Tennessee Football Coach Butch Jones
(Opening statement)
“Good to see everyone. I know you’ve been her for a while. I’ll be very respectful of your time. I’ll start of by answering any questions that you may have.”
(On how the staff has evolved, and this seasons hardest challenge)
“I think you’re always evolving, not just as a football coach. It’s anybody in their profession. If you want to be the best at what you do you’re constantly evolving. You’re trying to get better. That’s why I went to the Cleveland Browns game last night, to sit and try to take something in, and be on the sideline and walk around. You’re constantly evolving. I think one of the big things you have to do is step back from an emotional attachment stand point and review everything in your football program form A-to-Z and that’s what I’m doing right now. I’m trying to juggle that with bowl schedules and recruiting. It starts with me first and foremost. I believe that way you improve is to start with yourself. We will review everything in our football program, and how to continue to move forward and get better.
“When you’re building a football program there are four stages that you go through. The first stage is the culture. You have to make sure your locker room is right. You have to make sure your standards and your expectations are aligned. There can be no compromising in your culture. It’s what you stand for. The next thing is being competitive, and working to be competitive on the field of play. The third phase is winning. Finally winning games. The fourth phase is how you handle winning because, the more you win, the more is a stake. When you start to win, everybody is going to play their ‘A’ game against you. As I said week in and week out, there are very few uncontested victories in the Southeastern Conference. I’ll review everything. I’m just apart of our players. Again, I said it Saturday afternoon, we did not let any adversity define us. We defended ourselves by the way we continue to grow, elevate our play, and get better and better. I thought we were able to learn form our mistakes and continue to move forward.”
(On talking with Cam Sutton, Curt Maggitt, and Jalen Reeves-Maybin on their future)
“We still have time. We’ll provide the necessary means. That’s the thing with the resources and the NFL personnel that we have on our staff, and the relationships we have on the next level. It’s about educating your players on how to make the best possible decisions for them and their careers, the longevity of their careers, and their families. Tennessee is a very special place to be. We’ll have ongoing discussions. We talk all the time, but nothing significant yet. We’ll sit down as it progresses.”
(On getting NFL Draft answers before the bowl game)
“There are no time tables. Whenever they feel comfortable, and a lot of times, it takes a while. I do wish the process was faster. Again, we have all of the facts for them, and it’s about educating individuals on making great decisions, but I respect them. I respect all of our players and their decisions. I love everything they stand for and what they’re all about. We have great relationships and we’ll continue to have dialogue.”
(On how high expectations are for coaches in the SEC)
“Well the expectations are very, very, very high week in and week out. That’s one of the things that separates the Southeastern Conference from any other conference in the country, is the high standards, the high expectations. It’s hard to comment on what other people do and decisions just because you never know, but I will tell you this. I have a tremendous amount of respect for coach (Mark) Richt, both as a football coach and both as a human being. I agree with what coach (Nick) Saban said. This isn’t professional football. It’s still part of the educational value. You’re still developing 17 to 22 year-old individuals from an academic standpoint, from a social standpoint, mentoring them, guiding them. I know that our reputations, a lot of times our careers are based on 12 opportunities, 12 opportunities you’re either good or you stink and we live in a week to week profession. But I do agree with everything that coach Saban said and I think some of these have been disappointing for our profession, and I’m concerned (with) the path that we’re heading down right now.”
(On if they’ll be in good shape academically for the bowl game)
“I do believe we’ll be in good shape for the bow game. Obviously we have to finish very, very strong in the classroom and we emphasize that in our football program each and every day. Being champions on the field and champions in the classroom and in the community. So we’ve given them a few days off, they’ll have a few days off next week too to make sure that they’re ready to go for their final examinations and we treat it just like getting ready for a game. You have to do your homework, you have to make sure you do your studying.”
(On the evaluation process of his staff)
“In terms of the evaluation it starts with me first and foremost. I have a set criteria that we look for and it’s meeting with every coach, it’s evaluating them on a number of factors. How can we continue to move the needle? How can we continue to move this football program forward? I’ll continue to do that, right now your time is minimal but when I jump on a plane for recruiting I’m working on it. Flying home last night from Cleveland I was working on it in my mind and going through things. I’ll talk with a number of people and take some time when the players have off to just continue to go back and study everything in our program. If there’s some areas we need to improve on obviously as the caretaker of Tennessee football, I have to make sure that we’re insuring this football program for long-term success.”
