Like beauty, a loss can be in the eye of the beholder.

It’s easy for fans and media analysts alike to unload on the Tennessee’s football team after the Vols were handled easily by West Virginia last week. For some, the 40-14 score was all anyone needed to see. That lopsided margin made the game seemingly simple to evaluate. In other words, the Vols just weren’t nearly good enough to play with an upper-echelon team.

While no one is arguing that point, it’s worth nothing that there were some positives for the Vols. UT seemed to find a running game after some in-game adjustments to its offensive line. The Vols also became more creative on defense in order to pressure the quarterback. Despite the score, those are reasons to think first-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt can turn the Vols into a respectable program. That will take time.

Here I visited with former UT safety Fred White to get his thoughts on the Vols’ loss to the Mountaineers and what good can come out of a seemingly embarrassing outing:

Dave Hooker: What did you think of the West Virginia game and how the Vols responded?

Fred White: “I feel like they (West Virginia) had more talent on the outside. We didn’t realize how good this football team was. They were ranked No. 17 for a reason and it shows we have some work to do.

“However, I will say there were moments in the game where I saw coaches adjust during the game … I see promise. I was a little more concerned with the defense than I was the offense, but we’re playing a lot of young guys.

“I always think with a new coach and new system, there are going to be bumps and bruises even with older guys. When you add younger guys in the mix, you may have opportunities for those (bad) things to happen every week. That was a good measuring stick for them. I’m glad we didn’t play a cupcake the first game of the season.”

Dave: What did you like from UT’s coaching staff?

Fred: “I saw a coach, Jeremy Pruitt, do something I haven’t seen done (at Tennessee) in a long time. The defensive backs get beat on the play (and) he didn’t berate them on the sideline or on the field. He brings them to him. I’m looking at him coaching and he’s coaching the three or four guys in the secondary. You can tell that he’s telling them ‘Hey, that was your route.’

“Now, we have the coaching. The players have to come up to the level of what the coaching is at the moment. I think that will start to happen in a few games. You’ll start to see guys make less mistakes. That’s what I’m hoping for and I think that will be the case.”

Dave: Why didn’t former UT coach Butch Jones do the same sort of teaching?

Fred: “He didn’t know a whole lot about football in the first place. He really didn’t. I’m being honest. I’m not trying to berate him or belittle him or anything but, honestly, you could see that on film. You could see that when you asked him questions about technique and personnel. He could not answer those questions. He could not teach his guys …. He could not do that. That’s just something he could not do. To see that now, is a promising thing.”

Dave: What did you like about UT’s offense?

Fred: “We found another running back. One guy went down (starter Ty Chandler), this guy (Tim Jordan) steps up. We let a quarterback (Jarrett Guarantano) come into his own in my opinion. We didn’t win the game and I’m not excited about a loss. A loss is a loss. I still want to win. However, in this case, with a football coach that it’s the first time he has ever coached a team and as been the leader, there were things that I saw that were positive.

“You found a quarterback. He didn’t do a bad job at all. He got up everytime he got hit. He came back and found ways to get the ball downfield. His receivers ran good routes and they caught the ball.”

Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

Dave: Was there a moment that stood out to you in the game?

Fred: “Another thing that happened in the game that was a confidence builder for later on in the season. I don’t even know if they realize that it was a motivational thing for them in the first game of the season but going for it on fourth down. … You see them running off the field. Pruitt and all the coaches are screaming for them to get back on the field. They call a timeout. They go for it and they get the first down.

“That’s telling you guys, ‘We believe in you. But you’ve got to believe in you too.’ You should have been saying, ‘Coach, go for it!’ instead of just jogging off the football field. Those are lingering effects from losing, One of the hardest things to overcome is a losing mentality. One of the hardest things to coach out of a player is a losing mentality.”

Dave: What would you attribute the poor tackling to, in particular when Darrin Kirkland Jr. struggled?

Fred: “Old habits die hard. That’s an old saying and it’s so true. You can see some of the guys that are coming back when it comes to technique, not moving their feet…I can still tell that some of these guys know what they’re doing but it’s not second nature. If you have to think, you’re already beat. This is the SEC. This is no longer high school. This is college football.

“I watched some of our linebackers take a step, another step and then react. When he (Kirkland) gets to the point that he understands exactly what he’s doing like its second nature and there’s no step and he just reacts, watch how much faster he gets to the ball.”