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Tennessee Vols Have the Mentally Weakest Football Program in the Country

By Caleb Calhoun

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The Tennessee Volunteers football team proved in their loss to the Oklahoma Sooners that they have the mentally weakest program in the country right now.

This is a mix of good news and bad news.

The Tennessee Vols have clearly shown that they have the talent to compete with great teams. But there is a mentality surrounding the program.

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This mentality is not just the players. It’s not just the coaches. It’s the program as a whole. Losing is psychological, and when it becomes the culture of a program, new players who enter that program absorb that psychological aspect and have to work extra hard to overcome it.

If you don’t think that’s true, just ask Chicago Cubs fans.

Right now, the terrible history of this football program is in the heads of all the players and coaching staff. And for the second year in a row, with a rowdy fan base and a two-score lead in the fourth quarter of a game they desperately wanted to win, the Vols found a way to lose.

In this situation, Tennessee was up 17-0 in the first half, 17-3 at halftime and going into the fourth quarter, and lost 31-24 in double-overtime.

The Vols were deep in Oklahoma territory twice in the first half, only to come away with no points.

Butch Jones coached not to lose from the opening snap, settling for a field goal on fourth and goal from the one-yard line on the Vols’ first drive.

Then came the defense late in the game. With the offense playing not to lose and unable to generate anything or simply capitalize of big plays, the defense followed suit. Baker Mayfield and the Oklahoma Sooners were held to three points midway through the fourth quarter.

Then they scored a touchdown on four straight drives, including two in overtime.

That is an issue of mental weakness, even if you are tired. The unit was not helped by a bunch of terrible penalties.

But they got too nervous in the end and could not handle the pressure. This has been the mantra of Tennessee football for the last few years. And it even precedes Butch Jones.

In 2012, Derek Dooley’s last year, the Vols were in five of their seven losses. But they blew all of their close games, especially those against great teams, because it is a mentality.

That mentality has contaminated Butch Jones and his coaching staff now, and it is clearly rubbing off on his players.

It will take a lot to overcome that.

Next: Tennessee-Oklahoma: Five Things We Learned

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