I want to believe Ethan Wolf. I really do. But I just can’t.
“We’ve never had any type of conflict in the locker room in the past and we don’t now,” the Tennessee senior tight end said, according to GoVols247.com. “Everybody’s on the same page, high spirits.”
Sorry Ethan, I tried. But I just can’t buy it. In the past week, the Vols had a former starting offensive lineman, Venzell Boulware, leave the program, had coach Butch Jones offer a flimsy excuse why Shy Tuttle suffered an injured orbitalbone (the ole’ fell on a helmet excuse), had starting offensive lineman Tre Smith reportedly suffer a facial injury during a practice altercation which led to the suspension of starting defensive end Darrell Taylor, who was the other player reportedly involved in the incident. That’s quite a week.
Go back even further and the Vols looked listless against UMass then suffered a historic 41-0 defeat against Georgia. So given the evidence, do you believe the Vols don’t have a locker room problem? If so, I have some ocean front property in Maryville that you might be interested in.
This isn’t anything new for Jones. His tenure is full of talented players that became disenchanted with his coaching. It’s easy to say one or two of those players just weren’t tough enough, but too many have gone on to have success elsewhere to simply dispel their ability or dedication to the game. At some point, team chemistry is Jones’ fault; you can’t blame the players anymore. Either they don’t believe in him as a coach, they don’t trust him as a person or both.
Former UT running back Jalen Hurd is the most obvious example. He left the Vols last season on the verge of becoming UT’s all-time leading rusher. During an interview on Sport Talk on WGOW last fall, his stepfather said he was promised he could play another position last season. Regardless if that was the best move for Hurd, it never happened and he lost faith in Jones and subsequently left the team.
That’s not to say that Jones and his team can’t change course. However, if it is as bad as it seems, then it’s probably too late to save the 2017 season. And it’s probably too late to save Jones’ job.
Any argument to keep Jones past this season has to begin with his ability to oversee a cohesive locker room. Jones will have many of the same players next season. Unless there’s some Kumbaya moment in the near future, the Vols will likely have the same issues next season under Jones. The win/loss record will ultimately determine Jones’ fate, but the constant stream of public embarrassment certainly won’t help Jones’ fate, which seems doomed at this point.
“We’ve never had any type of conflict in the locker room in the past and we don’t now,” the Tennessee senior tight end said, according to GoVols247.com. “Everybody’s on the same page, high spirits.”
Sorry Ethan, I tried. But I just can’t buy it. In the past week, the Vols had a former starting offensive lineman, Venzell Boulware, leave the program, had coach Butch Jones offer a flimsy excuse why Shy Tuttle suffered an injured orbitalbone (the ole’ fell on a helmet excuse), had starting offensive lineman Tre Smith reportedly suffer a facial injury during a practice altercation which led to the suspension of starting defensive end Darrell Taylor, who was the other player reportedly involved in the incident. That’s quite a week.
Go back even further and the Vols looked listless against UMass then suffered a historic 41-0 defeat against Georgia. So given the evidence, do you believe the Vols don’t have a locker room problem? If so, I have some ocean front property in Maryville that you might be interested in.
This isn’t anything new for Jones. His tenure is full of talented players that became disenchanted with his coaching. It’s easy to say one or two of those players just weren’t tough enough, but too many have gone on to have success elsewhere to simply dispel their ability or dedication to the game. At some point, team chemistry is Jones’ fault; you can’t blame the players anymore. Either they don’t believe in him as a coach, they don’t trust him as a person or both.
Former UT running back Jalen Hurd is the most obvious example. He left the Vols last season on the verge of becoming UT’s all-time leading rusher. During an interview on Sport Talk on WGOW last fall, his stepfather said he was promised he could play another position last season. Regardless if that was the best move for Hurd, it never happened and he lost faith in Jones and subsequently left the team.
That’s not to say that Jones and his team can’t change course. However, if it is as bad as it seems, then it’s probably too late to save the 2017 season. And it’s probably too late to save Jones’ job.
Any argument to keep Jones past this season has to begin with his ability to oversee a cohesive locker room. Jones will have many of the same players next season. Unless there’s some Kumbaya moment in the near future, the Vols will likely have the same issues next season under Jones. The win/loss record will ultimately determine Jones’ fate, but the constant stream of public embarrassment certainly won’t help Jones’ fate, which seems doomed at this point.