(On if he would consider another head coaching job for more money at this point)
“I’ve stated it very clearly, Tennessee is a place I want to be. My family loves it here. Our fan base has been extremely loyal, all you have to do is look at our fan attendance. I believe we averaged over 100,000 fans for the first time since 2008 I think. Our attendance has been up over 11,000 each season. I’m a big believer in loyalty and right now Tennessee is where I’m extremely happy. This is home to me and this is home to my family.”
(On the transferring issue in college football)
“It almost gets to a point where you’re recruiting more of your current team than you are your perspective team with perspective student-athletes. I think it’s just talking and having open dialogue and it has been kind of the age of the transfer. I think that’s just part of the generation in society, you always think that it’s better somewhere else. You can go somewhere and maybe play more but we’ll sit with of there is anymore and we’ll have those conversations. We’ll map out their future, their career here, things that they need to do to continue to improve. But it is reality, it is part of our profession and it’s not just at Tennessee, it’s everywhere across the country and every coach has to deal with it. I deal with it with face-to-face communication. I love our players, I love everyone in our program and it’s all about a great fit for them and trying to continue to improve them on a daily basis.”
(On if Curt Maggitt will be available to play in the bowl game or if any other player will be limited or miss the bowl game)
“As of right now, no, there’s really nobody that is out. Jauan Jennings should be back. He tried to go last week. It was a thigh bruise. He suffered that on the one kickoff where he had the hit and, to his credit, he tried and he tried and he tried to the point where on Friday we made the decision that he just couldn’t go after Friday’s practice. Marquez North, we’ll see. He has been, obviously as we all know, very limited. But with the extended period of time now, I would fully anticipate him playing in the bowl game. But you never know with the body. In terms of Curt Maggitt – still don’t know yet. I know he is going to go back to Nashville and reconvene with the doctors there I believe in about 10 days, so we will know a little bit more. That has continued to evolve day by day.”
(On which of the younger players could use bowl practice as a big springboard for the spring)
“It’s a big, big springboard and it’s a big opportunity for our football team because we are so young. The individuals you just mentioned – Drew Richmond, Venzell Boulware – you learn through playing football. The great thing about it too is we can couple practices with also lifting. So they can continue to develop their strength levels as well. They are going through a non-travel lift, which we call it, which is a developmental lift. Their bodies are taking off – Darrell Taylor. Any time you can play football, it’s very very good. And also some freshmen who have had minimal reps – Jack Jones, this will be critical for him to continue to get the reps. Chance Hall, Brett Kendrick with missing some time in terms of some injuries. I think it is very beneficial for our football team to be practicing and really just to be together. Our team really grew last year I thought during bowl preparation and being here and having different events. Campus is kind of shut down, so it’s just you here and you really get to know your teammates even more. It’s the last time that this football team will be together, so it makes for a great month.”
(On if he talks with UT Athletic Director Dave Hart about getting certain opponents to play in a bowl game from a schematics standpoint)
“We talk briefly. We talk every day, but really that is out of our control. That is up to the bowl selection committee and who they choose to be your opponent. Probably the most challenging thing right now is to think of what teams you could face and trying to get a jump start on all of the breakdowns. So, your graduate assistants are doing their due diligence right now of trying to get a jump start because we will practice this weekend. So you want to expose them (to the next opponent) a little bit. The first couple of practices of bowl is about us. You really go back and you have kind of a first few practices of preseason camp. You go back and redefine the fundamentals and the small details and work on individual improvement. But, again, those are uncontrollable factors. We are just excited to be able to go to a bowl game and represent the University of Tennessee. I’m excited for our seniors. When you hear our players talk about the bowl experience that they had in their preparation in winning the game and everything that went into it, that’s what college football is all about. To hear them educate our younger players about our bowl experience and everything that went into it, it’s very special and I’m excited too that this loyal fanbase gets to go to a bowl game again. That’s what Tennessee football is all about. We are top five in bowl appearances and we fully expect to be playing in big-time bowl games each and every year.”
