HOOVER, Ala. – Butch Jones had somewhat of an impossible task on Tuesday as he walked into the Hyatt Regency Wynfrey Hotel to represent Tennessee.
Expectations are clearly on the rise for the Vols after a 4-1 finish to the 2014 season and the return of a vast majority of top players for the 2015 season. Vols are popping up everywhere on preseason watch lists. Plenty of reputable analysts have Tennessee among the top contenders – if not the outright favorite – for the SEC East crown. Many are talking eight, if not more, regular season wins as a realistic number for the Vols. One set of preseason odds had UT as favorites in 10 games this year and only an outright underdog in one.
The hype train has been running full speed this offseason. It might even be off the rails by now.
So why not embrace those expectations? There are questions and concerns too, and plenty of them. The Vols haven’t won more than seven games since 2007. Last year’s team, as impressive as it was at times, also was somewhat fortunate to sneak into the postseason at all after looking all but dead in the water early in the fourth quarter at South Carolina and pulling out a sloppy, one-possession victory over lowly Vanderbilt that could’ve derailed everything the Vols did in 2014.
Tennessee, though more experienced than last year, is still young. The schedule is still difficult. The offensive line is still, at best, unproven. So you can see the dilemma for Jones. Downplay the expectations, and potentially come across as scared and unconfident. Or hype his team even more, and risk it getting to a point that will be virtually impossible to reach the expectations, given some of the limitations he’s working with.
It was a tricky balancing act.
But Jones walked that line almost perfectly as he made the rounds in Hoover. His first move was to go on defense – deflecting an earlier jab from Spurrier about the Vols “doing cartwheels” after a seven-win season in 2014.
“Now I do want to make on thing clear,” Jones said during his opening statement in the main media room. “Contrary to reports, there were no back flips, and there were no somersaults, but I think in the world of college football, you’re judged by wins and losses, but also you’re judged by does your team overachieve or underachieve.”
He then moved on to the positives of the high expectations. It is better, after all, to have talk of your team being on the rise as opposed to fielding questions about job security and underperforming.
“You want the expectations to be exceptionally high,” Jones said. “That’s why they chose to come to Tennessee to play in a program that has high expectations. But the expectations will never be as high as they are internally, and we have very high expectations for this football team.”
Saying he wants the expectations, and actually has higher ones internally, endears himself to the crowd that doesn’t want him to shy away from what’s being said about the Vols around the nation.
Always a master with words, coach-speak and politically-correct answers, Jones also was able to keep from digging a hole he can’t get out of, however. There were no guarantees, no win number predictions, no real tangible goals such as winning the East or anything of that sort.
“For this year’s team, it’s all about maturity, it’s all about leadership and it’s all about health,” Jones said. “Those are the three components that we have to take into consideration, and we just can’t be a year older. We have to be a year better, and that’s the responsibility of the coaching staff and every player in our football program. Sixty-four percent of our roster has played one year of college football or less, so we need to continue to grow and mature.
“We have some unproven areas within our program still. We’re going to have many freshmen play vital roles to the success of this football team, but I’ve been very, very proud of our older players in the manner in which they have handled the younger players, getting them caught up to the standards, the expectations and our style of play at Tennessee.”
With those comments, he acknowledged many of the challenges the Vols will face in 2015 without dousing the flames of excitement that have swept through Vol Nation this offseason. He walked the line between over and under confidence and set the tone the Vols needed as they enter an important third year in Jones’ tenure in Knoxville.
Wins, of course, are the only way to ultimately meet expectations. But at least for Tuesday, with the nation watching Jones and the Vols, he set the right tone.
