Vols' Jones still has plenty of fans despite OU loss

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The Weekend Theater

People attend the showing of "Sweeney Todd" at The Weekend Theater Friday, June 20.

KNOXVILLE - Two hours prior to Saturday night's kickoff against Western Carolina, Tennessee football fan Misty Ford let it be known that her affection for coach Butch Jones hadn't waned a bit following last week's overtime loss to Oklahoma. Nor was she concerned about the potential for an 11th straight loss to Florida this coming weekend in Gainesville.

"Oh, I love Butch," she said with a wide smile. "He's amazing. I'll stand behind him whether we beat Florida or not."

Three games into his third season atop Rocky Top, this is no doubt what Jones hopes to hear over and over again as Team 119 prepares to invade the Gators' Swamp following Saturday night's rout of Western Carolina.

Yet Ford's boyfriend, 41-year-old Jason Rogers, wasn't quite as fully behind Jones and his assistants as he strolled toward Neyland Stadium following the Vol Walk late Saturday afternoon.

"I'm a little worried about this coaching staff," the Athens, Tenn., native said. "I'm behind them 105 percent, but I'm worried if they can adjust after halftime against a good team."

No adjustments were necessary against the FCS member Catamounts. UT led 10-0 after one quarter and 41-3 at halftime.

But a week after the Vols blew a 17-0 lead in that eventual 31-24 loss to the Sooners, 58-year-old Lee Sadler - who's married to Rogers' mom Teresa - equated that OU loss to a 10-9 setback to Auburn and its eventual Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Pat Sullivan in 1971.

"We were driving to set up the winning field goal and we fumbled," recalled Sadler, a resident of Harriman. "I think that's the last time a loss hurt me as bad as that Oklahoma game."

Big Orange football has been a lifelong love affair for Sadler. His parents, Charles and Dorothy, both graduated from UT in the late 1930s.

"My dad actually tried to walk on for General Neyland," he said. "I think he lasted two days. But my mom and her sorority sisters drove to Birmingham each time we played Alabama in Legion Field. I've been a Tennessee fan for over 50 years."

Perhaps because of that, his most prized possession may be an autographed photograph of former UT greats Bobby and Johnny Majors that Teresa gave him.

"Best present I ever got," he said with a grin.

None of the group was grinning a week ago as the Vols watched a 17-3 fourth-quarter lead disappear.

"It made me want to puke," Ford said.

"I started crying," sighed Teresa Sadler.

Yet however painful the Oklahoma loss, Teresa is a long way from questioning Jones's coaching.

"We love Butch," she said. "He's doing everything right."

That said, if the UT coaching staff wants the unbending support of Lee Sadler, it might want to beat Florida.

For when he was asked if another loss to the Gators might change his opinion of Jones, Sadler replied, "I would maybe have to think about it."

Yet it was Rogers who seemed to better sum up the feelings of the 102,136 inside Neyland - the largest crowd ever to see the Vols face an FCS foe ) when he said: "(No matter what happens at Florida) I'll still give Butch another year."

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com