University of Tennessee Athletics
Outback Bowl Shows Evidence Of Vols' Growth
December 07, 2015 | Football
By Brian Rice
UTSports.com
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Exactly three years ago, Butch Jones stood at a podium at Neyland Stadium and laid out his plan for building the Tennessee back to its customary place as a college football power.
Monday, Jones met the media to discuss one of the tangible results of those three years of program building, the Volunteers' selection to face Northwestern in the 2016 Outback Bowl in Tampa.
"A whirlwind," Jones said in describing his memory of Dec. 7, 2012. "It has been a great journey. This is a very, very special place. I'm proud of everything we're building here. I'm about 15 pounds overweight from that three year span, so I'm working on getting that back but just proud of what we've been able to accomplish here, proud of our players. We have a long ways to go, but it's been a very fulfilling three years and a very fast three years."
Jones has won 20 games at Tennessee in those three years, building from five wins in 2013 to seven a season ago to eight, with a chance at a ninth this year.
The seventh win in 2014 came in a dominating performance against Iowa in the TaxSlayer Bowl. It was a victory that began with the preparation in Knoxville and a plan that was executed to perfection in Jacksonville.
"They went down to Jacksonville with a purpose -- a purpose to win the football game," Jones said. "You're going to have good times and enjoy your teammates, but it's like I tell them, `You don't remember those; you remember the game. The game lives with you forever.'"
Jones hopes that the lessons learned in preparation for that game pay off in experience with this year's Vols.
"Every team is different," Jones said. "They have a different personality. They have different leadership. So obviously, you look back, but it's kind of a formula we've had for a number of years going to bowl games. So we'll look at that, we'll follow the blueprint, but we'll tweak it to the needs of this current team, Team 119. We'll tweak it towards what this football team needs, but there is a blueprint in place."
Much of Tennessee's success in 2015 can be traced to the seeds that were planted in a late-season run in 2014 that included the TaxSlayer Bowl victory over Iowa. It was the first bowl game victory since Tennessee defeated Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl following the 2007 season.
"Any time you finish the season with a victory, particularly in a bowl game, it lends itself to a lot of momentum moving forward -- a lot of energy," Jones said. "Obviously, that's very important.
With Tennessee ranked 23rd in the final College Football Playoff rankings and a ranked opponent across the field, Jones sees this game as an opportunity to once again provide confidence for the next step forward and further evidence of the progress that continues to build from where Jones started three years ago.
"There is something about having momentum, winning, getting a ninth win and being ranked in the Top 25," he said. "Regardless of that, no bowl game will change how far this football program and team have come in a very short period of time in three years."
