The answer to the why lies in the why
The 3-2 Tennessee football team got the attention of some in the SEC and the attention of the Big Orange faithful last week in a 62-24 rout of Missouri.
How good this Tennessee team actually is remains to be seen? What you know is that it’s a team that’s showing improvement. It’s a team that’s playing with extreme effort and it’s a team that has a clear respect and affection for one another.
“We enjoy playing hard for one another," Cade Mays said.
The question is why.
The answer apparently lies in the why.
“At the end of most of our team meetings, coach will call someone up and they will have to tell everyone their why. Why do you do what you do, day in and day out because everyone’s why is different,” Mays offered Tuesday night on Tennessee Prime. “Guys have been through different things and everyone has walked different paths. A lot of us have similar why’s and a lot of us have different why’s.”
For head coach Josh Heupel, the why is simply about his playing learning what their teammates are all about.
“As a coaching staff in today’s world, if there’s one thing that’s changed, it’s the information that kids have. They want to know the reason why behind everything that you’re doing. We try to do that as a staff and then I think it’s about connecting your football team together. That’s a quarterback with a d-lineman, that’s a running back with a linebacker, it’s everybody understanding who they are. You have 125 guys coming from all over the place. If they weren’t in the same recruiting class, they may not know each other. We’ve integrated our locker room to where they’re with people that are way outside of their position group. That’s the great thing about college football. It takes big, fast, small, slow, all kinds. For our players to get up and talk in front of their teammates, I think it’s important that they understand where Jimmy, where John is coming from and what’s their background, where their hardship is and why do they do what they do because this is a tough game played by tough men. It’s highly competitive. A lot of days, you’re going to get up and not want to go to the weight room. You’re not going to want to go condition. You’re not going to want to do some of those things. So what’s the reason why behind you going and doing those things. And not just at an average clip, but trying to be your best. There’s ownership in it too for the individual that gets up and stands up and talks about those things. You get on your side of the football and the coaches know, and your players on your side of the football know. Your teammates are going to remind you of those exact same things you got up and talked about.”
A disappointing 3-7 season a year ago exposed issues surrounding that team. Issues that centered around a lack of cohesiveness and chemistry. Issues that this team and this staff have worked hard to get through.
“It does kind of magnify it,” Ollie Lane said of last season. “It really pointed out where our shortcomings were as a team. Our production is our production, but we were split as a team. Coming together this off-season we did a lot to bring everyone together. We spent a lot of time together as a team. That helped everyone understand everyone else. Being able to understand what someone else’s why is. Being able to understand why someone else is playing the game we are all playing makes you think. You want to play hard for everybody because everyone has those why’s.”
Lane and Mays have yet to be asked to tell their why, but both said they are ready to share their why with their family when called upon.
“I am not a big public speaker. I don’t like getting up in front of a big group that I don’t know and talking, but getting up in front of my teammates and talking that’s like getting up in front of my family and talking,” Mays explained. “Guys get up there and say what’s on their heart because they are talking to their family. One that comes to mind is Darnell Wright. He had an unbelievable why. His why was really touching. You see it in the way he lives and the way he walks around. That’s his why."
The knowledge about each other has shown up already this season on this team's effort. Everything that much continue and grow the rest of the way.