Rexrode: KONGBO! That's a big word for the Vols in 2017
KNOXVILLE – He’s got the No. 1 jersey and the name that screams football star – KONGBO! – and if I were in charge of such things at Tennessee I’d make sure he’s the first guy off the first bus at every road stadium next season.
We’re talking 6-foot-6 and 265 muscle-packed pounds for junior defensive end Jonathan Kongbo, a 20-pound cut from last season when the junior college transfer mostly watched from the sideline. That is, if he wasn’t staring at the ground from the bench, sitting by himself, the sure sign of a malcontent.
When he tweeted the picture of the hanging cleats on Oct. 30 with the caption: “All things must come to an end,” it all made sense. Junior college guy, gets the No. 1 jersey, prima donna, not producing, moved from end to tackle out of necessity, isolated on the sideline, now he’s quitting. Probably for the best.
That’s how the snowball of overreaction can roll, especially around a program like UT.
“One part, I am to blame,” Kongbo said Thursday after a spring practice session of the narrative that grew around him in 2016. “It was kind of immaturity at times. And as far as people’s reaction, I mean, it’s Tennessee right? Should’ve known.”
He knows now, and that has to be some of the best news for this program in this spring of 2017. Because Kongbo is going to be one of its most important players in the fall of 2017.
The quarterback battle and the task of replacing Joshua Dobbs is the No. 1 story line, but I’m not sure there are any bigger shoes to fill than those of the great Derek Barnett. Don’t expect Kongbo to fill them, either.
But I do expect him to start and make a lot of plays off the edge. The physical ability is obvious for the Congo native who grew up in British Columbia, started at Wyoming, transferred to Arizona Western College after a year and came to Knoxville a year ago as the top-ranked JUCO prospect in the nation according to 247Sports.com.
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If he can put it all together and be some facsimile of the game wrecker Barnett was, everyone on this defense benefits. There’s talent and depth on that side of the ball and, Butch Jones hopes, a run of good health ahead. Last year’s awful performance against the run – and necessary move of Kongbo – started with extreme depletion inside.
But you need more than talent and depth, you need playmakers. UT loses one of the best in its history in Barnett. Kongbo has the look of one, but we’ll see. There are suggestions to that effect.
New defensive line coach Brady Hokecited his “maturity” this week, and new offensive line coach Walt Wells said of his view of Kongbo: “He’s always had a high motor and gone after things, but he’s practicing hard with a purpose now. And he’s developing moves, he’s developing counter moves, he’s playing hard in the run game.”
Hoke was working hard with Kongbo on technique Thursday, and make no mistake, landing Hoke was a coup for Jones. Hoke failed as Michigan’s head coach, he flamed out in a doomed season as Oregon’s defensive coordinator, but coaching defensive linemen well is how he ascended in the first place.
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And in Kongbo, he has a talent any defensive line coach would love to have. He also has a 21-year-old man who seems to have acquired some perspective in the past year.
Kongbo said playing inside “helped me step my game up as far as being more physical,” and he said a year in the SEC taught him “it’s all about technique,” and he said Barnett told him: “Pass rushing is a chess game. Don’t be too quick to give out all your moves. Set things up.”
The fabled tweet was a reaction to losing a FIFA soccer video game, Kongbo said, but he also admitted he handled some things immaturely last season. Now, he said, “I finally feel like I’m at home.”
“I didn’t realize how big of a deal people made things around here,” Kongbo said. “I would say that was the biggest adjustment. … Going into last year I let it get to me too much, the pressure and what everybody expected. So definitely it was something on my mind coming in. I feel a difference coming into this year. I’m not really paying attention to all that.”
He just needs to do it on the field. After coming off that first seat on the bus.
Contact Joe Rexrode at jrexrode@tennessean.com and follow him on Twitter @joerexrode.