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Matthew Butler is on the third different position coach
of his Tennessee career, but the
veteran defensive lineman so far has liked what first-year defensive line
coach Jimmy Brumbaugh has brought to the program. Tracy Rocker coached the Vols' defensive line the past
two seasons before moving on (he's now at South Carolina), and Tennessee replaced
one veteran with another in hiring Brumbaugh. The former Auburn standout has
built a strong reputation as a coach at Syracuse, Kentucky, Maryland and
Colorado.
Brumbaugh has taken over a senior-laden Tennessee defensive
line, a hard-working, no-nonsense group that took well to Rocker's coaching
style, and he's made a connection with his new players over the past few
months, according to Butler, despite being separated from them and only getting
two spring practices in back in March.
During his appearance on the latest episode of "The
Slice" podcast hosted by VFL Films producer and Vol Network reporter Kasey
Funderburg, Butler
revealed how Brumbaugh has gone about getting to know his mostly position
group.
“He is very
attention-to-detail, very meticulous in his work. He expects the best from us,”
Butler said, “and he’s going to talk to us as men. We come in there, and let’s
just say we came in on a Zoom call, we don’t just get into the plays. He’s
going to ask us how we’re doing. He expects us to answer honestly, and if we
ain’t doing so well, he’s going to holler at us. He’s very thorough.
“There’s times where he’s called me a few times a day to make
sure I was good, to make sure that, maybe we had a Zoom meeting that day, to
make sure that I understood where he was coming from. He wants to
make sure that the way that he’s teaching us, that’s actually getting through
to us, because we’ve probably heard it two or three or four different ways at
this point.
“He’s meticulous,
thorough and attention-to-detail, and he has a resume with him as well, very
respectable and continuing to gain my respect and appreciation, just him being
my coach, defensive line coach.”
Butler, who led Tennessee defensive linemen
with 45 tackles and added three tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and two pass
breakups in 2019, said he
especially appreciates Brumbaugh constantly checking in on how players are
doing mentally, and those efforts to form a more personal connection have
resonated with the veteran defender.
“It means a lot, just
because in today’s day and age when business is business, it’s tough sometimes
just having a truly personal connection,” Butler said. “Then you add on top of that, I’m not speaking from my personal
perspective, but you add on top of that just anybody and everybody’s struggle
with their mental health. It’s very important for somebody, whether they be a
peer or whether they be a quote-unquote superior, or maybe if you’re somebody’s
superior, that’s just somebody
who’s checking on you. That’s solid and appreciated.”
