KNOXVILLE – For Tennessee’s freshman football players, the Volunteers’ inclusion in this year’s bowl season is just a sign of perhaps even better things to come.
But for the upperclassmen, it’s the culmination of a long road back.
The consecutive 8-4 regular seasons, each ending in a solid bowl victory, seem like a distant memory. Those were followed by a 4-8 season – the worst in school history – that resulted in a coach being fired, a tumultuous ensuing coaching search, a 5-7 season in 2018 and a 1-4 start to begin this season.
Players never doubted the program could be back, but that wasn’t the same as actually getting there.
And “back” is subjective; Tennessee isn’t anywhere near the success it once enjoyed. But after five consecutive wins and six victories in their last seven games, the Vols are back in a bowl game, which is a step in the right direction.
And those upperclassmen are enjoying every bit of it
“We know each other well, going through the grinder for five years like this,” senior long-snapper Riley Lovingood said recently. “I feel like nothing affects us that comes our way – bad losses, media against us, fans against us or something. We know we’ve got to come closer as a team, got to keep fighting. That’s just the way it goes. My freshman year, we lost to Oklahoma in double overtime, to Florida on a last-second kick, to Arkansas, and people thought the world was over in Knoxville.
“You learn the world’s never over. No matter what the loss is, no matter how bad people say the team is or how bad the program is, it’s never over. You can always keep fighting and come back. That’s what we were telling guys this year. We have been through a lot, so to get this program back to a bowl game and hopefully an eight-win season says a lot about the fight in this program.”
So Monday’s practice at Haslam Field, the second of the postseason, was different. As they’ve done this season, the upperclassmen led the way while the younger players followed. Of course it’ll be their turn to lead after the Jan. 2 matchup against 8-4 Indiana in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, but for now, they’re sponges.
As they’ve been all season.
“They’re telling us to focus, but they’re also saying to enjoy this time right now,” freshman inside linebacker Henry To’o To’o said. “We want to enjoy this time with each other because this is the last chance the 2019 football team will be together, so we’re just embracing every moment with them, and hopefully we can carry the torch from there.”
Coach Jeremy Pruitt noted Friday afternoon that the first five practices were just going to be focused on fundamentals and doing things simply to work on improving the Vols. Tennessee will have 15 practices before the game against the Hoosiers, which will be far more beneficial for the younger players as opposed to the older ones, 13 of whom will be suiting up for Tennessee for the last time.
Those seniors know the feeling of last year, and the one before that. They understand the value and have an appreciation for every practice ahead.
“It’s really depressing,” senior safety Nigel Warrior said. “Being home with your family, and seeing other people play and knowing your team could actually be out there playing with somebody else, it hurts. Being broke in December hurts; not having fun in December hurts, so it’s real depressing.
“We get another game, and having those reps helps with the next year. That’s an extra game that some people aren’t getting. We didn’t get one last year and other teams got plays we didn’t get, so this year we’re catching up.”
And after the past two seasons, Warrior and the other upperclassmen are enjoying every moment of it.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.