(On if he thinks the Vols “own” running counter after running it 25 times vs. Vanderbilt and if the team is establishing itself as a power, physical offense)
“First of all, you did your homework. Very good. I still have not forgotten what I promised everyone last year which is I still do want to have a media football clinic with our coaches and go through schemes and all that. That will be something that I would like to do in the winter months. But you are exactly right when you talk about ‘What do you own?’ We don’t want to dibble and dabble in things. We don’t want a designer offense. We want to own something and each game is a game of matchups. Is this a better team to run zone against? Is this a better team to gap schemes against. Do you need a double-team at the point of attack? All of those things are matchups and so the counter game obviously was very very effective for us and our players did a great job of really executing it at the point of attack, our pullers and then our backs getting the ball north and south and our quarterback getting the ball north and south as well. That was a defense that was only giving up 18 points a game. We felt we needed to get the ball north and south on them.”
(On having success running counter versus Vanderbilt)
“You’re exactly right when you talk about, ‘What do you own?’ We don’t want to dibble and dabble in things. We don’t want a designer offense. We want to own something. Each game is a game of matchups. Is this a better team to run zone against? Is it a better team to run gap schemes? Do you need a double team at the point of attack? All of those things are matchups. So, the counter game, obviously, was very, very effective for us. Our players did a great job of really executing it at the point of attack, our pullers and then our backs getting the ball north and south, or our quarterback getting the ball north and south as well. That was a defense that was giving up only 18 points per game. We felt we needed to get the ball north and south on them.”
(On Jason Croom’s knee injury)
“You’re at the discretion of the human body. Each individual heals a little bit differently. It was a very difficult surgery and he had some setbacks in it healing. He’s right on progress right now. He’s making great strides. He’s progressing. He will not play in the bowl game, but we’re hoping that he may be able to participate a little bit in some bowl practices, which would be very beneficial for him. But it’s just been very, very unfortunate. Jason’s done everything that he could to get back, but again you just never know how the human body is going to heal.”
(On his mindset when assistant coaches receive calls about other jobs)
“First of all, when they get phone calls, to me that’s a compliment to the program. Everyone around the country understands what we’re building here, the progress that we’ve made so far. So to me, I take that as a compliment. If a coach has an opportunity to better himself, better his family, something that really fits his career goals, I’m always going to be supportive. Obviously, I’ll speak my opinion. We’ve been together for a very long time. I’ll point out the plusses and minuses. But again, when they come after your coaches, I think that’s an overall compliment to your football program. We have some very good football coaches here and even better people.”
(On Curt Maggitt potentially pursuing a sixth year of eligibility)
“It’s always an option. There isn’t a time frame or a time limit, or an expiration date of when you can try to get the sixth year. It’s really what aligns for Curt. Curt has done some amazing things here. He’s already graduated. He’s embedded in the fabric of our community. We’ll just support him in what he wants to do. Being at Tennessee means a lot to Curt, so this is a decision that is very challenging to him. We’ll be there to support him one way or the other. He is a Vol For Life. Obviously, we’d love to have him here. Or, if he decides he wants to get on and reach for other goals right now in his life, we will 100% fully support him as well. He’s meant so much to our program. So again, those are discussions that him and I are having all the time. I know he’s having those discussions with his family and they’re very difficult for him.”
Vice Chancellor/Director of Athletics Dave Hart
(Opening statement)
“Hopefully you all had an opportunity to get with family over the Thanksgiving holiday. I know you’re like us, you don’t get a lot of time, but hopefully you had that opportunity and capitalized on it.
“Rick [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][Barnes] is a hard act to follow up here. Let me set the stage by saying that [Senior Associate Athletics Director for Communications Ryan Robinson] has done a great job of putting in motion a concept where prior to Butch [Jones]’s press conferences during the season we can have other coaches come in and talk about their programs and let you all be exposed to some of the things and priorities that are on their mind. I’d like to do the same thing here: I’d like to periodically just have a non-agenda – I know you have agendas – but from my perspective, a non-agenda opportunity for you to ask whatever’s on your mind about any aspect of our athletics program. That’s what we’ll do today. Rather than me sit up here and give you a ‘state of the nation’ routine, I know you’ve got things on your mind that you’d like to ask or get explanations to or have a discussion about.
“So this is the opportunity for you to do that. I’d be happy to answer any and all questions that might be on your mind. I know where I am and how I feel about where we are as a program, collectively, and where we are as a football program and other programs. I’d be happy to answer any of that, specifically, that you might want to ask.”
(On Tennessee football narrowly missing a chance to play in the SEC title game)
“I’ve said this many times, I’m competitive to a fault. That’s how I’ve always been. It’s nothing to be proud of, probably. But I’m very competitive: I was raised by a football coach, I’ve been around athletics all my life, a lot of my own values have been formed by those experiences. So sure, I’m no different than anyone else. I think everyone in our organization would liked to have been in Atlanta.
