Here we go again. Butch Jones is at the two-and-a-half-years mark of his Tennessee tenure.  As was the case with Derek Dooley (whose program was imploding) and Cuonzo Martin (whose program was just weeks from a Sweet Sixteen run), the Vols’ virtual yard is littered with snarky tweets, messageboard posts pushing unconfirmed rumors, and cyber-speculation regarding unrealistic […]

Last week, I took a by-the-numbers look at Tennessee’s passing game.  SEC stats from 2012 through 2014 (post-expansion) showed that the Volunteers are in for a long year if they can’t up their yards-per-pass-attempt average.  Soon. Well, there’s another key area in which this year’s Vols are struggling and it has to do with their […]

Years ago my minister father gave me a tip regarding public speaking.  “There’s what you say and there’s what they hear.”  The meaning is that each member of the audience comes into a speech (or sermon or television show) from a different place.  Where each listener’s head is will impact how they interpret the message […]

On Wednesday night, I sat down to dinner with two members of my Sports Source panel.  Three hours later, former Vols Daniel Hood, Will Overstreet and I had dissected Tennessee’s 2-2 start.  When the bill was paid — they made me pick up the tab, naturally — we left with a notepad full of observations […]

On Sunday’s Sports Source, former Vol and NFL defensive lineman Will Overstreet — who’s become a successful entrepreneur post-football — compared Tennessee’s fanbase to the workers at a company.  To paraphrase his proverb… “Twenty percent of the people will ALWAYS be positive.  Twenty percent of the people will ALWAYS be negative.  The remaining 60 percent […]

There have been heavy run teams that have won in the Southeastern Conference.  That’s the good news for Vol fans. But Tennessee should currently be categorized as a heavy run team not only because of ground success but because its passing game — or “throw game,” as Butch Jones calls it — is abysmal.  And […]

Just a few random thoughts as Tennessee prepares to face Florida on Saturday afternoon in Gainesville: 1. I’ve been rather amazed at the number of people actively spinning information in an anti-Jones direction the past couple of weeks.  This is the world we live in.  Social media provides everyone a voice and the voices of […]

Here’s guessing you’ve heard what I’ve heard.  “This is the single biggest game of Butch Jones’ career.”  Tennessee’s visit to Florida is being billed as a make or break game for the Vols’ third-year coach. It’s easy to understand why.  Tennessee fans are sick of losing after about 20 years of mostly good — sometimes […]

When it comes to Saturday’s Tennessee/Florida battle in Gainesville, everyone knows its importance to the fanbase.  But what happens after a win… or a loss? I asked former VFL Jacob Gilliam — who played on last year’s squad — if he thought there was any way this team might let down or quit after a Volunteer […]