Shoop talks about the meeting that convinced him to join the Vols

“As much as the defensive staff was taking notes when I was talking, I was taking notes when they were talking,” Shoop said. "There was a mutual respect there. The nicest compliment any of the guys gave me after the interview was ‘We really liked that you didn’t come in and say, 'This is how we’re going to do it.'

“That’s not my style of management. My style is check you ego at the door. It’s not my team. It’s our team. Let’s find a way, at the end of the day, we’re all going to get the credit.”

“Coach Jones and I talked about this after I spent the day here. We both used the word ‘invigorating,’” Shoop said. “Sometimes, when you’ve been with a group of people for so long, the positive is the routine, but the negative is the routine. To talk football and hear a different way of doing things, from the way the team practiced to the scheme to the terminology, that was really cool.

“I was anxious at first, but once I got in there and started talking football, it reinvigorated me. I wouldn’t have taken the job if I felt any other way. At the end of the day, Strip, Thig and Willie, we hit it off well, and there’s great chemistry.”