University of Tennessee Athletics
Family Bonds Diverse Group Of Receivers
August 17, 2015 | Football
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee wide receivers came from six different states and many different backgrounds, but the bond they have built at UT will always link them as a family.
It is a family that has a common goal: To be the best receiving corps in the country.
Building the bond is a necessary part of working to achieve that goal. Fortunately, the hard work that goes into building toward is one of the things that brought them all closer.
"That's the great thing about college football," said Zach Azzanni, Tennessee's wide receivers coach. "All of these guys come together for the same common purpose and that's University of Tennessee football.
"The best way to come together is to share adversity and come out here and run together and be in the weight room together. When you go through those things together, you become tighter. It doesn't matter where they came from or their background, whether they grew up with two parents, one parent, grandparents, it doesn't matter. They come here with one common goal. What is neat is they all learn about each other. You see those guys go home together, it's neat to see."
They may have come from different places around the country and in life, but their personalities quickly aligned. Now, they all build off of each other with every repetition in practice.
"When we first got here, it was a little difference in personality, but we started bonding together and working together and that just drew us closer," redshirt sophomore Josh Smith said. "Our personalities started matching and it's exciting to watch. It's encouraging because we feed off of each other."
They welcomed Josh Malone into the family last season. He quickly felt right at home.
"It wasn't hard coming together because we're all personable guys and wanted to get to know each other," Malone said. "We have a good chemistry. We compete with each other, but we're a family. I feel like we're a tighter-knit group than anywhere else in the country."
The receivers have also grown close to their position coach. Azzanni's family brought cake and gifts for his birthday early in training camp, a celebration the group was happy to take part in.
Sharing moments like that have helped mold the family, particularly for the players that have been at UT just as long as Azzanni.
"We came in as a staff and started freshmen right off the bat with Josh Smith and Marquez North and Pig Howard was a sophomore," Azzanni said. "To watch them grow and mature as a unit, not only on the field but off the field, that's been neat. Me and my wife and our children have had a lot of fun watching those kids grow."
