Tennessee legend John Henderson speaks with team during first practice in Jacksonville

Former Tennessee defensive tackle John Henderson met with the Vols before their first practice in Jacksonville for the 2015 TaxSlayer Bowl on Monday. Henderson, who spent the majority of his pro career with the Jaguars, gave the team a speech that head coach Butch Jones called “outstanding.”

JONES: John Henderson came back to speak to the team today, he was outstanding.

— Tennessee Football (@Vol_Football) December 29, 2014

“There was a great message for us earlier today with John Henderson, a Vol For Life, Tennessee great came back and requested to speak with the team and he was outstanding,” said Jones. “I know our players appreciated his message.”

Henderson told the Vols’ young roster of the preparation necessary to excel at the collegiate and professional levels.

“It’s another great illustration, a 10-year [NFL] vet, a Pro Bowl player, who loves Tennessee. To have him be able to come back and be from here in Jacksonville. The message was from being a freshman and all the things that goes into it to being a Pro Bowl player and all the things that going into it how you take care of your body.

“You could see the excitement, you could see the energy, you could see the passion. Great players have an energy level about themselves, so it was a great illustration for our players of the excellence that we have here at Tennessee.”

Fellow Nashville native and current All-SEC freshman Derek Barnett was impressed by Henderson’s appearance, who he called a “bad dude back in the day.”

“It was cool, we saw the video of the trainer slapping him and getting him ready and hyped for the games,” said Barnett. “He was getting hyped in the meeting talking about this game and practice today. He’s a legend, he’s from Nashville too, so I look up to him and can follow in his footsteps.”

Jason Hall

A former freelance journalist from Nashville, Jason covers Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Kentucky