As the hype behind Tennessee football continues for the 2016 season, here are five questions for Butch Jones and the Volunteers to answer at SEC Media Days.
Related Story: 10 Years the Vols Failed to Meet Expectations
And the excitement begins. With the 2016 college football season less than two months away, Butch Jones is set to inform the public on the state of the Tennessee Vols going into the year at SEC Media Days.
Obviously, there’s a lot of talk about the Vols finally being back, as most experts have them projected to win the SEC East easily. But they were projected to win the SEC East last year, so what’s different?
Well, almost the exact same team from last year is back, and although they didn’t win the East in 2015, the Vols were four plays away from going undefeated. So let’s just say they are expected to be in great shape going into this year.
Nonetheless, there are still quite a few questions that Butch Jones and the Vols need to answer. Here are the five things they need to address at SEC Media Days?
5. What’s the status of Alexis Johnson?
Alexis Johnson was a four-star defensive tackle out of junior college who committed as part of the 2016 class. He was then suspended indefinitely after facing domestic abuse charges. However, those charges have been significantly reduced, yet he’s still been suspended. Jones needs to answer this question because Johnson’s presence will determine just how loaded this line is on the interior.
4. What steps has Joshua Dobbs taken to improve the passing game this year?
Joshua Dobbs has had some great passing games in his three years in Knoxville, but then he’s had some abysmal ones. He’s clearly a frontrunner who does well when things are going well and when he gets on a roll, and his ability to use his legs as a threat makes throwing easier. But has he progressed into a guy who could be a full-time pocket passer? That would do wonders for him this year.
3. How are the Vols handling the preseason hype?
Last year, Tennessee was a good team but got way too nervous during big games due to the preseason hype, which played a huge role in their choke jobs against the Oklahoma Sooners and Florida Gators. Going into this season, the Vols have to do a better job of handling the hype if they are going to contend for anything.
2. How will the defense look under Bob Shoop?
Part of that choke job last year was the defense giving up way too many crucial plays in the fourth quarter of games, most notably the six fourth downs, including the fourth ad 14 play, to lose to Florida. Will that happen again this year? Bob Shoop is known for using analytics, and he appears already to be very familiar with the Vols defense. So how much will things change? That could be the difference between a good and a great season.
1. Is Tennessee a National Championship contender?
And this is the final elephant in the room. We keep talking about the Vols having met expectations last year right on the dot and then returning everybody, but the biggest prediction anybody has of them is that they will win the East. That prediction was there for them last year as well for a lot of services. So given the fact that everybody’s back, can they go further? What does Jones expect from the program. This is what he has got to answer if people are going to take his Vols seriously.