University of Tennessee Athletics
Vol Report: Plenty To Be Thankful For
November 23, 2016 | Football
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee football head coach Butch Jones, sophomore running back John Kelly and junior cornerback Emmanuel Moseley spoke to reporters at Wednesday's press conference in the Ray and Lucy Hand Digital Studio.
Earlier on Wednesday, Jones, Derek Barnett, Alvin Kamara, Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Alex Jones went to Chattanooga to visit with the children who were injured in the recent bus crash that killed five children and injured 23. After hearing the news of the crash on Monday, Jones and the players wanted to reach out to the children involved in the crash and their families.
No. 24/24 Tennessee (8-3, 4-3 SEC) stands at No. 17 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings and the Vols will close their regular season schedule on Saturday against Vanderbilt (5-6, 1-6 SEC). The game will feature a 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff on SEC Network.
Butch Jones | Head Coach
"First of all, my thoughts and prayers go out to the families, everyone at the Children's Hospital at Erlanger and the employees, the doctors and the nurses. You sit here and you hear about it and you feel kind of helpless and wonder what can you do to help or is there anything you can do about it? It was something that I just thought of and I ran it by some players and they said, 'Coach, I'd love to go.'
"We talk about resolve and resiliency, it's talking with these parents, how brave they are. Seeing it first-hand makes you feel helpless as an individual. But again, it's something that I'll always cherish. I'll always remember. It's the least that we could do. I'm going to look forward to having all those kids--I want to do something special for them at the halftime of our spring football game. You walk into a room and there's a little girl who can't talk but she sees you and her eyes light up and she's in a cast and she's giving you a thumbs up. That's something that I'll remember and I know our players will remember for a lifetime.
"When we got in the car to drive back to the airport, it was silent. I think it's something that they will take with them for a very long time. When you're a parent of three and you have a son that's the same age as them, I think it puts things in perspective about life and how fragile life is. I want to encourage everyone to keep all of them in their thoughts and in their prayers because that's what it's all about. This community, this great state, coming together as one Tennessee and being together to help each other through these tragic situations."
#4 John Kelly | Sophomore Running Back
Kelly has been one of the Vols' brightest stars with his increased role on offense. In UT's past four games, Kelly has rushed for 393 yards and two touchdowns on 55 carries (7.1-yard average). He spoke about the tight-knit relationship he has his teammates in the backfield and on the offensive line and how young players like himself should always be ready to play because they can be called upon to step up at any time. Kelly, who is from Detroit, will spend Thanksgiving with coaches and teammates.
"I am going to stop by Coach Gillespie's house. I'm also going to hang out with Kahlil McKenzie's house too. He has some family members in town, so that should be pretty good."
#12 Emmanuel Moseley | Junior Defensive Back
Moseley has provided a steady presence at cornerback this season as the UT secondary has battled through injuries. The junior has logged a career highs of 54 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss and has also broken up six passes. On Wednesday, he spoke about how sophomore Stephen Griffin has stepped up at safety.
"Well, Stephen brings a lot of energy and he's a very physical safety. In the Kentucky game, he came down and made a tackle and forced a fumble. He's a very physical guy and he likes to tackle so that'd be good."
