#MediaMonday: TaxSlayer Bowl 

Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Dave Hart

(Opening Statement)
“Good morning everybody, I came down with some exciting news and after we talk about this for a little bit then we will let Butch get to his normal press conference topics. But today I wanted to let you know we are extending Butch’s contract and giving him a raise. I will get into that specifically in just a moment.

“But when you are rebuilding a program you face a lot of challenges in an effort to change the culture. It takes a tireless effort in everyone in the organization to make that come to fruition. Clearly the most critical piece is leadership and we have the right man leading our football program at the University of Tennessee. Butch Jones has clearly reenergized our fan base, he is an outstanding ambassador for our university which transcends his role as head football coach. He and his staff have recruited at a very high level and in an effort to restock our talent base you see that unfolding.

“He possesses a very unique skill set in my opinion. One that not too many people are fortunate enough to be blessed with. I value very much our relationship, both personal and professional. So it is exciting for me to share with you that we have extended Butch’s contract by two years, through the 2020 season at 3.6 million per year and we are excited to do that. The contract addendum will go through appropriate university channels and upon conclusion of that process we will be happy to distribute that addendum to everyone who requests it.

“So I will be happy to answer any questions that you might have about this.”

(On importance of getting the raise and contract extension done as soon as possible)
“I think I said this to you John [Brice] in a recent setting but it has always been my philosophy to reword people for performance and the job that they are doing and not reward for them because you think somebody else might come and get them. This is about that. One important element that needs to be mentioned on top of everything I have articulated is, if you look at our academic environment when Butch got here and look at where we are today, that is a significant change for the better. Why is that? Because it is not lip service. Because he focuses on academics. When you look at all the key areas of leading a football program and how complex that is and how you have to multitask beyond what anybody actually realizes, unless you are in the profession, he does all of that and more.”

(On when the discussion of a contract extension began)
“We did. We visited for the first time the Sunday after the Vanderbilt game and actually had a handshake agreement on Friday about what we were going to do.”

(On providing raises to assistant coaches)
“We will.”

(On the amount of raises for assistant coaches)
“Butch knows what that number is. He is the important person that needs to know what the number is and he will allocate it as he sees fit at the appropriate time. He will do that when he deems it appropriate. But it keeps us at a very competitive position.”

(On what he hopes the message the raise and contract extension says)
“Butch Jones is our coach and will be our coach for a very long time. That we are appreciative that he is our coach and his tireless efforts have not gone unnoticed.”

(On if Michigan contacted him)
“No.”

(On if any schools contacted him)
No.”

“Unless you want to know what we are going to do with our coverage against Iowa, I am going to leave.”

Head Coach Butch Jones

(Opening statement)
“Before we move onto bowl preparation and talk about the bowl game and the University of Iowa, again I am very grateful and appreciative of the opportunity to be the head football coach at the University of Tennessee, and our administration since day one has shown tremendous, tremendous support. You heard Dave [Hart] speak about all of the time you use the word team. This has been a great, great team effort. We talk about in our football program everyone being all aligned. It’s an organization. It’s a family. It’s beyond our coaches. It’s beyond our players. It’s our administration. It’s our marketing department, our fundraising. It’s sports information. It’s everything, sports medicine, our doctors, our trainers, academics in the Thornton Center. I think that’s a tribute to Dave Hart and his leadership and the stability and vision that he has provided for everyone. I think I speak for every head coach here. The other thing I think are unique to this environment, this situation, is the closeness of all of our coaches. We talk about being one Tennessee, and we are truly one Tennessee. All of them have been tremendously supportive, win or lose. Always getting text messages of support. I think that speaks volumes and centers around one of the greatest attributes that you can have, which is leadership.

“I’m very appreciative for the opportunity. Now moving onto bowl preparation, it’s very similar to at times spring football season or spring football segment and also training camp. But there’s a game that’s very close down the road. There’s many things that we need to get accomplished. I spoke to our team about this yesterday. There are so many things, and when you go to a postseason opportunity, it presents those things and opportunities to improve on those things.

