Media Monday: Vanderbilt Game 

Head Coach Butch Jones

(Opening Statement)
“First of all I would like to start off and say Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, truly a lot to be thankful for. So Happy Thanksgiving.

“Quick recap on Saturday night, not much has changed since the post game press conference in terms of our thoughts as a football staff. Winning is fragile as we all know that. It is very difficult to win in the SEC and we can’t beat ourselves, particularly this football team. Offensively, two turnovers. Third down conversions, we didn’t do very well but that is a byproduct of our first down efficiency. Did not do a particular good job on first down to put us in manageable third down situations. We had the most negative plays we have had all year in eight. We had too many dropped footballs. That is that formula of not beating ourselves.

“Defensively, we had too many missed tackles. I thought our youth and development really, really showed versus a veteran football team in Missouri. And then third down, we didn’t do a very good job of getting off the field on third down, particularly in third-and-long situations. Again, those are the things that it takes to play winning football.

“I thought special teams wise, I thought Matt Darr stepped up, really punted exceptionally well. We placed a premium on kick-placement. He was able to do that. I thought for the most part our coverage teams did a very good job. We executed a fake field goal in a critical stage of the game. Which was great to see. We talk tremendous pride in running execution based systems and I didn’t think we executed particular well on offense and defense. Some of that is our own, we created some adversity for ourself, but some of it had to do with the quality of our opponent in Missouri as well. But I am exceptionally proud of the competitive spirit, the competitive grit of our football team. We still believed we were going to win the football game. Came down to an onside kick that unfortunately, we didn’t get the football. An onside kick a number of times. But again, these kids continue to show grit and competitive spirit.

“Moving on, the last game of the year, Vanderbilt. Obviously, Coach Mason is in the first year of his program. He is doing a very, very good job of instilling his philosophies, offense, defense, special teams, program philosophy. They present numerous and many challenges for you. Especially when you look at them defensively, they are multiple in their schemes, with their fronts, their coverages, they do a great job of really mixing it up. Making you prepare week in and week out for it. Different wrinkles, different things that we haven’t seen all year that will be a challenge for us. They are explosive and powerful upfront. Offensively, they play different quarterbacks with different skillets that pose a unique challenge for your defense. Again, they have multiple personnel groupings, multiple tight end groupings, they have a physical style of play. They shift, motion, and they create matchup problems for you with 12 personnel, 21 personnel. So again, we all know it is very difficult to win on the road in the SEC. It will be a great challenge this week. Like every challenge we are looking forward to it as well.”

(On watching the onside kicks on film)
“Well, first of all, I thought Aaron Medley did a very good job of executing the onside kick. It is something that we work on each and everyday. We got the bounce that we needed to. We have submitted it to the SEC and we have not received a ruling back because today is the day that you submit all that. We haven’t heard anything back. It was close. It was a bang, bang, play. You just hate, it is very unfortunate, that a game like that comes down to that. it is what it is. We put ourselves in that situation. But I thought our players for the most part did a very good job of executing it.”

(On challenging the call on the onside kick)
“Well here is where we are at in the situation of the game. We had a couple timeouts left, we have a clock management chart on the sideline and up in the box. If we would have played it, we probably would have got the ball back with three or four seconds left. We thought it was a very, very close call. We were going to challenge the first one as well, I went to challenge it because I saw them hit it and right when I went to challenge it they got the buzz down. Why keep your timeouts in your back pocket? You are trying to win a football game. We are going to exhaust all our effort and energy into winning a football game. Nothing is by chance.”

(On this being a big game)
“It is a big game for a number of reasons. It is a big game because it is the last regular season opportunity that our seniors will have. It is a chance to build momentum in moving forward. Which we have tremendous momentum. We are fighting for bowl eligibility. It is an instate rivalry game. So there is a lot on the line. Every game is important.”

(On if he has a preference if they secure a bowl bid)
“No. I am going to leave that up to them and all that. All of our focus and opportunity, even Dave [Hart]’s focus, is on Vanderbilt and trying to get a victory and scratch and claw on Saturday.”

