Tag Archives: Butch Jones

Counterpoint: Butch Jones’ Positive Spinning is Maddening to the Vols Fanbase

I started a new job this week, and I’ve gone from being a virtual expert at my daily responsibilities to having to train for 8 hours the past few days just to get a handle on all of my new tasks.

That’s disappointing.

After all, I thought even though I was changing gigs, I’d catch on quickly.

In one of my night jobs, I thought I wrote a kick-butt article for Bleacher Report last night that I re-read multiple times and published this morning. Looked clean to me. Though the content was strong, I got an editorial note that on one of the slides, I forgot to link an article I quoted.

That’s disappointing.

Tennessee head coach Butch Jones doesn’t understand the definition of disappointment, obviously. After he was quoted — yet again — as saying something cringe-worthy at SEC Media Days this week, answering that last season wasn’t a disappointment, he led to yet another national media frenzy dissecting his words with a gigantic, 500-word “seriously?”

The words, yet again, have split an already fractured fanbase down the middle. The staunch Butch supporters believe the words were no big deal and point (rightfully) to the fact that the past two nine-win seasons are better than the five-win seasons of Derek Dooley not so long ago.

Others, like the jaded, frustrated fans who remember the glorious 1990s and can’t quite stomach even the upper end of mediocrity have used this as yet another battle cry that Butch isn’t the answer.

Neither extreme is OK. Why? Because even though last season may not have been bad, it was, indeed, a disappointment, by definition. After saying, “I don’t view it as a disappointment, these were his VERY NEXT WORDS:

“The way I view it is we didn’t accomplish everything we set ourselves out to. And, again, our goal every year is to win a championship and compete to win a championship.”

[We interrupt this regularly scheduled column to bring you the actual, real-life definition of “disappointment.”

dis·ap·point·ment
disəˈpointmənt/
noun
the feeling of sadness or displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one’s hopes or expectations.
Uhhhhhhh, yeah. So, um, Butch, last year was a disappointment, big guy. It just was. Ask senior defensive tackle Kendal Vickers, who is 22 years old and still more media-savvy than our head football coach.

If it sounds like I’m going after Butch, it shouldn’t, because I’m not. My track record proves I’m a Butch supporter. I believe he has gone a long way in re-establishing the program to a level of respectability. The jury is still out on whether he’s good enough to be a championship-level coach at Tennessee, but he’s earned enough string to prove whether he can or not.

I’m sorry, but three years of rebuilding from the doldrums of the worst head coaching hire in SEC history and an injury-plagued 2016 season isn’t enough to tell us either way.

I know for a fact that Jones isn’t on the hot seat, no matter what a vocal minority on social media and message boards want to say. New athletic director John Currie knows what state the program has been in, and he knows how far it’s come. This year is a pivot point in Jones’ tenure, sure, but there won’t be any serious talk about going in a different direction until after the 2018 season, at least.

So, divorce that idea from this one: Jones needs to learn what to say when.

Last year was a disappointment. It started with a 5-0 flurry, and was a whole lot of fun breaking the Florida streak and beating Georgia on the Dobb-nail boot. But also included in those five wins was the lucky-to-win game against a less-talented Appalachian State team to open the season.

Then, even though the wheels didn’t necessarily come off, the Vols had to steer to the curb and call a tow service. After an injury-cursed loss at Texas A&M, UT was blown to smithereens by Alabama. Then, they fell apart defensively down the stretch in wins against Missouri and Kentucky and losses to South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

No matter what you want to call it, there’s no excuse for those defensive performances in Year 4 of any coach’s tenure. Tennessee is historically supposed to beat Vanderbilt and South Carolina regardless of the circumstances, but there’s no question UT should have still been more talented than those teams even with all the injuries. At the very least, they shouldn’t have given up miles worth of yards, including a school-record high in yards allowed against Mizzou in a game they actually won.

It’s unacceptable. It’s a disappointment.

Many writers have weighed in over the past few days on Jones’ words. Anything else I say about what he should have said would just be a repeat of that. But even though Butch’s sound bytes are scrutinized more than they probably should be by people across the country, his track record doesn’t exactly give him any free passes.

Much like Jones’ progress in the win column has bought him some wiggle room when it comes to keeping his job (as we’ve already discussed), his verbal miscues have tightened the noose in the realm of public perception. After “champions of life” and “five-star hearts” Butch needs to rebuild his reputation “brick by brick” before the cynical world of media and the court of public opinion.

The fact is Tennessee’s historical fortitude and the heights of the program’s success have sculpted a world where nine wins is acceptable, but it’s not good enough. Butch’s opinion doesn’t matter to a fan base that has seen its two biggest rivals reach unprecedented success during a dark time. The successes of Nick Saban at Alabama and Urban Meyer at Florida haven’t done Butch or anybody else in the SEC, for that matter, any favors.

But Butch didn’t have to beat Alabama in 2016 for it to keep from being a disappointment. All he had to do was win against South Carolina and Vanderbilt and seize a down SEC East with the door wide-open in a year the Vols were expected to do just that.

He didn’t do it. A Florida team with one of the worst offenses in the country has gone to the SEC Championship Game two years in a row now because the Vols couldn’t seize what was being handed to them. Bottom line.

And while last year shouldn’t be nearly enough to get him fired, it’s the first flesh wound.

If that’s not disappointing to Butch, well, it should be.

Here’s the thing, Vols fans. It actually IS disappointing to him. You’ve seen the man on the sidelines. You know he is passionate, turns eight shades of red and looks like his head is going to blow off. He tirelessly recruits, scrutinizes every single detail of the program with his fingerprints all over it and has proved over and over again he will make the difficult decisions — even when it means severing ties with long-time friends — when it comes to upgrading his coaching staff.

He cares. A lot. And he’s disappointed last year didn’t end with the Vols playing for a championship. He said it. The goal is to win championships, and the Vols didn’t do it.

By definition, that’s disappointing.

All he has to do is say it. All he has to do to stay on the same wavelength as the sane Tennessee fans is to just let them know that while things are getting better and the program is getting healthier, seasons like last year are unacceptable. They’re disappointing.

If you want a team that competes for championships and expects championships, you have to preach to your team that anything less is not OK. I’ve been behind closed doors, and Butch does that. He says it all the time; he lives it and breathes it.

For some reason, he just refuses to tell us that. And that’s why we don’t see eye-to-eye.

The Tri Cities wins the 2017 Big Orange Caravan

A record crowd of 1,011 attended the Big Orange Caravan during its final stop at the Kingsport Farmers Market in the Tri Cities last night. The new “family-friendly” spin on the event was a great idea, although the execution could use a bit of tweaking. It was hot, the lines were long, there were not enough seats, and much of the fun stuff was out in the hot sun, but overall, it was fun, and Tri Cities Vols Fans showed out.

Butch Jones, who had spent the previous day in Birmingham for SEC Media Days and Nashville for its Big Orange Caravan, burned a day of his rare vacation to sign autographs, talk to Vols fans, and stop at Pal’s for a burger and a shake. Because you can’t come to the Tri Cities without stopping at Pal’s. Jones said he texted a picture of his meal to head basketball coach Rick Barnes, who didn’t attend, just to make him jealous.

A couple of stories I hadn’t heard from Jones included (1) him telling Josh Dobbs to do whatever Pittsburgh Steelers receiver Antonio Brown told him to do, and (2) a joke about how Sterl the Pearl, who wore #16 before Peyton Manning did, goes around telling people that his jersey is retired.

And by the way, I would listen to Sterl the Pearl read the roster ten times in a row. Dude’s got energy.

Sterl the Pearl

The nice lady beside him on the Macbook, maybe not so much. She needs less Coke and Dasani and more Sterl.

Jones did get into some newsy stuff, including touting the Vols academic turnaround and insisting that he wants players with the right attitudes even if people mock him for it now. Also talking to fans were director of track and field and cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan, tennis coaches Alison Ojeda and Chris Woodruff, Bob Kesling, and John Currie. They also got local favorite and The Rock painter Peyton Miller on stage for some appreciation.

It was a fun evening. I appreciate Bobby Rader and WXSM for having me on again to talk about Butch Jones’ positive leadership. Apologies to anyone for any sudden change in topics. It was loud, and Bobby was talking into my deaf ear, so I really had no idea what he was asking. If I sounded like a politician checking off his talking points and ignoring the question, well now you know the rest of the story.

And this post would not be complete without mentioning that somebody showed up with a lawnmower for Butch to sign.

Your move, Chattanooga, Nashville, and Memphis.

 

Why Butch Jones’ refusal to use the word “disappointment” is a good thing

It will come as no surprise to most, but folks are still weighing in on Butch Jones’ response to a question at SEC Media Days yesterday about whether he viewed the 2016 season as a disappointment. Today’s headlines say that Jones did not view the 2016 season as a disappointment. That led to a lot of fans wondering why it is so difficult for Jones to use that particular word to describe that particular situation. After all, Vols defensive tackle Kendal Vickers admitted that 2016 was a disappointment, so why can’t his coach?

For the record, here is Jones’ entire response to the question:

“I don’t view it as a disappointment. The way I view it is we didn’t accomplish everything we set ourselves out to. And, again, our goal every year is to win a championship and compete to win a championship.

“So, was it a disappointment? No. Did we not accomplish some of the things we set out to do? Absolutely. We have to learn from the things that went wrong that we could have done better.

“But I think all you have to do is look at it’s difficult to win and it’s difficult to win championships. And I think this league really exemplifies that. But I’m still proud of the way our team responded. And I told our football team this. The lessons you learned from last year, the resolve, the resiliency, are going to serve you for many years down the road in life.

“And that football team went through a lot of things. I know we started off 5-0, and I believe our first five opponents were divisional champions. And I made a comment going towards the tail end of our season that the back half of our season would be much more challenging than the front half of our season.
Everyone kind of looked at me like, what are you talking about? But I knew where we are at as a program, and we were still needing that competitive depth across the board, and we have some position groups where we couldn’t afford to have injuries.

“But, again, this is a results-oriented business and we fell short of our goals. But I don’t like to use the term “disappointment,” because when you still look at it, it’s hard to win in this conference. And only three teams have won nine games, and the University of Tennessee is one of those.”

The entire quote is 1,624 characters, though, and would require 12 total Tweets, so it’s boiled down to the lead: “I don’t view it as a disappointment.”

But did he accomplish what he wanted? No. Did some things go wrong? Yes. Could they have done better? Yes. Did they fall short of their goals? Yes.

But are there any positives to take from last season? Yes.

And that’s why we aren’t going to hear Jones label the whole thing as a disappointment. He’s bent toward the positive. He believes in the Power of Positive Leadership.

Sports Illustrated’s Andy Staples says that Jones should talk like he thinks, that he shouldn’t be “deathly afraid of admitting what any person would feel in his situation.”

What Jones fails to understand is that those fans just want to know he feels the way they feel. They’re disappointed about last season. They would rather have an East championship than a Life championship. They would rather their team sign five-star players instead of five-star hearts. If he were willing to show them he feels the same way—except more passionately, because this is his livelihood we’re talking about—then they might be more understanding if the rebuild takes a little longer than expected.

Fans want to win, Jones believes a positive attitude is the way

Staples is right that many fans want to know that Jones feels the way they feel, but what they want more is to win. My theory is that Jones believes that a positive attitude is the only path to victory and he is absolutely unwilling to deviate from that belief even if it makes some fans and media uncomfortable in the short term. He believes that this is the only way to give fans what they truly want in the end instead of what they’re asking for right now. Jones’ predecessor tried embracing the negativity, and his orange pants are burnt to a crisp in the dumpster. Sure, we fans want a coach to feel the same way we do, but we also want one who will do what it takes to win, and if the coach believes that those two things are in-congruent, he’d better choose the latter.

Butch Jones obviously believes that positive leadership is required to win, and so he views everything from that perspective. It’s what causes him to couch everything in positive terms, including negative outcomes.

And it’s what causes him to see both positives and negatives in a season that had both and boldly proclaim that the only thing it means is that we’re not there yet.

Tennessee’s recruiting is at a 12-year high, but there’s still work to do.

The good news:  the five-year recruiting streak Butch Jones has been on since 2014 is the program’s best since 2001-05.

Tennessee just missed the top 15 in February with a #17 finish in the 247 Composite, but they shouldn’t have that problem with the 2018 class. The Vols are currently third nationally and first in the SEC in this cycle, which if it holds would give Jones his third top seven class in five years. That would be more than enough to make this the best five-year run since Phillip Fulmer landed three top five classes and five in the top 11 from 2001-05. With the Vols currently holding at number three, Jones’ five classes (not counting the one finished in the few weeks after he took the job in December 2012) have an average rank of ninth in the 247 composite. Fulmer’s during that 01-05 run finished with an average national rank of 6.4.

Some of Tennessee’s positive momentum in recruiting came from signing huge numbers:  counting 17 current commitments for the 2018 class, the Vols have landed 130 recruits since 2014, the most in the SEC. This is one reason why blue chip ratio – the percentage of four-and-five-star players in a class – is the better measurement and predictor of success.

Here too, Butch Jones is doing it better than anyone at UT since 2001-05. His five post-2013 classes have a blue chip ratio of 42.3%; Fulmer’s last great run carried a 51.5% ratio.

The work still ahead:  despite the best recruiting stretch in 12 years, the Vols are still behind Georgia over the same span.

These numbers only account for who signs, not who stays. But in the last five years, the Fulmer Era arguments about Tennessee having more talent than Georgia and Florida having more talent than Tennessee are both false:  since 2014 the Vols have a 42.3% blue chip ratio, the Dawgs a stunning 59.4%, and the Gators merely 35%. This obviously hasn’t stopped Florida from getting to Atlanta twice in a row, where the Dawgs haven’t been since 2012 and the Vols since 2007. But if you’re looking at accumulating talent, Butch Jones is out-recruiting Florida. These recruiting numbers also make the back-to-back wins over Georgia seem more impressive.

I compiled the blue chip ratios for the last five years (again, including current 2018 commits) from 247 Sports. Here’s how the SEC stands over that span (again, the number is the percentage of four-and-five-stars signed since 2014 plus current 2018 commitments):

Alabama 79.3
Georgia 59.4
LSU 59.2
Auburn 54
Texas A&M 44.1
Tennessee 42.3
Florida 35
Ole Miss 28.7
South Carolina 26.1
Arkansas 22.6
Mississippi State 17.3
Kentucky 16.6
Missouri 8.7
Vanderbilt 7.3

Butch Jones is recruiting better than anyone at Tennessee in 12 years. But there is still work to do to match Georgia’s pace in talent, and get the Vols to a championship level. In February there was concern the 2017 class with only five blue chip players would become a new normal; that clearly has not been the case. I’m not sure if what we’re seeing with the current class of 2018 can become a new normal, but I’m also not sure it has to be. Butch and company have done all of this without winning more than nine games. If they can sustain a healthy level in recruiting and turn it into more wins in the fall in the next couple of years, even more talent will find its way to Knoxville.

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Reading between the lines at SEC Media Days: Butch Jones and competitive depth

There’s been some manufactured controversy about Tennessee Vols head coach Butch Jones saying at SEC Media Days that he didn’t think last season was a disappointment while Jashon Robertson was saying that it was. A couple of notes on that first before I get to my main point. First, it’s not like these guys were sitting in the same room arguing with each other. Jones was asked in one room and Robertson was asked in another.

Second, Jones really only said that he didn’t like the word “disappointment.” He said in the same sentence that they didn’t accomplish everything they’d set out to do, that they needed to learn from the things that went wrong, and that they could have done better. He then said that he was proud of how the team responded and that the lessons they’d learned would serve them well in the future, and then he said again that they fell short of their goals. He just doesn’t like the term “disapointment,” probably because of that book he’s apparently been reading and recommending to SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey.

What everyone can hopefully agree on is that there are lessons to be learned from last year, and the more important issue is exactly what lessons have been learned.

One guy (high five to The Sporting News) actually asked that question mostly in that form, and Jones’ answer sheds some light on the main thing that he thinks went wrong last year and what he’s doing about it this offseason.

“You can never have enough depth,” said Jones. “Everything is about competitive depth.”

That wasn’t the only time Jones used the phrase “competitive depth,” either. He used the same phrase when someone else asked him what he needed to do to take the proverbial next step:

“I think a lot of times, too, when you’re building a football program, your program goes through evolutions or different stages from being able to compete to having competitive depth.”

Depth was definitely on Jones’ mind. He even mentioned it in response to the question about last year being a disappointment, saying that he knew depth was going to be a challenge in the back half of the season even before it became the problem that it was.

The difference between “depth” and “competitive depth” is presumably the difference between having backups and having backups who are actually ready to play. So, a “competitive depth” problem is a combination of injuries to starters and backups who aren’t quite ready to fill in.

One of the most interesting things I heard out of Jones’ mouth today was his subtly-offered opinion that having to rely on true freshmen more than normal could have been a factor in the rash of injuries last year, that maybe they weren’t physically ready to play. I don’t know whether that’s actually true, but it’s an interesting question: Are younger guys more prone to injury? It has a certain logic to it.

Regardless, it seems that Jones thought his team’s primary problem last year was competitive depth. In other words, not just too many injuries to key guys, but not enough backups who were ready to play.

So if that’s the problem, how do you correct it?

Enter Rock Gullickson

The second most-repeated phrase of the day was this:

This has been the best offseason we’ve had.

I’m not attributing that quote to anyone in particular because I think everybody wearing orange must have said it. I heard it from Butch, and Twitter recorded it from Robertson.. I haven’t read or heard any interviews from Kendal Vickers or Emmanuel Moseley yet, but I’m fully expecting to see the same quote from them. Heck, it was probably a talking point on the plane.

It’s not uncommon for players and coaches to say something similar at media days, but again, reading between the lines provides some glimpse into why they’re saying it, and the why is important to the problem of competitive depth.

“Rock” and “Gullickson” were the first two words out of Jones’ mouth on the SEC Now program after he declared this their best offseason. (For anyone just now tuning in, Gullickson is Tennessee’s new strength and conditioning coach.) He was the first new hire that Jones mentioned in his opening remarks. Butch Jones thinks Rock Gullickson is important.

But important why? Jones mentioned several times that his players are bigger and stronger this year than last. He mentioned it on SEC Now when asked how his defensive line was going to stop the run this year. He specifically singled out Darrell Taylor as a guy who looks completely different now than he did last fall.

Reading between the lines at SEC Media Days today, then, it appears that Jones believes that the thing he needed to fix the most in the offseason was a lack of competitive depth, and that’s exactly what he’s been doing. He’s put former NFL strength coach Gullickson in charge of getting his guys healthier, bigger, and stronger, so that his team will be better.

And he says it’s been the best offseason they’ve had in five years.

We won’t know if that’s true or whether it matters until this fall, but it’s good to know that Jones has identified the issue and is well on the way to executing his plan to correct it.

Butch Jones: Comebacks, Blown Leads, and Pace of Play

In late September 2015, after two of the most difficult losses of the modern era, we researched how often the Vols had historically blown leads. In 17 years Phillip Fulmer’s teams blew a two-possession lead in a loss just six times:

  • 1994 at Mississippi State:  led 21-7 third quarter, lost 24-21
  • 1995 at Florida:  led 30-14 second quarter, lost 62-37
  • 1999 at Arkansas:  led 24-14 third quarter, lost 28-24
  • 2001 vs Georgia:  led 14-3 first quarter, lost 26-24
  • 2001 SEC Championship vs LSU:  led 17-7 second quarter, lost 31-20
  • 2006 vs Florida:  led 17-7 third quarter, lost 21-20

In just his first four years, Butch Jones’ teams have also blown a two-possession lead in a loss six times:

  • 2014 at Georgia:  led 10-0 first quarter, lost 35-32
  • 2014 vs Florida:  led 9-0 fourth quarter, lost 10-9
  • 2015 vs Oklahoma:  led 17-0 second quarter, lost 31-24 (2OT)
  • 2015 at Florida:  led 27-14 fourth quarter, lost 28-27
  • 2015 vs Arkansas:  led 14-0 first quarter, lost 24-20
  • 2016 at Vanderbilt:  led 34-24 third quarter, lost 45-34

Fulmer’s Vols never blew a two-possession lead in the fourth quarter. Jones’ Vols did it three times in a span of 13 games against Florida in 2014 and 2015 and Oklahoma in 2015. Before then you have to go back to 1986 to find a Tennessee squad that lost a game in which it led by two possessions in the fourth quarter.

But, consider this:  by my count Fulmer’s Vols came from two possessions behind to win 10 times in 17 years:

  • 21 points: Kentucky 2001, LSU 2005
  • 18 points:  Arkansas 1998
  • 17 points:  Georgia 2006
  • 15 points:  Kentucky 1995, Vanderbilt 2007
  • 13 points:  Alabama 1996, Auburn 1997
  • 10 points:  Arkansas 1995
  • 9 points:  Kentucky 2004

Meanwhile, Butch’s Vols have come back from two possessions behind to win six times in just the last three years:

  • 21 points:  Georgia 2015, Florida 2016
  • 17 points:  Georgia 2016
  • 14 points:  South Carolina 2014, Virginia Tech 2016
  • 10 points:  Appalachian State 2016

Quality of opponent is also interesting here:  40% of Fulmer’s comeback list is Kentucky or Vanderbilt, while two-thirds of Butch’s came against teams who were ranked at the time or finished the year that way.

Say what you will about Butch Jones (or Josh Dobbs, the quarterback of every one of those comebacks). The bigger point?  Pace of play has significantly changed how we watch college football.

Getting down 14 points used to create panic; Fulmer’s Vols only came back from such a deficit six times in 17 years. But today, it’s not a big deal:  Butch’s Vols have come back from down 14 points five times in the last 31 games. 

Getting up by a similar margin is also no sure thing anymore. Fulmer’s Vols only blew two leads of 12+ points ever, and only one if you remove games started by Todd Helton at quarterback. When Tennessee got up that much, the Vols were a lock (in part because of a far greater talent advantage). But the 2015 Vols blew 12+ point leads against three consecutive FBS foes.

Pace of play has increased the number of total plays per game, which means the opportunity to blow a lead or come back from a hole is greater now than it was in Fulmer’s day. More plays also means more opportunity for injury, which as we know can create all kinds of havoc in both an individual’s playing career and a season’s narrative.

Check out the total number of snaps Tennessee’s defense has faced in the last nine years:

Season Opponent Plays Per Game
2008 776 64.7
2009 852 65.5
2010 913 70.2
2011 752 62.7
2012 923 76.9
2013 827 68.9
2014 892 68.6
2015 904 69.5
2016 1000 76.9

Last year the Vols were one of only nine defenses to face 1,000 plays while playing only 13 games. The 2016 defense clearly had problems that went beyond injuries, depth, and fatigue. But no one should pretend this kind of workload wasn’t a significant factor.

Numbers like these are also why using yards/points per game is so misleading. Missouri gained 740 yards on the Vols, but did so in 110 plays. In yards per play it was only the fourth worst performance of the season for the Tennessee defense. Team 120’s season total in yards per play allowed (5.84) was better than not just Sal Sunseri’s 2012 debacle (6.13), but also Butch’s first year in 2013 (6.07).

These numbers suggest Tennessee is going to blow some leads this fall. They also suggest no one should panic if Tennessee falls behind by two scores. I’m sure there are things for Butch to consider in how he prepares his team and keeps them locked in during games. But overall I think this has less to do with Butch Jones and more to do with the current reality of the game. And for coaches, players, and fans alike, it means a higher percentage of meaningful snaps.

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Gameday Today: Well-wishes for Emerson, listening to Dad, and asking unanswerable questions

Gameday Today wishes Greg Emerson a speedy recovery, ignores Mom and listens to Dad, and asks unanswerable questions. This and more in today’s Vols link roundup.

Recruiting

As we posted last night, defensive tackle target Greg Emerson suffered an injury at The Opening Finals. Initial reports were gloomy, but later reports cited a source as saying Emerson would be out only 4-6 weeks. Now we have it from the horse’s mouth:

https://twitter.com/sneakerhad_greg/status/881672962071420928

Good news. GoVols247 has a compilation of well-wishes from Tennessee guys and others.

Football

“Their friends and family haven’t seen them for a while, so then they go home and they say, ‘holy smokes, what have you been doing,’” Gullickson said. “But I tell them that your mom is always going to say you look good, but if your dad or your uncle says you look good, you are probably doing it right.”

All moms are liars. 🙂

Hoops

  • Guard Chris Darrington is apparently really, really fast. Also, Rick Barnes says that everybody has gotten better. I know that’s what you want and expect and isn’t really news, but his emphasis is on “everybody,” which could very well be news. Also, hoops commit Davonte Gaines just received a 4-star rating from 247Sports.
  • Tennessee basketball hired Aubin Goporo as Director of Player Development.

VFLs

Loved this quote from VFL Jalen Reeves-Maybin about Butch Jones being on the hot seat this fall:

“It’s the SEC, and everybody is on the hot seat. There might be two or three guys in the SEC who are not on the hot seat, and the rest of them are. At the end of the day, you’ve just got to win. If you meet the expectations in five straight games and then don’t in one, then you’re on the hot seat. Everybody is on it.”

Other Vols news

Tennessee golfer Lorenzo Scalise finished second after 72 holes of stroke play and a five-hole playoff in the 2017 European Amateur Championship.

Gameday Today: Phillip Fulmer, summer football, and summer hoops

More thoughts on The Papa, football keeps grinding, and updates on the Rocky Top League. This and more in today’s Vols link roundup.

Football

The Tennessee offense is gearing up for the fall:

And apparently, Butch Jones is taking the whole “pace” thing to an extreme this offseason:

What does Butch Jones think about Fulmer’s return to Rocky Top? Good question!

“It’s an exciting time for the entire Tennessee family to have Coach Fulmer and his expertise and the ability to build relationships that he brings,” Jones told SEC Country on Wednesday. “I consider Coach a mentor and a great friend, and I think this is healthy for everyone involved, not just football, but the entire Tennessee community.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to hear all of that, but really, what else is he going to say?

And what does Wes Rucker think about Fulmer’s return to Rocky Top? Good question!

So pretty much everybody but one person likes this move.

Speaking of Fulmer, The Papa is really happy that the talent pool in the state of Tennessee is improving, and he says having local Tennessee kids matters:

“It means more in the fourth quarter against Alabama, it just does,” Fulmer said. “You have to go back home and live it.”

And in case you missed it, you’ll want to check out the latest Vols hype video and the details of the Big Orange Caravan’s Tri Cities stop.

