KNOXVILLE – As far as freshman seasons go, Derek Barnett and Josh Malone could not have been more different.
Perhaps that’s why Tennessee football coach Butch Jones had the two sophomores address the freshman class during a team meeting Sunday night, six days before many of the first-year players will make their debuts when the Volunteers open the season against Bowling Green in Nashville.
Jones wanted Barnett and Malone to speak to the newcomers about what it takes to make the jump from high school football to big-time college ball.
“I was just telling them that every mistake at the college level is magnified,” Barnett said this week. “I said when I came in, I didn’t watch much film at all, and I got behind last year because I didn’t watch much film. This year, I’ve picked my game up watching film, just getting ahead of the game.”
Malone’s message was much simpler: Take care of your body so you can handle the grind of the season, limit the off-field distractions and focus on football.