Leadership Reps: Power ranking the best Butch Jones cliches
By John Buhler
6. Very, very
“The back seven is very, very talented, and then big and physical up front.” – Jones on the South Carolina defense before Week 7’s loss to the Gamecocks at home 15-9 on Oct. 14
This quote before the South Carolina game is just another example of how Jones uses trite adjectives in excess to further emphasize a point he has. His two favorites are really, really and very, very. Using the same worthless adjective over and over isn’t a pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good look for Jones.
Yes, we understand that speaking in front of the media can be difficult. We all use space filler words to help us think and communicate on the fly. However, using the same words we were taught to remove from our vocabulary in sixth grade English shows a lack of creativity and imagination.
You could just say that the South Carolina back-seven is talented or even immensely. With really, really and very, very, you might as well go with super-duper or something like that. It means the same thing, which is next to nothing.
One would think that this would have been addressed in the first four years of Jones being at Tennessee. It’s okay to pause for a second and think before answering a question from the media. You’ll have them eating out of the palm of your hand. They might even think you’re a sage of football wisdom with roots from the Bill Parcells tree of knowledge. All really, really and very, very does is marginalize the point one is trying to make.