Tag Archives: A.J. Johnson

Butch Jones faces 1st off-field incident of his tenure after 9 Vols arrested or cited Sunday

The apartment complex where Knox County Sheriff’s deputies arrested or cited 25 people on Feb. 9, 2014. (photo by Evan Woodbery)

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Tennessee coach Butch Jones learned on Sunday that not only were nine of his current players arrested or cited, but that some of his most trusted and experienced players were included on the list.

News Sentinel subscribers can read the full report of Sunday’s incident here.

Jones and his staff have likely spent the last 24 hours weighing how to react. After all, most of the players swept up in the massive police presence at Quarry Trail apartments were likely the victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Underage consumption of alcohol, while illegal, is something so common on college campuses as to barely register notice.

Allegations against A.J. Johnson and Danny O’Brien, as well as former player Dontavis Sapp, are more serious. But we don’t have any track record for how Jones handles off-the-field disciplinary matters, as this is believed to be the first arrest of his tenure.

Here’s the tally of the 12 current or former members of the Tennessee football team who were arrested or cited:

Current players

Arrested

LB A.J. Johnson: providing alcohol to underage persons; resisting arrest

DT Danny O’Brien: underage consumption of alcohol; resisting arrest; false impersonation

Cited

LB Curtis Maggitt: providing alcohol to underage persons

LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin: providing alcohol to underage persons

LB Jakob Johnson: providing alcohol to underage persons

OL Dontavius Blair: underage drinking

DL Dimarya Mixon: underage drinking

CB Justin Coleman: underage drinking

DL Malik Brown: underage drinking

Former players

Arrested

Dontavis Sapp: providing alcohol to underage persons; resisting arrest

Isaac Mobley: underage drinking

Cited

Daniel Sola: underage drinking

Tennessee football position preview: Linebackers will be helped by return of Curt Maggitt, A.J. Johnson

[gdoc link=”https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AgBQnqCTaaxzdC13X2V5cXRIZWYwUS1takNacmVYQ0E&single=true&gid=1&output=html&widget=true” width=”100%” height=”485″]

The seventh in a series of position-by-position reviews of the Tennessee football team with an eye toward the start of spring practice in March.

A.J. Johnson talks to reporters after the Kentucky game (photo by Evan Woodbery)

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — A.J. Johnson‘s decision to return for his senior season in 2014 will give Tennessee two experienced leaders in the middle of the defense.

Curt Maggitt is back after missing all of 2013 as he recovered from ACL surgery.

Barring a huge surprise, Johnson and Maggitt will start. About two-thirds of the time, when UT is in nickel, there won’t be any need for a third linebacker. When the Vols are in a 4-3 set, there will be plenty of options to fill out the rotation.

Dontavis Sapp and converted safety Brent Brewer are the biggest losses from 2013. Four other longtime reserves are also moving on.

[gdoc link=”https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AgBQnqCTaaxzdC13X2V5cXRIZWYwUS1takNacmVYQ0E&single=true&gid=2&output=html&widget=true” width=”100%” height=”315″]

Continue reading →

Vols-Kentucky: Wrapping up a bumpy 2013 season (videos and photos)

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — The buzzword of the week for Butch Jones and his team was “1-0” and the Vols finished with that mark after beating Kentucky on Saturday night in Lexington.

For all the talk of positive momentum after the win, someone quite sensibly asked, “What if Tennessee had lost?” The only positive momentum then would be the force with which this season was consigned to the trash basket.

Jones, true to style, said he plan for everything, including that contingency. Fortunately, it won’t be necessary.

The seniors can leave on a positive note after an otherwise bleak four- or five-year stretch, and Jones and his staff can turn their attention completely to recruiting.

Thanks for following me this year. I’m going to take the next nine months off and see you in August.

Just kidding! We’ll have tons of content between now and spring practice, including a lot of interesting recruiting stuff, some very early position previews and anything else that I have time for. If you have any questions or ideas, let me know.

For now, check out the video montage from last night above, some video interviews below, as well as some photos from before and after the game. Watch the video in your highest HD settings for best results.

GVX Reporter’s notebook: Vols practice ‘in the fast lane’ Wednesday night (with video and photos)


KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Tennessee added the Eagles to its practice playlist on Wednesday night.

The Eagles are performing Thompson Boling Arena, so “Life in the Fast Lane” was blaring during the pre-practice period. Defensive backs coach Willie Martinez seemed to enjoy it, although most of the players were probably oblivious.

Fortunately, we quickly returned to A$AP Ferg before too long.

Trivia question of the day, shared by Butch Jones on the mic: “Who has more sacks: A.J. Johnson or Cam Sutton?”

(Answer: Sutton).

