In Defense of Butch Jones

There is no defense of Butch Jones. He is what he is. We can argue semantics. We can argue playcalling.

At the end of the day, his resume speaks for itself. Tenny himself said eventually people will tell you who they are. He's told us. Loud and clear. We bought the cliche, and it happens. We've been through hell as a program for a while now. Everyone was looking for something to cling to, even when we knew this hire was a joke to start with.

 

And that's why Butch needs to say It's my fault and we'll get better. Don't say anything else, at all.

 

I'm fine with Butch's recruiting. I know what to expect from this staff, for now, on gameday. It's the next hire that I'm worried about.

 

"I'm not excuse-making!.....

We are just so young!"

 

I have begun to question our O line coach. While watching Kerberson pass block. Every time he set up to pass protect he lead with his head. You cannot pass block leading with your head period. If you lead with your head, any D linemen will simply grab your shoulder and go right by you. Most of the time in High school coaching, my players took their helmets off to do live pass protection. You will NOT lead with your head but once, that I promise. He does not use his hands properly. He does not get any separation from the defender. By separation I mean keeping him at arms length where you can control him. These are just simple fundamentals IMHO.

 

Great points, OV.

 

My seven year old son experienced this last week when he asked me why that guy grabbed him and threw him to the ground (he was playing TE in a seven man line). "Dad! He just grabbed me and threw me down!"

Yep, son, the defense can do that.

He is seven.

 

I mentioned this in general terms after the OU game. You know infinitely more on this topic, but it is clear they are not fundamentally sound. At all. They have the bodies, but no technique. That is why they look like turnstiles.

 

Priest made this point Saturday on the radio broadcast about both tackles.

 

Damn, even virgin clergy know.

 

I, to some extent, get and expected the O-line to have their struggles.

What I didn't expect and refuse to accept that it's totally youth after 5 games. The line hasn't gotten better at all. I'm not expecting a redo of the late 90s this year, but My God, at least hold a block for two seconds occasionally on third down.

Some of my anger towards the OC that shall not be named is turning to Mahoney as well. The OC who will not be named is bad, but the awful line play is making him look worse.

 

Its obvious just watching that they are lacking basic fundamentals.

 

@Vol_Football: JONES: We’ll continue to do everything we can to play to the strengths of our players. I’m proud of them, they keep working.

 

If the O-line can't block, it doesn't matter what the OC calls. Probably the reason that we do all quick passes, or try to any way.

 

What I want to know is how a guy ascends to an OL position coach at the D-1 level, I don't care if it's Tennessee or Cincinnati or North Texas, and doesn't teach fundamentals

 

Nah, don't worry about Gruden. He'll do well here.

 

Had we done this on the last drive of the 3rd quarter and every drive following that we walk out of Neyland Saturday with a W.

 

If I saw improvement on the offensive side of the ball, I'd probably have held my tongue. Not even looking good, just improvement. The line isn't getting better. A lot of Hurd's yards were situations where the defense was playing very soft. It wasn't dominant line play that got them.

Of everything, it's the most concerning thing to me right now.

 

Me too. We have been blaming the wrong person for 2 years in my opinion, for our offensive woes. I think Butch and the OC are trying to cover up for his lack of teaching kids. If you look at the way the line played last year with all that obvious talent, it not much difference in what we are seeing now, just more obivious.

 

That's the frustrating part. Butch acts as if our o-line just showed up to their first day of fall practice. They've haven't made any discernible improvement almost halfway through the season.