What to watch for from Tennessee at SEC Media Days
- Wyeth Wilson
- Jul 13, 2015
- 2 min read
The SEC Media Days mean one thing: college football is almost here.
The 2015 edition of SEC Media Days will take place this week in Hoover, Alabama, with Tennessee being showcased on Tuesday, along with South Carolina, Texas A&M, and Mississippi State.
Vols head coach Butch Jones will be attending his third SEC Media Days this year, where quarterback Josh Dobbs, defensive end/linebacker Curt Maggitt, and cornerback Cameron Sutton will accompany him.
Here is what to watch for from the Vols’ four representatives in Hoover:
How do Jones and the players react to expectations surrounding the program?
There is more momentum surrounding Tennessee’s program than there has been at any time during the Jones era, and Tennessee’s representatives at SEC Media Days will certainly hear about it.
Jones has been cautious to temper expectations from the moment he took the Tennessee job, but this offseason has been a bit different.
Jones has still been cautious when it comes to expectations, but has embraced them to a certain extent as well.
It will be interesting to see how the player representatives – Dobbs, Maggitt, and Sutton respond when asked questions about contending for eastern division and conference titles.
The Von Pearson situation
One of the storylines that has dominated Tennessee’s offseason is the allegation against senior starting wide receiver Von Pearson.
Pearson was indefinitely suspended on April 24, and Jones will certainly be getting questions about his status with the team.
“There are consequences for your choices and actions and we constantly educate our players,” Jones said after the Orange and White Game on Pearson. “It's not an illustration of our football program.
“We have tremendous, tremendous kids in our football program. I'm disappointed, but we have to move forward.”
Media perception
Much of the national media has been very high on Tennessee ever since the 2014 season ended, and there will be a more widespread perspective on how the media views the Vols after this week.
In the SEC East, it certainly looks like most media members will be choosing between Georgia and Tennessee for who will represent the East in Atlanta, and it will be interesting to see if the Vols end up as the favorites, or with a second place projected finish.
Either way, Tennessee will certainly be picked ahead of fifth, which is where they were projected last season.
For the preseason All-SEC teams, the Vols will be well represented.
A year ago at the 2014 media days, Tennessee had just two players on any of the first three preseason All-SEC teams.
This year, there are eight Vols (Maggitt, Dobbs, Sutton, Derek Barnett, Pig Howard, Jalen Hurd, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, and Marquez North) that will be at least in the conversation for preseason All-SEC.
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