KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee football head coach Butch Jones, offensive coordinator Larry Scott, defensive coordinator Bob Shoop and seniors Brett Kendrick and Kendal Vickers spoke to reporters on Monday in the Ray and Lucy Hand Digital Studio.

Tennessee is coming off a bye week and the Vols resume SEC play against South Carolina on Saturday with a noon ET kickoff on ESPN.

“I thought we had a very productive bye week,” Jones said. “We were able to get a lot of things accomplished from a lot of our freshmen and younger players that really haven’t accumulated reps over time. We tried to really manufacture game-speed repetitions. I think it was good for our health and we’ll get some individuals, hopefully, back here very shortly and just playing football.”

Jones spoke about the challenge the Gamecocks will present this weekend in Neyland Stadium.

“They are a very good football team,” Jones said. “They’re going to be coming in here with a lot of confidence. When you look at their football team, they force you to execute in all three phases. They’re plus seven in the turnover margin. As we all know, they really scored four times on defense last week. One was taken off the board. Two of them occurred in the same possession or same drive. They are a really good football team with a lot of confidence. They are 4-2. Two of their losses have been very close as well. So, it’s a great challenge and a great opportunity and it all starts with preparation.”

VFL Reunion This Weekend

Tennessee will host its fourth annual VFL Reunion, welcoming former players back to Rocky Top and Neyland Stadium.

Butch Jones and the Vols will welcome back over 300 former players as part of the program’s VFL Reunion game. The VFLs will have the opportunity to take part in the Vol Walk and will also join Team 121 in the greatest Tennessee traditional of all, running through the T as UT takes the field.

Refreshed and Re-energized

After five-straight weeks of football to start the season, the Vols held three productive practices last week before getting some rest during the bye weekend.

“I think the bye week may have been the most successful since I have been here,” Kendrick said. “We had three very good practices. They were all full-pad practices, so we had some physicality. We had some good inside run periods against the defense. I think it was really productive, and I definitely think we got better.”

Vickers, who admitted to playing some NBA 2K video games this weekend, spoke about the team’s refocused mindset.

“We’re ready to get after it,” he said. “We got this weekend off to kind of be like to ourselves, a little bit, kind of rest our bodies. But it’s go time now. There are seven games left. We have a lot to play for and I think we’re ready to go.”

Focus and Consistency

Scott said that the UT offense worked on getting players in the right state of mind and working on minimizing mistakes. To be successful in the SEC, consistency is key and mistakes are costly.

“We’ve got to tighten up the focus,” Scott said. “Every time you watch some football, I don’t care on what level, what hurts offenses and what hurts teams are mistakes in the wrong time, in a bad situation. And when you’re really trying to move forward and get some things going and get in a rhythm and you have a mistake, it always hurts and it sets you back.”

On defense, Shoop said that freshmen Deandre Johnson and Matthew Butler will have opportunities to step up this week.

“Deandre has played,” Shoop said. “He’s been in the rotation through the course of the year so I’m not too concerned about him. Matt is very diligent. He’s a hard worker. Probably his best quality is also his worst quality in that he’s very hard on himself. I’m really looking forward to seeing him play and it will be a great experience for him to play against a really great South Carolina team.”

Additional Quotes:

Butch Jones Weekly Press Conference
Oct. 9, 2017 | Knoxville, Tenn. | Ray and Lucy Hand Digital Studio

Tennessee Head Coach Butch Jones

Opening statement:
“Well, first of all, I hope everyone had a good bye week. It’s great to get started into game week preparations. First announcement I want to make is regarding Darrell Taylor. Darrell Taylor has been suspended indefinitely. There has been no timetable set on his return. He’ll have certain stipulations or requirements that must be met. There are multiple factors that have led to this decision. That will be my only statement at this point in time, regarding Darrell.

“In terms of the bye week, I thought we had a very productive bye week. We were able to get a lot of things accomplished from a lot of our freshmen and younger players that really haven’t accumulated reps over time. We tried to really manufacture game-speed repetitions. I think it was good for our health and we’ll get some individuals, hopefully, back here very shortly and just playing football.

“In terms of South Carolina, they are a very good football team. They’re going to be coming in here with a lot of confidence. When you look at their football team, they force you to execute in all three phases. They’re plus seven in the turnover margin. As we all know, they really scored four times on defense last week. One was taken off the board. Two of them occurred in the same possession or same drive. They are a really good football team with a lot of confidence. They are 4-2. Two of their losses have been very close as well. So, it’s a great challenge and a great opportunity and it all starts with preparation.”

