First impressions are everything.
Give a bad first impression as an NFL rookie and your career could be over before it even begins.
Fortunately for former Vols entering the NFL this off-season, that doesn’t seem to be a problem.
Butch Jones 4 NFL head coaches told him UT's players are unlike other rookies. They're 20 minutes early to meetings, fill notebooks (1/2)
— Jimmy Hyams (@JimmyHyams) May 22, 2014
are the first to practice field and last to leave, and ask what's needed of them. Jones said no UT players are academically ineligible (1/3)
— Jimmy Hyams (@JimmyHyams) May 22, 2014
That kind of reputation is a far cry from a year ago when character issues were associated with former Vols like Tyler Bray, Da’Rick Rogers and Montori Hughes.
But that was a different era.
When Butch Jones came riding into Knoxville on his proverbial white horse, he brought along the desire to turn boys into men.
And that’s exactly what he’s done.
To be told by four different NFL coaches that former players from your school are going above and beyond what the other rookies in the league are doing is just insane. Especially considering that Jones only coached these players for one season.
That one season was apparently enough to erase years of bad habits learned under former coaches Lane Kiffin and Derek Dooley and replace them with attributes like punctuality, accountability and responsibility.
And it’s not like NFL coaches have a small sample size off which they’re basing their observations. Tennessee will have at least 12 former players trying to make an NFL roster in 2014.
That’s enough to deduct that Jones has completely overhauled the attitude and expectations at Tennessee.
One could argue that even if Jones ends up winning a national championship at Tennessee, it would still pale in comparison to the impact that he’s made/is making on 18-22 year old kids.
And isn’t that what it’s really all about?