Volunteer_Kirby
Its not what you think...
- Joined
- Oct 10, 2006
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**Edit:Sorry did not see the other thread. Please merge.
The following quotes are taken from the press conference today.
[Youtube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHwifywE_2Y&feature=youtu.be [/Youtube]
3 JUCO signees:
"Owen Williams originally from Macon, Ga., he is very, very sudden, very, very quick, explosive and when you watch his film you see a high level of productivity on every single snap. We are excited about those three individuals."
"The next individual is Dontavius Blair - an offensive lineman, an offensive tackle we've been on for a while now. He's going to give us immediate relief and competition at the offensive tackle position. We're very excited about him.
"Von Pearson is an extremely competitive young man. He's the No. 2 wide receiver in the country and was very highly-touted and sought after in the recruiting process. I thought Zach Azzanni did a tremendous job of building a relationship with him and formulating that trust. He's going to add another dimension to our wide receiver position, which we greatly need."
Recruiting:
"I don't ever comment on and other programs because I am busy concentrating on the University of Tennessee. But if they have time to worry about Tennessee and the numbers then we must be doing something right."
(On holding on to commitments)
"I have been recruiting day in and day out. There is the reason why we have the No. 2 recruiting class in the country. Rankings are rankings. We have great recruiters on this staff. It is recruiting. It is part of the process. That is why I don't talk about numbers. Because it is always influx. Recruiting changes minute by minute, hour by hour. It changes. That is the nature of recruiting. In this conference nothing is set until they sign. I understand that, it has always been that way, the way we recruit. I am excited the way things are going but nothing has caught my staff off guard, I am excited with the individuals that we have. But we don't ever take anything for granted. We are in a people relationships type of business and I think individuals see we have tremendous people here and a great product to see and really they want to be a part of it."
QBs:
(On the QB competition)
"All even starting from ground zero. Every position is all even starting at ground zero. You are responsible at creating your football identity. Because some individuals may have had success in the past, that doesn't guarantee them success in the future. You have to earn everything that you get, it is by a body of work over time and that position, just like every other position will be up for competition."
(On the health of QBs)
"Everyone will be healthy. We have had some individuals stay over and do the extra rehab. Justin Worley is one of those individuals and he is back to throwing a football now."
(On Riley Ferguson)
"Anytime you have that valuable of experience being in that system for a year now and being involved in a program for over a year. Some will be their first spring practice. It will be Riley's first spring practice, it will be Josh's first spring practice. Continuity and consistency is critical, so having those individuals in the system for a year will expedite the learning curve, they are able to focus more on the fundamentals and fine details that it takes to play winning football at the quarterback position.
"While they are away it is self accountability, improving each and every day. Throwing on their own while they are on break, working out. Once they get back, overall leadership, the fine details that it takes, the quarterback characteristics that it takes. From a leadership standpoint, the ability to lead in the weight room, the ability to lead in the classroom, living their life the right way, being an example. The quarterback should be the example. They are the equivalent of a coach when they are on the field. It is their football program. The command presence that it takes as a quarterback, doing things the right way and the high level of consistency. We talk about consistency is performance, that is extremely critical at every position but it is really critical in winning football games at the quarterback position. And then once we get into specific drills and spring football it is who manages our offense the best, who takes care of the football and who can create plays. It is going to be an ongoing process and that evaluation tool already started Monday when we hit the ground running.
OL & DL:
(On replacing the entire offensive line and the majority of the defensive line)
"A lot goes into that, it is a great challenge, I have never been in that type of situation. That is when we talk about building this football program. We are down an entire recruiting class in the offensive line position numbers wise. The thing that we have to guard against in this recruiting class is we cannot fix all of our deficiencies in a recruiting class. It takes time. You can only bring in so many players, I know that has been one of the most talked about topics of conversation in the last month or so. We have to make sure we correct and improve every single position to have long term success. You are not going to fix all of your deficiencies in one recruiting class. It is going to be a big challenge to replace the offensive line but I am also encouraged because Marcus Jackson gained his redshirt year, Mack Crowder gained some valuable game experience, Kyler Kerbyson gained some valuable experience. I am excited about three freshman offensive lineman that we brought in last year, and you couple that with Blair coming in and other individuals coming in. Change is good, there is going to be a high level of excitement and competitiveness. Playing in this conference having to replace as many offensive and defensive lineman that we have to it is an area of concern."
