KNOXVILLE - Less than 24 hours after the disappointing upset loss at South Carolina, Tennessee's football team held a meeting with coaches and players to turn the page and set the tone for the season's final month.
Multiple players said Tuesday it was exactly what the Volunteers needed.
The negativity around the program understandably swelled in wake of the listless loss to the Gamecocks, but instead of hitting the panic button, Tennessee regrouped and hit the reset button.
"Coach (Butch) Jones came in and talked to us about effort and energy, and then the players talked to one another," safety Todd Kelly Jr. said. "We know what we need to do, and that's between the team. We're just going to handle business one week at a time.
"I don't think it cleared the air. I think it just kind of helped our team come together a little bit more. Whatever needed to be resolved or brought up was brought up in that meeting, and now people are held accountable for what they need to do. Everyone's going to try to do one thing to make this team a better team overall."
The Vols had a similar moment last season when the home loss to Arkansas left them 2-3 in early October, and the following week they battled back from a 21-point deficit to beat Georgia for a season-saving win.
The effect of this meeting likely won't shine through against Tennessee Tech on Saturday, but the Vols certainly appeared noticeably looser during practice Tuesday, especially for a team that three days earlier looked so disinterested.
A couple of offensive linemen were joking around as the players stretched. Freshman safety Nigel Warrior's energy was clear as he bounced around and yelled. Tennessee's "circle of life" session was short but spirited.
"The mood of the team is very positive," quarterback Josh Dobbs said. "It was a meeting that was just needed for us to lock in and focus on finishing out the season strong. It was a very effective meeting. We got a lot out of it. It's helped us make sure our approach was right coming into this week and going forward."
Defensive end Derek Barnett, who's developed into a team leader unafraid to call out players who aren't in line, said the meeting "settled everything" as the team moved past the South Carolina loss.
"We know what we did wrong," Barnett said. "I know a lot of people watched the game. They know, but we can't get that game back. We watched film and we learned from it and just make sure it won't happen again. We've still got a lot more ballgames to play. It seems like a lot of people are still stuck on the games in the past, but we've just got to move on."
Tennessee's players were touting a unified front publicly, but it's impossible for every player on every team to be happy, particularly when a team is mired in a three-game losing streak like the Vols currently are.
The coaching staff undeniably is to blame for the abysmal performances against Alabama and South Carolina, but the players shoulder some of it, too, and improved accountability among them, if that's truly the result from Sunday's meeting, can't hurt.
"We always say we're the ones on the field together," left tackle Brett Kendrick said. "It's a little different when a coach is yelling at you, but when one of your brothers is hurt or needs you, I think it makes it that much more important to you.
"If Dylan Wiesman calls me out and says that he needs me to step up, it's a little different than maybe Coach Mo (offensive line coach Don Mahoney) - and I'm not saying any disrespect to Coach Mo. The people you're out there on the field with, that's a lot different."
With the losing streak and the team's leadership eroded by injuries, it might be easy for the Vols to fracture from the inside out, but their ability to avoid dissension could determine how they finish the season.
"The mood is we need to make plays in critical moments and stop letting games slip," Barnett said. "We know when we go into games we have a lot of talent and we can be the better team. We just have to finish and make plays when needed, so that's the mood and everybody's up for the challenge.
"The mood of the coaches has just been let's be 1-0 this week," he added. "We don't know what can happen. We're still fighting for a good bowl game and maybe the SEC (East). They're just still preaching 1-0 this week, and I think that's good."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.