KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee head coach Butch Jones held his final media availability on Friday in the Ray and Lucy Hand Digital Studio before the Vols kick off the 2017 season against Georgia Tech.
The No. 24/25-ranked Vols’ game week officially started on Wednesday as the team made practice schedule adjustments to prepare for its 2017 season opener versus the Yellow Jackets on Monday at 8 p.m. ET in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The game will air live on ESPN and be broadcast by Kirk Herbstreit, Rece Davis and Maria Taylor.
“It’s a great opportunity for our football program on a national stage to go play in a great environment and a great venue on Monday night,” Jones said. “As a kid growing up, these are the type of experiences and the type of environments that you dream about playing in. That’s why these individuals come to the University of Tennessee, to play in meaningful games like this on a national stage.”
Tennessee and Georgia Tech will meet for the 44th time, but it will be the first game between the two schools since 1987. The Vols hold a 24-17-2 edge in the all-time series.
Tennessee and Georgia Tech are both coming off 9-4 campaigns and will both feature new quarterbacks. Neither team has named a starting quarterback. The Yellow Jackets are expected to be a formidable foe having rushed for 258.1 yards per game last season behind head coach Paul Johnson’s famed triple-option attack.
“I think any time you play a very good football team, that adds not only to game week excitement but that really goes all the way back to when this football team was born in January,” Jones said. “Playing a meaningful game against a great quality opponent who’s had a lot of great success, I think that helps in terms of your offseason and that these players understand what’s going on. It will be great for our program.”
The Vols last played in the season-opening Chick-fil-A Game in 2012, defeating NC State, 35-21.
Continuity on the Offensive Line
After working over a week side-by-side, Jones believes the continuity of the offensive line extends deeper than the starting five.
“Well, you can’t beat continuity,” he said. “It’s also the number six or number seven individual that may have to go into a game. You never have enough depth, as we all know, with what occurred last year.”
Jones thinks that the continuity has helped from a communicative perspective and allowed the group as a whole to better understand what is expected of them from a physicality, leverage and knowledge standpoint.
“Anytime they can all work together as one unit really helps,” Jones said.
It’s All About Discipline
Discipline will be an important factor for Jones and the Tennessee defense on Monday night as the Vols must stop the Yellow Jackets’ rushing attack.
“When you play this type of offense,” said Jones, “everything is about your eye discipline and understanding your job in executing your role.”
In addition to discipline, Jones said the Vols are going to have to be to play in space and be a great tackling team.
“Really, it comes down to every individual understanding their roles and responsibilities and also understanding the challenges of their roles and their responsibilities. It comes down to which football team has the overall discipline to execute for a long period of time,” Jones added.
ADDITIONAL QUOTES
Head Coach Butch Jones
(Opening Statement)
“It’s good to see everyone. We did get the results back on Darrin Kirkland Jr. and unfortunately, it wasn’t the news we wanted to hear. He will be out the entire season. It is a situation where you do not want to jump to conclusions until you get all the medical evidence that you need. We were looking at it with a very positive outlook that it could be three to four to five weeks but unfortunately, that’s not the news that came about. He will miss the entire season. I know Darrin is extremely disappointed and his family is extremely disappointed, but just like anything in life, he will be better for it. He will work exceptionally hard and we look forward to getting him back.”
(On moving forward following Kirkland’s injury)
“It’s all about moving forward. Again, we have some individuals that have played a lot of snaps for us. Colton Jumper started nine or ten games for us so he will be ready to go. Dillon Bates and freshman Will Ignont are at the mike position as well. So again, a lot of these individuals gained a lot of valuable repetitions last year with Colton being one of those at the mike. We will move on from here. That is football. That’s just the way it is. I’m excited to see what those individuals can do starting Monday night.”
(On what the team will lose by not having Joshua Dobbs under center for the first time)
“Well, anytime you’re starting a quarterback that has the kind of experience that Josh Dobbs had, it’s very comforting as a coach. This is because he’s played meaningful games and he’s had live reps. However, it is about more than just the quarterback, it’s about the other ten individuals around him executing and doing their jobs. We always say that the quarterback doesn’t have to win the game for you, but he can lose the game for you. It’s all about decision making processes, taking care of the football, managing the offense, making the right throws and making the right progressions. As we all know, Georgia Tech is a blitz orientated football team and they do a very good job with it. I think it is more than just the execution at the quarterback position; it’s about all eleven individuals that are on the football field. We have great confidence in our quarterbacks. We have tried to put them in every situation we can, whether it’s from a management standpoint or a decision making standpoint. They are prepared. I know they are anxious and ready to play.”
(On naming a starting kicker)
“It’s still ongoing. There is a possibility [that we could split duties] and that will be determined by the length of the field goal. So, that’s still ongoing. We’re still competing. We have a pretty good idea with that and everything is charted. We’ve marked landmarks, yard lines on the field and compiled the data not just this week or the last two weeks, but the entire length of camp. It’s a body of work over a long period of time when we started about a month ago.”