(On the younger defensive linemen stepping up this offseason)
"Huge, monumental. That is why we started our off on Monday after the Kentucky game. There could be no wasted days. Our players can't go home and not do anything for three weeks, they can't do that or else they have set back their development and our team development. That is why we are in constant communication with them and why we are competing even though we are away for the holidays."
Early enrollees:
"There are challenges with that to now, there are some things we have to understand. Some of these individuals are 17 years old and going away to college for the first time. Everything is changing for them. Their friends, the expectations, the work volume of being in a collegiate setting with academics with the offseason strength and conditioning. We are going to have to rely on our older players to nurture them so to speak and bring them along. All 14 individuals are high character, competitive and looking forward to it."
(On the benefits of bring 14 mid-term enrollees in)
"Many benefits. They gain spring football, they actually gain a half of year of eligibility. When August rolls around they understand the standard, the expectations, the style of play - physically they are able to develop, mentally they are able to develop from a mental toughness standpoint but also understanding the playbook. The learning curve, it really helps the learning curve and all that you do mentally and physically, it builds team bonds and chemistry, it builds an overall comfort level. The advantages are endless, it is invaluable.
Depth:
"I don't think I have ever been part of a year where we were as youthful as we were. Youthful, playing in the best college football conference in the country and playing the number one schedule in the country. I think it is going to end up being a valuable experience, a valuable tool in moving this program forward. A lot of young individuals gained an inordinate amount of reps so I think that will helps us in moving forward. We have a recruiting profile. We don't listen to the recruiting services. We have a recruiting profile in terms of character traits but also competitive traits and then position specific traits as well. Every person we offer a scholarship to we have done our due diligence in research. A lot of times it is extremely challenging to do as much research as you can just because the recruiting process is as accelerated as it is.We have a profile and we rely on that profile and we have some very good evaluators. That is the thing that I think a lot of people don't understand, the role of coaches at the collegiate level is so different because you have to be able to teach, you have to be able to coach, you have to be able to critique, you have to be able to evaluate, and you have to be able to communicate and recruit. So you have to be able to recruit and sell your program, you have to be able to evaluate the personnel and then also coach. The great coaches are able to do all three things. That is how we evaluate our coaches, in those three areas. It is a great challenge, we are fortunate to have a great staff here. Bob Welton does a tremendous job of heading our entire recruiting efforts."
"The next area is our overall depth and competitiveness across the board. Competitiveness lends itself to improving individually and collectively as a team. We need to generate and create competition across the board. You do that through the recruitment process. That's why we are excited to welcome 14 new individuals at mid-year and three Junior College signees that we welcomed to the family yesterday.
Speed and strength:
"When I look back at some of our deficiencies we have to improve to move this program forward - I think everyone sees it first and foremost is our overall team speed. We must improve our team speed across the board. That's offense, defense and special teams. We must be a much faster football team. We'll develop that in the offseason, but quite frankly you develop it through the recruiting process.
"The next thing is our overall strength as a football team. We're nowhere we need to be to compete at an elite level in terms of our strength. That is something that we addressed immediately - the Monday - after the Kentucky game. We started our offseason strength and conditioning program. There is no waiting around. Every single day is critical in the evolution of Team 118. We had a team meeting and started that program. We have split our team up into five different groups and they will compete with each other over the break. We tested everyone, their body fat makeup. The first thing they will do when they report back to campus is we will test them again. We will have a conditioning test and a strength test. We have assigned leaders to those five teams and they are responsible for holding their players accountable throughout the course of this long break. There are no off days in Tennessee football to get this program back to where we need it to be. We will continue to compete even during vacation.