“First and foremost, we have to get our health back to our football team. We talked about this continuously throughout the season about the inordinate amount of repetitions, the volume of repetitions, that our players have had to play with. We’ve had some injuries. We’ve had some individuals really trying to play. One person who really goes unnoticed is Josh Malone. Josh Malone has been going through some nagging injuries in a number of areas. Josh doesn’t say anything. He just tries to compete. I know its bothered him because he hasn’t been able to get out there and give everything that he has, but he’s attempted to give all that he has. He will give all that he has. He will have a great week of bowl preparation. We spoke about that with him doing his due diligence which he has in the training room. I know it has kind of bothered him just like all of the individuals that have been hurt. He’ll bounce back because he’s Josh Malone.

“You look at Jason Croom, another individual who is trying to fight through some injuries, so again we’ve challenged him in the strength and conditioning area. Another individual who has been banged up maybe since week two is Daniel Helm with an ankle. He never says two words about it. He continues to go out there and practice each and every day. These are all youngsters. And then you all know about Curt Maggitt, getting his health back. Mack Crowder as well. All these individuals will play in the TaxSlayer Bowl. They’ll play in the Gator Bowl.

“Again it’s just an opportunity to get our health back and individual improvement. The fundamentals, the fine details of what it takes to play winning football. Just the overall growth and development from a fundamental standpoint but also in the strength and conditioning area. We’ve had so many individuals this year that when you play the inordinate amount of freshman that we’ve had to play, you do not have luxury of putting them through basically an offseason in season strength and conditioning program, so to be able to go back and work on our strength levels that will provide tremendous momentum for when we do come back. And when we do start our strength and conditioning sessions in January that they’re not sitting at home for a month and a half. That they’ve already gone through that and that will help continue their continually growth and development and team togetherness.

“We talk about the longevity, life expectancy of this football team and it gives us a few more weeks to be together, continue to grow our family, our brotherhood. Excited about that, and then another opportunity to compete and represent the state of Tennessee and entire University of Tennessee and Vol Nation. To be able to compete on the center stage January 2 is a great, great platform to show the entire country what we’re building and what’s going on here at Tennessee.

“I know our fan base is energized. I got word yesterday that our fan base actually crashed the bowl website, so I don’t know if they have it up and running yet but that’s a tribute to them. It’s a great accomplishment to play in a January bowl game, and our fan base can take great pride in knowing that they also had a hand. They also were a deciding factor of that January 2 bowl game because of the loyal support, the energy that they’ve provided into this football program and the support has started for two years. But you just look at this past year of our spring game and the attendance. You look at our open practice and the attendance. You look at fan attendance up. You look at our student body and everything they’ve meant. There are special things going on here and I hope everyone realizes that, and we have concrete evidence surrounding those statements, so I’ll answer any questions you may have.”

(On if he sees a bowl game as a reward or business trip)
“Both. It’s a reward. It’s a reward for our fan base. It’s a reward for our football team. It’s a reward for our seniors. But make no mistake about it, you go there to win the football game. Your preparation, your mental effort, your mental intensity doesn’t change one bit. So it’s all in your approach. You have to have tremendous, tremendous practices here in Knoxville. Then when we go down to Jacksonville, we have to have a bulls eye focus which we talk about. But there’s one thing to be a participant of a bowl game, it’s another to win the football game. This is going to be a great challenge for us. I had the opportunity, I came in early this morning before I came back from recruiting and go out for recruiting, but my iPad is loaded with Iowa video, and I was able to watch one of their games from this past season. Very, very physical football team. Very sound, very well coached, so again, it all comes in your preparation.”

(On the spring board of playing in a bowl game)
“Great spring board. When you look at them experiencing a 5:30 emergency team meeting and them sitting in there and finding out that they will be playing in a January bowl game. Just seeing their excitement. We spoke about all year about digging for that gold, we’ve talked about we are in a pit and we are digging for that gold. We could finally start to see that gold starting to shine through. Most people quit right before, maybe they need just one more shovel full of dirt to reach that gold and a lot of people quit and the success is right there. We spoke about that continuously throughout the course of the season. It was also a great illustration for all of our younger players in the program, how to manage the natural adversities that a long football season brings about, how you control everything but also the standards and the expectations. And it really is a game of inches. I believe 14 points on our side of the division this year was the difference. So we will go back and we are going to search for those 14 points when January comes. It is just an illustration of working hard, the vision and the standard and the expectations that we have placed forth in this football program.”

