Butch Jones estimated the total to be 15 years.
Through multiple assistant coaching stops and now three head-coaching gigs, the squads which UT’s first-year head coach has been affiliated with have always executed the same punt scheme.
That is why he shouldered the blame when Western Kentucky broke through the Vols punt protection on Saturday and blocked a Michael Palardy punt.
It resulted in a Western Kentucky touchdown that sliced Tennessee’s lead to 31-17 just before halftime.
The botched play ultimately failed to impact the outcome of the game, but it was enough to make Jones cringe when addressing what happened on Monday.
“I’m responsible for it,” Jones said. “I coach the punt. We’ve had very few punt blocks in – I want to say – 15 years of running this punt.”
In Derek Dooley’s tenure as UT coach, the Vols had just one punt blocked.
Over Jones’ three years at Cincinnati, the Bearcats also had just one punt blocked.
Jones makes special teams a point of emphasis at practice, often saving his loudest ravings for the imperfections that surface in punt drills.
“We spend as much time on punt as any aspect in our football program,” he reiterated on Monday. “It’s inexcusable.”
Through two games in 2013, Palardy is averaging 45.4 yards per punt while three of his five punts have been downed inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, including one that came to rest at the 2-yard line on Saturday.
The UT senior handles the Vols punting, place-kicking and kickoff duties. He’s 2-for-2 on field goal attempts for the year and 13-for-13 on extra-point attempts.
Despite the blocked punt against WKU, Palardy is optimistic about the state of UT’s special teams.
“I think we’ve done a pretty solid job,” Palardy said. “I think that there’s still room for improvement like every other position in every other phase of the game.”
Jones emphasized that Saturday’s mistake will get corrected and Palardy respects his coach’s persistence with the unit.
“I haven’t seen anyone who is so in tune with the punt team,” Palardy said. “He says it’s his favorite part of practice and the best period of the day is punt team. I love it. I love his enthusiasm for special teams. I think it puts a lot more confidence in me and the whole special teams as a group.”
Palardy said Jones is equally focused on special teams off the practice field, making time to dissect it in the film room.
“He’s as passionate about what he does inside the film room as he is on the field,” Palardy said. “That’s what we love. We love his passion and his enthusiasm for special teams because that’s what I’ve been doing all my life.”
With Devrin Young out after breaking his hand, UT’s punt and kick return duties shifted hands on Saturday. Wide receiver Vincent Dallas fielded kickoffs while fellow receiver Jacob Carter handled punt returns.
According to the depth chart released at the beginning of the week, Dallas and Carter – both juniors – will remain in those roles against Oregon on Saturday.
“I enjoyed (returning punts), but it wasn’t anything too different,” Carter said. “I do it every day in practice so I was pretty used to it. It was fun doing it in front of all the fans and in the stadium.”