Miscellaneous:
(On recruits and Twitter)
"It is a fine line. Each individual recruit is different. Some are on Twitter, some are on Facebook, some of them really look at it and some individuals, we are in the recruitment of a prospective student-athlete that doesn't have twitter. Every recruit is its own separate entity, it is their own different thing. So not one individual is the same, they are all different. Twitter has become a great forum and mechanism to promote your program, to sell your program, to sell your vision. But you do, it is a fine line, you have to also be careful."
(On meeting the team needs with the next class)
"I do. We won't know entirely until the February signing date. We are. I think we are taking a monumental step at the receiver position to playing football the way we want to play here. We have upgraded in every single position. We have to make sure that we guard against not placing too many expectations on this incoming class. They are still 17 and 18 year old young adults, very, very talented but very, very young. We will know more once signing day rolls around because we know it is always changing. We do. That is our job we have to try to address and continue to get better and better."
(On what sets this offseason apart)
"I think having been in the system for a year, our players understand the expectations, standards, that are required of them. I think they understand volume, the work ethic it is going to take and challenging everyone on an individual basis to improve in all aspects. From the way that they take care of their bodies, nutrition, health, strength and conditioning,. But also adding 14 new individuals. Some very highly recruited individuals, some skilled individuals, it will add to the overall competition and as we know competition is extremely health. We are going to compete this offseason in everything that we do. We may even race to the drinking fountain. A competition of who can keep their locker the cleanest. Who can be the best leader. We are going to compete in everything that we do and try and create stressful situations because that is when you really find out about leadership. I am excited for the players that are returning. They have been through a full year, they have gained confidence in the way that we want to play and our style of play. They know what we did well and what they didn't do well. The overall mindset in the building, the overall expectation, the coaches, the administration is optimistic and very rightfully so."
FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE: Butch Jones Press Conference (Dec. 19) - UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics
The following quotes are taken from the press conference today.
[Youtube] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHwifywE_2Y&feature=youtu.be [/Youtube]
3 JUCO signees:
"Owen Williams originally from Macon, Ga., he is very, very sudden, very, very quick, explosive and when you watch his film you see a high level of productivity on every single snap. We are excited about those three individuals."
"The next individual is Dontavius Blair - an offensive lineman, an offensive tackle we've been on for a while now. He's going to give us immediate relief and competition at the offensive tackle position. We're very excited about him.
"Von Pearson is an extremely competitive young man. He's the No. 2 wide receiver in the country and was very highly-touted and sought after in the recruiting process. I thought Zach Azzanni did a tremendous job of building a relationship with him and formulating that trust. He's going to add another dimension to our wide receiver position, which we greatly need."
Recruiting:
"I don't ever comment on and other programs because I am busy concentrating on the University of Tennessee. But if they have time to worry about Tennessee and the numbers then we must be doing something right."
(On holding on to commitments)
"I have been recruiting day in and day out. There is the reason why we have the No. 2 recruiting class in the country. Rankings are rankings. We have great recruiters on this staff. It is recruiting. It is part of the process. That is why I don't talk about numbers. Because it is always influx. Recruiting changes minute by minute, hour by hour. It changes. That is the nature of recruiting. In this conference nothing is set until they sign. I understand that, it has always been that way, the way we recruit. I am excited the way things are going but nothing has caught my staff off guard, I am excited with the individuals that we have. But we don't ever take anything for granted. We are in a people relationships type of business and I think individuals see we have tremendous people here and a great product to see and really they want to be a part of it."
QBs:
(On the QB competition)
"All even starting from ground zero. Every position is all even starting at ground zero. You are responsible at creating your football identity. Because some individuals may have had success in the past, that doesn't guarantee them success in the future. You have to earn everything that you get, it is by a body of work over time and that position, just like every other position will be up for competition."