“We’ll be in Atlanta. This was a good step this year. I think winning eight games this year was a positive step for our football program. I go back to the Georgia game where we were down 24-3 coming off some gut-wrenching, heartbreaking losses and without question, that’s when this team took a giant step forward. Let’s be honest, if the culture wasn’t what it is – what Butch has developed – that would not have occurred. We haven’t looked back since that comeback against Georgia. This is a different football team. This is a confident football team that has gained a lot of experience as the season has progressed.”
(On talks of a raise or contract extension for Butch Jones)
“Butch and I communicate – as we do with all of our coaches – on a very regular basis. So we’ve already opened those conversations and we’ll continue to have those conversations.”
(On the state of the playing surface at Neyland Stadium)
“Let me give you a little bit of history on that. There are several factors at play here and we’re not alone in that battle in taking care of practice and game fields. I know you all have minimal time, but I’m sure in the press box you watch other games and there’s been a lot of that in the region we live in. There have been a lot of torn up fields, without mentioning any names. If you watch football in late October on into November, you see a lot of that. That’s not specific just to the University of Tennessee.
“You heard me say three or four years ago, in assessing strengths and weaknesses and setting priorities, that we had one of the smallest practice footprints in the country. And we are about the task of correcting that through the campaign that we are currently in. That’s one of the priorities in that facilities campaign. On this site where[the Stokely Athletic Center] stood for many years – and Gibbs Hall – we have a three-pronged project that is underway and we’ll near completion in another year. The residence hall, of course, which was much needed and in a great location – the chancellor was terrific about helping us secure that location – that’s a real priority. The parking garage is desperately needed on this side of our campus and then three full practice fields. When we get to mid-October, throughout the rest of the season, those of you who go out to practice know that our fields get pretty beat up. There’s only so many places we can go. We’ll have three full practice fields on that site. We’ll go to the stadium probably less because we won’t have to go to the stadium. Camps run, now, almost to the end of July so we can’t really address the fields until the end of July. So those are just all real factors.
“Having said that, we have an iconic stadium and we’re all on the same page: we want a first-class surface to play on. We meet regularly with our facilities people, who do a terrific job. We collaborate on a very regular basis. Rarely is there a meeting on this campus where expertise from the Ag School isn’t present to assist us in assessing what we can do. But our people who manage the fields, the people who have turf expertise have been extraordinarily helpful and have worked very hard to continue to try to improve that.
“I will say to the best of my memory is we’re undefeated since we got past the middle of October, so it hasn’t really impacted how we’ve performed. I know there’s a couple people with field fetishes in the room and I understand that, but that’s the explanation. We want a really good looking field and we’ll continue to work to make sure that that takes place.”
(On evaluating the market when considering raises or extensions for coaches)
“We’re in a market-driven industry. Like it or not, fair or not, that’s the reality. We are driven by the marketplace and in this conference, certainly this conference has set the pace relative to what that marketplace looks like. Butch is well aware of where I stand and well aware of how appreciative I am that he’s our football coach. We have ongoing conversations and he knows we’ll address that at the appropriate time and do what is right and fair as it relates to that.”
(On promoting Tennessee football for an attractive bowl game)
“That’s ongoing in nature. As you expect, there have been conversations for a little more than a week now, but they’ve accelerated, obviously, this week. The season’s officially over, we know that we’re 8-4, we know what the records are in the regular season and what’s coming ahead this weekend. So those conversations with the conference and with the appropriate bowl officials have taken place and will continue to take place until we get to the call from the SEC on late Sunday afternoon or early Sunday evening.”
(On coaching openings in the SEC East)
“I know Mark Richt, so I’m going to use the name. I normally wouldn’t even use the name but I worked with Mark for several years and have the utmost respect for who he is as a person. I always admired Mark during those years and beyond at Georgia. But I don’t ever speak to what another institution’s done or a decision that they’ve made because I’m not there and that would be totally inappropriate to address another institution in any way, shape, or form. But this league is obviously the best league in college football, the most competitive league in college football, and that’s hopefully never going to change because that’s something that’s something that everybody takes a lot of pride in. When you compete in the Southeastern Conference, you don’t have many Saturdays off once conference play begins. And please don’t misinterpret this comment, but that is not the case in many other conferences. Traditionally speaking – everybody goes through that, it’s cyclical – if you don’t play well, if you don’t play your best in the Southeastern Conference, you’re probably going to lose that particular game.”
