Reports of Locker Room Dissension

[Sara Clark]

The Tennessee Vols’ 2019 season is off to a disastrous start.

Tennessee should be a 3-1 right now. Instead, the Vols are 1-3 and there’s a good chance they’ll soon be 1-6, with tough matchups against Georgia, Mississippi State and Alabama coming up in October.

Losing is never easy. I don’t know many ultra-competitive people that taking losing well.

So when a report of tension in the Vols’ locker room surfaces, it’s not exactly shocking.

On Monday, The Athletic reported that there was “a lot of tension” in the Tennessee locker room after the Vols’ loss to the Florida Gators.


According to the report, there were “multiple, loud disputes” after the game that centered around who deserved the blame for “several mistakes throughout the game”. The Athletic also noted that UT’s quarterback situation has “increased tensions”.



Dissension in the locker room is obviously never a good thing.

But I also don’t think it’s the end of the world. And I really don’t think it should bother Vol fans.

Losing isn’t fun. Tennessee’s players should be pissed off they’re losing. And they should be searching for answers. Pretending everything is great won’t solve anything.

This is a completely normal response to a 1-3 start. We’re talking about a locker room full of 18-22 year olds and their coaches. That’s a lot of people. Not everyone is going to see eye to eye. It’s just life. And adversity can bring out the best and the worst in people.

Maybe this means some of UT’s players leave the program. It’s certainly possible that some of the tension is between “Butch Jones recruited players” and “Jeremy Pruitt recruited players”.

Will some of the “Butch players” leave the program in the coming weeks?

I’d say there’s a good chance that happens.

And maybe it’s what needs to happen.

If there are players who aren’t all in at Tennessee, then it’s probably best that the program and those players part ways.

By the way, I don’t think The Athletic is trying to stoke the fire by reporting on the state of Tennessee’s locker room. I think this is just what journalists are supposed to do. And The Athletic provides quality journalism. It’s not their job to make everything appear perfect. It’s their job to inform.

But at the same time, I don’t think it’s a big deal. Locker room disputes happen. Most of the time we never hear a word about them. Only when a team is losing does it become a major story.

If Tennessee starts winning, it won’t matter who yelled at who.

 

[hog88]

Locker room disputes happen on every team, they just happen on poorly coached teams more often.

 

[Booker512]

Yayyyy. Players leaving. Bout to have Georgia destroy our souls. Just got blown out by our primary rival. Head coach looks checked out. Athletic director might be too prideful to admit mistake.

Wooooo hoooooo

 

[CA_Vol]

A team full of losers with more fight in the locker room than the field. SMDH

 

[GTBATV]

We have been hearing about some players not buying in, giving effort for a while now. No surprise that there are going to be fights and blaming. Like Hog88 said, it happens on every team.

 

[Matt2496]

Everything is just fine.

 

[tennesseepride84]

''UT's quarterback situation has increased tensions''. Interesting

 

[JCHateSteve]

I'd be more worried if the weren't pissed off. There are about a thousand things to be concerned about with this team. QB play, transfers, lack of effort, and regression. The fact thst they're pissed off about being 1-3 is one of the few normal/positive signs I've seen out of this team.

 

[volfannbama]

Sounds like a stabilizing program. Exciting

 

[Vol524]

I have no doubt there is tension on the team. That just means some of the players hate losing and some don't seem to care. I would be really worried if there wasn't tension. During these times often the players that care will find a leader. Lord knows we need a field leader in the worst kind of way. I hope someone steps up and gets in the grill of some of our dead wood. They need to get out of the locker room. They are a Cancer on the Team and it can spread. I would love to see a few of the hit the transfer portal. Only thing is I am not sure how many other teams will take them. SMH

 

[Volnut]

Locker room dissension as reported by David Ubben, ok!