(On the health of QBs)
"Everyone will be healthy. We have had some individuals stay over and do the extra rehab. Justin Worley is one of those individuals and he is back to throwing a football now."
(On Riley Ferguson)
"Anytime you have that valuable of experience being in that system for a year now and being involved in a program for over a year. Some will be their first spring practice. It will be Riley's first spring practice, it will be Josh's first spring practice. Continuity and consistency is critical, so having those individuals in the system for a year will expedite the learning curve, they are able to focus more on the fundamentals and fine details that it takes to play winning football at the quarterback position.
"While they are away it is self accountability, improving each and every day. Throwing on their own while they are on break, working out. Once they get back, overall leadership, the fine details that it takes, the quarterback characteristics that it takes. From a leadership standpoint, the ability to lead in the weight room, the ability to lead in the classroom, living their life the right way, being an example. The quarterback should be the example. They are the equivalent of a coach when they are on the field. It is their football program. The command presence that it takes as a quarterback, doing things the right way and the high level of consistency. We talk about consistency is performance, that is extremely critical at every position but it is really critical in winning football games at the quarterback position. And then once we get into specific drills and spring football it is who manages our offense the best, who takes care of the football and who can create plays. It is going to be an ongoing process and that evaluation tool already started Monday when we hit the ground running.
OL & DL:
(On replacing the entire offensive line and the majority of the defensive line)
"A lot goes into that, it is a great challenge, I have never been in that type of situation. That is when we talk about building this football program. We are down an entire recruiting class in the offensive line position numbers wise. The thing that we have to guard against in this recruiting class is we cannot fix all of our deficiencies in a recruiting class. It takes time. You can only bring in so many players, I know that has been one of the most talked about topics of conversation in the last month or so. We have to make sure we correct and improve every single position to have long term success. You are not going to fix all of your deficiencies in one recruiting class. It is going to be a big challenge to replace the offensive line but I am also encouraged because Marcus Jackson gained his redshirt year, Mack Crowder gained some valuable game experience, Kyler Kerbyson gained some valuable experience. I am excited about three freshman offensive lineman that we brought in last year, and you couple that with Blair coming in and other individuals coming in. Change is good, there is going to be a high level of excitement and competitiveness. Playing in this conference having to replace as many offensive and defensive lineman that we have to it is an area of concern."
(On the younger defensive linemen stepping up this offseason)
"Huge, monumental. That is why we started our off on Monday after the Kentucky game. There could be no wasted days. Our players can't go home and not do anything for three weeks, they can't do that or else they have set back their development and our team development. That is why we are in constant communication with them and why we are competing even though we are away for the holidays."
Early enrollees:
"There are challenges with that to now, there are some things we have to understand. Some of these individuals are 17 years old and going away to college for the first time. Everything is changing for them. Their friends, the expectations, the work volume of being in a collegiate setting with academics with the offseason strength and conditioning. We are going to have to rely on our older players to nurture them so to speak and bring them along. All 14 individuals are high character, competitive and looking forward to it."
(On the benefits of bring 14 mid-term enrollees in)
"Many benefits. They gain spring football, they actually gain a half of year of eligibility. When August rolls around they understand the standard, the expectations, the style of play - physically they are able to develop, mentally they are able to develop from a mental toughness standpoint but also understanding the playbook. The learning curve, it really helps the learning curve and all that you do mentally and physically, it builds team bonds and chemistry, it builds an overall comfort level. The advantages are endless, it is invaluable.
