The face of Tennessee

To label him just a football player would be an insult.

Student-athlete doesn’t quite work, either.

Student-ambassador? That’s a little closer.

Josh Dobbs wears many hats at the University of Tennessee, but that’s nothing new for the Vols’ senior quarterback who’s not merely the face of the football program but arguably the entire university.

Growing up Dobbs recalls playing, aside from multiple sports, the saxophone from grades four through 11.

His reasoning for stopping?

“Couldn’t play senior year because band period fell during physics class,” he says. “There was only one physics period and one band period. I chose the physics over the band, but it was sad to give it up.”

These days, Dobbs isn’t giving up anything --- even as interview requests, speaking engagements and, ah yes, spring football dominate the daily life of --- dare it be said --- Tennessee’s Most Marketed Athlete Since Peyton Manning.

A recent week sees him twice on the football practice field, live on the Paul Finebaum Show, accepting an award from the Boy Scouts of America in his hometown Atlanta and engaging competitors as the keynote speaker for a robotics competition inside Thompson-Boling Arena.

“It shows you exactly what kind of individual Josh is,” says Tennessee coach Butch Jones, himself no stranger to scheduling demands except Jones doesn’t have a 14-hour course-load in aerospace engineering. “He takes on all of that stuff and does everything he can to represent this great university, this program and he comes from a great family.

“Josh is a special individual, and he really cares. He puts the time in in football, but he also puts the time into everything he does. It’s who he is.”

Coleman Thomas owns a fairly unique perspective of Dobbs, and not just because Thomas stares upside down at Dobbs from his center position along the offensive line. Thomas also goes to dinner with the Vols’ affable quarterback; sometimes even kicks it at the mall.

“I’d say at the mall, just watching the people hit each other and say, ‘That’s Josh Dobbs! That’s Josh Dobbs!,’” Thomas, noting the omnipresent autograph requests as well, shares. “He’s always surrounded by all of us, though.”

Dobbs, who credits his parents Stephanie and Robert with instilling in him that Renaissance spirit, also insists he doesn’t remotely mind the attention, even as he’s barely 21 with the polished mannerisms of a 30-year-old pro --- in any field.

“It kind of shows, you know, all around person,” Dobbs shrugs, as if his Pratt & Whitney internship to work on engines for U.S. government aircraft and recognition by NFL.com as one of college football’s 14 smartest players is de rigueur. “That’s kind of what I try to do, just be all around and look for different ways to help out in the community. Obviously I’m giving it my all, on and off the field. That’s kind of my motto.”

In fact, Dobbs insists he believes he’s gaining everything and missing nothing with his approach --- and notoriety as the Volunteers’ quarterback, face of the program and, after a recent day on Capitol Hill, arguably the face of all of the University of Tennessee.

“I take a lot of pride in it; I think it’s really just a blessing and something I’m thankful for,” says Dobbs, who wraps up his final spring camp Saturday with the Vols’ annual Orange & White Game. “I have to be smart with the decisions I make and understand that most places I go, people are going to recognize me so I have to be smart with how I carry myself out in public and really in private and just in the decisions I make. I feel like that’s kind of how I always am.

“It’s kind of a cool feeling, you grow up and see the University of Tennessee, see what it stands for and you never really think about there’s going to be a day where that’s you. So that’s pretty cool. It’s pretty cool to be something that you’ve grown up watching.”

Nothing gets more eyes on Dobbs than his endeavors on the football field. Owning a 14-5 ledger in his last 19 starts for Tennessee, Dobbs is among the SEC’s most experienced returning signal-callers and an undeniable reason there’s a feeling of Atlanta-or-bust for the Vols.

As it should be.

“Yeah, Tennessee is supposed to be on the map,” says Dobbs of embracing expectations. “The tradition of this program, everything that this program has done throughout the years, throughout the history of football, really.

“Tennessee should be on the map, and that’s its rightful place. To put Tennessee back there is great, and now we’ve just got to go out, compete and get the job done this year.”

Dobbs sees no limit for this offense anymore than he does the aircraft he studies away from the field. While he returns with 24 career games to his credit, Dobbs is surrounded on offense by returning starters at nine of the 10 other positions.

“It can be as good as it wants to be,” Dobbs says of an offense returning nearly intact on the heels of averaging more than 35 points per game last season. “Teams, I think, got a taste of it last year and I think we’re going to do a lot of different things this year. With Coach (Larry) Scott coming in, he’s been a great rejuvenation; he’s brought a lot of juice to the team as a whole. And then Coach (Mike) DeBord, Coach (Zach) Azzanni, all the coaching staff will continue to do a great job of designing new plays and getting playmakers the ball.

“So I think this team, this offense can be really dynamic.”

Already, it’s got a goodwill ambassador.