10 Things I Would Have Rather Seen On Vols’ Sideline Than A Trash Can

The Tennessee Vols are catching some flack for a trash can that was on the sideline in their season opening win against Georgia Tech.

The Tennessee Vols won a thrilling double overtime game on Monday night against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, but somehow the biggest story of the game was the “turnover trash can” on the UT sidelines.

Social media went nuts over the trash can (which was present last year as well). A national sports columnist even made it the centerpiece of a column this week.

I don’t really think it’s that big of a deal. Wins and losses are all that really matters. And Tennessee won the game.

With that said, however, I can see how it comes across as corny. Miami had a U chain on the sideline for players to wear after a turnover, and the Vols had a trash can. Which one was certain to be turned into a meme?

Yeah, trash can every time.

I started thinking about objects that would’ve been better choices to be on the sideline.

Here are the 10 best.

10. Giant clock

Butch Jones’ time management near the end of the first half was dreadful. I’m not going to get on Jones too much for this — he’s hardly the first college coach to have time management issues (Steve Spurrier’s mismanagement of timeouts helped the Vols beat South Carolina in 2013), but it’s still something that he could get better at.

9. Derek Dooley’s orange dog

Not that I was a fan of Derek Dooley’s orange dog, but if we’re putting random things on the sideline, we might as well bring back the ceramic dog. I wonder what ever happened to that thing…..

8. Dooley on a stool

Let me be clear, I don’t want Dooley to actually do anything. But I wouldn’t mind seeing him sitting on the sideline just to get his facial expressions. Perhaps we could also let him do the halftime interview. I haven’t had a good history lesson in a while.

7. Portrait of Peyton Manning

I don’t know how this would motivate anyone, but it would be great to see a portrait of Peyton on an easel on the Vol sideline. I’m sure it would look great on TV too.

6. Sal Sunseri

The Vols gave up over 500 rushing yards to Georgia Tech on Monday night. The most rushing yards Sunseri gave up in a game during his year in Knoxville as the defensive coordinator was 336. At least Vol fans could’ve consolidated their hate if Sunseri would’ve been on the sideline on Monday night.

5. Tiger in a cage

The purpose of the trash can was to motivate the players to force turnovers. Judging by the final stats, they needed motivation to stop Georgia Tech’s running game. What better motivation than a giant tiger in cage, ready to pounce if you can’t get off the field on third down.

4. Checkbook

Speaking of motivation, a check for $2 million sitting beside Butch Jones would’ve been effective. $2 million, by the way, is Jones’ buyout. Imagine John Currie with a pen in his hand, ready to sign the dotted line on the end of the Jones era.

3. Insta-dreads

I’m not sure if this is even a thing, but the consensus after Marquez Callaway morphed into Larry Fitzgerald was that Tennessee needs more players with dreads. I don’t know if it would improve play or not, but it definitely couldn’t hurt. Just imagine Ethan Wolf with a set of insta-dreads.

2. Orange rifle

The Vols have one of the best logos in all of sports with the rifleman logo. Might as well bring it to life and have a orange rifle on the sideline. “Oh, Miami has a “U” chain”, well Tennessee has a freaking rifle on the sideline. What’s up now.

1. Hail mary cut-out of Jauan Jennings

The best thing about Tennessee’s spring game was the cut-out of Jauan Jennings catching the hail mary pass to beat Georgia last season. The Vols should definitely bring that cut-out to the sidelines on gameday. And they should move it into the television frame to troll Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs every chance they get.