By Jimmy Hyams
Thanks, Ethan Wolf.
Thanks for saying what many Tennessee fans have been wanting to hear.
Thanks for not engaging in coach speak.
Thanks for not celebrating a nine-win season like you’ve won the SEC Championship.
Thanks for not proclaiming that winning the Music City Bowl was the team’s goal.
Wolf, a rising senior tight end at Tennessee, said he is extra motivated this spring by shortcomings the past two years.
Tennessee was favored to win the East Division last year and failed. It was in contention to win the East in 2015 but couldn’t stop Florida on 4th-and-14 in the final minutes.
“We just realized that winning nine games isn’t what we want to do,’’ Wolf said in a recent interview.
“We want to win them all. We want to win a national championship and we’re not going to do that if we’re not as close as a group as we possibly can be.
“I think that kind of flipped the switch and everybody realized that’s what you’ve got to do to do that.’’
Well said. No, 9-4 isn’t good enough – not now.
That’s not to say Butch Jones hasn’t done a heckuva job helping Tennessee climb out of a dark hole left by the incompetency of Derek Dooley. But the Vols have the most talent of any team in the East last year, beat Georgia and Florida, then choked in losing to South Carolina and Vanderbilt in the second half of the SEC season.
It was a major missed opportunity.
Wolf took his share of the blame, saying he dropped too many passes. Only at least two occasions, he bobbled away sure touchdown passes.
Wolf’s goal this spring and fall: Zero drops.
Those drops, he said, “ate me alive.’’
I don’t know if Wolf can accomplish his goal, but I like his spunk. I like his candor. I like his leadership.
Wolf was asked if newly hired strength and conditioning coach Rock Gullickson has made the Vols bigger and stronger. Instead, he shed some light on a problem that appeared to exist last season.
“I think there were a lot of guys that needed to self-evaluate their work ethic in the weight room,’’ Wolf said. “And a lot of guys have (done so)’’
Perhaps being humbled by not winning the East Division will inspire the Vols.
If not, Tennessee could run its streak of not playing in the SEC Championship game to 10 years.
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