Inconsistent 2016 driving Wolf into his senior year

As a junior, Ethan Wolf had fewest number of catches in his career with just 21 receptions. The Ohio native would have had more had he caught the ball better.

Wolf had several drops in 2016 and those drops have left him plenty motivated since leaving the Music City Bowl in Nashville.

“The offseason, other than getting bigger, faster and stronger, that was the one thing that ate me alive for those few months from the last game until now,” Wolf said of his inconsistencies. “It's uncharacteristic for me to drop footballs like that. I feel like everyone knows that. My goal this spring is not to have one ball on the ground that is thrown to me. So far I have been perfect.”

For Wolf and the Vols, the last 10 weeks has been very different from a year ago. There are five new assistant coaches, and according to Wolf, there's a new attitude in the locker room.

“I think there were a lot of guys on the team who needed to self evaluate their work ethic in the weight room and a lot of guys have,” Wolf said. “This is a new football team when it comes to the mindset. We have become a lot closer as a team and have been more of a brotherhood than we have ever been. Everyone wants to work for each other.

“It just seems like we needed to grow closer as a team. It just kind of clicked. Winning nine games isn't what we want to do. We want to win them all. We aren't going to do that if we aren't as close of a group as we can be. I think that flipped the switch and everyone realized that's what you have to do.”

On the field, life is different for all the tight ends, including Wolf. A year ago, the tight ends were learning the personality of new position coach Larry Scott. Now, Scott is the offensive coordinator. Wolf said Scott's promotion doesn't change the tight end position other that give them more responsibility.

“Obviously he has to open his eyes a little bit and look at it from a whole offensive perspective and not just the tight end perspective. He still does a really good job of coaching us up during practice and in our meetings. It's not any kind of monumental difference. He has a lot more on his plate now. We were talking in the meeting room. We have his back. He has a lot more to deal with now. We are going to keep our nose clean off the field and give our best effort on the field to try and make his job as easy as possible as far as being a position coach.”