 

[Volbrando]

actually this is encouraging - half of the time it looked like they don't care... good to hear someone does

 

[Gandalf]

I am glad to see that players are getting in the faces of those who they dont think are pulling their weight. Funny that Swain mentioned this very thing after BYU. Good to see that all the team doesnt expect to lose and is unwilling to stay there. At the end of the day, its not the coaches, its the team that has to decide they are going to overcome, they are going to become winners no matter who they face on the field, no matter what that takes.

 

[jimed1]

I think one of the problems the team has is not having a strong leader in the locker room like an Al Wilson Type. The QB, whoever it is, needs to take control and lead as well.

 

[VOLED]

I would hope that there is some locker room dissension.

 

[BDP!]

The Tennessee Vols’ 2019 season is off to a disastrous start.

Tennessee should be a 3-1 right now. Instead, the Vols are 1-3 and there’s a good chance they’ll soon be 1-6, with tough matchups against Georgia, Mississippi State and Alabama coming up in October.

Losing is never easy. I don’t know many ultra-competitive people that taking losing well.

So when a report of tension in the Vols’ locker room surfaces, it’s not exactly shocking.

On Monday, The Athletic reported that there was “a lot of tension” in the Tennessee locker room after the Vols’ loss to the Florida Gators.


According to the report, there were “multiple, loud disputes” after the game that centered around who deserved the blame for “several mistakes throughout the game”. The Athletic also noted that UT’s quarterback situation has “increased tensions”.



Dissension in the locker room is obviously never a good thing.

But I also don’t think it’s the end of the world. And I really don’t think it should bother Vol fans.

Losing isn’t fun. Tennessee’s players should be pissed off they’re losing. And they should be searching for answers. Pretending everything is great won’t solve anything.

This is a completely normal response to a 1-3 start. We’re talking about a locker room full of 18-22 year olds and their coaches. That’s a lot of people. Not everyone is going to see eye to eye. It’s just life. And adversity can bring out the best and the worst in people.

Maybe this means some of UT’s players leave the program. It’s certainly possible that some of the tension is between “Butch Jones recruited players” and “Jeremy Pruitt recruited players”.

Will some of the “Butch players” leave the program in the coming weeks?

I’d say there’s a good chance that happens.

And maybe it’s what needs to happen.

If there are players who aren’t all in at Tennessee, then it’s probably best that the program and those players part ways.

By the way, I don’t think The Athletic is trying to stoke the fire by reporting on the state of Tennessee’s locker room. I think this is just what journalists are supposed to do. And The Athletic provides quality journalism. It’s not their job to make everything appear perfect. It’s their job to inform.

But at the same time, I don’t think it’s a big deal. Locker room disputes happen. Most of the time we never hear a word about them. Only when a team is losing does it become a major story.

If Tennessee starts winning, it won’t matter who yelled at who.

There should be some disputes. We're not playing well right now and the players need to hold themselves accountable

 

[BleedinOrange98]

 

[hmhawk]

I'm paraphrasing but the tv announcers said in the 4th qtr that Pruitt should go all out and let the quitters and the hard players separate themselves. Somebody else will remember better than me.

 

[sjt18]

One of the disputes started on the sideline following a JG interception. I think it was Callaway he tried to blame but it looked like JG misread the coverage (go figure).

If the players do not believe in JG... and they have every reason not to... then that will divide the team until either he or his replacement earns the trust and respect of all the other players.

 

[JMSqb11]

The Tennessee Vols’ 2019 season is off to a disastrous start.

Tennessee should be a 3-1 right now. Instead, the Vols are 1-3 and there’s a good chance they’ll soon be 1-6, with tough matchups against Georgia, Mississippi State and Alabama coming up in October.

Losing is never easy. I don’t know many ultra-competitive people that taking losing well.

So when a report of tension in the Vols’ locker room surfaces, it’s not exactly shocking.

On Monday, The Athletic reported that there was “a lot of tension” in the Tennessee locker room after the Vols’ loss to the Florida Gators.


