University of Tennessee Athletics
Butch Jones Press Conference (9.30.15)
September 30, 2015 | Football
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee head coach Butch Jones spoke to reporters today at 12:15 p.m. ET in the Ray and Lucy Hand Digital Studio.
(Opening Statement)
"Good afternoon. I'm looking forward to this weekend first and foremost. We'll welcome back over 400 former players, Vols For Life, in our reunion. Looking forward to seeing everyone for that. We'll also be honoring the 1965 team and all the things that team went through. It's pretty remarkable, so we'll honor them as well. In terms of injuries leading in to this game, Quart'e Sapp has a stress fracture so he'll be out an inordinate amount of time. I can't really put a time frame on it. It'll be basically how the foot heals and how he'll continue to progress. Max Arnold is questionable for the game. He kind of re-aggravated his knee a little bit yesterday. Ralph David Abernathy may be available for the game. He did some good things for us in practice yesterday. We'll know a little bit more about Alton Howard's status today at practice and see how he does there as well. I'll answer any questions that you may have."
(On if he has seen signs in practice that coaches and players have gotten past Saturday's loss to Florida)
"I do. Obviously it was a gut-wrenching loss. Any time you invest as much as everyone does in our football family, it hurts. But everything in life is how you respond, how you get back up. They can see the improvements they're making week in and week out. They can see the progress. They can see things that maybe we weren't doing in Week One, now we're doing. So I think that fuels you if you're a competitor. You want another opportunity. You don't have time because you're preparing for obviously now Arkansas. But the players have done a very, very good job of practice. I thought we had a good practice yesterday and we'll have another good practice today. Our players have been resilient. In terms of the coaches, we have a bunker mentality. We live in here and we go home and we come right back. It's all about getting in to the gameplan and really getting around our players. So I've been really happy about the way they've responded. We have great character. We have great character in our program from coaches to everyone in our organization. You want them to hurt a little bit when they come in on Sunday because you invest in it. For us as coaches, this isn't just a game. It's our livelihood. It's what we do. So you put everything, you put every ounce of energy into it, and so it's going to do hurt. But I think we've responded very well."
(On if he's satisfied with the play at the nickelback position)
"We continue to be a work-in-progress there. We've moved some players around there. Malik [Foreman] has done some good things for us, but just like anything in our football program we will continue to compete at that spot just like all of the other positions as well. I think with Justin Martin being able to do some good things, it allows us some flexibility to move some other individuals. The nickel position is a unique position in and of itself. I think it's one of the most difficult positions in all of football because of what it requires from a skill set, from a mental standpoint as well and the different nuances that go in to that position. Malik has done some good things for us, but again we're going to always work to always compete and improve in everything that we do."
(On what he has seen from watching film of Arkansas and in particular WR Drew Morgan)
"Well first of all, great length. He can go up, play the ball in the air. Very explosive. Like we talked about on Monday, they have maybe the premiere tight end in all of college football that will play a long time on Sundays. I think Brandon Allen has developed in to one of the best quarterbacks in the country. So I think they've done some good jobs schematically. They challenge you with base defense and some different things in terms of formations and personnel groupings. Then you add [Alex] Collins and you add a big offensive line, very very talented. Nobody's brought this up yet but I believe they've punted seven times all year. So, your possessions are going to be very very minimal on offense. So it's taking advantage of those possessions. This is a game our players have never been in in terms of the flavor of the game, the style of the game, everything that the game's going to be about. It's going to be very physical but they do a great job with throwing the football with bubbles, quick screens, screens, cross-country routes, downfield, four verticals; they have everything in their system and they have players that execute it. They've just fallen a little short, but they're very very talented."
(On starting practice with the Circle of Life drill)
"We're going to start off today with the media Circle of Life and I get to pick them, so make sure you bring your video cameras [laughs]. [It brings] energy, excitement. I think our players look forward to it. It kind of gets the energy going in practice. Sometimes players will come up to me and say, `Hey Coach, can we start with Circle of Life?' It's just a program mentality attitude, and I know our players like it and it gets them excited."
(On managing a limited number of possessions on offense)
"It's going to be patience. You cannot have self-inflicted wounds. You can't have pre-snap penalties. You can't turn the football over. They have to understand that every possession does count. You can't panic when you're standing on the sidelines. This is a game where mixed downs, early downs are very, very critical. When you look at what Arkansas has been able to do on early downs, they've owned early downs. That's why they've punted the few times that they have.
"It's going to be complementary football. I know I say that a lot, but this a game, again, of complementary football, being patient, and not getting in a panic mode when you're sitting [there]. I believe Texas A&M had 16 plays in the first half last week [against Arkansas]. Again, it's not beating yourself and having to drive the football. You can't kick field goals. You need to score touchdowns."
(On Derek Barnett)
"They're always going to account for him and know where he's at because he's a very, very good football player. Derek continues to grow and progress. Early on, he was set back with some injuries here and there, but he's a great, great competitor. He's a very, very good football player, and it's very, very important to him.
"Part of elevating your game is [that] you're going to have the attention of your opponents, whether it's them keeping a tight end in to double team you, or chip in with a running back, or even nudging the tight end out on a pass route. Those are all things that really are a compliment to him, and teams have been doing that. He's a great, great competitor and I know he holds himself, in terms of accountability of his style of play, to a very high standard. He takes great pride in his performance."
