The Tennessee football program prides itself on its “cutting edge” use of technology, and players often practice with heart monitors and expensive GPS units.

Tennessee sophomore-to-be running back John Kelly

One of the Vols was clocked at a program-record 22 MPH on Tuesday’s practice. For perspective, the fastest human in recorded history —Â Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt — has reached a top recorded speed of 27.8 miles per hour.

That player wasn’t a defensive back. It wasn’t a wide receiver.

It was sophomore-to-be John Kelly, a 5-foot-9, 215-pound running back.

“We do a really good job with GPS and heart monitors, and he had the fastest time we’ve ever plugged at guy at in practice,” Tennessee running backs coach Robert Gillespie said before Thursday’s practice inside the Anderson Training Center. “At full speed he was almost 22 miles per hour. That was something that kind of opened our eyes and opened his teammates’ eyes up, also.”

Kelly, the nation’s No. 538 overall prospect in the 2015 industry-generated 247Sports Composite, is facing an uphill battle to get playing time in a Tennessee backfield that includes highly touted 2016 NFL Draft prospects Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara. The Detroit-area native who chose Tennessee over home-state powers Michigan and Michigan State is starting to get himself in the conversation, though.

Despite looking like a power back in pads, Kelly obviously has speed and is starting to show good hands and route-running ability out of the backfield and in the slot.

(What's next for the Vols? Make sure you're in the loop — take five seconds to sign up for our FREE Vols newsletter now!)

Kelly was signed as a potential every-down back, and coaches still believe that’s his future. If it takes a different route to get him on the field in the short-term, though, so be it.

Title/Alt Text

“We’ve done some things with lining him up in the slot — (things) that you kind of think, ‘That’s gonna be a guy you can only do one thing with,’” Gillespie said. “John’s kind of making a fight to say, ‘Hey, you can put me out here for my running ability and also for catching the ball.’ My plan for him is he’s gonna be a guy who can do it all.

“I think he’s still working to show that he can, but the last couple of practices have been really good for him.”

Gillespie said Kelly still has “lots” of work to do, but the coach said last season he would have felt confident putting Kelly on the field in any situation. And he said Kelly is already much better than he was last season.

“He’s gotten a lot better with his assignments, and he’s a very smart kid,” Gillespie said. “I said last year that I was confident I could put John Kelly in in any moment of the game — not just in certain roles. I think this offseason’s he’s done a really good job in the weight room and a really good job from and X’s and O’s standpoint.

“I still want to see him take that next step going into Year Two, but the last practice we had the other day was really good.”

———————————————

Contact Wes Rucker by email at wesrucker247@gmail.com, or ON TWITTER or ON FACEBOOK