The Tennessee Volunteers opened up fall practice Friday night, and it was the first time wearing the orange and white for many Vols. Eighteen newcomers joined the Vols in the summer, joining the fourteen other new players that enrolled early in the spring.
For such a young team, just learning the simple things can’t be taken for granted.
“Everything is about forming habits,” head coach Butch Jones said after practice. “Championship football teams have championship practices. You win with consistency and continuity.”
It’s easy for players to look in shape after just the first day, but the next week offers a grind unfamiliar to the new players. There is a practice every day for the next week, and the team’s first two-a-day practice session comes up next Saturday.
Butch Jones has made conditioning a point of emphasis for his young team.
“Football rewards those who are in great condition,” Jones said. “Football is a lifestyle.”
Jones knows having experienced players on such a young is invaluable. Players like A.J. Johnson, Danny O’Brien, Brian Randolph and Marcus Jackson can provide much needed leadership to the fresh faces suiting up this fall.
“We’re always working on the little things,” senior linebacker A.J. Johnson said, “We have to show the news guys the right way.”
Like Johnson, redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Danny O’Brien wants the freshmen to learn quickly and mesh with the team as soon as possible.
“Off the field, we’re always spending time together,” O’Brien said. “We’ve all spent a couple weekends together, even had some cookouts together.
“It’s all about getting comfortable with each other, knowing the other guy beside you has your back.”
For redshirt junior safety Brian Randolph, developing consistency is a must during the fall practices. “We’re trying to play game ten like game one,” Randolph said, “It’s about making sure everyone is playing the same call, even if it’s the wrong call. Everyone has to be on that same read and play together.”
Much like Butch Jones, redshirt junior offensive lineman Marcus Jackson has stressed the importance of “championship practices.” To him, games and practices should be viewed as one in the same.
“You have to practice like it’s a game,” Jackson said, “I tell the freshmen that every day.”
The goal of every player this season is to make it back to a bowl game for the first time since 2010. For a player like A.J. Johnson who has received multiple personal accolades but has never reached the postseason, it’s all that matters.
When asked of the importance of returning for his senior season and reaching the postseason, Johnson shook his head and replied, “I didn’t come back to not win a bowl game.”