On any players that might move to different positions:
“No, not really, in terms of position changes. It was really more important just to get these individuals repetitions, not just from an offensive and defensive standpoint, but also from a special teams standpoint as well. Some individuals haven’t played yet, like Shannon Reid. Can he help us on special teams? All of those things where we’re constantly growing our depth, I thought was really the biggest value in the bye week.”

On how the quarterbacks practiced during the bye week:
“We tried, just like every other position group, to manufacture as many game-like conditions as possible. From coming out to one-minute driving the football to the red-zone, to really try to put them in situations. We’ll still continue to compete just like anyone else and we’ll see how this week of preparation goes.”

On the progression of the wide receivers:
“They’re progressing. We’re going to need some individuals to step up and some youngsters to believe you’re not a freshman anymore. You’ve gone through a number of weeks now at this level. We’re going to need some individuals to step up and create some big plays down the road. We’re going to see a lot of man-to-man coverage. When you look at South Carolina, everything is about contested footballs. They do a great job of playing the ball in the air. They do a great job of breaking and driving on the football. In this conference, every throw is contested. So, I would say their development has been ongoing, but as an entire position group, we need more. We need more big plays. We need more explosive plays. Like we spoke about last week, it’s hard to play perfect. If you need big plays, a lot of the time it starts on the perimeter of your offense. Those individuals have worked very hard. They’re coming to work every day and I see them progressing, but we’re going to continue to need more as the season progresses.”

On what he is looking for when making quarterback decision:
“There are a number of things. First of all, there’s taking care of the football. We cannot turn the football over. It starts with making good decisions with the football. I think the quarterback characteristics of leadership, bringing energy every day, command of the offense and then it gets back to decision making. The decision making process is everything. Then it’s just consistency in performance, day in and day out, whether it’s practice or on gameday. You have to be able to make the routine plays, whether it’s a hitch, whether it’s a curl, whether it’s a slant, whether it’s a throw to the flat or whether it’s a read in the RPO game or decisions in the zone read. All those things go into it. So, I would say decision making, taking care of the football and the quarterback attributes are what we talk about all the time.”

On play of redshirt-sophomore linebacker Quart’e Sapp since move to starting lineup:
“I’ve been very pleased with him. I think Quart’e has continued to grow and develop each and every day of practice and each and every game as well. You can see he’s playing with a lot more confidence, he’s trusting his eyes and his instincts a lot more and he’s also now stepping up and becoming a vocal leader as well. We’ve been very pleased with the progression of him and I think the bye week really helped him because he was able to gain more repetitions. I see a young man who is getting more and more confident.”

On if players not in starting lineup are beginning to step up:
“I think it’s still ongoing. We practiced for three days. It’ll be an accumulation of last week’s preparation and this (week’s) preparation as well to see how it goes. I like the way the players came out and competed. I like their approach. I thought it was, if not the best bye week, one of the best bye weeks we’ve had here in a really long time. We were in full pads and I liked the way that we approached the bye week. I think that a lot of times you can approach the bye week as though it’s an off week and our players didn’t do that. They approached it as a week to get better and improve, so I like that from what I saw. Now we need to continue to grow and elevate that as we get into game week preparation.”

On if sophomore wide receiver Marquez Callaway will play on Saturday:
“Yes. He’ll actually be out in practice today and that’ll be big for us not only from an offensive standpoint, but also from a special teams standpoint as well.”

On what is holding offense back:
“I think it’s a number of things. I think it’s all 11 individuals working collectively as one. When you go back and watch the video, it is when nine individuals do the right thing, ten individuals do the right thing, and that’s why it’s the greatest team sport going. All 11 individuals have to be together as one. So that’s the first thing, just the overall discipline to execute. I think the big play has been missing from our offense. It’s hard to perfect. When we have an opportunity for a big play, we have to make that happen, whether it’s a 50-50 ball or whether it’s the receivers blocking out on the perimeter and getting our running backs extra running lanes, extra room. The overall strain up front – we talk about six seconds, three great efforts – we actually counted those out this week. In terms of what it takes, I think just a high level of consistency, execution, first down efficiency – it’s hard to recover when you’re second and 12, second and 14 – and then taking care of the football.”

On miscommunications between receivers and quarterback since Florida game and if he has considered huddling offense before plays:
“No, we’re going to continue to be a no-huddle football team. A lot goes into being a no-huddle football team. We always talk about when you’re teaching, it’s easier to slow down than it is to speed up. Our tempo does have to increase, we all know that. It wasn’t really verbal communication or a lack of communication. It was assignments. It was basically, ‘if I’ve got a five-yard hitch route, I’ve got a five-yard hitch route.’ It can’t be a 12-yard hitch route. It’s all those little nuances that really are born through the trust of working together day in and day out of practice. It really wasn’t a verbal thing or a body language thing. I think it was really just paying attention to the small details and the discipline. To have those details and then when you get in that type of environment, having the mental toughness to work through the crowd noise or whatever that entails of going on the road. We’ve worked exceptionally hard at that and it’s something that we’ll continue to stress.”