(On the team’s mentality on Sunday)
“It is what you like to see as a coach but also we have to move on. There was a lot of pain in the locker room after the game. A lot of hurt. A lot of tears. That is good because that is a direct correlation to their investment. They take pride in their performance. We are getting to the point now where our players expect to win every time they go on the football field. So as a coach, when you see that type of investment and that type of emotion, that is great because you know they have invested in it. But now it is time to move on. This football team has displayed a great consistency in terms of moving on. I liked our approach, I will know a little more today when we come to the building and get going on Vanderbilt. Nothing leads me to believe that they are down, they should be excited. We get another opportunity, we get another opportunity to compete. So I don’t anticipate anything. These kids have been very resilient. You look at the fact, I am into facts not hypotheticals. We started, I believe, seven true freshmen, the most that have ever started in a game here at the University of Tennessee. Four on defense. 23 true freshman all year. It is what it is. They continue to grow, they continue to mature. They are so young that they don’t know any different and that is a good thing. I expect them to come ready to work, just like every Monday.”

(On the in-state rivalry)
“We always talk about winning the state first and I think we have shown the ability to do that. Obviously, Tennessee is a very special place. The more you win, that helps recruit players. But I think sometimes being here in Knoxville, people lose touch and reality of what the national perception is of the University of Tennessee football program. It is at an all-time high right now. The energy, they excitement, we see it every day because of recruiting and talking to high school coaches not just in this great state but across the county. We have players coming in from all over the country. We are going to have another great, great recruiting class, individuals that fit our profile. It is a matter of time, people know that, they see the energy, they see the vision. A lot of times we live in a negative society, people only want to write negative things, believe me the positives truly outweigh everything. We are all part of building something special here. I told you when we sat in this room in August that we are raising a football program. We are raising it. We are taking tremendous strides each and every day. That is not coach speak. That is being very, very realistic. So every game is important. Winning is very important. You look at our fan base. We are just about 100,000 fans in attendance when most attendance is on the decline, we are on the upswing. Our fan base has been outstanding. They have added to that recruiting excitement, that passion, that energy. Again, when you look at all the facts, it is a matter of time and we continue to build it. So I am as optimistic as I have ever been. So every game is important.”

(On what he made mid-state Tennessee a recruiting priority) 
“Well you look at the mid-state in general, it’s one of the rising population bases in the country. There’s great high school coaches throughout the entire state of Tennessee. There’s great football players. We want players that understand what it means to represent the University of Tennessee, the magnitude, the relevance. You look at our true freshman that are playing from the mid-state area, eyes go first to Derek Barnett. You look at Jalen Hurd. You look at Josh Malone. Rashaan Gaulden is starting to come in. Vic Wharton. How about that play he made on that punt batting the ball back. You look at all those individuals. Jashon Robertson. I can go on and on. They all made an impact. I think if you speak to them, they now understand what it means from an in-state player to stay at home and represent their in-state institution. That’s all over the SEC. If you look at the rosters of all the SEC teams, they start with their home base first and foremost. That’s going to be our philosophy here.”

(On if some of the scores across the SEC surprise him) 
“Yeah because you never know week in and week out. It’s a week-to-week season. Everything is about match-ups. Some teams match-up against particular teams better than others, so it’s always a match-up. Some teams match-up better than others. This is the most competitive football conference in the country week in and week out. There are so many different dynamics that go into from injuries to quality of opponent to whether you’re playing at home, playing on the road. There’s so much that goes into it, so sometimes you are surprised by the score in one way or another. But then again, I’m not just because of the nature of this conference. It’s a grind. Will Muschamp said it the best a week or two weeks ago about how competitive this conference is. Then you throw in the recruiting. Recruiting is different than anywhere we’ve ever been. From the competitive standout, you have to recruit each and every day let alone prepare to play the best of the best. I think Missouri is a great illustration of not just building a football team but a football program. There’s a difference between building a team and building a program. They’re in a program that has the luxury of redshirting a lot of freshmen, not putting too much stress and pressure developing them in the weight room. Now they’re second year in the program. They’re redshirt-freshman. They start to ease them into a role. By year three, they’re ready to go. We don’t have that luxury right now. They’re development is pushed back in terms of in season, off season strength and conditioning program. We’ll get caught up in the months of January, February and March. It’s also a great opportunity to sell playing time right away to a prospective student-athlete. It’ a balancing act.”

(On if he’s seen any of the freshmen hit a freshmen wall and how he tries to combat that) 
“I have seen it. It’s been a different time table for each individual. I think its effected different individuals at different stages of the season. Some it affected early and they were able to recover and move on. Some it has affected later, but really when you look at the entire body of work of this freshman class, it’s been truly remarkable. They may have hit it but they’ve bounced back. They’ve taken care of their body. They’ve done a great job in terms of the recovery process. A lot of it we’ve had to educate them on and push them towards. I think the change in our practice format has really, really benefitted especially our younger players, so they’ve done a very good job of that.”