(On the importance of playing in a bowl game to recruiting)
“Monumental. It is evidence now with prospective student-athletes of what is going on here. I think it speaks volumes that the TaxSlayer Bowl would invite the University of Tennessee. They had many, many options, they had many choices. I believe it will really help us. It should help cement our recruiting and bring that class together but also it is an illustration of what is going on here. So we have 13 players from the state of Florida, so for them to go back home and really play before their friends and their families will be very special to them as well.”

(The ability to show off the team to recruits with a January bowl game)
“Monumental. It’s evidence now with prospective student-athletes of what’s going on here and I think it speaks volumes that the TaxSlayer.com Bowl would invite the University of Tennessee. They had many, many options. They had many many choices. I believe it will really help us. It should help cement, so to speak, our recruiting and bring that class together. Also it’s an illustration of what’s going on here. We have 13 players from the state of Florida, so for them to be able to go back home and play in front of their friends and their families will be very special to them as well.”

(When the TaxSlayer.com Bowl came up on his radar)
“5:30 yesterday afternoon. At maybe 5:20, Dave Hart walked into my office with a big smile. I tell you what Dave deserves applause and great appreciation for making this happen. I know he worked tirelessly, he worked relentlessly, as he always does each and every day for all of our sports. But he deserves a great thank you because he was instrumental in getting this done.”

(On how much he wanted to get the contract extension done so it wouldn’t be a distraction for bowl prep)
“It was never a distraction. But again it’s nice to be able to prepare our football team, developing our program out on the recruiting end. It’s just closure on a lot of things and now we can focus on the things that we need to focus on.”

(On if he worries about needing to reeling in guys to get back in to bowl preparation mode)
“Well you’re always concerned. But the body of work throughout the course of the season, the leadership that has been provided by everyone in our football program – I have evidence now that they are mature beyond their years. They understand the task at hand. It’s our job to continue to educate them on the bowl process. There isn’t anyone who can really step up in a room who has participated in a bowl who can step up and say, `This is how you handle yourselves.’ We have great character young men in our football program, but we’ll continually to speak about it. I’m evaluating them all the time. Their first examination was Saturday when we practiced. And I thought they had tremendous energy. At first I thought it was the energy and the excitement equivalent to the first day of spring practice. They got after it, they competed and then we backed it up with another solid practice. Yesterday in a more team setting, we were trying to condition the body, condition the mind to play multiple plays, to play extended plays. We’ll take a number of days off now for exams and then we’ll resume activities in the strength and conditioning area and then we’ll practice on the weekends. Next week will be critical in installing the gameplan and getting back to the fundamentals and the fine details of winning football.”

(How big are these 15 days for the guys who redshirted or missed the season due to injury to springboard into the spring)
“Very big. Can’t put a price tag on it, can’t put a value on it – that’s how big it is. They’re invaluable. Again, for them, when you think about it they would be concluding exams this week and going home for a month and 10 days, a month and 15 days. So no matter how hard you work at home, it never simulates a team setting and how we work on campus. So to be able to have them now for a few more weeks extra, to be able to work on a specific skillset playing that position, being able to compete and also being able to get in the strength and conditioning room – it’s invaluable. We needed this in our football program. We needed it when you look at the inordinate amount of freshman – you look at Rashaan Gaulden. He’s been really providing some depth and stability in terms of the special teams game for us, but he needs every repetition he can get at the defensive back position. Same thing with Emmanuel Moseley, Evan Berry and a lot of individuals and then individuals who are being redshirted, but also the individuals that have played very sparingly in terms of their offensive and defensive roles. Now to be able to get them continuous repetitions in competitive situations – invaluable.”

