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Video: Tennessee walk-on compares Butch Jones and Derek Dooley, talks experiences
By Jason Hall
Published:
On Wednesday, Tennessee walk-on defensive lineman Charles Folger participated in his first media session days before his final home game at Neyland Stadium.
Folger, who is one of the few remaining seniors from former coach Derek Dooley’s coaching regime, compared Dooley to current Tennessee coach Butch Jones during the press conference.
“If I had to say anything about the previous coaching regime I’d say, ‘has anybody seen Rommel?'” Folger joked about Dooley’s infamous WWII press conference comparison. “We joke about it all the time. Because we know how much better this program is with Butch Jones and his staff. We came in knowing what we were getting ourselves into but we didn’t know what was coming our way and we couldn’t have asked for anything better.”
Folger also talked about his experiences and provided advice for future walk-on players attempting to make the team.
“Keep going, don’t give up because how can you get better as a person and a player if you’re going to quit?” Folger said. “To make the team better, though, I always always think it’s positive to keep your nose clean and stay out of trouble. Do well in everything you do. Don’t give up. Do well in school, do well on the field. Some guys may never get the opportunity to play. Some guys fight five, six, seven days a week for the Vol Walk to do it six times a year. They fight and scratch 351 days for five or six opportunities to walk in front of fans, to walk down the street.
“I love non-travel guys. They’re family. Some guys will be in my wedding, all of them will get an invitation to my wedding because we’ve become so close as a family. We have a group message and it’s been nothing but so much fun for the past three years, four years being a part of such a good group of guys. Are we all all-world athletes? No, not in the slightest. Some guys I love to death, some guys are better athletes than I am or that I’ll ever be but these guys, non-travel guys, non-schoolarship guys are the best guys on the team in my mind because they know what it’s like to fight.”
Folger, who appeared in one game and registered three tackles in 2016, will participate in the Senior Day ceremony Saturday before the Vols’ matchup against Missouri.
Jason covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
