After spending seemingly more time around the football program than at home this year, I’ve learned a great deal about Team 117, Butch Jones, and his staff. In the spirit of the season here are five reasons Vol fans should be thankful.

5. Tennessee’s seniors.

This one will probably surprise some folks and may not be a popular opinion, but I’m confident Vol fans should be proud of their seniors. Despite the fact this group lost a ton of games, they also experienced unprecedented turmoil. Redshirt seniors played for three coaches in five years and every senior had to suffer through the Dooley debacle. Even so, they have largely represented their program well even in the most trying times and have persevered through adversity to grow as players and men. They’ve embraced Jones and done everything he’s asked of them with knowledge that the benefit of doing so would likely be reaped, not by them, but by their future teammates.

Daniel Hood’s comments immediately after the disappointing loss to Vanderbilt summarize the attitude I’ve seen from this senior class this year.

“It’s just … that’s just kind of been the burden of our senior class. Whether coming from Kiffin leaving, you had LSU, you had North Carolina, you had Georgia this year, you had losing to Kentucky two years ago. That’s kind of been our burden to carry. And that’s a burden that we’ll shoulder, because we know that Coach Jones, we finally got the right coach in, and every person in that locker room believes that 100 percent. And so we’ll carry that burden so that in the future, they can win championships. And I believe that 100 percent, that they’ll be able to do it in the future.”

They won’t go down as Tennessee’s winningest senior class by any stretch of the imagination, but they might just be one of the most resilient.

4. A drastically improved ground game. 

It’s no secret that you have to be able to run the ball consistently to win in the SEC and Tennessee hasn’t been able to do that for some time. Assuming UT gains one yard rushing at Kentucky Saturday, the Vols will finish with their best year on the ground since 2004. Thus far, they’ve gained 2043 yards rushing on 417 carries, that’s 4.9 yards per carry. The last time they ran for 4.9 ypc or better? 1998. Reminder: we’re just two years removed from the Vols averaging a measly 2.8 yards per rushing attempt.

Lane Kiffin’s lone year on Rocky Top was the last time the Vols amassed over 2000 yards rushing, but that team “only” averaged 4.3 yards per carry. Back in 2004, the talented duo of Cedric Houston and Gerald Riggs Jr. sparked the Vols to 2418 yards on the ground at a clip of 4.7 ypc. That 2004 team averaged 186 yards per game on the ground. The 2013 Vols are averaging 185.7 ypg on the ground headed into Tennessee’s weekend battle with Kentucky. There’s simply no denying that Team 117 has been one of Tennessee’s best rushing teams in the modern era. The job they have done despite defenses stacking the box to stop the run has been, in a word, remarkable. The ground game will likely take a hit next year as the vast majority of the offensive line graduates, but this staff has proven they can coach the ground game at the level needed to have consistent success in the SEC.

3. Young talent that will only get better.

Out of necessity, a ton of young Vols have seen valuable snaps throughout the season. Tennessee has played 15 true freshmen and 24 total freshmen this year. Their best defensive back? True freshman Cam Sutton. Their best receiver? True freshman Marquez North. Their most gifted quarterbacks? True freshmen Riley Ferguson and Joshua Dobbs. Tennessee’s young talent will only get better with time and the multitude of snaps they played this year will pay major dividends in 2014.

2. The 2014 class.

It’s easy to get excited about recruiting when a season doesn’t go your way, but it’s even easier when your team boasts the No. 2 class in the nation. Tennessee’s 2014 class is shaping up to be its deepest and most talented in over a decade. The talent Jones is bringing in will have the Vols ready to compete in the SEC and will go a long way toward addressing their obvious depth/speed issues. Butch Jones’ first full class will also insure that Team 117 will be the least talented, from top to bottom, Tennessee team he coaches.

1. Butch Jones.

Have there been questionable decisions along the way? Of course. As is the case with any coach in college football, no one’s perfect. But in less than a year on the job Butch Jones has redirected the faltering trajectory of the program. He’s in the midst of assembling one of the best recruiting classes in the history of the program. He led the Vols off the impending APR cliff by recording a perfect 1000 score in the spring; a score which kept the program from losing future scholarships and postseason eligibility. Off-the-field issues? There haven’t been any of note. Fielding the least talented team from 1 to 85 that I’ve seen don the Orange and White, the Vols knocked off a top-10 team for the first time since 2006. Perhaps more importantly, his players believe in him and believe that the program is finally headed back to its historic place among college football’s elite. That belief has been strikingly absent from the program in recent years.

I keep going back to something Ja’Wuan James told me this summer about his coach, “Coach Jones is the type of person who in 7 months has us ready to run through a brick wall for him. He’s that type of guy.”

Though the season hasn’t gone as planned, those players are still willing to run through that wall for him. That’s because of the “type of guy” he is. The type of guy who coaches not just to win, but for something more. Over the summer I asked Jones who influenced him as a leader and his answer stuck with me throughout the season.

“I would have to say my mother and my father. My dad was the chief of police for 30 some-odd years and my mother ran a hospital. So they’ve been in those leadership roles at a very early age. I think, it’s been something that’s been embedded into me for a long time. That’s why you coach, it’s really to change lives and be a part of individuals’ lives and to teach them how to be successful in life for many years.”

Is he the guy that brings home title No. 7 for Tennessee? No one knows the answer to that. However, I am confident in one thing: for the first time in nearly a decade, lives are being changed for the better, the talent level of the team is being increased, and the Vols are heading in the right direction.

And that, Vol fans, is a reason to be thankful.