(On potential use of field turf)
“Jimmy, we would not consider field turf, there has been no discussion of that nature. We want to continue to move forward with natural grass. We do have obviously an artificial surface in our indoor which we utilize quite a bit and that has been a godsend, the indoor facility and the proximity of that indoor facility.”
(On reserve funds)
“We’ve built the reserve up, largely due to the first allocation of the SEC Network revenues, Jimmy. We now have about 10 million dollars. We went three years right under two million dollars, and that was a very tenuous position to be in. We are still 14th out of 14 schools relative to that fund balance, but we have breathing room due to the generosity of our donors and through the hard work of people in our Tennessee Fund. We have not missed a beat in our facility needs because all of those are private dollars. So we’ve been able to address our facilities, we have not been delayed in that process. I am very, very excited about where we are in that process, but there have been decisions that had to be made based on a very meager reserve over the last two or three years.”
(On benefits of having stability in football program relative to SEC East)
“It’s so critical, Steve, for us to have stability as you all know even better than I. We went through a period of time with far too much transition. Whether it was seven presidents since 2000, presidents and chancellors, four football coaches in six years, or three basketball coaches in three years. No program can get traction with that kind of transition taking place. I am very pleased now, very comfortable, that we are in for the first time in a long time, a stable environment, which is absolutely essential for progress to take place. We live in a whitewater world that is just the fact of the matter. We live in a very open environment, relative to social media. That’s another fact that we understand and deal with daily. But it doesn’t change the basic, fundamental principle that you have to have good leadership, you have to have stability. Our football program is healthy and you heard me say for many, many weeks and months and years when I got here that was our number one priority. Because of what Butch Jones has created through his leadership and his energy and his ability to recruit, our football program is healthy. There are very, very exciting and bright days ahead with our football program. I am blessed to see it every day. I know you couldn’t fully understand how strongly I feel about that because you don’t get to walk into the building every day. You haven’t witnessed the change of culture like I have. You haven’t witnessed the work ethic that I see every day from our coaches or the leadership that I see every day from Butch Jones and the way he represents the university, represents our program, the total transformation academically that we have undergone in the past four years. So many things that are not between the lines but remain critically important. Because what you see mostly and what our fan base sees mostly is what happens between those lines, and that’s important. That will always be important, but we can’t get away from our fundamental responsibilities to our student-athletes. They are here for an education. That will always be the case, it hasn’t changed. We are not the NFL, we are not the NBA, and we’re not Major League Baseball. We have the most passionate fan base in the country. I say that constantly, without hesitation and I believe it in my heart. Sometimes, that passion not only here but elsewhere can manifest itself in moments of frustration. I am guilty of that myself; I get in the fetal position on some Sundays this past season. I understand, it’s important, and it hurts. We’ve waited a long time, but our fan base will continue to be rewarded with where this football program is headed.”
(On keeping the football program healthy and stable)
“It’s hard and this was stated, Brett, a long time ago, it’s always tough to build. Coaches inherit different levels of rebuilding projects. Some coaches are blessed to come into an environment where the cupboard is stacked talent-wise. Where the culture is set and they can take it from there. Other coaches, inherit in a lot of instances, a mess and it takes a while to stabilize that. Basically, that’s what Butch has done. In this conference it is accelerated and exaggerated because of the level of competition that everybody faces every Saturday and the expectation level of every fan base. I’ve watched the maturation of this football program and it’s been very gratifying, candidly to watch the maturation of our football program. There will be other hurdles, there will be other disappointing Saturdays, there will be other gut-wrenching losses but they will become fewer and fewer and fewer as we move forward with our football program. We have been to the mountaintop and it’s hard. It’s frustrating if you’ve been there and you try to get back there. But it can also be exhilarating watching that take place. We’re in a good place right now, and I think our fan base is in a good place right now. It’s exciting. I don’t know where we will end up on Sunday; it’ll be exciting to be back in the bowl picture. I look at all aspects of our program; even get into some of the minutiae. For example, it’s been a long, long time, we have a tendency to forget these kinds of things, it’s human nature, but it’s been a long time since we’ve played an entire regular football season since we had a chance to win every game. I know my first season here, we were blown out of a lot of stadiums during the regular season and seasons that followed. That’s why I say our football program is healthy again.”
