Tennessee football: Vols having game-by-game captains shows they embrace lack of stars in 2017
Tennessee football head coach Butch Jones revealed that the Volunteers’ captains will be on a game-by-game basis for the 2017 season.
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Butch Jones’s first three years as head coach of Tennessee football, he named captains on a game-by-game basis. All three years, the Vols finished with a positive vibe and met expectations.
However, in 2016, he had full-time captains. And while the 2016 season duplicated the 2015 season, the Vols under-achieved by every standard.
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So Jones revealed Monday that the program will go back to naming captains on a game-by-game basis. And it reflects an attitude that the Vols are clearly embracing: no stars.
In 2016, it was all about the stars as the Vols had a senior quarterback, major playmakers at running back and wide receiver, and defensive studs.
All of those players deserve love and respect for what they brought to the university.
But with many of them gone this year, Jones is sending a clear message that everybody needs to be on board and ready to step up. That type of mentality is extremely important.
If you remember, the Vols had a similar mentality when they won the national championship in 1998.
Yes, Al Wilson was a star and a leader, but for the most part the team embraced a ‘no-stars’ approach after having to replace Leonard Little and Peyton Manning.
That approach paid off early in the season when Jamal Lewis went down with a season-ending injury.
We’re not saying this team is as good as 1998, but it does give off a similar vibe simply due to the lack of star power.
Everybody seems to forget that the Vols do have elite talent on this team. That talent just needs to be ready to go this year. Last year, many of the good players relied on the stars to carry the load.
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This year, Jones is clearly showing an approach that lets all the players know they need to shoulder the load. So it’s a new approach using old methods. And given that it’s the first time he’s doing that with talent, depth and experience, this could go a long way.