(On what advice he has given the players on balancing exams and their preparation for the bowl)
“It’s all about living in the moment, the power of one, which we’ve talked about all year. Right now I want all of their total focus on exams and winning in the classroom, that’s first and foremost. Then once we win in the classroom, then we go into bowl preparation. So again, it’s just focus on the moment, treat every day as an opportunity to get better. It’s every individual in our football program taking individual accountability – their responsible for their own self determination to be the best that they can possibly be. And we’ll continue to educate them with how you handle the clutter and the distractions, especially when you get to the bowl site, all those little things. I’m going to have to rely on our mature players and our older players. They’re very focused and they’re very driven. When they watch the video on Iowa, they’ll understand that we have to play our best football. That’s the thing, when you go to a bowl game, everybody’s good. You’re playing against top, top, top level competition. Again everything’s in your preparation.”

(On the team’s reaction when he called the emergency team meeting to announce the bowl, especially the seniors)
“Very emotional. They’re sitting in there and they think they know what’s coming, and you know that they don’t know they don’t know what’s coming. So to be able to walk in there and talk to them about just being part of this whole bowl experience and what it presents and what our football program is and we took a quick journey back down memory lane of how far we’ve come when we started this journey last year. We started this journey on the Monday after the conclusion of the Kentucky game (last year). Every year they were used to having a couple of weeks off and we went right into our offseason strength and conditioning program to let them understand that it’s unacceptable to not be going to bowl games at the University of Tennessee. Right away they embraced that and so we spoke about that. To be able to tell them that they’re going to Jacksonville, Fla., on Jan. 2 and to see their reaction is a moment I’ll always remember in coaching.”

(On the surprise from he and the players when they learned of their inclusion in the TaxSlayer Bowl)

“[It was a shock] because they listen to you guys [the media]. You know, with the invention of Twitter and all these fictitious websites and erroneous things that are out there, you can’t help but hear it. I even saw a couple false reports and I’m like, “This can’t be happening.” And it just goes to show you that you deal with the facts and sometimes you may think you really know and you don’t know. So those players walked into that room really not knowing what was coming, just like myself, up until about 5:20. I was believing and hearing the same things everyone else does.”

(On members of his staff being targeted for other jobs)

“We focus on the task at hand. I think if other coaches or institutions come after your coaches it’s a compliment to your football program. It’s a compliment to what you’re doing. And everyone around the country knows what we’re doing here at Tennessee. When you look at the improvement on the field, when you look at the growth and maturation of this program, especially with the inordinate amount of youth that we have, but also from a recruiting standpoint – just an overall culture in our football program. When you’re doing things right, there are going to be people that try to come after your coaches.”

(On how important it was to get a pay increase for his assistant coaches)

“[It was] critical. It’s really not about me. It will never be about me. It’s about our football program at the University of Tennessee and rewarding achievement, which Dave Hart just spoke about. It’s all about the coaches and it’s all about everyone in this football program. No one person is every bigger than the University of Tennessee football program and that’s the way I’ve always run our organization, our football family. It’s all about people. You win with people and we have great people in place.”

(On the status of A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams)

“It’s status quo right now.”

(On the potential of certain players not returning next semester)

“It’s all speculation. With Joe [Henderson], we’re finishing up on some things with the NCAA. We have a couple individuals right now that are trying to sort out what they want to do with their lives and what lies ahead of them. We’ll be supportive of them. If they decide they want to be a part of something special then, hey, let’s go. If they decide “hey, this isn’t for me and I want to take another life path and go home or do this,” then we’ll support that as well. But we want people that want to be here, that are committed to this football program, to the state of Tennessee, and the University of Tennessee.”

(On whether he has any certain knowledge as to which players won’t return in the spring)

“There’s some individuals that are trying to make some decisions about what they want to do and I think it’s inappropriate [to discuss that] in this setting because some of that is personal and I care about them. Just like every player in our program, I want what’s best for them.”

(On the injury status of freshman RB Jalen Hurd)

“He’s had a green jersey for about the last four weeks. A lot of that has nothing to do with health; it has to do with the health of the position. Right now we don’t have much depth at the running back position so you have to pick your spots when you practice with a high level of physicality. A lot of that is just protecting him because of our depth at that position.”

