Tennessee facing high expectations entering 2016
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HOOVER, Ala. – Accessorized with a striped tie, pocket square and Tennessee lapel pin, Butch Jones stood behind a podium and showed off his memory. Flanked on one side by the helmet of the program he coaches and the other by a helmet emblazoned with the logo of the conference he’s hoping to win, Jones dipped his toe in a pool of nostalgia.
“I remember standing up here at the podium three short years ago, and the room was half filled and nobody was talking about Tennessee football,” he said.
Those days are now firmly in the past. The standing room-only crowd and symphony of flashbulbs that surrounded Jones’ Tuesday media day address were proof of that. A strong, 5-0 finish to last season combined with back-to-back top-five recruiting classes have created expectations in Knoxville. And as Jones fielded questions from reporters inside a Hyatt Regency ballroom on Tuesday, he didn’t run from the praise or attempt to temper the wave of hype.
The upcoming season is likely to end with the Vols being perceived as either a program returning to national relevance or a team woefully underperforming the talent level on the roster. This is a turning point for Jones, but it’s also a position in which he wants to be. Fear? Nerves? For better or for worse, those things don’t seem to be present here.
“That's why you come to the University of Tennessee,” Jones said. “That's why you coach at the University of Tennessee. You want those expectations. But, like I said, Team 120 has not played one down. We're responsible for what we create on a daily basis.”
Defining a successful 2016 in Knoxville is a bit tricky. There certainly won’t be a parade to celebrate reaching a bowl game or notching eight victories. And for as confident as Jones is when it comes to embracing the heightened expectations, his players are in no hurry to set a measurable bar.
Eight regular season wins is last year’s mark. And while surpassing it will be difficult, it seems matching it won’t be enough.
“Obviously, we want to surpass that,” said senior defensive back Cameron Sutton. “I’ve never been comfortable with what we’ve done in the past.
“A successful season is just winning the day. We feel that if we win the day, that carries over to Saturdays.:”
All afternoon, Tennessee players would acknowledge the massive importance of the season ahead. The exchanges were similar. Veteran Volunteers threw the word “expectations” around at every turn. Trying to get them to discuss exactly what those expectations are, however, turned into an exercise in futility.
“We have higher expectations for ourselves than anybody,” said senior linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin. “We see each other and work out with each other every day, so we know how capable we are.”
A whiff of the worry Jones lacked when discussing the heightened expectations was certainly present in the players that accompanied their coach to Alabama. A bit of that, of course, is natural. Players avoid making anything resembling a decree on number of wins for good reason. According to Jones, however, he’s observed nothing resembling the hesitance his players flashed for a few hours on Tuesday afternoon.
“They have not looked up, they have not blinked,” Jones said of his players. “They’ve been focused."
Jones’ media day address included a number of basketball references. He pointed out that he leans on Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, a personal friend, when it comes to advice on managing expectations. Another nod to the NBA, however, was possible the most poignant.
“Why is LeBron James LeBron James?” Jones said. “We all saw game seven.”
And while this probably isn’t a do-or-die game seven for Jones, it’s at least the fourth quarter of an all-important game five.