University of Tennessee Athletics
Butch Jones Media Transcript (8.11.15)
August 11, 2015 | Football
(Opening Statement)
"Alright, good to see everyone. It was kind of an early morning for everyone and the first practice of our first two-a-day. I thought our players' approach was outstanding. I was kind of waiting to see the mindset; we embrace it or we endure it every day with training camp and training is really the one time of the year where you can take great strides and really transform your team. When you look at from the scheme and understanding the schemes but also the toughness mentally, physically and emotionally; that brings your football team together through the grind of a training camp. And also your fundamentals and your style of play.
"So training camp is absolutely critical and I think players can get into a rut where they look to endure the day or survive the day and we have to make sure that we continue to point out the great opportunities. You have to point to your leadership and continue the energy. We talk about collective energy each and every day and again, I liked our approach.
"Great, great teaching lessons today with great teaching opportunities. We did a lot in terms of time management situations, end of the game situations, substitutions that go into winning football games and managing a football game at the end of situations, whether it be overtime or in the fourth quarter. So, we have a lot of great opportunities to go into the classroom now and teach. We've really challenged them in really cleaning up our practice. We have had too many individuals on the ground when we go up tempo. Our players are doing a good job with that now. We're starting to really be conscientious of that.
"We stress it all the time but when you're a young football team, every day is a learning experience and a lot of these individuals have no past knowledge in our football program to rely on. So you have to reteach them and 64 percent have played one year of college football or less. So you have to continually be able to teach the small details of what it takes to play winning football but I thought today was very, very productive. I thought it was one of our better practices in training camp."
(On situational football)
"On going, and that's why we are repping it every single day. Every single day we are having some form of situational football, but also we challenge our coaches. Yesterday we put the ball on the eight-yard line, it was fourth and eight last play of the game, and they had twenty seconds to call a play, line up the formation and call it, and same thing on defense. So you always have to put your players and coaches in those situations, and we'll continue. Tonight is another situational practice. We'll work. Coming out, we'll work a lot of red zone. We'll work goal line, and some end of the game plays as well. So by the time Bowling Green comes around we will have put our players in every possible scenario that they could face throughout the course of a long season."
(On injuries and Marcus Jackson's status)
"Yeah with Marcus,there's no time table set. Uh, it could be the season, it could be eight months, it could be nine months. It's really based on how his surgery comes, and how his body performs. We talk about unselfishness. Jashon Robertson came and he wants to wear 75. That's the type of culture that is built here. That's the way our players are starting to think right now. So we've got to work through Nike to see if we can make that happen. But, we have a lot of bumps and bruises right now. That's pretty typical in training camp.
"Kendal Vickers has been out, Evan Berry has been out. We expect Evan to be back probably in about a week or so. Kendal was out there doing a little bit. It's great to see Max Arnold back practicing right now, but he will be limited. We are taking some precautionary measures. Jashon Robertson hasn't practiced he has an ankle sprain, but he should be good to go in the next day or two. The bumps and bruises are starting to associate with the way I look at it is, It's a tremendous opportunity for the next person in. Now their repetitions increase, and now you have more of an opportunity to put your football identity on video...on film, and be able to take advantage of it. When one man is down it's another man's opportunity, and that's how you build depth. But, we do need to get those individuals back. They've done a very good job in training room so far."
(On Justin Martin's status)
"Same thing. We have so many of them. It's hard. You're always going to miss a few. I expect Justin Martin back probably in about a week, week and a half. He just has a knee sprain. So we anticipate getting him back probably in about a week or so.
"It's knicks and pains and bruises. Pig [Howard] tweaked his hamstring a little but, but we expect to get him back. Same thing with Ethan [Wolf], he's making great progress so we expect to get him back."
(On the nature of Marcus Jackson's injury)
"We're not going to disclose it. We've been pretty free with injuries, and a lot of things we have to start respecting our players more. We love our players, but everyone wants to write about Preston Williams and the ACT test. I love Preston Williams. I'm a father to him. That's our role, and I think, how would everyone like if the media followed their own son or daughter around to ACT testing and talked about their own son or daughter going to the ACT test. These aren't professional football players. These are young adults, and it's my job to protect them. It's all on my shoulders, but we need to start respecting our players a little bit more in terms of they are still kids. I love them, and I want to make sure that we are still respecting them."
(On Alvin Kamara's development)
"Playing with more confidence in terms of scheme. Alvin has always been a confident young man, but he has more confidence in our scheme and you can see that. He has really picked up the offense. He's much, much more vocal. He's leading. He's providing even more stability to the running back group. He's a great role model to our younger players. He's teaching our younger players. Again, I think it's an illustration of how far he's come with the amount of votes he's received from the player's staff."