On the teams unity at this point in the season:
“I see these individuals every day. The locker room is strong. The team is strong. We have had a lot of individuals emerge as leaders during the bye week. I told the team that we must learn from the past mistakes but we must let the past go. We can’t get back the past. The only day we have is today. Our message has been to win the day. Our players are as strong and as committed as they have ever been. That lets me know that we are going to be okay. There are a lot of individuals who take pride in being a part of Tennessee football. The older players have been through this. They know that the only way around this is to put your head down and work every single day.”

On the offensive line:
“It’s a combination of a lot of things. We are eight and nine guys lined up in the box more. We are getting a lot more two-man. There are things they have done very well. It’s doesn’t come down to one group. It comes down to consistency, performance, discipline and execution over a 10 to 12 play drive. We must execute in critical moments and in situational football. All 11 individuals should work together as one. The mistakes that we have made have been catastrophic mistakes. We have worked very hard at it and we will continue to work hard at it.”

On dividing the reps between QBs:
“We have always handled that situation by giving QB1 the bulk of the reps. QB2 gets a lot of reps as well. Its divided probably 60/40. During the bye week it was 50/50. We have gotten Will McBride a lot of snaps as well because he is one snap away from being QB2. There is a lot that goes in it. I tell our QBs that they don’t have to get a physical rep to get a rep. They can get a leadership rep by standing with the wideouts and going through their progression.  I know you guys (the media) are only out there for a few periods during practice but when we are in team offense, the quarterbacks stand fifteen yards behind the play and go through their drops and their progression.”

Redshirt Senior Offensive Lineman Brett Kendrick

On how the bye week went:
“I think the bye week may have been the most successful since I have been here. We had three very good practices. They were all full-pad practices, so we had some physicality. We had some good inside run periods against the defense. I think it was really productive, and I definitely think we got better.”

On what stands out about South Carolina’s defense:
“Obviously, they have a very active defense. Skai Moore is probably one of the best linebackers in the SEC, so we have a lot of respect for him. They scored three times on defense last week, so we have to take care of the ball. That has been something we have struggled with but we focused on that during the bye week. We have to take care of the ball and help our defense out. ”

On what he wants to get out of the last seven games:
“I want to get seven wins out of them. I would like to finish the year out strong. We talk about leaving a legacy, and I want to leave a legacy that our seniors turned the team around and ended on a good note.”

Senior Defensive Lineman Kendal Vickers

On being the team leader:
“I mean, there’s only so much you can say at a point, but I really just try to stress that we have a lot of season left. We have a lot to play for. We just have to keep grinding. We just have to keep going and things will fall in our way, in our direction. Just go out and work, that’s all we can do. We can control what we can control.”

On players stepping up on the defensive:
“Yeah, Kyle Phillips, he’s made a few plays for us this year already and we’re just going to need him to keep rolling. We have a lot of young guys. Matthew Butler is going to have to step up too because we are going to need him. I think he is ready for it. He works extremely hard. He’s always asking questions, always trying to get better, so I’m excited for him to finally get on the field.”

On the depth of the defensive line:
“It won’t be a concern because those guys that are going to be on the field playing, they’ll be working hard to prepare their body and prepare their minds for it. It’ll be alright.”

On the mindset of the team:
“Yeah, we’re good. We’re ready to get after it. We got this weekend off to kind of be like to ourselves, a little bit, kind of rest our bodies, but it’s go time now. There are seven games left. We have a lot to play for and I think we’re ready to go.”

On South Carolina and their offense:
“I know their quarterback is returning from last year, he was really young last year. He has a lot of experience.  They have a bunch of play makers on the receivers. I want to say they had a couple of o-line missing last week, but I know it’s Tennessee-South Carolina. I know they’re going to come out and play their butts off against us and they do that every year.”

Tennessee Offensive Coordinator/TEs Coach Larry Scott

On some of the things he saw as issues he wanted to clean up during the bye week:
“First and foremost is psychologically get our minds right. Just like anything else in life you’ve got to start and then build the mental psyche first and we wanted to head that off. Number two, we wanted to address some of the calming issues that continue to be issues that are self-inflicted wounds that we need to make sure that we clean up, which is just coming down to detailed things. And then number three is really to get back out on the grass and just play football. At the end of the day that’s what it is, it’s about finding a way to continue moving forward. I tell them all the time and I told them before I left too, the things that have happened to you in the past are just like life experiences, they’re meant to help you grow. You’re not meant to die on them so let’s not do that, let’s make sure we’re putting our best foot forward and moving forward each and every opportunity we get to do that.”