(How Devrin Young has looked in his return to practice)

“Devrin Young has been back in practice and it’s been great to have him back. He’s not 100 percent yet, but he’s worked exceptionally hard. It’s a tribute to him that he’s been able to have a number of weeks off and step up and come in and not miss a beat. He adds another element, another dimension to our offense, so we need to continue to progress with him. I’m just very proud of him; it would have been very easy to just walk away and say, “I’m done.” He’s shown great resiliency; he’s persevered just like a lot of our players have and I’m very proud of him.”

(On being able to pitch this season’s bowl game appearance to recruits)

“It obviously makes [the recruiting process] a lot easier. And then when you couple the fact that it’s a January 2nd bowl game, the great tradition and pageantry of the bowl game, that just adds to it. But even if we didn’t, all our prospective student-athletes understand what’s going on here. Unless you’re in it every day, it’s night and day. It’s a tribute to our players. Our players have done a tremendous job, they’ve done everything that we’ve asked of them. I’m indebted to them. It’s our job to coach them, to critique them, to push them to where they can’t take themselves, but also we love them. They mean a lot to our entire staff because of what we’ve been through this entire season. But it does help in the recruiting aspect of things. Now when you turn every TV show on, every sports show, they’re going to be talking about the University of Tennessee. They’re going to see that national brand, that Power T, every day when they talk about the bowl games. And then obviously, the great bowl game, the TaxSlayer Bowl, adds to that as well.”

(On how energetic practices rub off on potential student-athletes in attendance)

“I think that energy rubs off on everyone – it’s contagious. We talk about, “you’re either a fountain or a drain. What are you?” And we want fountains. It gets back to the energy bus. Everyone having the word on the front of their bus. No energy vampires. Energy vampires zap everyone of their energy. And we talk about that all the time. And what happens is, you start to build a culture. And if you do have an energy vampire, they become uncomfortable because there’s not a lot of them around. They’re either forced to conform or they eliminate themselves. And that’s part of building a culture within your football program. Our players have done a tremendous job. We walked out on Saturday and they energized me. I didn’t have to say anything. And they came out ready to compete. As a coach, that’s all you can ask for: that your players show up with a workmanlike mentality each and every day. And this football team has done this on a consistent basis. You really look, there hasn’t been one game this year where we’ve been what some people call “flat.” And that’s a tribute to our leadership, it’s a tribute to our players. They’ve done a great job of preparing. Now we’re going to have to take the next step in this bowl preparation because “much is given, much is required.” The stakes now become that much higher.”

(On how the perception of the SEC being a speed league and the Big Ten being a power league plays into the matchup with Iowa)

“A lot of it is just perception. Every conference, every team has a style of play. We always talk about at Tennessee we want to play to a style of play that’s only common and unique to Tennessee. But I don’t believe in that. The Big Ten has great football, they have very, very good speed. They’re physical. It’s a very, very good football conference. So I really don’t get into that. All I do is I look at the opponent that we’re playing and dissect them and, in the little bit I’ve been able to watch with Iowa, we’re going to have to play our best football.”

(On the bowl practice schedule concerning practices in Knoxville and Jacksonville)

“That’s ongoing in terms of the schedule for the bowl game, but I believe right now we’d be leaving the 27th of December to go down there. But we’re going to solidify that and all the particulars as soon as this press conference is over. Go back and spend some time on the bowl calendar and hit the road on the recruiting trail.

“Thank you and happy holidays.”

Senior Defensive Lineman Jordan Williams

(On finding out about Jacksonville)
“We didn’t really know what bowl we were going to play in. There were a lot of rumors floating around. The first thing I did was text a lot of my friends back home and text my friends.

“There were a lot of rumors floating around. I’m sure y’all heard some things, but honestly, we really didn’t know.”

(On being able to get tickets for all his friends)
“It’s going to be tough. I was already thinking about that. I think we get six tickets this game, so I’m going to try to get some guys to help me out.”

(On the team’s reaction when they found out)
“It was wild. It was pure excitement. We really appreciate the Gator Bowl giving us that bid and it was a great, great time.”

(On ending career with a bowl game as one of the few seniors)
“To go from no bowl games the last couple years to us playing in a January bowl game like the Gator Bowl is a great feeling.”

