Tennessee was 2016’s heavy favorite to win the SEC East. Tennessee flops. Butch Jones responds: “They’ve won the biggest championship — that’s the championship of life…”
Fast forward to February, 2017. Tennessee comes out of national signing day with a middling result by SEC standards. Two of its permanent opponents, Alabama and Georgia, dominate the final recruiting class rankings. Butch Jones responds:
“We’ve spoken about the competitive nature, and I think that’s really, really big in today’s world,” Jones said. Everyone gets into the whole two-star, three-star, four-star, five-star thing. The only five-star that we even concern ourselves with is a five-star heart.
“We want five-star hearts and five-star competitors.”
I’m sensing a pattern here.
Jones and Tennessee director of player personnel Bob Welton said they evaluate a player’s competitive spirit throughout the recruiting process, and not just on the football field, basketball court or baseball diamond.
The Vols entertain recruits with games throughout their weekends in Knoxville. They play games on campus, go bowling downtown and play ping pong, billiards, corn hole and even charades during trips to Jones’ house.
Welton said Tennessee isn’t just entertaining the players in those situations. He said they’re also evaluating them.
“It could be something as a simple as a corn hole game, but our guys are competing, talking trash,” Welton said. “We watch that. We observe that. We’ve actually shied away from some kids on visits when all these kids are out there competing, and that kid’s over there just sitting. That tells you a lot about a kid.
“That competitiveness, you can’t coach it, and you usually can’t change it once you get ‘em. You can’t put that into a kid. They have to be born with it and live with it.”
I can’t wait ’til Booch proclaims his team the SEC’s 2017 corn hole champions. Is there a bonus for that in his contract?
Get The Picture 
I’ll comment after next years game in Knoxville.
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Obviously, because the only way you can evaluate the foolishness of someone’s comments is by whether or not Georgia wins.
Some of you make me think I should quit bothering to blog anymore.
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Man, you can get defensive. I love your blog but you can have some thin skin when you dive into the comments section.
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I’m not defensive. It’s a reaction to what is, at heart, a smug argument.
If my skin were as thin as you suggest, I’d just block comments.
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“If my skin were as thin as you suggest, I’d just block comments.”
You’d also need to wear wool sweaters more often.
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Good point.
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Well if continue to call someone foolish because you don’t understand or agree with their post then maybe I just should avoid your smart ass replies by avoiding this blog?
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Foolishness was a reference to Jones’ remarks, not your comment.
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Does that make you a Champion of Life?
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Dude all this reminds me of that grueling game of ping pong I played back in 06. It was the third set, sweat pouring off me after having already thrown up twice. We gutted out a tie that lasted through 22 sets. My vision was blurry and I thought I might pass out from shear exhaustion but I pushed through the pain to victory. I’d like to think I could compete at UT with a heart like that. Not sure I would meet all the physical requirements but quite obviously I’m a competitor.
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I’ve got a comment for ya…Nothing sucks like a Big Orange..
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Crack don’t smoke itself.
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That asshole missed his calling. He should be preaching sermons in some huge stadium like that douche in Houston.
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I will never forget the first time I heard the term “Cornhole”. My High school football coach was using it to describe my buddy’s scrimmage line stance.
Cornhole Champions indeed. Lofty goal, Vols.Lofty goal.
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Aw DMK, that dude you speak of provides comfort and guidance to millions. Haven’t checked the UT blog, but I bet Booch ain’t comfortably guiding anyone over there.
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Comfort is only as good as the claims it’s based on are true, IYAM.
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I was being snarky.
Not a fan of snake oil salesmen peddling salvation to the heathen throng through mass media, albeit for a small donation so we can continue the good work,
And keep the lights on in the mansion. And Mama’s Mercedes’ (plural) are almost a year old. And the Jet Ranger pilot needs a raise.
I’ll spend my excess on fundage on beer, thank you very much. Don’t cry for my heathen ass, preacher, and if I catch you staring at my wife’s ass like that again …….
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My bad, misunderstood ya the first time. Glad you see through Osteen and his ilk. They make life a lot harder for the good guys out there.
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No problem and true. Pretty sure Jesus wasn’t in it for the money.
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I think Booch needs McGarity to win him some reserve fund championships so they can pool their rationalization skills to form one, great big rationalization–one of the greatest rationalizations of our era.
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Man I really liked what I saw in that 5 stars game films but he just lacks that compeditive spirit at corn hole. I mean who doesn’t like corn hole? Guess we will have to pass on that offer.
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You’ve got to go to Penn State to get consistently corn holed.
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thank you.
Corn hole used to be a very specific euphemism, How it switched to a carefree game of beanbags is beyond me.
My poor grandparents were reading a wedding announcement a few years ago and the story made reference to the wedding party all playing corn hole at the reception. They were quite concerned.
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Agree…not sure how the change was so thorough.
I still chuckle when I hear folks saying it…
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I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall for that conversation.
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Give me the good ol’ days when people corn holed behind closed doors.
And I got dizzy reading all that spin.
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First the Butt Chugger champions and now the corn hole champions – that’s impressive
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Knoxville, a place where A-Holes congregate, and are celebrated as champions. Is this a great country, or not?
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Yeah booch. Don’t invite those kids sitting in the corner of the room. They’re the ones with the pegged bullshit detectors, can’t let them in, they might tell the others what’s really going on.
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I believe Butch is whistling past the graveyard as he knows a 5 star is rated highly for a reason (check out results of Nick Saban,Inc.)…methinks he is hanging on for another year or two to get in on the real gravy train…former UT coaches drawing on the school bank account for many years after their demise…as in Fulmer, Pearl and Dooley.
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Must be nice to have a new class of over 20 5-star recruits!! Only at Knoxvegas: The “Champions of Life” built “brick by brick” with all 5-star winners!!!
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Butch should have been a televangelist
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Talking smack at a corn hole game is an attractive quality? Bless his heart..
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Tennessee fans say Butch is pretty good at charades.
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as a UGA grad all the recruiting chest pumpin don t mean squat. We need to start beating UT and UF
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I must have missed something, did someone here state they didn’t want to win any of the future Florida and TN games? Because if they did, you are dead right to straighten them out. Damn fools/trolls!
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Exactly. We finally have an actual UGA grad on here to set our priorities straight.
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Yes, sir! Kirby went and won a recruiting National Championship!
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Dude, you’re starting to get a little boring with the Johnny One Note stuff.
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