On how to limit the big mistakes that are holding back the offense:
“Focus. We’ve got to tighten up the focus. It’s all the little things. You watch a game and you do get a chance to sit back and watch some football, every time you watch some football, I don’t care on what level, what hurts offenses and what hurts teams, mistakes in the wrong time, in a bad situation. And when you’re really trying to move forward and get some things going and get in a rhythm and you have a mistake, it always hurts and it sets you back. Those are the things that we’ve got to make sure we’re doing all the things that are in our control that we’ve got to take care of.”

On what he needs to see at quarterback and how open the competition is:
“For me it’s open. You’ve got to have a guy that can demonstrate a certain level of consistency. And then it has to be continuous consistency, if that makes sense. It can’t be this drive here, that drive there, off here, off there and it starts with everything. I talk to them all the time constantly about, don’t go play quarterback, be the quarterback, all time. That is a process and what we need is someone to really take the next step in that process and really start to be a quarterback.”

On Skai Moore’s impact on the South Carolina defense:
“I know Skai personally, I know Skai very well being out of south Florida. He’s a really good player. He’s a mature player. He got hurt last year and had another whole year to continue to develop his body and those things and he looks like that player right now year two in that defense. He plays fast, he plays physical, he’s a smart player.”

Tennessee Defensive Coordinator Bob Shoop

On the changes to the defensive line this weekend:
“I know Coach already addressed that situation so I’ll let his statement stand. I always talk to the players about this. It’s next man up mentality and it’s an opportunity. I’m really looking forward to seeing Kyle Phillips. He’s played really well and he’ll get the start with Jonathan Kongbo. It’s an opportunity now for Matthew Butler and Deandre Johnson who are two young players. Deandre had a good game against Indiana State and Matt has practiced really hard and pretty well and had a good bye week. Those are the four guys that we’ll play and we’ll go from there.

“On passing downs you may see some creativity. We may throw Austin Smith in there and do some things with him as a fourth rusher or something along those lines. We’ll put our best pass rushers in.”

On the readiness of freshmen defensive linemen Deandre Johnson and Matthew Butler:
“Deandre has played. He’s been in the rotation through the course of the year so I’m not too concerned about him. Matt is very diligent. He’s a hard worker. Probably his best quality is also his worst quality in that he’s very hard on himself. I’m really looking forward to seeing him play and it will be a great experience for him to play against a really great South Carolina team.”

On facing South Carolina’s offensive line:
“We’ve watched all the games and we know some of the guys from last year. We think at least two of them will be back from injury as well. We’re going to have to play well up front. Early in the season they were probably a throw first, run second team. They average under 100 yards a game rushing, but they’ve gotten better each week. In the games that they’ve won, they’ve run the ball pretty efficiently. In the games that they’ve lost (they didn’t efficiently), whether it be the fact that they were behind and having to throw or that’s what they chose to do. Our objective is to do our best to stop the run. That’s what we need to do to win the game.”

On sophomore defensive back Nigel Warrior’s progression:
“I’m not going to sit here and say we played well against Georgia, but I think for two and a half or three quarters we played hard. He really made some good open field tackles. He made some big league safety tackles. He and I had a conversation today. There’s 14 teams in the league and 10 have two or more losses. In the NFL, there are 32 teams and 21 of the 32 NFL teams are 3-2 or 2-3. The nature of the beast is that it’s competitive. We’re playing against good teams week in and week out. We still have a chance to be a really good team and that’s what we need to do. We need to get our eyes focused in the right direction and take care of South Carolina this week. That’s what he’s done a good job of.  He’s stayed focused. Has he had moments where he’s been an immature kid? Yes, but they are few and far between now. Georgia was a real bright spot for him. He competed really well. He and I had a long conversation about some individual goals for him today. I told him, ‘You can emerge as an individual leader for this team. You can be an All-Conference candidate now. You need to play the pass a little better and you needs to be a little bit more vocal. You need to take that leadership role.’ I just reminded him that I had his back. I like Nigel a lot and he and I have a good relationship. I said, ‘Are we good?’ He said, ‘Coach, you’re my guy. I’ve got you.’ I was pretty excited to hear him say that because I think Nigel has tremendous potential and watching him grow has been really kind of fun. I’m not going to say that he hasn’t had some slip ups, but he’s been a really positive player.”

-UT Athletics