Ryan Callahan

First-year Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin recently called senior left tackle Chris Scott perhaps ”the most improved guy from spring” practice.

There’s a reason for that, Scott said Saturday after UT’s second preseason scrimmage at Neyland Stadium.

“I think with me, it’s been more mental. I had to get a few things down and get my mind right — you know, change how I saw life,” said Scott, one of four seniors expected to start on the Volunteers’ offensive line.

“It was just a few things here and there I had to change with my mental aspect and how I looked at things. I changed that up, and I went into summer real fresh. I took it as a fresh beginning for everything. That was Day One, and then I went from there, and it’s zoomed.”

Scott said his confidence has “skyrocketed” under Kiffin’s staff.

“These coaches, they make you feel good,” Scott said. “With their enthusiasm, you’ve got no choice but to have it rub off on you. It rubs off on me, and I just go out there and try to play as hard as I can.”

An improved Scott could provide a big boost for an offensive line Kiffin has described as the team’s most improved unit since spring practice.

The 6-foot-5, 346-pound Scott, a former Parade All-American, is responsible at left tackle for protecting the blind side of whomever emerges from UT’s quarterback competition between Jonathan Crompton and Nick Stephens.

And he’s getting better every day, he said, from going head-to-head with junior defensive end Chris Walker, who was chosen by coaches as the team’s most improved defensive player during the spring.

“He’s really quick off the ball, and going after him every day in practice is making me better — and hopefully the other way around, too,” Scott said of Walker.

“He’s getting better, and he’s getting me better.”