Many through the years have blamed it on strength and conditioning program and in Butch Jones tenure we have had 3 different strength coaches because of that. I personally do not believe it is the strength and conditioning program because Rock is a proven professional and has done this job at the highest level. Also the injuries are so random and not related.
Here is the current updated list of injured players
Tennessee football injury report
(* denotes starters)
Tennessee football out for season
• *WR Jauan Jennings (wrist)
• *OL Jack Jones (shoulder/neck)
• *OLB Cortez McDowell (wrist)
• *MLB Darrin Kirkland Jr. (knee)
• *SS Todd Kelly Jr. (knee)
• *OT Chance Hall (knee)
• DB Cheyenne Labruzza (knee)
• OT K’Rohjn Calbert (knee)
• *QB Quinten Dormady (shoulder)
• WR Jacquez Jones (knee)
Tennessee football questionable for Missouri
• *WR Josh Smith (ankle)
• *OL Brett Kendrick (head)
• *OT Rashaan Gaulden (unknown)
• CB Marcus Tatum (unknown)
• *OT Drew Richmond (undisclosed)
• *KR Evan Berry (knee/hamstring)
• *WR Marquez Callaway (ankle)
Obviously most season ending injuries are because of knees so you see a commonality there, but other than that pretty wide spread. Obviously there are other Butch Jones recruites that are not with us anymore in the past seasons who struggled with injuries as well. The fact is when a player has had a major injury they usually are more susceptible to injuries going forward.
My thought is the reason we have seen so many injuries in Butch Jones era is because of recruiting. If you go down the list of injured players in his tenure and the players currently injured now, they have been injured before in high school. You may laugh, but NFL and good college recruiters pay attention to players who have been injured. Some people are just more injury prone than others. Everyone's bodies are different and some people just get injured more.
Let's break this down just for this current year.
Chance Hall (injured his Senior year of high school)
Darrink Kirkland JR. ( enrolled in December, but tore pectoral muscle didn't participate in spring)
Quinten Dormady (injured his Junior year of high school)
Jarrett Guarantano (injured Senior year of high school)
Cheyenne Labruzza ( injured senior year of high school)
K’Rohjn Calbert (surgery freshman and sophomore year of high school only full season was senior year)
Josh Smith (injured senior year of high school)
Mckenzie Jr. (over coming knee injury/wasn't eligible to play senior season)
Devante Brooks (tore both ACLs out Junior and Senior seasons)
Eric Crosby (Knee injury in high school sophomore or junior year)
Players that may not have gotten injured in high school, but can't stay healthy:
Evan Berry
Shy Tuttle
Brett Kendrick
Austin Smith
Dillon Bates
Also you can make up your own list for those who have been healthy, but just complete busts.
Anyway I didn't even go through the whole roster and check all the players history because that would take forever, but I am sure there is other players on the roster who had major injuries in high school. Now I am not saying we shouldn't have recruited some of these players, but I think Butch has messed up recruiting too many players that have injuries in each class. Trust me you can go back through his other classes and find the same thing with players that aren't here any more.
It just comes to recruiting. Making sure you are recruiting tough guys and guys who haven't been riddled with injury. You will never 100% escape from injuries, but I believe everyone can agree Butch Jones Era has had way more than the norm.
Also might be why he has landed some star power in some classes because he kept the offer on some of these guys that got injured their senior year when others backed off. Might sound crazy, but I believe Jones has recruited a lot of injury prone players. JMO
Here is the current updated list of injured players
Tennessee football injury report
(* denotes starters)
Tennessee football out for season
• *WR Jauan Jennings (wrist)
• *OL Jack Jones (shoulder/neck)
• *OLB Cortez McDowell (wrist)
• *MLB Darrin Kirkland Jr. (knee)
• *SS Todd Kelly Jr. (knee)
• *OT Chance Hall (knee)
• DB Cheyenne Labruzza (knee)
• OT K’Rohjn Calbert (knee)
• *QB Quinten Dormady (shoulder)
• WR Jacquez Jones (knee)
Tennessee football questionable for Missouri
• *WR Josh Smith (ankle)
• *OL Brett Kendrick (head)
• *OT Rashaan Gaulden (unknown)
• CB Marcus Tatum (unknown)
• *OT Drew Richmond (undisclosed)
• *KR Evan Berry (knee/hamstring)
• *WR Marquez Callaway (ankle)
Obviously most season ending injuries are because of knees so you see a commonality there, but other than that pretty wide spread. Obviously there are other Butch Jones recruites that are not with us anymore in the past seasons who struggled with injuries as well. The fact is when a player has had a major injury they usually are more susceptible to injuries going forward.
My thought is the reason we have seen so many injuries in Butch Jones era is because of recruiting. If you go down the list of injured players in his tenure and the players currently injured now, they have been injured before in high school. You may laugh, but NFL and good college recruiters pay attention to players who have been injured. Some people are just more injury prone than others. Everyone's bodies are different and some people just get injured more.
Let's break this down just for this current year.
Chance Hall (injured his Senior year of high school)
Darrink Kirkland JR. ( enrolled in December, but tore pectoral muscle didn't participate in spring)
Quinten Dormady (injured his Junior year of high school)
Jarrett Guarantano (injured Senior year of high school)
Cheyenne Labruzza ( injured senior year of high school)
K’Rohjn Calbert (surgery freshman and sophomore year of high school only full season was senior year)
Josh Smith (injured senior year of high school)
Mckenzie Jr. (over coming knee injury/wasn't eligible to play senior season)
Devante Brooks (tore both ACLs out Junior and Senior seasons)
Eric Crosby (Knee injury in high school sophomore or junior year)
Players that may not have gotten injured in high school, but can't stay healthy:
Evan Berry
Shy Tuttle
Brett Kendrick
Austin Smith
Dillon Bates
Also you can make up your own list for those who have been healthy, but just complete busts.
Anyway I didn't even go through the whole roster and check all the players history because that would take forever, but I am sure there is other players on the roster who had major injuries in high school. Now I am not saying we shouldn't have recruited some of these players, but I think Butch has messed up recruiting too many players that have injuries in each class. Trust me you can go back through his other classes and find the same thing with players that aren't here any more.
It just comes to recruiting. Making sure you are recruiting tough guys and guys who haven't been riddled with injury. You will never 100% escape from injuries, but I believe everyone can agree Butch Jones Era has had way more than the norm.
Also might be why he has landed some star power in some classes because he kept the offer on some of these guys that got injured their senior year when others backed off. Might sound crazy, but I believe Jones has recruited a lot of injury prone players. JMO
Last edited:
