UT VolsKNOXVILLE — Change.
That’s all lifelong Tennessee football fan Brad Hemphill was looking for as he walked into Neyland Stadium for the Volunteers’ public practice Saturday evening.
“I don’t have great expectations for this season,” the Sevierville resident said. “I’d be thrilled with 7-5. I think we’re all just hungry for a change from how we’ve played the last two or three years.”
Change isn’t always for the better. Just ask any Kentucky basketball fan who suffered through two years of Billy Gillispie after begging for Tubby Smith to leave.
And when you’re on your fourth head coach in six years — as UT football is with the arrival of Butch Jones — it’s ludicrous to believe growing pains are a thing of the past. However sharp Jones and his staff may be, they’re still coaching at least a few players who are on their third head coach and scheme in five years. Not exactly a formula for reaching the SEC title game for the first time since 2007.