Today On Rocky Top: Butch Jones Makes Time For Young Fan

Oct 19, 2013; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones talks about his teams win over the South Carolina Gamecocks following the game at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee won 23-21. Mandatory Credit: Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports

From WRCB TV

"It’s been a busy off season for the Tennessee Volunteers, after landing 33 recruits and the fifth ranked signing class in the country. Yet, second year head coach Butch Jones still has time for even his smallest fans.The biggest names in college football just don’t have time to answer all their fan mail. But that’s exactly what happened for 11-year-old Mason Leuty of Hixson.“I just wanted to help my team out. I wanted them to go to a 12-0 season this year,” Mason said.A true Vol for life, Mason has been watching the Big Orange since birth. So, he decided to send Coach Jones a few plays to try.“He’s a good coach, and he’s really nice so I thought yeah, he would write back to me,” he continued.But his reaction is on he couldn’t have planned.Mason could hardly contain his excitement, “When I saw the first sticker, I was like, it’s from Butch Jones! And I was like IT’S FROM BUTCH JONES!!”After posting a 5-7 season in his first year, Coach Jones is determined to rebuild UT football, brick by brick. But playbooks and game film aren’t the only thing he finds important.“I just want them all to know that I bleed with them when we lose. Obviously there isn’t anyone who puts more stress on themselves than myself. I want to win for them. I want to give them a product they’ll be extremely proud of,” said Coach Jones.On any given day, Coach Jones can receive dozens of letters from fans all across the county. But there was something about Mason’s that stood out from the rest.“The details. We always talk about the inches make the champion and the small details add up the big details, and the time that young man spent to diagram the plays and the meticulous attention to detail really caught my eye.”"

From The Chattanoogan

"The Tennessee Vols posted their ninth wire-to-wire victory this season, topping Mississippi State, 75-68, on Wednesday night.The Vols were once again led by the trio of Jordan McRae (29 points and 10 rebounds), Jarnell Stokes (14 points and nine rebounds) and Jeronne Maymon (10 points and 11 rebounds).McRae had his second career double-double while Maymon had a double-double for the second straight game and fourth this season. It is the fourth time this season and second in a row that Tennessee had a pair of players with double-doubles.The Vols improved to 17-11 overall and 8-7 in the SEC, taking over fourth place in the league. Mississippi State lost its 10th game in a row as the Bulldogs are now 13-15 overall and 3-12 in the SEC."

From Go Vols Xtra

"Tennessee’s No. 2-ranked softball team is plowing through a West Coast road trip, beating teams like Stanford and Cal State-Fullerton on its way to a 14-0 record to start the season.The Lady Vols were national runner-up to Oklahoma in 2013, so co-head coach Ralph Weekly had high hopes for this season. But the success has come more quickly than he expected.“After losing five starters from last year, I’m surprised, really,” Weekly said on the News Sentinel Sports Page on Wednesday. “I knew we had a team that was going to be good at the end of the year. But we’ve still got some young kids. Our top three RBI-hitters are all freshmen."

From The Tennessean

"Jeanne Kenney and her LSU women’s basketball teammates gathered to watch a movie Monday night.They chose something familiar and uplifting. Kenney knew the ending well. Still, she was anxious as the plot unfolded.“I was nervous; I was sweating,” she said.The Lady Tigers were watching their 80-77 victory Jan. 2 at Tennessee, a game in which they built a 16-point lead in the second half and survived a frantic UT comeback that shaved their advantage to a single point in the final seconds."