The 2014 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. This was the 118th overall season, 81st as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and its 23rd within the SEC Eastern Division. The team was coached by Butch Jones in his second season with Tennessee, and played its home games at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.
The Vols finished the regular season at 6–6, 3–5 in the SEC, making them bowl-eligible for the first time since 2010. On December 7, 2014, it was announced that the Vols would face the Iowa Hawkeyes (7–5) in the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida, on January 2, 2015. In that game, the Vols, with Joshua Dobbs leading the team as the quarterback, struck quickly and hammered away at the Hawkeyes to secure a 45–28 win, marking Tennessee's first winning season since 2009. The bowl victory was the Vols' first since 2007.
Before the season Tennessee has 11 starters returning from the 2013 season. All five starting offensive linemen from last season are gone, as are the top five tacklers from the defensive line.
After missing the 2013 season, outside linebacker Curt Maggitt will be back on the field playing various roles. He led the team in 2012 with five tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks before tearing his ACL, which kept him off the field last season.
Bobby Denton, longtime PA announcer at Neyland Stadium, died on April 9 at the age of 73 after battling cancer for a year. Jeff Jarnigan, the PA announcer for Tennessee's basketball games, was named the new PA announcer for football games on July 17.
Spring practice Tennessee began Spring football practice on March 7 and played their annual Orange-and-White Game on April 12. They were without star wide receiver Pig Howard for unspecified personal reasons. Reserve defensive lineman Gregory Clark, who was a fifth-year senior, left the team in the offseason to focus on his postgraduate career. Wide receivers Drae Bowles and Ryan Jenkins, tight end Brendan Downs, safety Brian Randolph, and defensive lineman Trevarris Saulsberry did not participate so that they could recover from injuries.
Marlin Lane was expected to be limited on reps through spring practice with a broken bone in his hand and that highly recruited running back Jalen Hurd would see an increased workload. This was not the case however as Lane was carrying most of the first-team reps in practice. Josh Malone, also a highly recruited wide receiver, competed with Jason Croom for the starting spot in the outside receiver slot opposite of Marquez North.
With the graduation of Michael Palardy, Tennessee was in need of a new kicker and punter. Matt Darr is expected to take over as punter. George Bullock is in line to handle kicking.
Defensive tackle Jason Carr and defensive end Malik Brown were both expected to sit out of spring practice for wrist injuries. But Jason returned to practice on April 2 while Malik remained sidelined. Coach Jones considered moving Jason Carr from defensive tackle to offensive tackle.
The battle for the starting spot at quarterback showed no clear frontrunners through most of spring practice. Justin Worley, who won the starting job last August, lost his starting spot against Florida in week 4 (he ended up subbing in for Nathan Peterman). After being knocked out of the week 8 game against Alabama, then redshirted freshman Joshua Dobbs took over the starting role for the rest of the 2013 season. In the final week of practice, Worley and Ferguson emerged as the frontrunners for the starting job. Justin Worley is most likely to retake the starting spot at quarterback.
Senior cornerback Justin Coleman played the nickel back role this spring and is expected to lineup as the fifth defensive back this season.
Coach Jones challenged his 'soft' defense to toughen up during spring practice along with reiterating themes of "fundamental improvement" and "competing all day".
Devrin Young, after playing a season as slot receiver, returned to the running back position during spring practice.
Spring game Tennessee played the Orange and White Game on April 12. Coach Butch Jones said that the offense had made great strides from where they started at the beginning of spring practice. Jones, however, made note that the defense was still deficient overall.
In his first action since tearing his ACL in 2012, Curt Maggitt finished the game with three tackles and one sack. He played defensive end in nickel situations and at outside linebacker during base packages.
Jalen Hurd, highly recruited running back, got a chance to show his ability when he carried the ball for 66 yards rushing and one touchdown carry. He also caught a pass for 27 yards. "Jalen has been pretty much doing that all spring", Jones said. "You can see he adds a whole other dynamic to our offense. I said it in the offseason: We have to be able to throw a 5-yard pass and turn it into a 20-yard gain. That was missing from our offense last year, and we've really helped ourselves in recruiting. Jalen has been an individual that, right from practice one, he can be as good as he wants to be."
Jalen Reeves-Maybin finished second on the team with seven tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss at outside linebacker.
Joshua Dobbs, who started the final four games last season in place of Justin Worley, was not in contention for the starting job at QB. He completed six passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns and took a low, bounced snap off the ground and rumbled 59 yards for another touchdown. "Josh has had a productive spring, but I thought he really stepped it up today", coach Butch Jones said. Though all that action came against mostly reserves, Dobbs' had noticeable muscle gain and sheer arm strength on deep balls.
Justin Worley, who is expected to be the starting quarterback when the season starts, finished the game 11–13 and 151 yards passing along with one touchdown. He also had 55 yards rushing on two carries.
Marquez North was one of Tennessee's wide receivers during the season. In the game, he recorded 106 receiving yards, including a 50-yard touchdown reception.
Rivals with Vanderbilt, Josh Malone showed why he was a highly touted recruit immediately with 181 receiving yards on six catches and three touchdowns, the longest of which was 79 yards. The pass-catcher had been improving throughout the spring and dominated defenders when he got the ball which led to him starting against Vanderbilt.
In 2013, Tennessee finished 11th in total defense in the SEC (418.4 YPG) and the spring game showed that the defense was dealing with the same problems such as tackling. This was something that Butch Jones had spent a chunk of time during spring practice to work on.
Post spring practice On April 22, reserve running back Alden Hill announced that he was leaving the team. "As of today I am I’m sad to say I am no longer a Tennessee Vol. I have decided to move on for my best interest and find a new home. I have loved Tennessee and the entire Big Orange family. I thank the coaches and the fans for my time here and will always remember my time spent at Tennessee, my first true love," Alden said via his Instagram account. He tweeted a link to the post. Although his Twitter account is unverified, head coach Butch Jones confirmed that Hill had left the team and was looking to transfer to another school.
On April 30, fifth-year defensive back JaRon Toney announced that he was leaving the team. Coach Jones said Toney would graduate in the summer and planned to pursue his professional non-football career. "I'm very excited for him getting his college degree, and I'm very appreciative of everything he's done for Tennessee", Jones said Wednesday.
On May 6, lineman Jason Carr announced that he was leaving the program and transferring to another school. Carr played defensive tackle last season for the Vols but was moved to offensive tackle after this spring and was expected to practice at that position this summer.
In a May 14 interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press, coach Jones told Patrick Brown that Pig Howard, who didn't participate in spring practice for unspecified personal reasons, would be back with the team for the team's summer workout program on the condition of meeting school requirements. "He's in here in mini-term, so he's here", Jones said. "When we start our official summer strength and conditioning program he will be a part of it. He still has certain stipulations and requirements that must be met for him. It'll be ongoing throughout the summer months. A lot of it is laid out upon our player staff, but up until this point in time right now, he's done everything that's been required of him." On July 15, Butch Jones announced that Pig Howard was officially back on the team.
On May 27, Riley Ferguson announced that he would transfer to another school according to coach Jones. "As of right now, based on our recent conversations, we do not anticipate that he will be a member of our football family moving forward," Jones said. He was expected to battle Justin Worley and sophomore Joshua Dobbs for the starting spot throughout summer and into fall after redshirting last season following a stress fracture in his right leg. "I'm not sure how much this helps or hurts Tennessee", GoVols247's Wes Rucker said in an interview with Bleacher Report. "I think Ferguson had the most upside of Tennessee's four quarterbacks, but he was arguably the least consistent. "I thought before this came out that Justin Worley was the starter going into the season, and obviously, this news doesn't change that. I think this potentially creates more long-term questions than short-term questions."
Summer months On June 2, coach Jones confirmed that redshirt freshman Malik Brown would transfer from Tennessee.
Incoming freshman Charles Mosley suffered a broken leg in a July 6 car crash. He was traveling back to the university campus with family at the time. He underwent tibia surgery later that night. Mosley was in good condition following the surgery according to associate athletic director Jimmy Stanton. However, coach Jones announced that he would miss the season as a result of his injuries. "We don't anticipate him being back for this year", Jones said following UT's second preseason practice Saturday at Haslam Field."He's been back since reporting day, so he's getting the rehabilitation that he needs", Jones said. "He's still around the meetings, so it's great because, again, he's another Von Pearson. He's always up. He's always positive. And to be able to have him around our team is very, very good — good for him and good for the team, as well."
On July 7, the Maxwell Football Club released an official list of college football players who are considered frontrunners for the annual Chuck Bednarik Award, given to the best defensive player. Tennessee linebacker A. J. Johnson was named to the list. Johnson was also named to the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, which is also given to the best defensive player, the Butkus Award that's given to the top linebacker and the Rotary Lombardi Award that's given to the best lineman or linebacker.
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