Depth:
"I don't think I have ever been part of a year where we were as youthful as we were. Youthful, playing in the best college football conference in the country and playing the number one schedule in the country. I think it is going to end up being a valuable experience, a valuable tool in moving this program forward. A lot of young individuals gained an inordinate amount of reps so I think that will helps us in moving forward. We have a recruiting profile. We don't listen to the recruiting services. We have a recruiting profile in terms of character traits but also competitive traits and then position specific traits as well. Every person we offer a scholarship to we have done our due diligence in research. A lot of times it is extremely challenging to do as much research as you can just because the recruiting process is as accelerated as it is.We have a profile and we rely on that profile and we have some very good evaluators. That is the thing that I think a lot of people don't understand, the role of coaches at the collegiate level is so different because you have to be able to teach, you have to be able to coach, you have to be able to critique, you have to be able to evaluate, and you have to be able to communicate and recruit. So you have to be able to recruit and sell your program, you have to be able to evaluate the personnel and then also coach. The great coaches are able to do all three things. That is how we evaluate our coaches, in those three areas. It is a great challenge, we are fortunate to have a great staff here. Bob Welton does a tremendous job of heading our entire recruiting efforts."
"The next area is our overall depth and competitiveness across the board. Competitiveness lends itself to improving individually and collectively as a team. We need to generate and create competition across the board. You do that through the recruitment process. That's why we are excited to welcome 14 new individuals at mid-year and three Junior College signees that we welcomed to the family yesterday.
Speed and strength:
"When I look back at some of our deficiencies we have to improve to move this program forward - I think everyone sees it first and foremost is our overall team speed. We must improve our team speed across the board. That's offense, defense and special teams. We must be a much faster football team. We'll develop that in the offseason, but quite frankly you develop it through the recruiting process.
"The next thing is our overall strength as a football team. We're nowhere we need to be to compete at an elite level in terms of our strength. That is something that we addressed immediately - the Monday - after the Kentucky game. We started our offseason strength and conditioning program. There is no waiting around. Every single day is critical in the evolution of Team 118. We had a team meeting and started that program. We have split our team up into five different groups and they will compete with each other over the break. We tested everyone, their body fat makeup. The first thing they will do when they report back to campus is we will test them again. We will have a conditioning test and a strength test. We have assigned leaders to those five teams and they are responsible for holding their players accountable throughout the course of this long break. There are no off days in Tennessee football to get this program back to where we need it to be. We will continue to compete even during vacation.
Miscellaneous:
(On recruits and Twitter)
"It is a fine line. Each individual recruit is different. Some are on Twitter, some are on Facebook, some of them really look at it and some individuals, we are in the recruitment of a prospective student-athlete that doesn't have twitter. Every recruit is its own separate entity, it is their own different thing. So not one individual is the same, they are all different. Twitter has become a great forum and mechanism to promote your program, to sell your program, to sell your vision. But you do, it is a fine line, you have to also be careful."
(On meeting the team needs with the next class)
"I do. We won't know entirely until the February signing date. We are. I think we are taking a monumental step at the receiver position to playing football the way we want to play here. We have upgraded in every single position. We have to make sure that we guard against not placing too many expectations on this incoming class. They are still 17 and 18 year old young adults, very, very talented but very, very young. We will know more once signing day rolls around because we know it is always changing. We do. That is our job we have to try to address and continue to get better and better."
(On what sets this offseason apart)
"I think having been in the system for a year, our players understand the expectations, standards, that are required of them. I think they understand volume, the work ethic it is going to take and challenging everyone on an individual basis to improve in all aspects. From the way that they take care of their bodies, nutrition, health, strength and conditioning,. But also adding 14 new individuals. Some very highly recruited individuals, some skilled individuals, it will add to the overall competition and as we know competition is extremely health. We are going to compete this offseason in everything that we do. We may even race to the drinking fountain. A competition of who can keep their locker the cleanest. Who can be the best leader. We are going to compete in everything that we do and try and create stressful situations because that is when you really find out about leadership. I am excited for the players that are returning. They have been through a full year, they have gained confidence in the way that we want to play and our style of play. They know what we did well and what they didn't do well. The overall mindset in the building, the overall expectation, the coaches, the administration is optimistic and very rightfully so."
FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE: Butch Jones Press Conference (Dec. 19) - UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics
