HOOVER, Ala. — SEC commissioner Greg Sankey was quick to point out suggested reading from Tennessee coach Butch Jones.
Jones urged Sankey to read "The Power of Positive Leadership" by Jon Gordon at the spring meetings in Destin, Fla.
That book's first chapter is titled "From Negative to Positive." Welcome to Jones' wheelhouse. The coach speak breeds another sub-dialect of coach speak, and Jones hammered home a few more go-to terms during his time at the podium for SEC Media Days on Monday.
Accountability … leadership … competitive depth … sweat equity.
We're not sure about that last one, either. Perhaps no coach thinks in positive terms — almost to a fault — more than the fifth-year Vols coach who recited all the accomplishments of the past four seasons. The most frequent submissions were easy. Tennessee is one of three SEC programs with nine or more victories each of the last two seasons and has won three straight bowl games under Jones.
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"There's so much more out there to be accomplished, and we've only started," Jones said. "That's what I like about this year's football team, is that they're very, very driven, very, very motivated. "
Jones has flipped Tennessee from an embarrassment, one that faced a potential APR penalty and compiled a 23-27 record in the four seasons after Phillip Fulmer retired, to a 30-21 record the last four seasons and a 972 APR. Jones said he thought about that, of all things, on the plane rider to Hoover. The Vols went from a negative to a positive to, as Chapter 2 in that book is titled, "Real Positive."
How positive is too positive? Tennessee went 9-4 last year, but it was a season in which the Vols were supposed to win the SEC East and go to the conference championship game for the first time since 2007. It didn't happen that way. Jones then said his team was "champions of life," and the memes couldn't generate fast enough.
"I don't view it as a disappointment. The way I view it is we didn't accomplish everything we set out to do," Jones said of 2016.
Tennessee might be one of three programs with nine or more wins the last two years, but the other two programs are on different wavelengths. The Vols broke an 11-game losing streak to Florida last season, but the Gators won the SEC East for the second straight year. Alabama owns a 10-game win streak in the Third Saturday of October, and that's not a discussion worth having yet.
The Crimson Tide drilled Tennessee 49-10 last season in a game where the Vols had injuries all over the place. The loss taught Jones the most valuable lesson in 2016: They need that depth. Competitive depth. Whatever kind of depth you want to call it, they need more.
"I think it's that competitive depth that we talk about and every player understanding their role and understanding their job description and being ready for that opportunity when that opportunity comes," Jones said.
Jones used running back John Kelly as an example, but that will trickle up to whoever starts at quarterback between Quenten Dormady and Jarrett Guarantano. The Vols have to replace six players who went to the NFL Draft. Is that possible?
Don't take it from Jones. Take it from defensive tackle Kendal Vickers, who is expected to anchor the defensive line after the loss of Derek Barnett to the NFL. Vickers sees the competitive depth, and he embraces Jones' constant positive approach.
"It's a good talent to have with all the scrutiny around the SEC in general, (but) there are times where you might not want to be so positive," Vickers said. "He always stays positive, and he always tries to feed positivity in our brains. … He's a great leader, and we all love to listen to him."
That's leads to Chapter 3: "Positive Leaders Drive Positive Cultures." That's what Jones will try to build on, and the expectations won't be the same. It's likely Georgia's turn to be the preseason pick to win the division, and Florida will be looking to defend its title.
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Tennessee beat both teams in 2016, yet Jones faces the expectations to do that again, and to do something on top of that. Winning the East would build some of that sweat equity Jones said Fulmer developed to help build the program. That would erase a lot more negativity and perhaps lead to a shot at Alabama in Atlanta.
That's "The Power of Positive Thinking," but that's another book that is much older and time-tested, maybe suggested reading for next year.
There's a lot more out there for the Volunteers, but it has been out there for a long time. In college football, the results are based on wins or losses. Nine wins are good, but now it's time for double digits. That's how you keep the positives coming.
"I think maintaining the consistency, maintaining the expectations," Jones said. "We want more and we expect more. I know our fans want more. That's the great thing coaching at Tennessee are those expectations."
