KNOXVILLE - Butch Jones joined a chorus of Southeastern Conference coaches Monday in voicing his support for a proposed rule change that would allow college football players to participate in up to four games during a season and still earn a redshirt for the year.
"I would definitely be in favor of that," Tennessee's coach said during a teleconference with other SEC coaches. "Everything with these young players, it's all about growth and development, but also gaining experience."
UT's quarterback competition could look much different if such a rule had been in place last year.
Junior quarterback Quinten Dormady could be entering the 2017 season as a redshirt sophomore, and Jones could have allowed redshirt freshman Jarrett Guarantano some game action last year.
Dormady, who appeared in four games while backing up Joshua Dobbs in 2016, is competing with Guarantano for Tennessee's starting quarterback job. Jones has pointed to Dormady's game experience as a positive in a battle that could last until the eve of the season.
Guarantano's Neyland Stadium experience has been limited to scrimmages and April's Orange and White game, in which the quarterbacks were not allowed to be tackled. Entering Guarantano for even a few plays last season would have cost him a season of eligibility.
"For us, we've had the great challenge here of building our program, creating depth," Jones said. "Of our 22 starters that started preseason camp (in 2016), we only had five that started every game. So I think being able to put a young man in those early games, see how they react to it, I think they can develop confidence."
Dobbs is now wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers uniform, meaning Dormady or Guarantano, or possibly both, will have a dramatic increase in role when Tennessee opens the season against Georgia Tech on Sept. 4. Watching Dobbs lead the Vols to consecutive nine-win seasons "really helped their growth and development," Jones said.
"But," he added, "there's never any substitute for experience."
"That's why I think some of the live-game experience Quinten had really helped him," Jones said. "But also being able to make Jarrett Guarantano live during the spring helped him as well. I'm excited about that position moving forward."
In explaining why he supports allowing redshirted players to gain game experience, Jones equated developing young players to raising children.
"They grow, develop at different rates of speed," he said.
But replacing Dobbs doesn't mean starting from the cradle.
"I don't look at it as restarting," Jones said. "We have some very talented individuals in our football program, and it's all about a team game and everyone around them doing their jobs and playing winning football to aid the quarterback. I thought Quinten Dormady had a very productive spring, Jarett Guarantano as well.
"We're excited about those individuals."
Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com