(On what he knows about Iowa)
I talked to (Danny) O’Brien who had a friend that played against them and he said that they had a solid offensive line and an offensive tackle. We’re just going to prepared like it’s any other game. We’re going to be prepared; we’ve got a whole month.

(On if this is a rewards trip or a business trip)
“Of course it’s going to be a good time. Postseason play is going to be exciting and a good time, but we’re going down there with a business mindset and preparing this month with a business mindset because we still have a game to win.”

(On how this team is going to prevent the bowl experience from being a factor)
“Our coaching staff has experience with bowls and I’m sure they know that we might get caught up in a little bit of the excitement, so I trust their preparation in us getting ready to play in this bowl.” (On if he feels like UT needs to represent the SEC against the Big 10)
“It’s Tennessee playing Iowa, but I’m sure that comes into factor.”

(On how surprised he was to find out they were going to a Florida bowl game)
“The thing is we heard a lot of different rumors from a lot of different bowl games. I know early in the season my mom said `I hope you end up back in Florida so we can stay in this warm weather,’ but the Gator Bowl chose us. It’s a great thing.”

(On yesterday’s practice)
“Practice was fun yesterday. I can tell you that. I think we got back to just playing football yesterday. We weren’t focused on any other team. We weren’t preparing, no scouts, no looks, nothing like that. We got back to just playing each other and competing. I’m not going to lie, that’s the most fun I’ve had in practice

(On the importance of the extra practices)
“These extra 15 practices. These young guys, a lot of them play on scout teams during the season and they don’t get to get first team looks and stuff like that, so they’re in another position that they normally wouldn’t be playing and to get them reps here, 15 practices here, and then take that intro the spring and then they get another 15 in the spring and take that to the fall. It’s like a whole other spring. To get them a lot of reps and get them a lot of looks is really big.”

Junior Offensive Lineman Kyler Kerbyson

(On the emotions of a fourth-year player finally getting to a bowl game)
“It’s really huge. It’s a monkey off our back, so to speak. I really wanted to do it for the guys that were leaving. I still have an extra year, but the guys I came in with like Jordan and some of the older guys don’t have another chance, so I wanted to do it for them.”

(On what the fifth-year seniors have said about the bowl atmosphere)
“They just told us how much fun it is, how exciting it is to be able to go to a different city and spend time with your teammates. It’s separate from just football (and) how great it is just to have the whole experience.”

(On what bowl game he was expecting)
“I really didn’t have any idea all the way up until we figured it out. We were hearing rumors from everywhere. We really didn’t know where we were going but when he said we were in a January bowl, that made a huge difference. There’s literally a difference between December 30 and January 1. That next step, the bowl site is even better. We’re super excited that we get a chance to play in Jacksonville for the Gator Bowl.”

(On how hard it was to stay focused waiting to find out the bowl game)
“I mean at this point, we’re happy ot go anywhere, so it wasn’t on our mind. We were just going out to practice to have fun like we always do. We had a ball at practice yesterday. We got a lot of scrimmaging done to where we were doing situations and for a good eight to 10 periods we were just playing each other. We weren’t thinking about anything else. It helped to get things off our mind.”

(On Coach Jones contract extension)
“It’s huge because I believe in Coach Jones. I know he can do a lot of great things. I would really want him to stay as long as possible and be able to get freshmen coming in next year all the way through all five years if they’re here and just keep building the program up. It really gives us a lot of confidence in him. I want to be one of the VFLs coming back and being excited to come to a game and cheer on the Vols.”

Sophomore Linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin

(On how this game can set the tone for next season)
“I think it’s going to be big. The way I see it is that there’s no turning back now. We had a 6-6 season and we got the chance to play in the TaxSlayer Bowl, but now we just got to keep climbing. This is the first stepping stone. Next year, we’re going to elevate and the next year, we’re going to elevate.”

(On the importance of the extra practices)
“I think it’s real big for our linebacker room. We have a lot of young guys in the room. I’m one of the most experienced players, and I’m just a sophomore. I think it’s going to help our linebacker room a lot getting those guys reps and helping them play because really some of the guys that have been on scout team they haven’t just been playing our defense since like week two or three, so it’s big for them.”