(On how he has changed the practice format) 
“We have now perfect Thursdays, “No Sweat Thursdays” where we actually do not practice. It’s all a mental day, so it’s about rest, recovery, meetings and walk-thru. We don’t want them breaking a sweat, so it’s a big mental day. They get their body back and we try to spark the central nervous system 24 hours prior to competition which on Friday now we have about a 40 minute practice where we gear up and go after it pretty good.”

(On why the changes were made) 
“Just to stay on top of the sport science end of things. Always trying to develop and grow to be a better football program. We really spent a lot of time researching it. But also knowing that we’re going to be an exceptionally young football team is really teaching them how to take care of your bodies. They’ll go through about a 40 to 45 minutes recovery cycle or circuit that is very intense in the weight room, in the training room, the cold tubs, all that. What they’re learning will really benefit them for many years to come in our program.”

(On his analysis of Jakob Johnson and Dylan Weisman starting performances) 
“Jakob did a very good job from the mental standpoint of getting us lined up, setting the front the right way, setting the schemes the right way, so he did a very, very good job. Really a remarkable job when you look at here’s a young man who’s a true freshman, hasn’t had much live game opportunities, from Germany. Really, he is probably the equivalent to a high school senior. Did some things very good. Missed some productivity from a tackle standpoint from our MIKE linebacker position. I think that’s just youth. That’s just experience of understanding schemes and understanding where the ball is. Plus I think some of the things that Missouri did schematically in terms of spreading us out was a challenge in and of itself, forcing us to play in space. That’s why I think we had more missed tackles than usual. But I think for the most part with his first live game action I think he did some good things to move forward on. Dylan Weisman, same thing. First, real true game repetitions at center, where it really mattered. I thought he did a good job with our line calls. I thought his snap accuracy was good all night against a very disruptive defensive front.”

(On what he saw from Malik Foreman) 
“I was encouraged my Malik Foreman. Malik Foreman made a play for us on the backend of our defense. I thought Malik did some very, very good things on special teams as well, so I was very encouraged by the play of Malik Foreman. He did a very nice job for us.

(On Aaron Medley’s performances as a freshman) 
“Aaron’s done a very good job for and we needed him to. He’s one of those freshmen that, right, wrong or indifferent, had to play and perform, and he’s performed well for us. You look at his accuracy within 39 yards, so he’s done a great job. Again, he’s another individual who takes tremendous pride in his performance. He works at it hard every day. Just like we spoke about it with the onside kicks. He’s done his due diligence. He works on those kicks each and every day. Getting into Neyland Stadium and kicking in here has really helped. So again, very, very proud of him. We’re going to need that consistency down in Nashville on Friday.”

(On the factors that led to Joshua Dobbs being sacked six times) 
“It’s a combination. All eyes point to the offensive line. You look at a stat sheet and say you gave up this many sacks, but sometimes as a byproduct of our receivers not getting open, it was a byproduct of Josh sometimes leaving the pocket too soon. It’s different in the national football league than in college football. Any time you’re tackled beyond the line of scrimmage, it count as a sack. It’s taken off your rushing totals. So sometimes those numbers are misconstrued a little bit. I think it was a combination. It wasn’t just the offensive line. It was a combination of everyone. That’s what we talk about, playing team football and consistency. All eyes point at times to the quarterback, to the offensive line, but a lot of times it’s a byproduct of everyone working together and a very good opponent. They’ve been doing that to a lot of teams this year.”

(On evaluating Mack Crowder and Marcus Jackson)
“Marcus Jackson continues to progress. He’ll be fine. Mack Crowder, we’ll know a little bit more about his status as the week progresses. Right now, he’s going to try to practice today and go a little bit. So, I’ll know a little bit more tomorrow.”

(On updates on A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams)
“I have not had any dialogue at all. Again, we’re letting the investigation take care of itself. That’s all I’ll say.”

