KNOXVILLE - Some of the the bricks Butch Jones has been laying with the fan base in his "brick-by-brick" effort to rebuild Tennessee's football program started getting hurled back at him late in the 2016 season.
The faction of unhappy Volunteers followers known by some as the "negaVols" grew after losses to South Carolina and Vanderbilt, and they were abetted this offseason by a smattering of media speculation that Jones' job could be at risk entering the 2017 season.
With his every word and catchphrase - see "champions of life" and "five-star hearts" - seemingly swept into a social-media cyclone, Jones said during a recent visit to the Knoxville Rotary Club that "we live in a society of negativity - people get paid for clicks on the internet."
The naysayers are louder than ever as Jones enters his fifth season at Tennessee, but he appears determined to stay the course that brought him from relative anonymity to a head coaching position in the Southeastern Conference.
"Nothing has really changed with what we're doing," Jones said recently about his use of clichés and catchphrases.
Tennessee head coach Butch Jones looks up at a throw with players during an NCAA college football practice in Knoxville, Tenn. Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017. (Caitie McMekin/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP)Since his arrival in December 2012, he has parted with several assistant coaches with whom he worked at previous coaching stops. Running backs coach Robert Gillespie and linebackers coach Tommy Thigpen are the lone holdovers from Jones' first season in Knoxville.
The changes have not changed Jones.
Thigpen sees little difference in the head coach from that first year in 2013.
"Butch to me is like McDonald's," Thigpen said. "He doesn't change. That foundation is set, and it's what makes him him, the fact that he holds everyone accountable. From coaches to players to trainers, there is not much that he doesn't notice.
"If there is something on the wall, a piece of paper on the floor, a guy off the back side not hustling, he notices. That's who he is: He's going to hold everyone to the highest standards. So when you say, 'How has he changed?' he hasn't changed."
Positive reinforcement
Want to better understand Jones' style? Consider what he reads. SEC commissioner Greg Sankey introduced Jones in the main room at SEC media days last month by noting that Jones recently had recommended a book to him.
The book, Jon Gordon's "The Power of Positive Leadership," specifically challenges those in positions of responsibility with advice like, "You must address the negativity. Confront it, transform it or remove it."
It is just the latest of Gordon's works that Jones has consulted during his time at Tennessee. He had his 2014 team read Gordon's "Energy Bus" that addresses ways for anyone to approach life positively.
In "The Power of Positive Leadership, Gordon devotes a page to how Jones addressed a group of "energy vampires" on a 2014 team that went on to break the Vols' three-year bowl drought.
"When you feed the positive and create a culture where energy vampires are uncomfortable being negative, they will either change or walk off the bus themselves," Gordon wrote.
"As you know, I'm a big Jon Gordon fan," Jones said. "In today's world, we're getting older but the audience we have to relate to never gets older. They stay 17 to 22 years old. I think Jon has a unique way of putting things in perspective. There's so many things, even how the narrative is told. A lot of people want to tell a negative narrative, where if you really peel back some layers there are a lot of positive narratives."
Gordon notes in the book that he has worked with Dabo Swinney and the 2016 national champion Clemson Tigers for the past five years. He also cites the principles of Pat Summitt and veteran NBA head coach Doc Rivers, among others.
"I just think you can take so much from that," Jones said, "and I know a lot of coaches have read that book
Keeping ahead of Jones
Thigpen said he and Gillespie can try to keep the newer assistants on the Tennessee staff "above the curve" with Jones.
"If you get that a guy is not hustling, you say, 'Hey, address that,'" Thigpen said. "You don't go into a meeting where you don't address an issue that might seem small. To Butch, he doesn't miss very much. So you try and keep guys ahead of it before he walks in."
First-year quarterbacks coach Mike Canales said he keeps a "Butch Jones book" where he writes down things Jones says.
"I love it," Canales said. "He's the same way I was when I was an interim head coach. Things that are important you've got to make sure you address every day. It's good to come in the office and go, 'Man, I hadn't heard it that way.'"
Though Jones is detail-oriented, second-year defensive coordinator Bob Shoop praises his ability to delegate responsibilities.
"That's what he does a really good job of to me," Shoop said. "He manages things well. He's an excellent communicator, a delegator, a leader. He sets, to me, the culture. He sets the identity of the team, and it's our job to reinforce that message. That's what's been good."
Canales has noticed Jones' enthusiasm, too.
"You see it every day as coaches with the way we come out and coach," Canales said. "That's what I want to do. I feed off his energy. He comes out and is 100 percent. He's going gangbusters, juiced up and energy."
Canales chuckled when asked if he's noticed any idiosyncrasies with Jones.
"In terms of the idiosyncrasies he has, he has some," Canales said. "I'll just keep those to myself. But it's fun to go in there every day and know that 'Hey, I've got a boss that cares about his players, who cares about his staff.' That means a lot to me."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.