(On the competition at linebacker)
“Well, they’ll compete each and every day. This game is a different circumstance in and of itself from their style of play and everything that goes about them. Again, it’s a body of work over time. As we all know, individuals grow and mature at different rates. There may be someone that may not be quite ready to play right now, but through practice times and repetitions by game two, game three, game five, game six, they are ready to play. It’s a long football season. We’re going to need everyone on board.”
(On the continuity of the offensive line)
“Well, you can’t beat continuity. These individuals have worked for over a week side-by-side with each other, but it’s also the number six or number seven individual that may have to go into a game. You never have enough depth, as we all know, with what occurred last year. I think, just from the communicative standpoint, that it’s really helped. Those individuals have done a really good job in terms of the communication aspect of it, what we expect of that group from a physicality stand point, from a leverage stand point and from a knowledge standpoint. Anytime they can all work together as one unit that really helps.”
(On Brett Kendrick’s health this season)
“Brett is an individual who has battled just about everything. The resolve and resiliency that he has shown has been remarkable. He is an individual who continues to work every day and we ask a lot of him. Whether he’s playing guard or tackle, he goes to work every single day. We’re going to need that mentality and that experience. He has played a lot of games throughout the course of his career and I think his ability to overcome speaks volumes. As a football player at the beginning of the season, you’re never 100 percent healthy. There’s a lot of mental toughness and things that go on behind the scenes to get your body and mind right on a weekly basis. This conference is a line of scrimmage league and it’s very physical, so we’re going to need his experience. He has come a long way in our football program, and we’re really proud of him.”
(On the quarterback situation at both Tennessee and Georgia Tech)
“Through video study and everything that goes into it, we have a pretty good idea of who the quarterback will be for us. We have a pretty good idea of who will be the quarterback for [Georgia Tech] as well. When you speak in terms of Georgia Tech, they are who they are and it’s the same thing for us. We’re going to do what we need to do to win the football game. You’re really preparing for the scheme aspect of things and what they’d expect from that position. That doesn’t really come into play.”
(On how he will use younger running backs behind John Kelly on Mondaynight)
“As we know, you can never have enough healthy running backs. The entire running back group has really done a very good job and like I said, it’s a body of work over a long period of time. Now they get an opportunity in a great environment and a great stage to go put the fruits of their labor on video, so we anticipate playing a number of backs Monday night.”
(On similarities to the Battle of Bristol and the team walkthrough at Mercedes Benz Stadium)
“It’s a great opportunity for our football program on a national stage to go play in a great environment and a great venue on Monday night. As a kid growing up, these are the type of experiences and the type of environments that you dream about playing on. That’s why these individuals come to the University of Tennessee, to play in meaningful games like this on a national stage. I think any time you play a very good football team, that adds not only to game week excitement but that really goes all the way back to when this football team was born in January. Playing a meaningful game against a great quality opponent who’s had a lot of great success, I think that helps in terms of your offseason that these players understand what’s going on. It will be great for our program.
“In terms of going into the dome, we’ll go there Sunday night. The big thing is being able to catch kicks, whether it’s punts or kickoffs, and just getting used to the environment. It’s going to be completely different and, again, it’s the maturity of a football team where you can’t let the 360 (degree) jumbotron or all of those things come into play. Those never help you win a football game. We will go in there, we’ll practice in there and we’ll make sure they’re ready for that.”
(On the status of Shy Tuttle and Josh Smith for Monday’s game)
“All I can tell you is they’ll be making the trip and they’ll be dressed. Those will probably be game-time decisions.”
(On the inexperience and the competition at the receiver position)
“We anticipate all of them playing right now. That’s an extremely young group and we’re going to have to rely on the game experience of Jauan Jennings and Josh Smith if he’s able to play. You also have some individuals who had some game reps like Brandon Johnson. That’s a group where we’re going to have to play some youngsters and they are going to have to grow up in a hurry and grow up fast.”
(On eye discipline when facing Georgia Tech)
“When you play this type of offense, everything is about your eye discipline and understanding your job in executing your role. You have a guy assigned to the dive, you have an individual assigned to the quarterback, an individual assigned to the pitch guy and then obviously the back end of the defense with their assignments on the perimeter with the receivers and their different running backs that they have in their offense. It really comes down to playing great team defense and running to the football. There are some individuals that are going to have to make you right when you’re wrong sometimes. We’re going to have to have the ability to make tackles in space. You have to be able to play in space. We have to be a great tackling team. Obviously, they are a very physical football team. We have to be able to get off blocks at the line of scrimmage. Really, it comes down to every individual understanding their roles and responsibilities and also understanding the challenges of their roles and their responsibilities. It comes down to which football team has the overall discipline to execute for a very long period of time.”
(On if he has told the players who the starting quarterback will be)
“We’ve met with all the quarterbacks and kind of went through the game plan and expectations. That dialog is always ongoing and we’re always in communication with them.”
-UT Athletics