(On Charles Mosley’s rehab)
“Yeah, it’s been encouraging. He’s really done a great job. Charles Mosley is down to about 350, which is the lightest he’s been probably in ten years. So, we’re excited about that. Jason McVeigh (Director of Sports Medicine), two weeks ago, we’re in the middle of practice and he comes running up to me and he goes, `You’ve got to see this.’ He has a video of him running, which is remarkable. So, Charles continues to progress. Our goal is to have him available and have him be able to compete for spring football, but he’s made remarkable progress. I think that’s a tribute to him, his work ethic, but also our entire training staff at Tennessee. They’ve done a tremendous job. He’s in there, it’s class and rehab, class and rehab, class and rehab. Shoot, he’s probably shown more discipline at training table down at Smokey’s than anyone. We kind of have a bet. He’s got to get down to about 345 and I’ve got to lose 10 pounds, and he’s winning the bet right now.”

(On if Mosley is an offensive or defensive lineman)
“That’s the great thing about Charles, is he gives us flexibility in our interior lines. Whether it’s offensively or defensively, but right now he’ll start on offense.”

(On if there was an eye opening moment in SEC recruiting)
“Every day. I’ll say what I’ve continued to say. When you coach in the SEC, every day is like it’s 4th-and-1 for the national championship. Whether it’s development your players, whether it’s recruiting, whether it’s preparation, or whether it’s game day. That’s what makes, again, this conference very very special. You have to have individuals that want that challenge. You have to have individuals in your football program, your football organization, your football family that want that lifestyle, from coaches to players to everyone. It’s different.”

(On if there are stories they will one day read in his bio)
“Yes, I’m working. I’m going to ask John Adams to write my book, maybe just the foreword.”

(On the use of tight ends)
“Yeah, we like to get the ball to our tight ends. They’re, as we all know, they’re part of our playmakers on offense. The situation dictated it, sometimes the coverages dictated it. So, a lot of things that go into that, but when we’ve effectively moved the football, our tight ends have been actively involved in our offense.”

(On if a win Saturday will be validation of moving in the right direction)
“I don’t look at it that way. I know we’re headed in the right direction. I think everybody, it gets back to what I said, and across the country they know we’re headed in the right direction. So, it’s not validation or anything like that. The next game is very important. We’re fighting for victory number six. It’s going to be a great challenge. Vanderbilt’s going to play their best. We have to play our best. I have a lot of respect for Coach Mason and what he’s building there. I know what he’s going through. Year one is always the most difficult year. I’ve done it three times, so I know what he’s dealing with. They’re a very very talented football team, they’re very physical, and they’ve come up short a few times, but they have our respect because they’re physical and they’re going to expect to win. They have great confidence, particularly over the past couple years. So, we don’t need validation. We know what’s going on in our program. I think the validation is by the recruiting classes that we’re assembling, by the people we’re bringing in here, and by our style of play. We’ve come a long way in a very short period of time. I’m extremely impatient. I go in our staff meeting room, I have the next two, three, four years planned out, personnel wise, all that. I start my morning off in there for about an hour every single day. I live this program 24/7. So, we don’t need any validation because the right things are happening. You look at the vision by our athletic administration; it’s a model of consistency. It’s visionary led by Dave Hart and Chancellor Cheek, and I mean that. We’ve got some special things going on here and we just need to be patient and continue to build and build and build, and we’re going to like our body of work.”

(On preparing for Vanderbilt to play multiple quarterbacks)
“Well like I stated earlier, it’s a challenge in and of itself because each of the quarterbacks present different challenges for you. They have different skill sets. So, you always study your opponent and the little ticks, the little nuances, trying to give yourself a competitive advantage, but now when you have three to study, it makes it that much even more challenging, the preparation. They do, Vanderbilt does a tremendous job with multiple shifts, trades, motions. They challenge your communicative process not just on offense, but defense. They do some good things schematically. Again, it’s going to be a challenge in and of itself, but when you’re facing a number of quarterbacks, it is a great challenge to prepare for.”

(On Marquez North’s injury)
“He has a torn labrum, and it kind of stems back from an old high school injury. To his credit, he’s tried to play through it, play through it, and play through it. We had a MRI late in the week and saw that, so we’re going to go ahead and get that fixed with hopes of having him back for spring football. To his credit, you talk about the resiliency that our kids have shown in this program. He’s tried to fight through it. He’s tried to push through it just like (Jacob) Gilliam does every week. These players have given so much to this football program, and I’m indebted to them. That’s why I respect them, that’s why I love them, because this is a very close knit group and they want to keep playing.”

