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Tennessee Football: Time for Vols to Regroup After Rough Period

By Caleb Calhoun

Nov 14, 2015; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones during the second half against the North Texas Mean Green at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee won 24 to 0. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 14, 2015; Knoxville, TN, USA; Tennessee Volunteers head coach Butch Jones during the second half against the North Texas Mean Green at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee won 24 to 0. Mandatory Credit: Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports /
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Tennessee football took a few big, embarrassing hits the last week and a half. As February draws to a close, it’s time for the Volunteers to regroup.

Let’s celebrate.

As Monday drew to a close, as far as Vols fans were aware, that was at least one weekday in which embarrassing news did not reach the media from the Tennessee football program.

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After last week, that is a huge reason for Butch Jones and his football team to breath a sigh of relief. And it should signal a time to regroup.

Tennessee was hit with a string of embarrassment before that, starting right after Peyton Manning won the Super Bowl. The bombshell of the sexual assault lawsuit against the school dropped two days later.

Then, after Manning was mentioned in the lawsuit, the New York Daily News article dropped Saturday. While Manning and the lawsuit remained the focal point of a week’s worth of news, recent Vol graduate Mack Crowder was arrested in a child sex sting operation, and then news broke that Vol newcomer, four-star junior college defensive tackle Alexis Johnson, was arrested in a domestic dispute involving a woman.

There’s no other way around this. Tennessee had arguably the most embarrassing week and a half in history when it came to the school’s reputation with special victims.

It was ironic, too, because the day after Manning won his second Super Bowl, there was nothing that seemed like it could derail the Vols’ momentum throughout the year to that point.

They had destroyed the Northwestern Wildcats 45-6 on New Year’s Day to finish with nine wins for the first time since 2007. Then they made two great staff hires in Larry Scott and Bob Shoop, who is clearly the best defensive coordinator in the country. Then they had their first Top 25 finish since 2007 as well.

And following that, all three Vols who could have left early for the NFL Draft decided to return. Then came a Top 15 class on Signing Day when they were only expected to get a Top 25 class given how stacked the roster was, and of course Manning’s Super Bowl run was right in the midst of that.

But the momentum wasn’t just derailed. It did a complete 180 after that.

Still, on Monday, a fresh slate came around. Manning’s side of his scandal came out to help the story die a bit, and Butch Jones addressed the media Saturday and assured that the program is in good hands.

Johnson is still suspended, and Crowder is no longer with the program anyway. So even though Johnson and the lawsuit is still hanging over the program, it appears the Vols have a chance to quell the distractions and get back to work.

Spring practice is two weeks away with plenty of serious position battles, newcomers, and adjustments to new staff members needing to be addressed.

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We can now get started focusing on that, but first these things had to be put in the past. They are still issues that the program needs to address, but it’s a breath of fresh air to know that what happens on the football field can become the focus now.

Monday was the first step in that process, as there was nothing embarrassing that broke that day.

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