(On depth and seniority among safeties)
"It is a great luxury to have when you have Brian Randolph, and LaDarrell McNeil. Obviously they have played a lot of football here, but they're great people. They're very, very, good communicators. Brian has really upped his game in terms of leadership. LaDarrell is the same way. Also they're a value on special teams. You can never have enough depth. Obviously with Evan Berry being out, with Steven Griffin being out. A position group that we thought was very deep can change in a matter of one or two plays. That's why you can never have too much competition. We're bringing Mike Abernathy along but he's playing more of the nickel position for us, but you can give Todd Kelly a lot of credit. You know he's been hampered with some injuries, but he's fighting through that right now with practice. You can never have enough depth."
(On Jack Jones and Coleman Thomas)
"They are a work in progress. We moved Coleman back to tackle and it's a lot different playing on the interior to the outside. Same thing with Jack, Jack is still going through his first training camp, but I see progress every day. I thought today, our offensive line took a big step in moving forward with their practice today. Both of those individuals are eager, they want to do well, want to please. It's like I talked to our team about, it is so different being a youngster on the offensive line or the defensive line than any other position group. When you are a defensive back or a wide receiver, you have time to make up for a mistake because you have a 7-10 yard radius where you can make up for it. When you play on the offensive and defensive lines with one step you're beat. You have one second to make a quick decision and play with pad level and physicality and that's why it's very rare to see true freshman playing immediately, just because of everything that goes with the nature of those two position groups, but (Jones and Thomas) are doing an outstanding job."
(On offense's preparedness)
"I needed to see that and we will continue to challenge them. We are not anywhere where we need to be ready to play a game but we don't have a game yet. We're going to do much, much more group work with offensive line and defensive line, and more 2-on-2's and 2-on-1 situations. 3-on-3 to stay up off the ground, but those two positions you have to play with a very high level of physicality every single day you step onto the football field."
(On upperclassman's role in culture change)
"They talk about it all the time. They talk about our culture and they talk about us protecting the proud tradition of Tennessee football each and every day. We give some of those individuals a leadership opportunity in terms of where they present something to our football team. Last night, Curt Maggitt presented the game maxims, very eloquently done. He had some clips of the old culture, back when he was a freshman and it was a great teaching moment, and he's the one who picked it all out. Again, things don't happen overnight and that's why I have to guard against all the expectations. We have to be patient. We've had a lot of years of deficiencies; you don't fix them in three years. You continue to progress up each and every minute, each and every hour, each and every month and we are doing that. Our players understand how far we've come, but we still have a long way to go."
(On offensive line injuries)
"Yes, they've had some injuries. Nothing that will be serious. We expect them back. They may be back either presumably tonight or tomorrow. I'll know more when we meet as a staff."
(On Marcus Jackson's injury and how long he will be out)
"Months. If he has any opportunity of returning, it will probably be towards the tail end of the season to a bowl game."
(On what's the value of having a veteran coach like Steve Stripling working with this young defensive line)
"Great value. Coach Strip does a tremendous job, and not just obviously from a fundamental aspect, but from a father figure, from being stern, from being disciplined, but also very caring and very loving. Our players gravitate towards him and he has credibility. And he has a presence about himself. He's able to reach young men in the way he talks to them, the way he commands them, the way he respects them and the way they develop. We've been together a long time and no matter where we've coached, the defensive line always continues to grow and develop, and you see that. We're making great strides there. Again, our youngsters, they're not ready to play yet. But I see them getting better one percent each and every day. And it challenges your patience. As coaches, we are very, incredibly impatient. We want things right now. But you have to step back and you have to work on your deficiencies, but you also have to celebrate the small victories. It may just be just a six-inch hand placement, a six-inch stab with your right hand or your left hand or getting your hands inside. Those are small victories that build confidence in moving forward, so Coach Stripling does a tremendous job."
(On Kyle Phillips having his black striped removed)
"I have been very, very proud of Kyle Phillips. He gets better every single day. He has a motor. He has actually made our training clips about three times during this camp in terms of effort, swarming to the football and running to the football. He is a young man who is getting more and more confident. When you look at it, he is coming off of surgery and didn't have spring football. He comes in here and is being mentored by our older players. I have been really, really excited. I know we are all excited about Kyle Phillips. It's his work ethic, his attitude, his demeanor, his style of play. He continues to get better and better."