According to the report, there were “multiple, loud disputes” after the game that centered around who deserved the blame for “several mistakes throughout the game”. The Athletic also noted that UT’s quarterback situation has “increased tensions”.



Dissension in the locker room is obviously never a good thing.

But I also don’t think it’s the end of the world. And I really don’t think it should bother Vol fans.

Losing isn’t fun. Tennessee’s players should be pissed off they’re losing. And they should be searching for answers. Pretending everything is great won’t solve anything.

This is a completely normal response to a 1-3 start. We’re talking about a locker room full of 18-22 year olds and their coaches. That’s a lot of people. Not everyone is going to see eye to eye. It’s just life. And adversity can bring out the best and the worst in people.

Maybe this means some of UT’s players leave the program. It’s certainly possible that some of the tension is between “Butch Jones recruited players” and “Jeremy Pruitt recruited players”.

Will some of the “Butch players” leave the program in the coming weeks?

I’d say there’s a good chance that happens.

And maybe it’s what needs to happen.

If there are players who aren’t all in at Tennessee, then it’s probably best that the program and those players part ways.

By the way, I don’t think The Athletic is trying to stoke the fire by reporting on the state of Tennessee’s locker room. I think this is just what journalists are supposed to do. And The Athletic provides quality journalism. It’s not their job to make everything appear perfect. It’s their job to inform.

But at the same time, I don’t think it’s a big deal. Locker room disputes happen. Most of the time we never hear a word about them. Only when a team is losing does it become a major story.

If Tennessee starts winning, it won’t matter who yelled at who.

Let me guess, David Ubben wrote the article?

He's like Rucker-lite.....

 

[JMSqb11]

IT IS MAURER TIME

 

[camp_steveo]

I thought dissension meant dissenting from the coaches. I guess it could mean dissenting within the players.

 

[DiderotsGhost]

Let's go back to 2017 and remind ourselves that Jauan Jennings was kicked off the team for being angry about losing and venting about it. Yes, some have said "there's more to the story", but there's also less to it. The fact that very few players seemed to care about the struggles in 2017 (with guys like Jennings and Bituli being the exceptions) said a lot about the attitude of the team.

I don't think Butch ever dug too deep when recruiting players. He took a bunch of athletic prospects and hoped some of them worked out. This was a methodology that worked pretty well back in the 1970s when you could recruit 85 players in a single class (as Johnny Majors did at Pitt). Not so much in this era of 25 recruits. You can't have a 30% success rate in 2019 like you could in 1972. And it's worse today than it was in 2013 and 2014 when Butch took 30+ recruits in those first few classes.

Pruitt is ahead of the curve on this and Butch was behind it. Butch built a team of guys with athletic talent and sometimes they were great (Dobbs, Barnett, Kamara) and sometimes they completely lacked inner drive. Pruitt has been looking for guys with passion and determination who play hard. It's a culture clash. Albeit, there are some of the Butch recruits that fit into the Pruitt culture (Jennings, Bituli, D-Taylor, a few others), but you can definitely see a difference on the field.

Though, let's just be honest ... the QB situation was bound to cause controversy. We win that BYU game if JG plays like an average QB. We don't win Florida without a great QB, but we also don't get blown out by 31 points; that should've been a much closer game. Meanwhile, on the other sideline, say what you will about the Shark-Humper (i.e. Jim McElwain), but his staff found the #124 rated QB in the 2016 class and he looks like one of the best QBs in the SEC right now. Butch found a bunch of paper 4 stars that don't look so great when you dig beneath the surface.

I don't know if Pruitt will get it done or not, but I think people are deluding themselves if they think he was dealt great cards these first 2 years.

 

[Scorpio]

The Tennessee Vols’ 2019 season is off to a disastrous start.

Tennessee should be a 3-1 right now. Instead, the Vols are 1-3 and there’s a good chance they’ll soon be 1-6, with tough matchups against Georgia, Mississippi State and Alabama coming up in October.

Losing is never easy. I don’t know many ultra-competitive people that taking losing well.

