Memo to Butch Jones. Don't give a speech after a team workout. Jones sent his team through winter drills on Wednesday morning, and then he left for a speech at the Big Orange Tipoff Club in Knoxville. His voice paid the price from the earlier workout because he was a little hoarse in speaking to Vols fans. Said Jones about his players,"They saw a little Butch Jones this morning. And I told them. But they're going to have my mentality."
And what is the Butch Jones mentality? "A mentality. A blue collar mentality. You'll see some different things in the way we play. We'll sprint at the end of the quarter change. I hate when people walk on the field. That's going to be our identity because we are going to be in better condition."
And to instill better condition, Jones says guys will have to earn their orange jerseys. If they don't workout like they should, they'll wear a white jersey signifying average, and a blue jersey signifying what Jones calls awful or not up to standard. "You know it's a product that takes a lot of work because it's discipline. It's a brotherhood. It's a family."
Besides discipline, Jones seeks passion. "I want people that sit in the stands and say man, I love to watch your team play. They're on fire. You can feel the energy. You can feel the passion that they have for each other."
The Vols will need a lot of energy and passion on defense. They sported one of the worst in school history last season. "When we stop an opponent on third down, and we create fourth down, all eleven individuals on defense will put their fist up for fourth down. We call it fist up defense. I've been told we already have a twitter account called fist up defense." (laughter)
