http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2017/05/vols_love_their_rings.html
When you haven't had much football success lately for an aura of tradition to aid in recruiting and general team morale, you create some.
And nothing screams "We think we're winners" more than shiny diamond rings.
Tennessee hasn't won an SEC East Division title since 2007 and hasn't won a league championship since 1998 when the Vols also won the BCS national championship. Until the NFL Draft last month, Tennessee had gone since 2014 without having a player drafted.
About the only thing the Vols have led the SEC in lately is head coaches. In the last eight seasons, Tennessee has had three head coaches, the latest hire being Butch Jones in 2013.
Jones, who is starting his fifth season, is 30-23 overall and 14-18 in the SEC. He has had two straight 9-4 seasons, both of which could have edged into the 10-3 range had the Vols not frittered away games in the fourth quarter.
He has tried to think of everything to motivate and focus his team. He's huge on coach-speak, creating phrases that stick in his players' head. He has also opened himself to criticism when his passion takes over, like referring to Tennessee's senior class last year as "champions of life."
Which brings us to rings.
Last season for a team that had a .500 record in SEC play, Tennessee spent almost $40,000 to buy players Music City Bowl rings, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
The Vols spent $37,193 on the Music City Bowl jewelry and $2,600 on the Battle at Bristol rings, according to invoices provided to the News Sentinel by UT through public records requests.
The invoice from Jostens revealed Tennessee ordered 164 "Music City Bowl Champions" rings at a cost of $220 each. The rings have a diamond Power T on the front with a background shaded orange and "Music City Bowl Champions" and diamonds surrounding the T. Each person's name and "Own It Team 120" is on the right side.
Also purchased were seven "Music City Bowl Champions" pendants at a cost of $159 each.
Event organizers for the Battle at Bristol provided the Vols with 125 free rings for their win over Virginia Tech last September at Bristol Motor Speedway. Tennessee purchased eight extra rings for staff members at a cost of $325 each.
In times when colleges are struggling to financially stay in the black, such spending seems excessive.
That is, unless you are Jones.
"Rings are very, very special," Jones said last November. "Each team is bonded by a championship ring, and that ring tells a particular story. It's like a storybook of that particular season, so that's why the sides are important, why the front of it is very important. I think it also builds pride in your institution."
When you haven't had much football success lately for an aura of tradition to aid in recruiting and general team morale, you create some.
And nothing screams "We think we're winners" more than shiny diamond rings.
Tennessee hasn't won an SEC East Division title since 2007 and hasn't won a league championship since 1998 when the Vols also won the BCS national championship. Until the NFL Draft last month, Tennessee had gone since 2014 without having a player drafted.
About the only thing the Vols have led the SEC in lately is head coaches. In the last eight seasons, Tennessee has had three head coaches, the latest hire being Butch Jones in 2013.
Jones, who is starting his fifth season, is 30-23 overall and 14-18 in the SEC. He has had two straight 9-4 seasons, both of which could have edged into the 10-3 range had the Vols not frittered away games in the fourth quarter.
He has tried to think of everything to motivate and focus his team. He's huge on coach-speak, creating phrases that stick in his players' head. He has also opened himself to criticism when his passion takes over, like referring to Tennessee's senior class last year as "champions of life."
Which brings us to rings.
Last season for a team that had a .500 record in SEC play, Tennessee spent almost $40,000 to buy players Music City Bowl rings, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
The Vols spent $37,193 on the Music City Bowl jewelry and $2,600 on the Battle at Bristol rings, according to invoices provided to the News Sentinel by UT through public records requests.
The invoice from Jostens revealed Tennessee ordered 164 "Music City Bowl Champions" rings at a cost of $220 each. The rings have a diamond Power T on the front with a background shaded orange and "Music City Bowl Champions" and diamonds surrounding the T. Each person's name and "Own It Team 120" is on the right side.
Also purchased were seven "Music City Bowl Champions" pendants at a cost of $159 each.
Event organizers for the Battle at Bristol provided the Vols with 125 free rings for their win over Virginia Tech last September at Bristol Motor Speedway. Tennessee purchased eight extra rings for staff members at a cost of $325 each.
In times when colleges are struggling to financially stay in the black, such spending seems excessive.
That is, unless you are Jones.
"Rings are very, very special," Jones said last November. "Each team is bonded by a championship ring, and that ring tells a particular story. It's like a storybook of that particular season, so that's why the sides are important, why the front of it is very important. I think it also builds pride in your institution."
