Tennessee’s Jones embraces the hype
Vols looking to ‘own it’ and ‘prove it’ in 2016
“Own it” is the Tennessee football team’s official motto for 2016, and, man, there’s some double-meaning potential in that one. The intended meaning was explained by fourth-year coach Butch Jones, who made a tidy transition during the second of this week’s SEC Media Days from an offseason of controversy to a preseason of pandemonium.
“Own your attitude,” Jones told a pack of reporters Tuesday at Wynfrey Hotel, before delivering many of the same messages to a ballroom full of them and a TV audience. “Own the expectations. Own your style of play. Own the football program. Own your position group with everything you do.”
The one that stands out there is the “E” word — there hasn’t been this much national hype and respect for a Vols team entering a season in 11 years. That 2005 group started the season No. 3 under Phillip Fulmer and finished 5-6
You can argue there hasn’t been this kind of justified hype in 15 years, maybe even since Fulmer’s 1998 national championship team. And Jones embraced that publicly, more than I anticipated.
There is tremendous pressure on Jones to continue his climb as Tennessee’s coach, from five wins in 2013 to seven in 2014 to nine in 2015 to … yeah, 11 wins with this team would do it.
And yes, the pressure is higher because of the lawsuit, settled for $2.48 million with eight plaintiffs, and the bad publicity that came with it. Any fan base can turn against any coach — the crimsondraped kooks in the Wynfrey lobby who will probably weep at the sight of Nick Saban on Wednesday morning would hiss at him if he were coming off consecutive losing seasons — and off-the-field trouble is thrown in the face of coaches who blow on-field opportunities.
But this is an opportunity. In an SEC light on distinguished quarterbacks, Tennessee has a potentially great one in senior Josh Dobbs, handing to an al- ready-great running back in Jalen Hurd, while counting on a defense with stars at all three levels.
And though Jones made sure to mention that he has just 11 seniors and hasn’t yet built enough roster depth, the best part of his day was embracing the “E” word. That’s what fans want to hear.
“That’s why you come to the University of Tennessee,” Jones said. “That’s why you coach at the University of Tennessee. You want those expectations.”
If they’re going to be met, Jones will be at his best late in games in the four-week stretch that will determine the season, against Jim McElwain and Florida, Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs, Kevin Sumlin’s Aggies and Saban’s Crimson Tide. He was not always at his best in those moments last season.
He talked Tuesday about “finding the 25 points” that combined to cost the Vols their last five losses. And he talked about “the compound effect” of building a program, and “getting 1% better” every day, and “embracing the moment” when games are on the line.
If we’re judging on the cher- ished football coaching skill of filling a news conference with clichés, Jones had an incredible day. On a more serious note, he struck the correct tone when asked about the lawsuit. For all I know, this response was crafted over hours of meetings, but it was a good one.
“I don’t view it as a relief,” Jones said of the settlement. “I don’t view it as put behind us. I think that’s a serious matter, a serious issue that every college, every university, every college campus faces. And it’s also in society as well, so we’ll continue to have that as a learning experience for our football program. …
“I think we’ve set the bar for all of college football with our speakers and (awareness) programs. But that’s something that we take very serious. I don’t ever look at it as that being behind us or in the rearview mirror. We’ll always point toward it as a learning opportunity.”
“Own it” can apply here as well. Dobbs said it’s on Tennessee veterans to mentor young players “so they don’t make the same mistakes as people have in the past.”
Mostly, the UT contingent talked about football. The transition has been made, and the return of a once-great program has been foretold this week.
“The message,” Dobbs said, “is that Tennessee’s back.”
Which brings us to the outside world’s motto for Tennessee football in 2016: Prove it.
“That’s why you coach at the University of Tennessee. You want those expectations.” Butch Jones, Tennessee football head coach