So when a report of tension in the Vols’ locker room surfaces, it’s not exactly shocking.

On Monday, The Athletic reported that there was “a lot of tension” in the Tennessee locker room after the Vols’ loss to the Florida Gators.


According to the report, there were “multiple, loud disputes” after the game that centered around who deserved the blame for “several mistakes throughout the game”. The Athletic also noted that UT’s quarterback situation has “increased tensions”.



Dissension in the locker room is obviously never a good thing.

But I also don’t think it’s the end of the world. And I really don’t think it should bother Vol fans.

Losing isn’t fun. Tennessee’s players should be pissed off they’re losing. And they should be searching for answers. Pretending everything is great won’t solve anything.

This is a completely normal response to a 1-3 start. We’re talking about a locker room full of 18-22 year olds and their coaches. That’s a lot of people. Not everyone is going to see eye to eye. It’s just life. And adversity can bring out the best and the worst in people.

Maybe this means some of UT’s players leave the program. It’s certainly possible that some of the tension is between “Butch Jones recruited players” and “Jeremy Pruitt recruited players”.

Will some of the “Butch players” leave the program in the coming weeks?

I’d say there’s a good chance that happens.

And maybe it’s what needs to happen.

If there are players who aren’t all in at Tennessee, then it’s probably best that the program and those players part ways.

By the way, I don’t think The Athletic is trying to stoke the fire by reporting on the state of Tennessee’s locker room. I think this is just what journalists are supposed to do. And The Athletic provides quality journalism. It’s not their job to make everything appear perfect. It’s their job to inform.

But at the same time, I don’t think it’s a big deal. Locker room disputes happen. Most of the time we never hear a word about them. Only when a team is losing does it become a major story.

If Tennessee starts winning, it won’t matter who yelled at who.

When are they gonna start winning? Sure as Hell not this year. By the way,it would be nice if some of Pruitt's players left also.

 

[JMSqb11]

Let's go back to 2017 and remind ourselves that Jauan Jennings was kicked off the team for being angry about losing and venting about it. Yes, some have said "there's more to the story", but there's also less to it. The fact that very few players seemed to care about the struggles in 2017 (with guys like Jennings and Bituli being the exceptions) said a lot about the attitude of the team.

I don't think Butch ever dug too deep when recruiting players. He took a bunch of athletic prospects and hoped some of them worked out. This was a methodology that worked pretty well back in the 1970s when you could recruit 85 players in a single class (as Johnny Majors did at Pitt). Not so much in this era of 25 recruits. You can't have a 30% success rate in 2019 like you could in 1972. And it's worse today than it was in 2013 and 2014 when Butch took over and he could take 30+ recruits in those first few classes.

Pruitt is ahead of the curve on this and Butch was behind it. Butch built a team of guys with athletic talent and sometimes they were great (Dobbs, Barnett, Kamara) and sometimes they completely lacked inner drive. Pruitt has been looking for guys with passion and determination who play hard. It's a culture clash. Albeit, there are some of the Butch recruits that fit into the Pruitt culture (Jennings, Bituli, D-Taylor, a few others), but you can definitely see a difference on the field.

Though, let's just be honest ... the QB situation was bound to cause controversy. We win that BYU game if JG plays like an average QB. We don't win Florida without a great QB, but we also don't get blown out by 31 points with a decent QB. Meanwhile, on the other sideline, say what you will about the Shark-Humper (i.e. Jim McElwain), but his staff found the #124 rated QB in the 2016 class and he looks like one of the best QBs in the SEC right now. Butch found a bunch of paper 4 stars that don't look so great when you dig beneath the surface.

I don't know if Pruitt will get it done or not, but I think people are deluding themselves if they think he was dealt great cards these first 2 years.

I never understood the Jennings bashing after his Instagram Rant. Like that was most passion showed by a Vol player since the UGA Hail Mary. Honestly, after the UGA game is when everything went down hill for Butch and his team.