Hoops

Recruiting

New offers:

VFLs

  • Nobody here is going to be surprised to hear that Josh Dobbs has already displayed a real knack for learning what he needs to know as a quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but you may be surprised to hear that he’d already learned a bunch of pro knowledge while at Tennessee running Butch Jones’ system.
  • If this keeps up, we’re going to need a whole new blog just for Eric Berry:

Seriously, follow that link and watch that video.

Other Vols news

Gameday Today: History lessons, accelerators, and brakes

Butch Jones is bringing back the history lessons and trying to find the brake on the Trey Smith hype train. Plus hoops updates and more in today’s Vols link roundup.

Football

I’ll just leave this here:

https://twitter.com/vol_football/status/875442820676411393

And now that your pump is primed, let’s get on with the football news:

Butch Jones is bringing back the Tennessee Football history assignments this fall. Each player has to get up in front of the team and present a little lesson on the guys who have worn their numbers before them. I love this, no joke. 

SEC Country has a great feature on Tennessee commit D’Andre Litaker. That dude has had a rough time of it lately and is somehow managing to keep his head above water.

More praise for the quiet monster on the offensive line, Trey Smith. Jones is doing his best to fight the urge to mash the accelerator instead of the brakes on the Trey Smith hype, but man do we have legit high hopes for this guy.

VFLs

Phillip Fulmer thinks that Jones has made some especially nice tweaks in the offseason:

“The coaching changes give him a great opportunity, and it’s not like this team is coming from nowhere, they had a pretty good season,” Fulmer said. “This can put him over the hump and that’s what everyone wants.

“That’s what Butch is trying to do, to take it to a championship level. The coaching experience he has hired around him is obvious, and it should project on the field.”

Hoops

The NCAA has instituted some new rules changes for the upcoming season, including extending the coach’s box from 28 feet to 38 feet, presumably to make it easier for them to communicate with their team. Except at Vandy, of course, where its insidious court configuration necessitates a satellite phone to reach your players if they’re on the opposite end. “HEAD THREE CLICKS WEST. OVER!”

Other rules changes affect the resetting of the shot clock and the locations of throw-ins.

Injury updates: Graduate-transfer James Daniel III should be back from injury in time for the team’s trip to Europe, and guard Lamonte Turner could also be back. Forward John Fulkerson probably won’t be by then, but Rick Barnes does expect him back in time for preseason practice in October.

Barnes is also excited to finally have the depth to be able to take the governor off the strength and conditioning coach without worrying whether he’ll wear his guys out before the season ends.

And in case you weren’t aware of this fact, Barnes is also a funny and entertaining guy. In discussing the Pilot Rocky Top League, he said:

“That league is so good defensively, I’m going to play,” the 62-year-old Barnes said Sunday.

Baseball

UTSports.com has a compilation of information about all five baseball Vols recently drafted.

Recruiting

Punter Skyler DeLong’s commitment to Tennessee lasted about as long as most high school relationships, as he’s now smitten with Alabama and has given his committed heart to the Evil Empire.

New offers:

Odds and Ends

Athletic Director John Currie has written you a letter on the web, and it has actual links and stuff. Particularly impressive for what has traditionally been a real curmudgeon when it comes to new media.

And shoot, that man is going to totally wear himself out reaching for the prize(s):

“We’re not gonna relax until we win all the championships . . . .”

Currie’s also going to have Neyland Stadium painted over the course of three summers at the same time. I don’t really know why it takes three years, unless they just don’t know that they can rent a paint sprayer at Home Depot.

AND, Currie’s also going to upgrade the stadium’s curb appeal along the river. The man’s going to need a vacation after we win everything while painting. 

Track and field star Christian Coleman is a finalist for The Bowerman Award, given to the top male collegiate track athlete.

Tennessee has golfers at the 17th Annual Tennessee Match Play Championship, and they’re apparently doing well.

That’s it for today. Happy Friday to y’all.