Volosaurus rex
Doctorate in Volology
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2009
- Messages
- 6,041
- Likes
- 4,257
(Preliminary remarks):
While we talk about graduation I think it's very fitting we start with the topic of academics. We just concluded a very, very productive semester academically. We had the second highest fall GPA in the history of our football program. We had 40 individuals earned a 3.0 or above and we had no individuals who are academically ineligible who didn't pass the required nine hours.
It is also very appropriate at this time to thank the best fan base in America. While other institutions are having attendance problems, we actually went up significantly in fan attendance this year. . . . Our overall attendance was up about 6,000 per game, which is incredible. . . . [We also] were up over 31 percent in student body attendance.
"I will have some time over the holidays and once the recruiting season wraps up, I will take time and evaluate anything and everything in our football program. . . . There are three criteria that our coaching staff will take time over the holidays and address. We're going to break everything down into three things: No. 1 is what do we need to change to improve and get better? The next thing is what do we need to adjust? How can we adjust and continue to build the best college football program in America? The third thing is what things do we need to emphasize?"
"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. . . . 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 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."
"The other thing I spoke about briefly is the three individuals we welcomed into our football family yesterday. They will be great additions. . . . 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. . . . He's going to add another dimension to our wide receiver position, which we greatly need. 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. . . . 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."
(On the QB competition):
"All even starting from ground zero. Every position is all even starting at ground zero. . . . Everyone will be healthy [at that position]. 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. . . . 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."
(On this offseason and the transition from Team 117 to Team 118):
"You rejuvenate your program with this great signing class adding 14 individuals in January, it is going to add to the competitive make up of your football team. In all my years of coaching, and I think I speak from our entire coaching staff and not to take away from any of the other teams we have coached but this is the most excited and most looking forward to an off season that I can remember in a very, very long time. . . . All of our focus is on Team 118 and everything that we can do in developing the leadership that it is going to take to compete at a high level. . . . I do sense some hunger and sense them getting back and ready to go. I have had a number of players that have said `Coach, I have had a great time at home, I am ready to come back. Individuals are coming back a week, week and a half early just to get started.
(On replacing the entire offensive line and the majority of the defensive line):
"I have never been in that type of situation. . . . We are down an entire recruiting class in the offensive line position numbers wise. . . . 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 linemen that we brought in last year, and you couple that with Blair coming in and other individuals coming in. . . . [However,] playing in this conference having to replace as many offensive and defensive linemen that we have to it is an area of concern."
(On the benefits of bringing 14 mid-term enrollees in):
"They gain spring football, they actually gain a half 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."
(On meeting the team needs with the next class):
"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.
(On the lack of 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 help 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.
(On the 14 early enrollees):
"The number 14 is the scholarships that we had available at midyear that is why winning academically is a byproduct of that. Our philosophy is we are always going to get our players graduated, our goal is between 3.5 and 4 years. That is the goal here. So if they have a fifth year of eligibility and do elect to come back they are working towards a master's degree. It is all about winning in the classroom. If they have the ability and leave early and go to the National Football League, the most important thing you can have is your college degree. So that is the fundamental values of our football program. So why you see the inordinate amount of early enrollees or the 14 signees is a direct correlation to winning academically and winning in the classroom.
For the full transcript and/or videocast, see Butch Jones Press Conference (Dec. 19) - UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics.
While we talk about graduation I think it's very fitting we start with the topic of academics. We just concluded a very, very productive semester academically. We had the second highest fall GPA in the history of our football program. We had 40 individuals earned a 3.0 or above and we had no individuals who are academically ineligible who didn't pass the required nine hours.
It is also very appropriate at this time to thank the best fan base in America. While other institutions are having attendance problems, we actually went up significantly in fan attendance this year. . . . Our overall attendance was up about 6,000 per game, which is incredible. . . . [We also] were up over 31 percent in student body attendance.
"I will have some time over the holidays and once the recruiting season wraps up, I will take time and evaluate anything and everything in our football program. . . . There are three criteria that our coaching staff will take time over the holidays and address. We're going to break everything down into three things: No. 1 is what do we need to change to improve and get better? The next thing is what do we need to adjust? How can we adjust and continue to build the best college football program in America? The third thing is what things do we need to emphasize?"
"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. . . . 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 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."
"The other thing I spoke about briefly is the three individuals we welcomed into our football family yesterday. They will be great additions. . . . 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. . . . He's going to add another dimension to our wide receiver position, which we greatly need. 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. . . . 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."
(On the QB competition):
"All even starting from ground zero. Every position is all even starting at ground zero. . . . Everyone will be healthy [at that position]. 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. . . . 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."
(On this offseason and the transition from Team 117 to Team 118):
"You rejuvenate your program with this great signing class adding 14 individuals in January, it is going to add to the competitive make up of your football team. In all my years of coaching, and I think I speak from our entire coaching staff and not to take away from any of the other teams we have coached but this is the most excited and most looking forward to an off season that I can remember in a very, very long time. . . . All of our focus is on Team 118 and everything that we can do in developing the leadership that it is going to take to compete at a high level. . . . I do sense some hunger and sense them getting back and ready to go. I have had a number of players that have said `Coach, I have had a great time at home, I am ready to come back. Individuals are coming back a week, week and a half early just to get started.
(On replacing the entire offensive line and the majority of the defensive line):
"I have never been in that type of situation. . . . We are down an entire recruiting class in the offensive line position numbers wise. . . . 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 linemen that we brought in last year, and you couple that with Blair coming in and other individuals coming in. . . . [However,] playing in this conference having to replace as many offensive and defensive linemen that we have to it is an area of concern."
(On the benefits of bringing 14 mid-term enrollees in):
"They gain spring football, they actually gain a half 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."
(On meeting the team needs with the next class):
"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.
(On the lack of 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 help 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.
(On the 14 early enrollees):
"The number 14 is the scholarships that we had available at midyear that is why winning academically is a byproduct of that. Our philosophy is we are always going to get our players graduated, our goal is between 3.5 and 4 years. That is the goal here. So if they have a fifth year of eligibility and do elect to come back they are working towards a master's degree. It is all about winning in the classroom. If they have the ability and leave early and go to the National Football League, the most important thing you can have is your college degree. So that is the fundamental values of our football program. So why you see the inordinate amount of early enrollees or the 14 signees is a direct correlation to winning academically and winning in the classroom.
For the full transcript and/or videocast, see Butch Jones Press Conference (Dec. 19) - UTSPORTS.COM - University of Tennessee Athletics.
Last edited:
