University of Tennessee Athletics
Butch Jones Transcript (3/28/15)
March 28, 2015 | Football
Head Coach Butch Jones
(Opening Statement)
"Good to see everyone, hopefully you are enjoying Smokey's, I apologize for no food for you. But maybe we can do that next time. But before we get started, great day, 170-plus faculty, it was faculty appreciation day today. That is very, very big and it is very important to say thank you for all that they do. Not just for our football team but for our entire student body. I was very excited obviously about today and grew to have them here."
"Going into today, obviously practice number three, full pads for the first time and sat down and really had a check list of the things that I felt that we needed to get accomplished. I knew there were probably, maybe unrealistic but as a coach, your standard, your expectations are very high. I wanted to see how we could practice together with pads in terms of staying up, our practice etiquette, from going from all three tempos, which are tag, which are thud and which are tackle. So it was the first time as a football team, our players are really exposed since last year to those three different tempos. Then D-and-D conscience, playing the game. Those are one of the things, from first down to second down to third down and playing situational football to see how we could continue to do that when the pads go on. Just our overall style of play, our toughness, our mentality but also the retention of fundamentals in a physical environment. A lot of times when you put the pads on for the first time you really forget your fundamental basis that you worked hard on all off-season and then into practice one and practice two. We have a long ways to go with this football team. I like their mentality, I like their approach to practice but we must become a much more physical football team. That was evident today, particularly in the offensive and defensive lines. We can't use the excuse of missing 10 individuals, everyone is responsible for their own toughness, their own self determination and we have a long ways to go. But it is kind of what is expected after practice three. Our overall toughness from a physical standpoint, from a mental standpoint and from an emotional standpoint. I am looking forward to grading the film. I think we will have numerous teaching opportunities.
"The one individual who I thought really stepped up and really made his presence felt was Shy Tuttle. I thought he had a very, very productive and very, very good first day. Had an unbelievable interception with a tipped football and then finishes off with making the catch as well. It was great to see Alvin Kamara out there. But again we must continue to grow every day, every practice, every session in the weight room is critical for our overall development."
(On moving Kyler Kerbyson around on the offensive line)
"We will continue to move him around. Just again we spoke about it at the beginning of spring and it will be an ongoing theme as we continue to progress, is finding the best five individuals. Kyler gives us great flexibility upfront, he can play guard, he can play tackle, but again for us it is finding the right mix, the best five that plays winning football together."
(On what made Shy Tuttle stand out at today's practice)
"He came off the football. You could see the disruptive quickness, you could see the explosiveness, you could see the use of his hands. The thing I really liked about it, you could see his competitive nature, you could see his competitive character and his confidence. He is very, very athletic. You could see instincts. When the pads came on because when you are in no pads it is two or three steps upfront and the magic happens on the second and third efforts. That is when you really find out, that is when you learn how to finish plays and you could see that instinctfullness coming out in him."
(On the challenge of developing toughness with limited numbers)
"It is a challenge but you can never use it as an excuse. I think of it and we all think of it as an opportunity, it is a tremendous opportunity. But you just don't develop toughness or a physicality just in team and an 11-on-11 setting. It may be one-on-ones, it could be as simple as in drill work. So there is a lot that goes into the physical makeup of practice. I think our players are trying. Again, I like their effort, I like their mentality, I like their overall approach. It is just getting back to playing football. Those are all things that you expect in practice three. Now if we are having the same conversation next week and the following week, then I will be concerned. But it is nothing to be concerned about. Right now after practice three you are asking me my thoughts and those are my thoughts, that we have to be a much more physical football team. Again, we are limited a little bit on the perimeter of our offense as well. But I do like a lot of the things that our three quarterbacks did as well today."
(On offensive lineman Brett Kendrick)
"Very big spring for him. I really have liked his overall approach, I have liked his demeanor, he is really dedicated himself to the weight room and you can see that. He is an individual now, again, going in year three of our football program you are really starting to see the maturation process. So every practice is critical for him but I have been exceptionally encouraged by him."
(On Brett Kendrick responding about being tough)
"He has responded. He is showing great resiliency, he has put his head down, he has continued to work. He is going to be reward for that. He just needs to continue to work and treat everyday as it is the most important day and working to be the best person, best player he can possibly be. He has done that. I have been really, really encouraged but everything that I have seen from Brett."
(On seeing running back Alvin Kamra's athleticism with full pads on today)
"You could see it. Sometimes the mind is still tying the feet up a little bit with pass protections and different run schemes and also route running as well. But you can see the natural instincts. You can see that toughness the way he runs the football and the ability to miss. We are not in great football shape yet right now, we have gotten bigger and we have gotten stronger but again, we are not in August shape but that is to be expected. You see where he has a lot of potential."
(On running backs Jalen Hurd and Alvin Kamara complementing each other)
"I think they are complementary backs to each other. I think they complement each other with their different styles of play. You look at any great program or any great offense, they have more than one marquee back. They have a stable of backs and we haven't had the luxury here. We are still lacking depth at the running back position but I see Jalen and Alvin really feeding off of each other."
