Tennessee football head coach Butch Jones addressed the media a day ahead of the Volunteers’ first spring practice. Here are some of his updates.
It’s time for Tennessee football to get back on the field again. Well, at least for practice. And for the first time in four years, they have an open quarterback competition to look forward to.
Butch Jones addressed that situation surrounding the program along with numerous others as he got in front of the media on Monday afternoon to preview the start of spring practice for the program.
Coming off his first under-achieving year in Knoxville and feeling a bit of the hot seat, Jones knows he has to produce this year with a new athletic director.
That makes this spring more crucial than ever. To be fair, he sounded more encouraged than ever too.
Here are some of the key points from the press conference, according to UTSports.
INJURIES
Jones said that eight Tennessee football players will miss spring practice due to injury. Here’s the list:
- Micah Abernathy, S
- Rashaan Gaulden, DB
- Brandon Johnson, DB
- Brett Kendrick, OT
- Kyle Phillips, DE
- Josh Smith, WR
- Shy Tuttle, DT
- Kendal Vickers, DT
QUARTERBACK COMPETITION
Jones stressed consistency when it comes to the battle for a starting quarterback and also praised Joshua Dobbs, noting that he went to the Gruden camp with him. Here’s a snippet of what he said about the importance of the battle.
"“I would say the big thing is going to be consistency day in and day out and competing. I think when you compete on a daily basis you are going improve each and every day. We want to see constant growth and improvement.”"
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STAFF CHANGES
There are lots of new staff members, but take note of the fact that Butch Jones mentioned Rock Gullickson before anybody else. After all the injuries last year, we stressed that this was the most important hire. And we were right.
However, he also mentioned the other new position coaches as well. All in all, Jones sounded extremely positive about the changes. Here’s another quote from him in the press conference.
"“I think the chemistry has been there almost instantaneously. We have done a great job of spending quality time together and I think any time you add individuals that have the experience that they have, it lends itself to creative thinking, new ideas and new energy.”"
FULL PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO
Click on the video below to watch Butch Jones’s full press conference previewing spring practice.
FINAL NOTES
The first practice is set for Tuesday, March 21. Tennessee football will have 15 spring practices every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday before the Orange and White game on Saturday, April 22.