We saw more of the same special teams drills that we did on Tuesday, with an emphasis on tackling and wrapping up returners.

The Vols also unveiled black jerseys for the scout team, which will be playing Vanderbilt.

We talk to assistant coaches Wednesday night. No Butch Jones, and he also gets a break from Vol Calls because of the off-week.

Some scenes from a receivers’ drill.

Vols practice highlights from Tuesday (video)


KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — The Vols practiced on a gray afternoon at Haslam Field on Tuesday. Rain held off until overnight, but could force the team indoors on Wednesday.

The highlights video includes some good shots of receivers and some jokes from Butch Jones. As always, the video features the most comprehensive stretching you will find anywhere.

Watch in the highest HD setting for best results.

Some good jabs at A.J. Johnson

A.J. Johnson (UT photo)

Practice regulars know that coach Butch Jones likes to rag on linebacker A.J. Johnson more than just about any other player.

During the stretching period on Tuesday, Jones mentioned a visiting scout from the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“The Steelers are here to see (Dontavis) Sapp,” Jones said. “The Pittsburgh Gladiators are here to see A.J. Johnson.”

(The Gladiators are a now-defunct arena league team).

Tennessee football practice: Vols prepare for No. 19 Florida

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — One day after Butch Jones reopened the race for Tennessee’s starting quarterback job, he also decided to keep any secrets from leaking out about who the choice might be.

For the first time in recent memory, media were not allowed to video or photograph Tennessee’s practice on Tuesday. Jones allowed reporters to watch a small window of practice, but it offered no clue about the Vols’ quarterback race.

Unlike last week, when freshman Josh Dobbs worked with the scout team, all four quarterbacks were working out with the main unit.

Dobbs and fellow true freshman Riley Ferguson are pushing for playing time against starter Justin Worley and redshirt freshman backup Nathan Peterman.

Continue reading →

Tennessee football practice: Vols emphasize ‘great efforts’ in Western Kentucky prep


KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Butch Jones was in comedian mode on Tuesday afternoon, and UT linebacker A.J. Johnson was the subject of his barbs.

You see, Western Kentucky has an A.J., too. Linebacker Andrew Jackson is apparently an NFL prospect, although I had never heard of him until Monday. (Jackson needs to hire Jones as his agent, because Jones has been talking him up nonstop).

Anyway, here are some of the one-liners from practice today.

“A.J., you get to play on the same field as an NFL linebacker!”

“This A.J. (Jackson) is a first-round draft pick; you’re a practice-squad guy.”

(To equipment man) “Can you get me a white football for this Saturday? My son wants to get Andrew Jackson’s autograph.”

* The theme of practice on Tuesday was “63.” That’s six seconds per play with three great efforts. Or something along those lines. Look for plenty of “63”  references on our practice video.

* Linebacker Curt Maggitt is no longer wearing a green non-contact jersey. That’s happened before, but with game week approaching, it might be more meaningful.

* Neither junior Marcus Jackson nor true freshman Dylan Wiesman played on Saturday, although both players went through practice normally on Tuesday and remained members of the second-team unit. That doesn’t mean a redshirt is a certainty for either player, but it does mean that it remains on the table as an option. And coaches probably decided they didn’t want to remove that option for a blowout against Austin Peay.

* Unless my eyes deceived me, Michael F. Williams and Michael L. Williams were the only two players in the injured area. Receiver Ryan Jenkins may be getting better, but he was wearing a scout team jersey on Tuesday.

Tennessee football practice: Notes from Sunday’s session at Haslam Field

Justin Worley

Tennessee quarterback Justin Worley takes a snap in practice on Aug. 18, 2013 at Haslam Field in Knoxville.

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — One day after an open session at Neyland Stadium, the Vols were back on the normal practice fields.

A heavy morning rain gave way to some sunshine, so Tennessee stayed outdoors for the workout.

The Vols will have one more practice on Monday before taking off Tuesday and Wednesday to get players ready for the start of school. (Although as Butch Jones would point out, there are no true off-days. They just won’t practice).

Here’s what we learned from Sunday’s session:

Continue reading →

Tennessee unveils new uniforms: Five styles to choose from, including new gray look (videos)

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee — Tennessee coach Butch Jones said he wanted to honor the Vols’ football tradition while “embracing change” to boost recruiting.

The five uniform styles unveiled on Thursday included one major change — a “smokey” alternate gray look that Jones said the Vols will wear on one home game this year.

Jones showed a video of the uniforms being unveiled to the team this morning.

Players stood and cheered as linebacker Curtis Maggitt walked out in gray.

“To say they were excited, doesn’t say it,” Jones said.

Click on the photos to see the video:



More news from and links from today: