Wiedmer: Sky isn't falling (yet) on UT football

Tennessee offensive tackle Brett Kendrick (63) said the Vols' loss to Florida in Gainesville two years ago left "a bad taste in my mouth" that still lingers. The SEC opener for both teams is today in the Swamp.
Tennessee offensive tackle Brett Kendrick (63) said the Vols' loss to Florida in Gainesville two years ago left "a bad taste in my mouth" that still lingers. The SEC opener for both teams is today in the Swamp.

KNOXVILLE - "I don't think the sky is falling. It's just raining a little bit."

Had embattled Tennessee football coach Butch Jones uttered those words instead of senior offensive lineman Brett Kendrick during the school's Monday news conference, the Twitter universe would have exploded, the Big Orange Nation might have kidnapped him before he could coach the Volunteers at Kentucky this weekend and that quote probably would have been swiftly graffitied to "The Rock," then crossed out with red or orange paint.

The very fact that Jones is still working today following last Saturday's 45-7 loss to Alabama, which followed an Oct. 14 loss to South Carolina, which followed a 41-0 thumping against Georgia, has most social-media-addicted Volniacs almost as mad at first-year athletic director John Currie as Coach Crewcut.

Especially with Currie encouraging his fan base via Twitter on Sunday night to go support Vols tennis player Timo Stodder against Vanderbilt's Danny Valent in Monday morning's ITA Ohio Valley Regional final while failing, yet again, to address football.

photo Mark Wiedmer

Wrote Currie on Sunday: "If your schedule permits, come cheer on Timo Stodder in the ITA regional championship"

Most might find that a nice gesture by an athletic director who vigorously supports all his sports, not just those that heavily impact the revenue stream.

But for at least 440 Big Orange supporters (as of 7:23 p.m. Monday), only one item matters regarding the Vols at this point, and that item centers on when (or if) Currie intends to part company with Jones, who's in the middle of his fifth season at UT.

There were the obvious cranky comebacks to Currie's Tweet, such as: "If your schedule permits, get off your (behind) and make Tennessee football great again."

And the emphatic ones, written in all caps: "I WILL BOYCOTT EVERYTHING UNTIL BUTCH IS GONE. I DON'T LIKE YELLING. THIS SITUATION IS MAKING ME YELL."

And the threatening (at least to an AD): "I just need to know if Butch is back next year. I will no longer buy season tickets."

There was even a quite humorous offering involving a photo of a seemingly forlorn golden retriever, his eyes all but filled with tears, a quote bubble above his fluffy head that asked, "Why is Butch Jones still our coach?"

Accompanying the dog photo and caption was this Tweet from the owner: "My golden retriever has been depressed for weeks. Do the right thing. Make Lexie happy again."

Obviously touched by this poor pup's plight, the next person up wrote: "You should send Butch Jones the vet bill."

What there wasn't much of was the kind of patience and perspective displayed by the redshirt senior Kendrick, a Knoxville native.

Because at least for now, the sky isn't falling, though it is raining. The Vols are 3-4 overall and 0-4 within the Southeastern Conference with as much chance to finish 4-8 as 8-4. Beyond that, the offense is atrocious, the defense is overworked and at some point, without a little success soon, it's hard to imagine the locker room not falling apart, the defense understandably frustrated by an offense - or an offensive coaching staff, to be more direct - that obviously has few if any answers for what ails it.

But as Kendrick noted with much wisdom and reason, that time is not now.

As he admirably has all season, ignoring much outside noise, the Christian Academy of Knoxville graduate has remained positive and focused, any coach's perfect senior leader.

"It's important to get this program back to where it was the last couple of years," Kendrick said. "I wouldn't really say we've gone down. We played two of the best teams in college football in the last few games (No. 1 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia). South Carolina is no pushover, either. If we win these next five games, we are 8-4 again. We'll get to go to a good bowl game and hopefully get a win there. I still think good things are going to happen for this program."

The power of positive thinking when supported by positive actions can accomplish great things. Kendrick's dreams could come true. For Jones to keep his job and Currie to remain on something of a job honeymoon, Kendrick needs to be more prophet than proselytizer.

But Currie also soon may need to address Jones' future, something along the lines of: "While none of us is happy with the direction of the current season, the season is not yet over and we will have no further comment until it is."

He also might quit trying to draw attention away from football to other sports. Despite his best efforts to support Stodder, the native German fell 6-1, 6-1 to Vandy's Valent in Monday's ITA final.

Yet one tweeter didn't need that result to remind Currie the importance of a winning football program for all Big Orange sports.

Wrote that angry Volniac: "You do realize football funds tennis. At least for now."

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com

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