KNOXVILLE – Some football players lead by actions, others by words.
Nigel Warrior, an elder statesman on Tennessee’s defense, believes the most effective leadership involves both – and the senior safety hopes an offseason of bonding with his fellow defensive backs makes his guidance that much better for the Volunteers’ youthful secondary.
“You can go out there and play and they can see you, but you have to let them feel you,” Warrior said. “I’m one of those harsh leaders, but I’m also a loving leader and I say the things everybody don’t want to hear and I’m cool with that. My coaches tell me don’t change who you are. You have some that like you and some that don’t, but at the end of the day you have one goal and that’s to win – win the next game, win the next day, so that’s how it goes.
“If it takes me to cuss you out or for me to express myself, I’m cool with it because at the end of the day I come to you as a man and telling you, ‘This is what we’re going after.'”
What Warrior and his teammates are going after are better results after back-to-back losing seasons in their last year under Butch Jones as head coach and their first under Jeremy Pruitt. Their second season under Pruitt kicks off next Saturday at 3:30 p.m. as Georgia State visits Neyland Stadium.