Head coach Butch Jones encourages his Vols before the game in this Oct. 25, 2014, photo.KNOXVILLE - The silly season of college football coaching rumors and the ensuing carousel of coaches coming and going is a few weeks away from hitting full stride, but Tennessee coach Butch Jones already has seen his name thrown into it.
According to a 247Sports report citing anonymous sources Monday, Jones, in his second year with the Volunteers, would have "strong interest" in a potential opening at Michigan, where Brady Hoke is off to a 3-5 start in his fourth season with the Wolverines.
Jones is from Michigan, but he was blunt when asked about being linked to a job that's not open yet.
"It's not even worth discussing," he said Tuesday evening following Tennessee's practice. "There's no validity to it, and I'm not even going to waste your time or my time even commenting on that. I think y'all know how I feel."
Jones is just 8-12 in his tenure with the Vols, but Tennessee signed a top-five recruiting class in February and has a 2015 recruiting class currently ranked fifth in the country according to Rivals.com.
QB chatter
Only two periods of Tennessee's practice were open for viewing, and neither included the quarterbacks throwing as the Vols try to be coy leading up to Saturday night's game at South Carolina.
All signs continue to point to Josh Dobbs, who played well against Alabama, starting against the Gamecocks, and Jones said it's been "business as usual" this week for the sophomore, who's handling most of the first-team work.
"I asked every player what their goal was for practice today, and his was to be able to execute the routine plays," Jones said. "He's cognizant of that. He's working on it, and that's be proven over a course of time. Consistency isn't just one practice. It's putting a number of them together, but he knows it and he's working hard on it.
"He's a very determined young man, and I'll know he'll work exceptionally hard at that and improve on that."
As for former starter Justin Worley, the senior threw the ball "a little bit" Tuesday as he tries to rehabilitate his injured shoulder, but not well enough to where he could play in a game, according to Jones.
"It's just the velocity," the coach said. "We still have to the end of the week, but if we had to play the game today he wouldn't be able to play."
O-line shuffle
Left guard Marcus Jackson (leg) was back at practice Tuesday after missing the loss to Alabama, while freshman right tackle Coleman Thomas was limited while he battles an ankle injury suffered at Ole Miss and an illness.
Jones would not divulge how Tennessee would rework its line after three changes led to what probably was the maligned unit's best performance of the season against the Crimson Tide, but it's likely Jackson would re-enter the starting lineup with Kyler Kerbyson, who started at left guard against Alabama, sliding back out to left tackle in place of Brett Kendrick.
"We can go about seven-deep now," Jones said. "We ask a lot of individuals to play different positions. We're rotating them in, making sure they know the game plan, whether it's playing guard or bumping out to tackle."
Butkus 'backer
Tennessee linebacker A.J. Johnson was named one of 15 semifinalists for the 2014 Butkus Award, which is given annually to the nation's top college linebacker. The Vols' leading tackler the past two seasons leads the SEC with 86 tackles in eight games this season, and his 410 tackles are third-most for a career in program history.
The senior is the sixth Vol to be named a semifinalist for the award and the first since Kevin Burnett in 2004. Tennessee's other semifinalists were Keith DeLong (1988), Al Wilson (1998), Raynoch Thompson (1999), Eric Westmoreland (2000). DeLong and Thompson were named finalists.
The Butkus Foundation will announce the finalists on Nov. 24 and the winner on Dec. 9.
Misleading record
Coming off allowing a season-high 469 yards to Alabama, Tennessee faces a South Carolina offense that has gained 500 yards or more in each of its last three games, including a 538-yard outing in a 42-35 loss at No. 4 Auburn last week that dropped Steve Spurrier's team to 4-4.
The Gamecocks have gained at least 433 yards in seven of eight games this season and rank 32nd nationally in total offense. Tennessee has allowed just three opponents -- Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama -- to crack 400 yards against its defense.
"We're not looking at their record," Vols safety Brian Randolph said. "Their record's not too impressive, but we know they have a lot of talent. They have a lot of skill back there, and they play hard as well.
"We're just going in watching film and seeing what we can do to stop them."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.