University of Tennessee Athletics
Darr Making Most Of Final Opportunity
October 27, 2014 | Football
By Brian Rice KNOXVILLE, Tenn.
UTSports.com
The numbers were not pretty: Eight punts for an average of 34.8 yards. For a player that has more effect on the field position game than any other on special teams, Darr knew it had to be better, particularly with the number of times he was being called upon to perform.
"It's a lot of opportunity," Darr said. "I see it as an opportunity to help the team when they need me. If the offense is struggling, the punt team is there to get them out of tight spots. I felt bad about the Oklahoma game and not being able to help us out with field position. We had a bye week, which was tough, then you have a whole two weeks without a chance to prove yourself.
"We went into Georgia and won the field position game and punting was a big part of it. I showed myself I could do it in big games and hit big balls when they needed to be hit."
Darr had rolled his ankle late in the Arkansas State win, which left him off of the practice field for much of the preparation for Oklahoma. Darr did not blame the injury and missed time for the performance against the Sooners. He looked inside during the off week to figure out how to best move forward.
"I'm hitting the ball with confidence," Darr said of his renewed approach. "After the Oklahoma game, I tried to dive into what was my problem technically and mechanically and simplified things with my drop."
It was not the first time that Darr had to deal with on-field adversity or doubt from inside and outside. Darr split punting duties with Michael Palardy in 2012, a situation that he understood, but found difficult to manage from a confidence standpoint.
"That was a kind of a learning season," said Darr. "We were splitting time, using Mike for rugby punts and directional stuff, so I never really had the chance to settle into the job. I think that affected my confidence because, in the back of my mind, I'm thinking that if I don't hit the ball well, I'm not going to get the next opportunity."
Another setback came a season ago, when Jones took over and made it clear that he wanted one person to handle the punting duties. Palardy won the job, which left Darr looking to evaluate where he stood on the team and at Tennessee as a whole.
"I had to revaluate myself and what I wanted to do," he said. "Academics played a big part in it, I was far enough along in pursuing my degree, I knew leaving was going to be a setback. The ultimate reason we come to college and play is to get an opportunity at an education, so I stayed for that."
The degree, which he earned last year, and the opportunity to take back the punting job, which opened with Palardy's graduation. Darr is now in graduate school, grateful for the opportunity academically and for the confidence his head coach shows him every day since entrusting him with the punting job that he earned in the offseason.
"With coach Jones, when you win the starting job in camp, you're going to be the starter and get a chance to prove yourself," Darr said. "That's helped me. I've struggled in games even this season and it never crossed my mind that I wouldn't get the opportunity to come back out and redeem myself. Having that opportunity is what has set me up to have such a great stretch of games."
