Butch Jones walks up to the podium and carefully arranges a pair of unopened bottles of a mysterious drink: Vernor Ginger Ale, the “the oldest continuously produced ginger soda in the United States” and a product of Detroit, Michigan. Coach Jones himself is a Michigander, so it’s unclear wether Vernor Ginger Ale is a new presser sponsor or just a taste of home. Coach Jones can be sentimental, and he is known to wax philosophical, often neatly packaging his weltanschauung into succinct, time-tested sports mottos like “playing 11 for 11” or “get 1% better every day.” But for the first time in my memory, Coach Jones dipped into the Indian lexicon when describing the emotional make-up of his 2026 locker room.

“It gets back to the word muditā. Do you know what that word means?” Jones asked the assemblage of reporters, bloggers and podcasters. Silence. We cover sports. We’re not Cambridge scholars. Ask me to explain the infield fly rule, and I will ace your pop quiz.

“Look it up in the American Dictionary. You won’t find it. Okay?” said Professor Jones. “And that’s been the word that we’ve studied all offseason — joy in other people’s successes. And it was formed in India.”

I can see why Coach Jones reached halfway across the globe for his new Buddhist worldview. After all, English fails to offer us a word with an perfectly identical meaning. “Camaraderie” doesn’t quite get you there, and neither does “sportsmanship” or “empathy.” Too often we take advantage of a teammate’s failure. “Just waiting for my opportunity,” we often hear. For the universe to balance, one man must fail for another to succeed.

“And so that (locker) room has muditā,” continued Butch Jones. “As much as they’re competing, they’re the first to encourage each other, the first to coach each other, they’re the first to celebrate in connection with each other.”

I caught a whiff of muditā chatting earlier with Arkansas State lead running back Kenyan Clay, who is both generous and careful with his words. I ask him if the offensive plan is run-heavier this year, and Clay diplomatically stresses the value of a well balanced offense while subtly advocating for more runs. After all, a runner’s gonna run.

I asked him, as a senior presence in the locker room, which of the young running backs impressed him most. Clay immediately rattled off names: Solomon Baggett, Timothy Carter. Chevy Williams

“Chevy Williams?”

Clay smiled. “Yeah. He’s quick.”

“I don’t know much about Chevy,” I admitted.

“You will,” said Clay. “You will fast.”

Muditā!

It’s Red Wolves media day, and people want to know some basic truths. Who’s going to be the starting quarterback? (“Ultimately the quarterback who plays is the one we trust to take care of the football,” non-answered offensive coordinator Garret Altman.) Does the “five for five” ruling mean Simeon Mitchell is available on the defensive line? (“Simeon has elected to go on with his life and pursue some career goals,” said Coach Jones.) Who does Butch Jones like in the defensive backfield? (A: Noah Flores.)

At one point, Butch Jones makes an unexpected comment about a former Red Wolves defensive lineman.

“I think some of our biggest assets we have, or great things we’re doing, is we welcome Ethan Hassler back as a coach now,” said Coach Jones. “And Ethan was raised in our program, played here for four years, from right down the road, about an hour and 20 minutes from here. And he has the equity in our program, and our older players know what he’s about.”

The last time I saw Ethan Hassler, he was crushing quarterbacks for the Memphis Hound Dogs. Along with former LB Justin Parks, Hassler is another Butch Jones Graduate of the School of Muditā. May we all take joy in his success.

QUOTES:

“Very impressed with Tristan Smith. I really am. I think he has an edge. But I still need him to be more vocal, but he’s surprised me. He’s done a good job.” – Garret Altman

“And, you know, when you do skelly, you don’t make the quarterback live, and all that, it’s like going to the driving range. And a lot of things, it’ll look good. Shit, Chris Pessman can go to the driving range and look really good. And then you go play competitive golf with him, and it looks like he’s never picked up a club.” – Butch Jones, on why he removed the no-contact jerseys from the QBs during the Spring Game

“So I think it’s in the bonus of the offensive line and everyone around them to protect a quarterback. And then what I discovered is it’s almost as beneficial on the offense as it is the defense. You find out who can tackle a running quarterback, you find out who can finish plays in the pocket. We found so much out about our football team by being able to do that. But we found out not just about the quarterbacks, but offensive defensive players around them.” – Butch Jones expanding on why he removed the no-contact jerseys

“I think this year, we have greater depth. It’s not going to be the same setting as it was last year where those guys played the bulk of the snaps, so hopefully that’ll give us an ability to be fresh and be able to rotate guys in and out.” – Griff McCarly on the Defensive Line

“Chauncy’s awesome. He embodies everything that [Coach Jones] talks about from a leadership standpoint. He’s been awesome — super glad to have him. Very dynamic, very smart player, very versatile. We move him around, do anything we want with him, and he’s very smart, so he can pick it up.” – Garret Altman on Chauncy Cobb

IMAGE: I snapped that with my phone. and the ginger ale does look refreshing