(On message when talking to bowls)
“I think first of all, the first point that I make and will always make with bowl directors is our fan base. We are going to fill stadiums and that’s really their first priority. Because we are blessed to have such a great fan base we are going to take people. It looked like a home game in Jacksonville a year ago, that’s because of the passion of our fan base. Then, many of the things we have discussed today; the growth of our program, where we are headed. We lost to three teams that a week ago were 30-3 between them. Two of those teams, most likely, will be among the four people to play for the national championship. Like I said, we were not only competitive, but those were games we could have won. So that’s a point that doesn’t escape the conference office, doesn’t escape the executive directors of the various bowl games. Ryan [Robinson] has done a great job of putting together a sheet that won’t be redundant there, that I think he has already gotten to you or will about some points of that nature that have occurred as we have gone through the football season. As I mentioned a minute ago how long it’s been. You start playing the how long it’s been game, there are a lot of positive things to talk about at the end of the regular season because it’s been since 2005, ‘06, ‘07 sometimes ‘08 since we’ve had discussions we are having about the progress of our football program.”
(On Holly Warlick’s success)
“Congratulations to you, Sara, by the way. e miss you, but you are doing a great job. I’ll say this about Holly; there are only 16 coaches for women’s basketball who have won 100 games in their first four years. Holly will become number 17; she is nine wins away from that. If you couple that with the fact that she had to follow the best coach to ever coach the game. To fill those shoes, Holly Warlick is doing an outstanding job; we are blessed to have Holly leading our women’s basketball program. She is a product of the Lady Vols, she is a product of Pat Summit, yet she is her own person. I told Holly yesterday, in an attempt to talk her off the ledge yesterday morning, that it’s a long way to March. We’ve got a talented basketball team and those pieces will come together. I am very, very happy that Holly Warlick is our basketball coach.”
(On importance of crowd at Nissan Stadium in a neutral site game)
“I thought it was very important because we have put a priority on winning back Nashville when Butch took the job here. Through his efforts, we’ve been able to do that. We want to keep a presence in Nashville, we want to keep a presence in Memphis. We want to continue to do what Butch has put in motion, and that is to control our own state. We’re getting better and better players in the state of Tennessee. The mid-state has been very good to us from a recruiting perspective. Butch and I had this talk when we sat in the hotel in Lexington, Kentucky talking about the job. That we needed to, in my opinion, to get back into areas that were so good to us in the 90’s from a recruiting perspective: Tidewater, Virginia. We’re playing in Bristol next year. Atlanta, Georgia; we are playing there again in ’17 and so on. There were some key areas that for whatever the reasons had gotten away from us, transition being one of those reasons, I’m certain. It was important for us to open the season there. I think Scott Ramsey does a good job, we had a very good experience opening our season there.”
(On the challenges ahead of Rick Barnes and a reasonable timeframe for the program to turn around)
“If any of you could define ‘reasonable’ in 2015, I would really appreciate that. That’s a good question, Wes. I said this at the press conference when we announced Rick Barnes as our basketball coach; Rick Barnes is an elite coach. Not a good coach, he’s an elite coach. He has an unbelievable reputation among his peers in the industry and beyond, quite candidly.
“Rick Barnes will get it done but I remind him of this, as recently as two days ago; he doesn’t have a magic wand. This is an instance, because of the transition we’ve experienced, where it is going to take time. We have really good young men on our roster, and they play so hard. They’re actually fun to watch because they play so hard but we have a lot of limitations. That’s not a criticism, it’s just that Kevin [Punter] is a great scorer. He’s never played point guard. Last year, Josh [Richardson] made a very smooth transition, which led to him being drafted by Miami. But when you don’t have a natural point guard or an experienced big man, that’s a tough formula in college basketball. But these young men will play hard, Rick will coach them up to the best of his ability and to the best of a reasonable level and it will happen. But it’s not an overnight, by any stretch of the imagination, process for Rick and I’m sure that Rick is frustrated by that becuase he too is extremely competitive. Rick is used to winning at a very high, consistent level but he’ll get it done. He has a great staff, much like Holly [Warlick], and it’ll happen but there will be some bumps along with way from a competitive perspective.”
