Vols Improving Daily; 8 Wins Could Be A Reality
By Zach Ragan
Apr 20, 2013; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones signs a helmet for a fan before the spring Orange and White game at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
As a head football coach all you can ask from your team during fall camp is to improve every day.
So far that’s exactly what team 117 is doing each day for Butch Jones.
"Jones: We have a long way to go, I do think we’re improving in small increments but we are improving."
You’ve got to believe that Tennessee’s new head coach is happy with the improvement, even if it comes in small doses.
It’s evident from watching this team practice that they’re aware they are part of something special. Butch Jones and his staff (all of which are new to Tennessee) have brought an attitude and enthusiasm to Tennessee that has been missing for the past few seasons.
That enthusiasm has carried over to the practice field and with it brings a desire to improve daily, and to help improve each other. In just a few short months Jones has not only visibly improved the on-the-field product, but he’s also been instrumental in drastically improving the classroom performance.
"Jones: I think I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk about winning in the classroom. You have the best semester that you have academically in the history of the program with 46 individuals with a 3.0 or higher, a 2.82 accumulative GPA, and then you follow that up with your first semester of summer school that’s even better than that."
To make that kind of impact in the classroom, in just a few months, shows just how dedicated, and serious Butch Jones is about restoring this Volunteers football team to national prominence. Especially when you consider the Vols academic progress rate, announced earlier this summer, was the lowest in the SEC (thanks in part to previous coaching staffs and athletic administration).
That kind of progress in the classroom should give Vol fans hope that more than just a record worthy of a bowl game could be within reach this season.
As of right now most realistic predictions you see how the Vols going 7-5, with it playing out something like this.
- Austin Peay – Win (1-0)
- Western Kentucky – Win (2-0)
- @ Oregon – Loss (2-1)
- @ Florida – Loss (2-2)
- South Alabama – Win (3-2)
- Georgia – Loss (3-3)
- South Carolina – Loss (3-4)
- @ Alabama – Loss (3-5)
- @Missouri – Win (4-5)
- Auburn – Win (5-5)
- Vanderbilt – Win (6-5)
- @Kentucky – Win (7-5)
As you can see, even on paper, the Vols schedule looks daunting and seven wins is far from a certainty. The Vols go through a brutal six game stretch where they play five probable top ten teams, with three of those games on the road. The only game considered “winnable” is a “cupcake” game wedged between Florida and Georiga — South Alabama at home.
So why did I say in the title of this article that eight wins could be a reality?
Because, as if this needed to be said, games aren’t played on paper.
If they were, USC would’ve been playing in the national championship game instead of getting blown out by Georgia Tech in the Sun Bowl.
If games were played on paper, Northwestern wouldn’t have finished as the 17th ranked team, with a 10-3 record.
If games were played on paper Arkansas would’ve been in position to possibly play in a BCS bowl, or for that matter any bowl game.
You see USC was the preseason number one team, Northwestern didn’t receive a vote and Arkansas was ranked 10th (they finished 4-8).
As we all know, rarely do games play out as predicted. Not many folks had Texas A&M beating Alabama, or Louisville beating Florida in the Sugar Bowl.
Those are just a few of the many examples that could be given to illustrate the point that games are played on the field.
For that reason I believe we can look at the Volunteers’ schedule with a gratuitous amount of optimism.
Now I’m not advocating that Tennessee is going to travel to Eugene and take down Oregon, or beat Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa. Winning even one of those games would be considered more than a slight miracle.
However, I do believe that Tennessee could possibly steal one, and possibly two, of the games against Florida, Georgia or South Carolina.
Last season the Vols were in all three of those games, two of them down to the final plays. Yes, I know those games were shootouts, and with the amount of production the Vols lost on offense from last season, isn’t likely to happen again this season.
But the Vols’ defense will be vastly improved, and that is ultimately what cost the Vols each of those games. If Tennessee had even a somewhat capable defense in those games, you would’ve been looking at a much different record at the end of the season, and probably another year of that coaching staff.
Fate has a funny way of working things out — but I digress.
There’s a lot of focus on all of the playmakers that moved on from the Vols after their prolific offensive season in 2012. Tennessee lost nearly all of their receiving production and their quarterback.
But that doesn’t mean Tennessee will be anemic on offense this year. They return almost their entire offensive line (minus guard Dallas Thomas), which is considered the best in the SEC by nearly every college football analyst.
The Vols also return their top two running backs, senior Rajion Neal and junior Marlin Lane, and will also feature redshirt freshman Alden Hill (and possibly Maryland transfer Justus Pickett).
Tennessee also has a legitimate quarterback battle, that could go down to the final week of camp. Junior Justin Worley could be considered the leader simply due to the fact that he’s the only quarterback on the roster that’s played in a college football game. Redshirt freshman Nathan Peterman and true freshmen Riley Ferguson and Josh Dobbs will all have a fair chance to win the job. All four have an arm capable of getting the ball in the hands of Tennessee’s wide receievers.
Speaking of wide receivers, it’s incredibly difficult to recoup your receiving corps when you lose the likes of Cordarrelle Patterson, Justin Hunter and Zach Rogers, but the Vols are in better shape than you think.
Sophomore Pig Howard has looked very good in camp so far. He’ll be relied on heavily, since the slot receiver is so important in Butch Jones’ up-tempo offense.
In addition to Howard, the Vols return junior Vincent Dallas and redshirt freshman Jason Croom.
Dallas has responded well in practice and Croom is a mammoth of a receiver that looks more like a tight end.
Then there’s Marquez North. The prized recruit of Tennessee’s 2013 recruiting class.
North has the look of an elite receiver already, he’s big, fast and strong. He’s still got some work to do, but he’s already flashing in practice, as noted by some of his teammates — and coaches.
"Butch Jones: In three very short practices, and in a very small time, (Marquez) has proven he is going to be one of our play makers. He is dynamic, he is strong, he is physical, he can run, and we need him offensively. What you see is when your players bring him up, it is a level of respect right now that they have for him. He is extremely intelligent; he knows every single receiver position on the field already. We are very excited about him.Linebacker Brent Brewer: He’s a big receiver with a lot of speed, so I’m pretty impressed with him. He’s doing big things out there."
So while on paper the Vols will be lucky to go 7-5, you can see why there’s hopeful optimism for more.
Not that Butch Jones should be judged in a negative way if the Vols do go 7-5, or even 6-6. There’s some serious progress being made on Rocky Top and in the end this is a transition year. It just happens that a transition year could be better than anything Vol fans have witnessed the past three seasons.
Just remember, games aren’t played on paper and the Tennessee Volunteers couldn’t be happier about that.
For more on the Vols make sure to follow along on Twitter @ZachAFT & @AllforTennessee