KNOXVILLE — It’s much closer to Christmas than Halloween, but some Tennessee football players faced some December frights anyway.
The Volunteers broke from preparations for their Taxslayer Bowl date with Iowa in two weeks to take a team trip to Gatlinburg, a popular tourist spot in the Smoky Mountains about an hour east of Tennessee’s campus, on Wednesday night.
After a team dinner, some players chose to take a walk through a haunted house.
Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea.
“A couple of guys got a little scared in the haunted house,” quarterback Josh Dobbs said Thursday afternoon following Tennessee’s practice. “That was funny seeing linemen run out of a haunted house. We definitely had fun, and we definitely enjoyed the time together.”
Tennessee’s players are getting plenty of that this month. For the most part, they’re the only ones still in Knoxville. Most of the student body left campus for Christmas break, which began more than a week ago following final exams.
The Vols are preparing for one final game and getting a jumpstart on their offseason with a handful of practices, but it’s not all business all the time for the players.
“Right now, they can focus on two things: They can focus on football, and they can focus on their teammates,” offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian said earlier this week. “It gives them an opportunity to bond and get together and really focus on the camaraderie that’s an important part of team chemistry.
“Coach (Butch) Jones has always stressed the importance of family and the importance of getting to know your teammates in our program, and the whole bowl opportunity gives them that chance to do that.”
If Jordan Williams could do it all over again, it sounds like the senior defensive tackle might not have taken a chance on going through the haunted house with teammates Curt Maggitt, Brian Randolph and Todd Kelly.
“That was tough,” the 6-foot-5, 284-pounder joked. “We were right behind Coach Jones and his son (7-year-old Andrew), and we were more scared than him. It hits you with a surprise at the end. You think it’s all over, and you’re walking out, and sure enough, here comes somebody chasing you out the hallway.”
Asked if he managed to control his fear, the stoic Dobbs deadpanned, “Maybe a little bit, but I can’t admit that.”
Thursday’s practice got off to a quick start as Tennessee ran through a couple of two-point plays. The defense, buoyed by their noisy dancing teammates on the sideline, won two of the reps. Backup quarterback Nathan Peterman made sure to run through the mass of defensive players after tossing a completion to Alex Ellis on the offense’s victory, though.
“It’s important for our team to know each other and get closer to each other,” senior cornerback Justin Coleman said. “When you know you’ve got to play to the guy on your left and right, it makes you play a lot better. You don’t want to let the person down next to you.”
Dobbs is certainly welcoming some extra free time. The sophomore aerospace engineering major took a 16-hour academic workload this semester, but with classes over, he can devote more time to football. Given his value to the Vols in the Taxslayer Bowl and beyond, it’s importance he takes advantage of it.
“I’m able to stay after practice longer than I was,” Dobbs said. “I usually would stay after and watch practice and watch some other film, but now I’m able to fully dive into film, watch some Iowa, watch myself, improve and get in the weight room and get stronger. It helps me out a lot, and all the guys, they’re all doing the same.
“They’re all putting in extra work, since we have more time in the day, and we’re all improving.”
Tennessee will practice Saturday and Sunday before a four-day Christmas, reconvene in Knoxville on the 26th and leave for Jacksonville a week from Sunday.
“It makes it a lot easier, just to focus on football,” Dobbs said. “Just to come in and watch film and being to dissect film and focus on practice, the mental side of it isn’t too bad, because you’re focusing on your film work and meeting time. Then you get to go out and practice and have fun. It definitely a takes a little bit of a toll off me and all the guys.
“We really enjoy the time right now just to focus on football and have fun and get around one another.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.