(On the next step for linebacker Cortez McDowell)
"Next step is working kind of like the Jalen Reeves-Maybin next step, really working into the defensive side of things at the WILL linebacker position. He came in here as a safety, so he is still learning how to play fast at the linebacker position and trusting your run reads. We talked about the eye discipline and that is one of the other things we have to continue to get better at as a football team across the board, all eight positions, is our eye discipline, our eyes and where do we place our eyes and trusting our reads, so we can play fast. I think Cortez is going through that maturation phase right now. But I have been encouraged by him as well."
(On developing players on special teams their first season)
"Every player develops differently. They develop basically at their own pace. But you would like for an individual to come in and really impact your special teams, get the playing experience, may be get some situational football, get some quality live game repetitions in. And their second and third year really be able to take off. Each position group is different based on your numbers and what you need. The mind is obviously very, very critical. The mental part of playing football. That is why, to me, it is the most difficult sport out there because not only do you have to rely on your mindset and the mental part of it and your football intelligence and your football IQ but you have to play at a high pace, at a high level of physicality as well. That is what makes it challenging. But if you would prefer you would like to have a process built up with every player in your program."
(On how valuable Jalen Reeves-Maybin has been to Cortez McDowell)
"Invaluable. Jalen has been a great mentor to Cortez and they kind of laugh how they are following the same transition. I love Jalen Reeves-Maybin, I tell you what, he is being a leader, it is important to him, he is invested in Tennessee football and his has made himself better in the weight room. He is a leader of our football team and he holds others around him accountable, he is really, really competitive, great competitive makeup. Again, he has been a great mentor for Cortez of going through the maturation phase."
(On the chance Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Cortez McDowell on the field at the same time on defense)
"There is. Again, it is based on the offensive scheme that you are playing. But again, Jalen is a very cerebral player, he understands really all three positions. SAM, MIKE and WILL and that is invaluable as we continue to move forward. But there may be a point and time when you see both of them on the field."
(On having Dillon Bates back)
"It is good to have Dillon back. Dillon has worked really, really hard. Again, he is a first year player and that is the way we are kind of approaching it with him but also playing linebacker is like riding a bike for him too. You can see some of his instincts start to kick in. It is the overall developmental process that he is going through right now. But it is great to have him back."
(On what he needs to see from linebacker Gavin Bryant)
"Consistency. The football intelligence part of it. Gavin stood out a little bit today. When Gavin knows his assignments and he knows what he is doing and when he plays with confidence he attacks things down hill. Gavin is a very explosive football player and I liked some of the things I saw from him today. When we talk about Cortez, you talk about Gavin or you talk about Dillon, we also need them to make their impact on special teams too. When you look at the monumental change that we have made from year one to year two in the growth and development of our special teams, a lot of that was from younger players that are all back and it is understanding your role and doing your job. And understanding that responsibility. So we also now, when you add Gavin Bryant to your special teams, he needs to continue to be a big time special team player for us. Devaun Swafford, we have challenged him as well in the special teams game and Dillon Bates as well, as these are individuals that can run, they are very athletic and they are very explosive."
(On wide receiver Josh Smith)
"Josh has a workmanlike mentality every time he steps into the building, from film study to the classroom setting to out on the field and he is making progress and he is getting back into football shape. We asked a lot of our receivers, the inordinate amount of running, the inordinate amount of reps, especially being down in numbers this spring. But Josh is a team player. He shows up everyday to work and he continues to progress."
(On competition at the defensive back position) "Emmanuel Moseley is undergoing further examination, he may have Mono right now. So we are going through that. So Emmanuel wasn't able to practice today. So Cam is getting valuable repetitions at the nickel position, we just, again, the d-back, the corner position, we don't have a lot of luxury right now. We have to make sure that we don't inundate Cam with a lot of repetitions. We do a daily rep total of daily reps in practice, total reps on special teams, we chart everything and then repetitions he is over 2,000 reps from last year. We have to make sure that we are very, very consciousness about that, that we don't ask Cam right now to do too much. Cam is an intelligent football player and he is very, very competitive."
(On the possibility of having a playmaker like Cameron Sutton at nickel)
"You need. That is the world that we live in. Very rarely are you in base defense in today's world, you are in nickel and you are in dime. That is one of the things that we really felt set back our growth and development as a defense, we have not had the luxury of playing in any of our dime packages because of the lack of depth at the defensive back position. We have tried to really concentrate on that this year through the recruiting process particularly in this years incoming class. But again it is developing that overall depth but you saw what Justin Coleman, we were a much better defense last year because we had the luxury of moving Justin Coleman to nickel. Nickel is a critical, critical position in your defense, it is one of your most important positions on your defense but it is also one of the most challenging because of what you ask of that nickel. He has to be able to play zone coverage, he has to be able to play man coverage and usually lock up on the fastest receiver that is in the slot. But he also has to have the physicality to set the edge of your defense, be able to win at the junction point and get off blocks and sometimes there is a tight end split out there. It takes a little bit different player to play at the nickel position."
(On an update of Coleman Thomas)
"No we are very aware of that and that will be ongoing and that will be daily."
