KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Vols had their penultimate practice in Knoxville prior to taking a break for the holidays before heading to Tampa on Dec. 26 for the Outback Bowl. Head coach Butch Jones was pleased with the team’s prep as they have had a busy week of practices and team activities.
“I think it has been a very very productive bowl preparation and we’ll finishtomorrow,” said Jones. “We will conclude with a morning practice and then they will be able to go home for the holidays and enjoy time with their family.”
Jones is happy with the team’s focus and intensity as the game in Tampa is just 13 days away.
“I think we have accomplished a lot,” said Jones. “The players have come each and every day. They have had a high level of intensity. We’ve seen that and every practice has been with competitiveness, but also attention to details. We have had some younger players who have been set back with some nagging injuries. But for the most part, I think it has been productive. Now it’s being able to go down to the bowl site, put all of your focus, your energy and your preparation down there and be ready to go.”
Jones Expresses Sympathy To Dobson Family
Jones opened his media session on Saturday with his sympathies for the Dobson family, following the death of Fulton High School football player Zaevion Dobson, who was only 15 years old.
“I want the Dobson family to know that they are in our thoughts and prayers as a football family and a football program. We’re just thinking of them.”
Vols Set GPA Record
The Tennessee football team enjoyed a standout fall semester in the classrooms. The Vols posted their second-highest fall semester team GPA at 2.68 and set a record with 57 players with GPAs of 3.0 or better. The team also has a cumulative one-year GPA of 2.77.
“Everyone is bowl eligible, which is a compliment to them and a compliment to the Thornton Center,” Jones said on Saturday. “When we play Jan. 1, we will have 18 college graduates on the field of play, which we are very very proud of. Then when you look at having 57 individuals who are Vol Scholars with a 3.0 in your football program, we set the record for the highest cumulative GPA at 2.77. It’s a tribute to Dr. Joe Scogin, Dr. Brian Russell and the entire Thornton Center, but really our players. They have done a great job academically. We have a standard, we have an expectation here and it continues to get better and better.”
In just three years, the UT football program has made major strides academically, avoiding academic probation with rising GPAs and outstanding work in the classrooms. Earlier in the week, Jones pointed out the Vols’ progress and said that the football program will never return to a situation where it is in danger of academic probation.
Tennessee Has Prepared Elder For EKU
Tight ends coach and special teams coordinator Mark Elder was introduced as the head coach at Eastern Kentucky on Dec. 10, but he wanted one more game with the Volunteers, electing to stay on for the Outback Bowl.
He joked that he was working at Tennessee by day and moonlighting at EKU by night, wanting to finish the job for Butch Jones and Tennessee, a job that prepared him well for his next opportunity.
“I’ve had the great opportunity to work under Coach Jones for the last nine years and been a part of being at three different starts of staffs,” Elder said. “I’ve had some great mentors that have prepared me for this opportunity.”
The primary mentor in that time has been Jones, whose coaching traits have rubbed off on Elder. The primary lessons that he will take to Richmond, Kentucky are Jones’ attention to detail and infectious passion for the game.
“His attention to detail is outstanding and the passion for the game and how that bleeds into the players,” Elder said. “Those are two general things that I’ve really learned a lot about from him. I’ve really learned some of those things that I would have overlooked 10 years ago that really are extremely important. The small things build into the big things.”
Jones has encouraged Elder to enjoy the experience while facing the barrage of things coming at him from both jobs.
“It all comes at you at once,” Jones said. “I told him to enjoy this. This opportunity doesn’t come around that often, sometimes you have to just sit back and enjoy it. I really think it’s a tribute to him because he’s been able to effectively manage being the head football coach at Eastern Kentucky and still being the tight ends coach at Tennessee. Coaching in this bowl game meant everything to him and I’m thankful he still wants to do it.”
The hardest moment for Elder was telling his position group that he was leaving Tennessee.
“Extremely,” he said of how difficult it was to tell his players. “I absolutely love the tight ends, there’s a great group in there, the most selfless group I’ve ever been around. I have great relationships with those guys off the field. The positive is that we will continue to have relationships off the field.”
Young Players Shining In December
Jones has been pleased with the continued growth that Tennessee’s youngest players have shown during the bowl practices in December. On Friday, freshman offensive lineman Drew Richmond had the black stripe on his helmet removed.
“We have been very encouraged by the growth and development of Drew Richmond,” Jones said. “These practices have been invaluable for him. The defensive line actually took his stripe off yesterday and I think that’s quite a compliment coming from them because he goes against them every day in scouts. So I see him progressing. All of the youngsters. We are still at a point in our program where all of our youngsters are basically playing, so you have to be careful in how you develop them. I have been pleased in the development of all of them.”
Jones also pointed out freshman defensive lineman Darrell Taylor someone who has continued to improve and echoed what offensive coordinator Mike DeBord said earlier about UT’s freshmen quarterbacks taking advantage of added reps this month.
“The reps have been invaluable for them, especially Sheriron Jones just because of him being on the scout team all year,” he said. “Being able to get him out there and really get him some repetitions and full speed reps, but also Quinten as well (is great). Quinten continues to get better and better and they continue to push each other and they continue to compete and that’s what you want.”
SOUND BITES
- Head Coach Butch Jones(On Jason Croom back in practice)
“Jason has been out there this week, mostly in individual drills. You can see him progressing. We will have him back for spring football. He’s done an outstanding job with his recovery, but also getting stronger in the weight room and you can see it out here.”
(On Curt Maggitt’s potential as a coach)
“I have told him, if he ever decides he wants to be a coach, we will hire him here at Tennessee. He brings so much to the table, his ability to communicate, his effectiveness in communications. He has the respect of our players with everything that he says. He’s done a great job mentoring. When you talk about the progression of Darrell Taylor, Curt Maggitt has a lot to do with that because he’s coaching him on every snap.”
- Sophomore PK Aaron Medley(On what he changed during the season)
“Just the mentality and really focusing on just doing my job. You have to be focused, but you have to have confidence in yourself that you know what you’re doing.”
(On his adjustment after the Alabama game)
“Any day you go 0-for-3, it’s not technical. I’ve been doing this my whole life, so I had to work on my mental game. You come in Monday and go back to work. I see it as a challenge, each and every week is a challenge. Going through a season, you’re going to face adversity and you have to learn how to overcome it.”
- Freshman LB Darrin Kirkland Jr.(On where he sees improvements in his own game)
“I’ve got a lot of room for improvement, really in my physicality and my mental capacity for the game is going to grow. I’m really excited for the future and feel like next year is going to be a big year for [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”][my growth].”
(On how much Team 119 has accomplished this week of bowl prep)
“I feel like we got a lot accomplished and really installed our game plan for how we want to play Northwestern. We’ve really studied them and their personnel does a really good job. We are looking forward to playing them in Tampa. It was great for our younger guys and we got some injured guys back to get some practice in. I’m really glad to see everyone back out on the field and trying to make some plays.”
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