No. 15 Tennessee practiced for the 11th time during fall training camp on Wednesday. Rankings reflect the preseason US LBM Coaches Poll.

De'Rail Sims enters his first season as the Vols' running backs coach. He replaces Jerry Mack who joined Jacksonville in the NFL. Mack served as Tennessee's running backs coach from 2021-23.

Sims went to Tennessee after serving in the same capacity at Cincinnati.

“We are excited to welcome De’Rail, his wife Lauren and his daughters Amayah and Alivia into the Tennessee football family,” Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel said in February after hiring Sims. “De’Rail is an exceptionally bright coach with a track record of developing outstanding running back rooms and building relationships with his players.

“Our run game has been vital to who we are as a program, and I expect him to make a seamless transition in helping us continue that success. De’Rail also has the experience and knowledge of our recruiting footprint surrounding Tennessee. We look forward to him making an impact in our recruiting efforts.”

PHOTOS: Tennessee running backs through the years

Sims met with media after Tennessee's 11th practice on Wednesday. Everything he said is listed below.

On freshman Peyton Lewis' improvement

"No doubt about it. Every single day Peyton is taking the next step forward which is really good. He's getting more comfortable every day in the offense, so he's done a really good job in terms of learning practice habits. You can tell by his demeanor at practice that he's getting more comfortable every day."

On what makes him believe DeSean Bishop is game ready

"I think just his practice habits and his meeting habits. When he goes into, whether in scrimmages or practice situations, everybody trusts him because he knows what to do and then he goes and operates at a high level. That's kind of gaining the trust of the coaches and also his teammates, as well."

On Cameron Seldon's recovery

"He's been doing a really good job. He's day-by-day in terms of him in the meetings 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."

On Peyton Lewis' plays in the spring and what he likes about his skill set

"I think when you sit up there and look at Peyton, you look at No. 1, how big he is when he puts the shoulder pads on. He looks like a grown man. No. 2, you see the explosive characteristics that he has about him. He's able to break tackles and continue to go plus-two past contact but then at the same time when he's able to get in the open field, he's a guy that can take it the distance. He's not scared to put his face on people in pass protection. That's the number one deal that you see from a young guy. Sometimes it's not necessarily how physical they're going to be and understanding where to go, but he's physical, he'll go put his face on people but then at the same time he knows what to do, so he's done a really good job from that standpoint."

On DeSean Bishop's mentality

"No. 1, you can tell the confidence factor when you get a chance to meet him. I recruited DeSean a little bit at a previous institution, so I already kind of knew his background. Then his work ethic, when you walk in the building and you see this guy walk into the weight room and how he attacks it, when he walks into the meeting room – no matter if it's special teams meetings, team meetings or position meeting – he always has his notebook, he always is taking really good notes and he asks really good questions. 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 you every day."

On Dylan Sampson's leadership and managing his workload

"You kind of tell him, 'Hey, you understand what's going on, you know what to do, coach up the younger guys.' We understand what you can do, let's make sure that we're sharpening your tools in the toolbox, but he is always ready to go in every situation. He wants to take all the reps, so that's when we just have to manage him."

On his experience working under Josh Heupel so far

"It's been really good. I think the thing that jumps out to you is the competitive aspect of the practice, how high tempo it is, how everybody is flowing and everybody is moving in the same direction. When it's time to put the ball down and spot it, both sides are highly competitive, which is really good, and it gets competitive from the coaches as well, which is good. It's iron sharpening iron every day here, which is phenomenal."

On how Dylan Sampson is improving even when he is not getting as many physical reps

"Coaching up the guys. He's sitting up there taking mental reps. When he's there on the sideline, when he's taking his reps when he's not in on that drive, he's doing a really good job of seeing and envisioning what's getting ready to happen. Then if he sees something from the younger guys that's in there, he's the first one to go attack it and coach them up and kind of give them some pointers on, 'Hey, if this presents itself again, here's some things that you can do to kind of help yourself out.' He's been a really good leader from that standpoint."

On his impression of quarterback Nico Iamaleava from his vantage point

"I'm very impressed with him. The way he goes out there and commands the whole entire offense, he doesn't get flustered when things go break down a little bit, he doesn't get flustered, so you see the leadership qualities about him. You see the arm talent. The different arm angles that he's able to get the ball out, the way he's able to present the ball down the field. When he escapes the pocket as well, he's dangerous from a running standpoint as well. I think he holistically is a really good person and a really good player, as well."

On how Dyan Sampson's power has improved

"You look at his body and how his body has changed over the summer, he's put on really good weight. He does a really good job on second effort. Not allowing one guy to bring him down, exploding for plus-two past contact, which we talk about all the time. The extra weight gains that he's put on and the good weight has helped him tremendously and it hasn't made him lose step or speed or quickness that he has, so that's been good."

On the growth of Khalifa Keith

"I think with Khalifa, you sit up there and you look at a guy that's 230 pounds that's explosive in terms of his first 20 yards. He does a really good job of running behind his pads. He does a really good job of putting his face on people in pass protection. I think Khalifa is totally different from where 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 and 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 smoke and doing a really good job of either getting us some positive gains or helping us stay out of negative-yardage situations."

On where he feels like the group is with pass protection

"I feel like right now we're doing a really good job. No. 1, it always starts with the identification process, understanding who the MIKE point is and then understanding who we have off of that. I think fundamentally, it's something that you always can continue to get better at because sometimes guys know who to get, and then they go in there so aggressively, it's kind of like a bull in a china shop mentality just a little bit. They've done a really good job of sticking their faces inside, making sure that they're keeping the quarterback upright. We haven't had too many busts in terms of pass protection this camp, knock on wood."

On how he has seen the group evolve in the passing game

"They've done a good job in terms of taking the opportunities that they're given on the perimeter when we're able to get the ball in their hands. All of them bring a different skill set from that aspect, but all of them have reliable hands to where we're able to put the ball in their hands on the perimeter. It's all about what you do after the catch: the yards after the catch that come with it, but they've all done a good job of putting themselves in situations being able to catch the ball out of the backfield."

On how he would describe DeSean Bishop as a running back

"I think when you look at DeSean, he's kind of your throwback football player from a mentality standpoint. He doesn't get flustered. 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 hard on himself, so if he makes a mistake, he's frustrated with himself, but it doesn't affect him on the next play. When he gets in there, he does a really good job of 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 work on. For me, in terms of what I look at with him, I see him as an old-school throwback player. 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 on."

This article originally appeared on Vols Wire: De'Rail Sims discusses Tennessee's running backs in fall camp