Vols quarterbacks are being watched everywhere

The competition to be Tennessee's starting quarterback has been playing out like an audition that never ends.

Virtually every move Quinten Dormady and Jarrett Guarantano make is being videoed and evaluated. What they do during a drill. How they proceed on the practice field from one drill to the next. It's all being recorded.

"How they interact (with teammates)," UT coach Butch Jones said Sunday during the football team's media day. "We call it a quarterback leadership camera. I watch who they sit with at training table. Are they getting around other factions of the team?"

Dormady, a 6-foot-4 222-pound junior, seems unfazed by the attention. He literally knows the territory.

"There's cameras everywhere," he said Sunday, while speaking in the team's locker room, "no matter where you go."

Guarantano initially was surprised by the level of scrutiny but said he didn't suffer for it. That said, the redshirt freshman, who's 6-4, 200, conceded to calling an audible of sorts.

"I had a little more pop in my step in between drills," he said. "I had a little more pop."

Two weeks worth of preseason video hasn't been enough to separate the two main challengers for the starting job, at least not for Jones, who said: "I see both individuals competing exceptionally, exceptionally hard."

Along with knowing the cameras' presence, Dormady has the benefit of game experience. He's played in 10 games during the past two seasons, including six last season. He relieved starter Joshua Dobbs against Tennessee Tech last season and completed completed 9 of 13 passes for 109 yards in the 55-0 victory.

"Even when Josh (Dobbs) was here, I prepared as if I was going to play each and every day, each and every game," Dormady said. "There's no change in that."

UT assistant coach Mike Canales, who works with the quarterbacks, said Dormady's leadership and maturity is reminiscent of Philip Rivers. Canales coached the San Diego Chargers quarterback when they both were at North Carolina State.

"Trying to get a little more rah rah out of him," Canales said of Dormady. "That will come in time."

Guarantano, on the other hand, sat out last season after coming to Tennessee as a four-star prospect from Bergen Catholic High in Oradell, N.J. He was the No. 3 ranked dual-threat quarterback nationally by Rivals.

Guarantano said his first full exposure to UT's offense came last spring. He called it a starting point.

"I think it was like a tutorial," he said.

Guarantano missed a practice last week, returning home because of a death in his family. He was back for Saturday's practice and, according to Jones, "probably had the best practice he's had."

Part of the practice involved situational-type scrimmage work, Jones said.

"We set some goals, some standards, some objectives and he went out and met them," Canales said. "You can start to see the light coming on.

"I think the one thing I told him is instead of questioning and asking, you're going 'yeah coach is right. I get it.' ... He is starting to see how it all works together."

Jones said he has no timetable for making any quarterback-related decisions. In the meantime, he'll keep watching them.