(On if it needs surgery)
“Yes.”

(On if he has ever had this many high ankle sprains and labrum tears)
“No, we’re going to do; every season has a different flavor in terms of injuries. They seem to run in packs. They seem to run in numbers. It’s been an unusual year in terms of high ankle sprains. That’s kind of been the injury of the year for us. So what we’ll do at the conclusion of the season, we’ve actually started the process, is we’ll do our due diligence. We’ll try to research. We have every injury broken down: surface, was it practice, was it game related, cleats, ankles taped, ankle braces? Everything is broken down, and we’ll continue to work on that and try to figure out the power of why. Why does it occur? High ankle injuries are occurring also all over the country, but we’ll continue to, we’re working with the National Football League right now. They’re conducting their own study as well in terms of surfaces related to injuries, particularly high ankle sprains as well.”

(On if he was disappointed with the way the field held up this season)
“Yeah, and we’re talking about that. I don’t know if it had to do with the different climate. It’s been an unusual year in terms of climate, from heat to cold and the extreme temperatures. They’ve really made a great effort in trying to get the field ready. Our field maintenance crew does a great job. As we continue to evaluate everything in our program, from A to Z, obviously that’s one of the topics of discussions that we will have, in terms of continuing to improve and having the best surface in country. We take great pride in that. So, that’ll be one of those things when we look at the program, but I know our field maintenance crew does a great job in terms of research and everything, but it does make it challenging at times.”

Linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin

(On Vanderbilt)
“They are much more complex than Missouri was, they run a lot of personnel groupings, they switch the quarterbacks up a lot. Solid run game.”

(On the difference between Missouri and Vanderbilt)
“Missouri was really spread out, they just tried to open up, make lanes, make everyone play in space. Vanderbilt is just a different team than that.”

(On the importance of a win at Vanderbilt)
“It is definitely big for our program. Get to win number six. Just focused on that right now. Not look ahead to a bowl game. All eyes on Vanderbilt, obviously, they got us the last two years but there are a lot of guys on that team who haven’t been apart of that. Just focused on six and it is a new season.”

(On his increased role on Saturday)
“Just trying to do a lot more communication. When Jakob [Johnson] walked out of the box, just getting the D-line right. Making a couple calls here and there. But Jakob pretty much held it down, he did his job. Everyone said his communication was good so it wasn’t that big of a challenge.”

Defensive Back Cameron Sutton

(On the series he didn’t play against Missouri)
“Just blacked out. It happens from time to time, throughout the course of the game, this was the first time it had ever happened in game. They ran a couple things on the sideline just to make sure I was okay. I was just eager to get back out there and finish the rest of the game.”

(On what happens)
“From time to time, it just happens throughout the course of the day I just black out and just keep walking. Nothing every happens. Like I said it was the first time it had ever happened in a game. But I can’t let that stop me from getting back out there and finish the rest of the game.”

“It just happens from time to time. It doesn’t happen every day. For the two seconds it does happen I just black out and come back and then just keep going about my business.”

(On Malik Foreman)
“That is expected. Malik works very hard. He does it throughout the course of practice, throughout the course of the week. When it is his opportunity to step in he is capable of making plays. He had a PD [pass defended] on the possession that I was out. Like I said, it is expected for him to do that.”

(On the importance of the Vanderbilt game)
“Just trying to get to win six. It is a program game. We can’t worry about the past. A lot of the guys on this team haven’t played Vanderbilt and don’t know much about Vanderbilt. We are just trying to team the young guys the meaning behind the game. Like Jalen and I said, just getting win six.”

(On the team’s mentality on Sunday)
“We have been going through adversity all year. We lost some games that we think we should have won. Missouri was another game that we felt like, a few plays here and there would have changed the outcome of the game. It is too late to go back and change that now. We have another opportunity, a big opportunity, to change that this weekend, coming up. Just to keep moving forward and hopefully get win six. Just have another great week of preparation. Have that same mentality, same mindset throughout each and every week. Like I said, prepare well and just come ready to play on Saturday.”

(On the possibility of a bowl bid)
“It means a lot. Like I said, my focus right now is just get win six. The bowl game just comes with it. Our first step is, we just have to win Saturday to even get to that point. Our focus right now is just play well throughout the week and make sure everyone knows what they are doing, make sure our bodies are healthy leading into the game. Just go out there and play the game that we love and what we are here for.”