(On why he wanted the Battle at Bristol to come to fruition)
“I just thought that it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for however many people that Jerry Caldwell and the two teams can get into the track. I really, really want to complement Jerry and his staff, Logan [McCabe] and others, Mary Beth and the people who have worked so hard so we were able to formally bring that to fruition. Again, some of it was driven by what I said earlier, Jimmy, and we need to get into that marketplace but from a recruiting standpoint, and Butch [Jones] has done a terrific job of utilizing with this game, the past two recruiting cycles to sell to young men that you’re going to play in front of the biggest crowd to ever watch a football game at any level. Professional, collegiate or any level. Now that it’s getting close, inside of one year, I hear our players talking about that a lot which is a great sign. They’re excited about having that special opportunity to play in that environment in a best-case scenario of 150,000 people-plus. And to be honest, when we first went up there and we met many, many times before we got to the point where we were going to make it happen, it was on the edge of the cliff a few times. I told Jerry that I can now understand why this has taken 20 years but we were finally able to get it done. In going up there for the site visit, I was really surprised – except for the one endzone that will be removed somewhat from the track – that’s where a lot of the student section will be and that type of thing, the sight lines were not bad at all. They were much, much better than I had anticipated and I think people are going to really, really enjoy being in that environment. That will be indeed the memory of a lifetime for a lot of people. I had two students who help here in our Ray and Lucy Hand Studio who said to me a year ago when we completed the studio and they were in here working from our school of communications, I said, ‘What year are you?’ It was a male and a female and they were both seniors and I said, ‘Well, that’s a shame that you’ll miss the Battle at Bristol.’ They said, ‘Oh no. We’ve got that all worked out, Mr. Hart. We have delayed our graduation.’ Now, I thought they were being humorous. No, they had delayed their graduation. So, they’ll be at Bristol on a student ticket.”
(On Rob Patrick’s future with the volleyball program)
“We just announced last week a two year contract for Rob. As I said a year ago, we bounced our volleyball team around for two and a half years. Once [Stokely Athletic Center] came down, everyone was displaced. They really didn’t have a permanent home. They practiced in Thompson-Boling Arena at times, in Pratt Pavilion at times, and sometimes off campus at high schools.
“I think the [Joan Cronan Volleyball Center] was much needed, long overdue, and has made a difference. It’s like anything else. We’ve got to recruit some more Heather Harrington’s, some dominant volleyball players. We’ve got to recruit better players to turn that corner, but I’m pleased with the direction of our program. We had some rough spots for a couple of years, but I’m really pleased with the direction of our program at this time.”
(On changing permanent scheduling partners for the football program)
“I’m a big proponent of keeping the permanent partners. That’s been sickly going. It’s a frustrating period that we’re in right now. What Nick [Saban] has done there, it’s been frustrating for anybody right now because of the program he’s built, the depth that he’s built, and the job that he’s done. You know, we had a chance to win that game this year. We’re getting better and better, and there will come a time when that worm will turn as well.
“I feel very strong, and I was in a distinct minority, I think we should’ve gone to nine [SEC] games. I said that appropriately in our meetings when we talked about that, and I said it honestly when I was asked that. I think we should play nine games, and I still think we should play nine games.”
(On the status of Brian Pensky)
“I’m very, very pleased with Brian Pensky. I think Brian Pensky is an outstanding coach. I think he is an outstanding recruiter, and he’s proving that. We’ve had back to back great recruiting classes. He’s a great person to be around. There’s a case where we’ve had – out of our control and out of his control – some really devastating injuries over a two or three year period to some of our best players and best scorers. That’s just something you deal with, and you move forward. There will come a time when our soccer program is at the championship level, I believe not only in the SEC, but at the national level. He’s done it before, and he’ll do it here.”
(On balancing youth and experience in a coaching search)
“It’s hard. It’s not something you want to do frequently. I mean, it’s hard. It’s a real challenge. Unless you’re on the inside, understanding the impact in so many arenas, it’s a very, very complex, difficult process. A lot of coaches who feel very satisfied where they are, are not interested. You don’t want to chase your tail there. I know the fans throw out all these names, no matter which school you’re talking about. Everybody short of Knute Rockne’s name is mentioned among fan bases, but you have to look at what’s real and what isn’t real.
“I’m a big believer in fit. I think a lot of coaches who don’t succeed after a reasonable period of time, in some cases they just weren’t good fits. They’re not bad coaches. I think fit is important, and I think we have an exceptional fit here with Butch [Jones]. It’s a very difficult process, and I think before the smoke clears and the dominos have all fallen, the carousel could have as many as 30 people on it this year. A very, very heavy year for turnover.”[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]