Today on Rocky Top: Record Season-Ticket Sales, Vols Talking, and More

Season ticket sales and Butch Jones addressing the Twitter hype surrounding the Vols headlines the news for Rocky Top on May 6, 2016.

T-G-I-F!!! Happy Friday to everybody. Hopefully you all enjoyed a fantastic Cinco de Mayo and didn’t get into any trouble in the process. The news for some of you the day after can be a bit mixed.

That’s exactly the news surrounding the Tennessee Vols athletic program for Friday, May 6. It’s mixed.

And a lot of it is around the same topic: the hype of the football program.

The hype is generating lots of season-ticket sales, according to sources, but it is also creating issues with the football team maybe buying into it a little to much.

There’s also another loss of a player in the news for Friday due to a family tragedy. But let’s start with the good news from the hype.

Vols season-ticket sales on “record-pace” – Ryan Callahan of 247Sports

"Athletic director Dave hart said Thursday night during Tennessee’s Big Orange Caravan stop at The Chattanoogan that the Vols are “on another record pace with season-ticket sales,” and it won’t be easy for fans “to find a good ticket” at Neyland Stadium this year.“Everything is really doing this,” Hart said, motioning upward with his hand. “Tennessee Fund had a record year — more money raised last year than at any time in the history of the Tennessee Fund.”"

Butch Jones “educating” Jonathan Kongbo on social media – Patrick Brown of Chattanooga Times Free Press

"The junior college defensive end’s bravado on social media this spring has included declarations that the Volunteers would beat both rivals Florida and Alabama — the Gators and Crimson Tide have beaten Tennessee a combined 20 straight times — and win every game this season.Butch Jones told fans at the Big Orange Caravan stop in Atlanta on Wednesday night he’d spoken to Kongbo about his Twitter activity, so naturally it came up as Tennessee’s head coach met with the media prior to Thursday night’s Caravan stop at The Chattanoogan."

Tennessee OL Zach Stewart decides not to play for Vols – Ryan Callahan of 247Sports

"The 6-foot-4, 315-pound Stewart was announced as part of Tennessee’s 2015 class in February 2015 and was set to join the Vols last year before the unexpected death of his mother convinced him to delay his enrollment.Almost a year later, he decided he was ready to move on from football."