At his press conference today, Butch Jones was asked about how his team, especially the younger players, seem to be recovering late in the season. The SEC schedule can be a grind, even more so when you're playing a bunch of freshman and sophomores.
Jones answered by talking about how they've adjusted their practice schedule over the past few weeks to help their young players recover from "hitting the wall".
"We now have 'Perfect Thursdays,' and 'No Sweat Thursday's' where we actually do not practice." Jones said of the changes to the practice plan.
"It's all a mental day. It's all about rest, recovery, meetings, and walkthroughs. We don't want them breaking a sweat."
"So it's a big mental day, it gets their body back, and then we try to spark the central nervous system 24 hours prior to competition. On Friday now, we have about a 40 minute practice, where we gear it up and we get after it pretty good."
Jones went on to explain that the renewed focus on recovery has just as much to do with adapting to sports science research as it does being a young team.
Interesting strategy. That's not a move you can make if you're not plugged into the pulse of your team, which is an area Jones excels in.