(On the defensive newcomers being ready for a different style of offense)
"It does change. It changes some of your personnel groupings, so we'll have some youngsters that haven't been on the field as much, Austin Smith being one of those. Austin has worked very, very hard. He had a very good week of preparation. We'll also do some things with Kenny Bynum and some of our other linebackers as well.
"[Arkansas' offense] is different, but it's something that we have practiced in spring football. We practiced it in all of training camp just about every day. It's not something that all of a sudden is very foreign to our football team. We've seen little, small sample sizes of it through the first four games, so we have seen some of that, but you are exactly right. We'll have some individuals playing more extended plays than they have in the past."
(On dealing with multiple losses early in the season how did he deal with them in the past)
"We have, you know, you stay the course. You be consistent in your approach. It's all about constant and never ending improvement. You can't let any negativity, clutter, or distraction creep in and permeate throughout your football program. You can't allow that to happen. That's a challenge in today's world with social media, not for the coaches but for our football players. Especially being a young football team, you know this is all new to them, so you have to rely on your older players. You look at last year we have great evidence, just like Arkansas did we won for out of five. We won a bowl championship. That's the first time that's been done here in a long time. I think it's...correct me if I'm wrong, I think it's the first time it's done where we haven't played in an SEC championship since 1997 I believe.
"So, there's a lot of firsts that you go back to, but they see the progress. We've won a number of championships losing two in a row. Remember, I said it when we ventured on this journey in August, the teams and the football programs that can manage the natural adversities that a long football season brings about, are the ones that like their body of work when it's all said and done. We continue to improve. Obviously we have to make great strides in moving forward. It all starts with the coaching staff. It starts with me I'm responsible for everything, but it's everyone and I've seen that. It's put your head down and keep grinding.
"We've won four championships in eight years. I want to say a couple of times we started and had some devastating losses that you never forget. That's the thing in coaching is you know the wins are never as high as lows of the losses. That's something that you always...they live with you. You forget the wins, you never forget about the losses. They stay with you and you learn from them. I've been very proud of our players. I think they've handled everything very well. They've been very resilient and we're responsible for what we create and we're looking forward to Saturday."
(On being surprised at Trevor Daniel's success with high pressure kicks)
"Wes, I appreciate you bringing him up. Because, if you want a story to write about, write about Trevor Daniel. A walk-on comes into this football program and continues... we talk about getting better, he defines that. He gets better each and every day. He has great confidence right now. He's the reason why we are having some success on our punt team. He's a direct correlation to it. His op times, he's been consistently at about a 1.85 or 1.9 which is outstanding. He's had great kick placement. You're right he walks into a stressful situation in the Florida game and does a great job of getting rid of the football and kick placement. Now, we know Arkansas is going to come after the punt a few times. We understand that. We have to do a great job of protecting it and covering it. He's been a great story here for us and I've been very very proud of him.
(On effectiveness of Arkansas' run defense)
"I think, first of all, that it is an overall program philosophy. They live the run each and every day. Their inside drills probably go about 20 minutes long. They want to run the football on offense, and, obviously, you stop the run on defense just like our philosophy. They are big up front on both sides of the football. They are very physical. They work on it a lot just like all teams, but I think it is the physicality of their front. Their linebackers are downhill linebackers, then they have a veteran group in the secondary so they are able to do some different things schematically in terms of coverage and getting their safeties involved in the run game. They did play more man coverage in the Texas A&M game than they had in previous games, so I know they have a lot of confidence in their back ends so that they are able to do some different things up front. Quite simply, they are big, physical and very strong."
(On using analytics versus gut instincts)
"We don't use analytics during a game. That is all leading up to the game. All that is is a support system for us. Obviously, you have to make great decisions and educated decisions, and I would say 99 percent of most decisions that are made on gamely are done in a controlled environment in a staff meeting room. We have a plan in place that we work on each and every week in terms of our preparation. That starts on Sunday and goes all the way until Friday morning. Most situations are done that way, which most programs do [it] that way. We don't just go out there and make a decision by chance. They have usually been rehearsed. Sometimes, it is a gut feel. The fourth-and-two call as a gut feel. We knew we wanted to do it at some point in time, but it was a gut feel for what we needed at that particular moment and that particular stage of the game in terms of momentum, so you do rely on gut instincts at times, but everything we do is also discussed and talked about very throughly."
(On Joshua Dobbs' security with the football)
"It starts in practice with our maxim one period. It is something we do every day in terms of ball security. We stress it each and every day. We will continue to stress it. They understand. Some of the things--when you carry the football and run the football, those things are going to happen. We don't want to happen. The great thing is they didn't get them but one. I think he has done a great job all season long of protecting the football, particularly when he runs the football. But, that is something we talk about and stress. you guys here the word all the time, 'chin.' Some programs talk about four points of pressure on the football, some talk about five points of pressure on the football. What we have done is we have tried to eliminate the learning curve and say one word- chin to ball. Chin to ball stands for the points of pressure, keeping it high and tight to make it even more of a point of emphasis. He has done a good job, and we will continue to work on that."
(On Arkansas being a must win game)
"I do, I consider every game a must win when you're in this conference and when you're competing every game we play is a must win. That's the approach that we take just like, this is the most important game because it's the next game but the way I approach every game is a must win and that is why every game is critical."
