hand coordinated."

There have been ups and downs for Richmond this spring as he operates at a difficult position for the first time at this level.

"I've just worked on my consistency," he said. "It's an everyday battle between my mental game. Your mental (game) takes you way further than your athletic ability. I've been learning that.

"I just work every day to try to continue to work on my mind and go through things with adversity and condition my mind to be more consistent and finish plays and play up to the standard that we hold ourselves to."

Richmond had high expectations for himself when he got to Tennessee. He acknowledged that confidence took a hit last year as he redshirted. It's starting to return, though, and that has Richmond again thinking big.

"I'm getting my confidence back to believing," he said, "that I am one of the best young tackles in the country."

Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com