Kongbo developing slower than expected
KNOXVILLE — The sales pitches apparently continue with Jonathan Kongbo.
The prized late addition to Tennessee football’s 2016 signing class, Kongbo was the focus of some interesting comments by Volunteers coach Butch Jones on Wednesday.
Largely anonymous through nine games for the program, Kongbo hasn’t made the kind of immediate impact many hoped the junior-college transfer and former five-star recruit would at defensive end, and it seems he’s been apprehensive to playing defensive tackle, where Tennessee has been decimated by multiple injuries.
“I think it’s just consistency,” Jones said. “I think it’s also buying into the team concept — and it’s important to him — understanding the standards and expectations that we have in our football program (and) what’s required on a daily basis.
“A lot of times with individuals, they go through a growth and maturity (process), just like your own kids, of every day (understanding) the expectations. When you’re able to have game-speed repetitions and you’re able to really coach and
critique yourself and see what you did in your technique and what you need to do to get better and all that, I think (it helps) constant growth and maturation.”
In recent weeks there has been more buzz about Kongbo for what he has done off the field than on it, where he has recorded just five tackles and three quarterback hurries, though he had his first career sack negated by a questionable facemask penalty last week against Tennessee Tech.
On the day after Tennessee’s loss at South Carolina, he posted a picture on Twitter of two cleats hanging on a wall with the caption, “All things must come to an end,” but Jones the following day said the tweet was related to Kongbo losing while playing a soccer video game.
Earlier this week he posted a poll question asking, “Would you stay with an organization if you knew they did you wrong?” before clarifying it was related to a school matter.
It’s always dangerous to read too much into players’ social media posts, but there seems to some sort of drama around the 6-foot-6, 270-pounder.
“Guys have to embrace their role,” Tennessee linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. said. “He’s a guy that comes to work every day and works as hard as possible. It’s really just his mental aspect and how he approaches the situation. As far as his work and the work he puts in, I’m proud to have him as a teammate. He really just has to do the little things.”
After Derek Barnett, Corey Vereen and LaTroy Lewis, there are only so many snaps available at defensive end, and other ends like Kyle Phillips and Dimarya Mixon have been willing to play inside at tackle, where the Vols lost three players to injury and one to dismissal in October alone.
Kongbo has played inside hardly at all despite coaches trying to sell him on what it could do for him.
“Defensive tackles in general have to be some of the toughest guys on the team,” Vols defensive tackle Kendal Vickers said. “Your technique has to be on point every time, and your get-off has to be good. You’ve got to stay low to defend double teams, because there’s 600 pounds on you.
“We talked to him about helping us as the D-tackle spot, and he’s taken it and run with it.”
Tennessee is Kongbo’s third program in as many years since his final year of high school in British Columbia, Canada. He spent a year at Wyoming before transferring to Arizona Western. Both college football outposts are a far cry from the spotlight of a big-time program like Tennessee.
“Every day I tell J.K.,” Lewis said, “‘You got questions? Come ask me. You got questions? Go ask D.B. (Barnett). Go ask Vereen. Go ask Kendal.’ At the end of the day, we’ve had those same questions, but we’ve had them answered for two, three, four years. We’re more than happy to help.
“We tell him if you need something, come see us. He does a good job with that. That’s a big adjustment, just to go from JuCo (junior college) to SEC, and then you talk about changing positions. We’ve thrown a lot at Jonathan and asked a lot of him, and I think he’s handled it well to this point and is continuing to learn. He understands that.”
Perhaps those setting the lofty expectations for Kongbo underestimated how much of a transition he had to navigate in his first season with the Vols.
“Everyone develops differently, and it’s like raising children,” Jones said. “Everyone’s a little bit ahead somewhere in some way or another, and it’s just understanding the things that go into it. I care about Jonathan greatly and he’s a great kid, and it’s our job to continue to educate him.”