Tennessee football and Butch Jones took the stage at SEC Media Days Tuesday. Here are three things we learned from the Volunteers.
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For the most part, it was boring. Butch Jones provided typical coach speak on Tuesday, something he has made a habit of doing combined with catchy one-liners ever since he took over at Tennessee.
Meanwhile, the players gave nothing, keeping everything close to the vest.
But as Dave Hart once said, you don’t win games in press conferences. And based on the things they talked about, there are some things we were still able to pick up from Jones and the team.
Here are three takeaways from Tennessee football at SEC Media Days.
1. Joshua Dobbs’s top receivers appear to be set
Jones and Mike DeBord have made a point of trying to go as deep as possible at receiver, but this year they seem to be in the process of narrowing down two main receivers and one slot receiver to rely on.
On Tuesday, Jones mentioned three players who fit that combination: Josh Malone and Preston Williams on the outside and Josh Smith in the slot.
It looks like those guys will be the main starters at receiver. Sure, there are other guys like Jeff George and Jauan Jennings, but after those three Jones said they would be looking to play some freshmen. Vol Nation has been begging for Jones to narrow down his receivers. He appears to have finally done it.
2. Jalen Reeves-Maybin is developing Al Wilson-like leadership tendencies.
He always seemed to have them to a degree, but Jalen Reeves-Maybin is now becoming one of the greatest leaders in school history based on things that have been said about him.
He skipped the NFL Draft because he had an ultimate goal of becoming a Tennessee football legend, and Jones told a story of him pointing out all the errors his team made on film, starting with himself.
This is leadership on the level of Al Wilson, which is something Tennessee needs. Even if Reeves-Maybin is not as good as Wilson was, which is an impossible task, his leadership will help elevate everybody else.
But it’s not just him, and that leads to our final point.
3. The Vols are a players-led team.
Jones said this is something that every football team strives to be and needs to be if they want to win anything. And he is right.
Based on his quotes at SEC Media Days, that is the case for these Tennessee Vols as well.
We have already mentioned Reeves-Maybin, but Dobbs appears to be a clear leader on offense. Cameron Sutton is loved as a captain, and Jones went out of his way to praise Alvin Kamara for taking on a leadership role.
These guys don’t just happen to be the team captains. Their teammates are now following them as much as the coaches, and that’s exactly what this football program needs.
It doesn’t guarantee a national championship, but it’s a start.