Former Tennessee Vols and Denver Bronco linebacker Al Wilson, right, signs a plastic helmet for Noah Morrison before a Q&A event Friday at the Princess Theater in South Pittsburg.
Former Tennessee Vols and Denver Bronco linebacker Al Wilson, center, shakes hands with DJ Matthews, right, and Elijah Robinson before a Q&A event Friday at the Princess Theater in South Pittsburg.Nearly a dozen former University of Tennessee football players were in South Pittsburg this weekend to help with Eddie Moore’s youth camp. Moore, the former South Pittsburg and UT star who later played for five years in the NFL, brought in fellow former UT players Al Wilson, Eric Westmoreland, Troy Fleming, Gerald Riggs Jr., DeAngelo Lloyd, Jabari Davis, Steven Marsh, Corey Larkins and Keyon Whiteside for a meet and greet with fans at the Princess Theater on Friday night. Those players then worked with kids for about four hours at a youth football clinic Saturday morning.
Times Free Press assistant sports editor Stephen Hargis was the moderator for Friday’s question and answer session and took note of some of the players’ best responses.
Q: You guys talked earlier about how tough it’s been to watch the program struggle since you were there. From making former players feel welcome, and embracing Tennessee traditions, to bringing in better recruiting classes, it seems that Butch Jones has things headed in the right direction. What are some things you’ve noticed that you like about where the program is headed and what are your expectations for the next couple of years?
Troy Fleming: “With Coach Jones, when you walk into the facility now it’s like you never left. The guys who have worked around the program for years are at ease now, which tells you things are good again. The biggest thing about Coach Jones is he actually does his job. Unlike that guy we call Derek Doolittle, who really did very little. This recruiting class that just came in, and with what they’re already getting for next year, I believe we’ll be better this year and we’ll be back competing in a big way in 2015, which is good because there’s a lot of people who are going to hear my mouth again.”
Al Wilson: “I really don’t even want to say the names of the two guys who were there between Coach Fulmer and Coach Jones. They don’t deserve to have their names mentioned with Tennessee football. As somebody who went 45-5 while I was at UT, that’s a place I care a lot about and I’m just glad that there’s somebody in charge again who gets it and who wants to be there and take the program back to where it was and where it should be. For Coach Jones to embrace us and bring us back in is a big deal for us.”