Author Archives: Brad Shepard

Jeremy Pruitt-Aaron Murray Feud Good for the SEC and Tennessee

 

Families fight. Tempers flare. Insults — and sometimes punches — get thrown.

That’s the way it is in the South, and, though I haven’t been out of this region too much in my life, I assume that’s the way it is everywhere else, too. If you haven’t seen a conversation get a little heated at a family reunion, well, I’m not sure you’re from ’round these parts.

Most of the folks running programs in the SEC are, indeed, from ’round these parts.

Many of them have coached together, played against each other, recruited the same players and cut teeth on the same coaches.

Heck, the Nick Saban tree has reached its gnarled roots all over the conference. Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, Georgia coach Kirby Smart and Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt are all disciples of college football’s greatest coach. Will Muschamp played at Georgia, coordinated at Auburn, led a program at Florida. Heck, even “outsiders” like that Yankee Dan Mullen down in Gainesville has spent enough time in the league now that he’s common-law.

Some of these good ol’ boys like each other, take weekends at the lake together, shoot the breeze about a little ball together. Some of them don’t care much for one another.

That’s how good ol’ boys are.

So, when former Georgia players Aaron Murray and David Pollack puckered their bottom lips out and went poor-mouthing Pruitt on national platforms on Wednesday, nobody should have been surprised.

Said Murray to a radio station at the always-entertaining circus of SEC Media Days in Atlanta:

“I don’t know if his personality is fit to be a head coach. As a head coach, there’s so many things that go into it. It’s not just going out there and coaching. You have to deal with front office. You’ve got to go talk with the president. You have to deal with boosters. You have to deal with the offense. The defense. It’s not just going in there and scheming it up. … I don’t think he’s the right guy to kind of be the CEO of a corporation. He’s really good managing just a defense and being a defensive coordinator. He needs to prove to me that he can handle the whole ship. We’ll see what happens this year. I don’t think it helps that he doesn’t have a lot of talent at Tennessee.”

Pollack saw a place to pile on, and did so. The former UGA defensive end who took his share of beatings at the hands of the Vols has never had too much good to say about the program, anyway. He said according to Saturday Down South’s Michael Wayne Bratton:

“To address Aaron’s (Murray) comment — because I think it needs to be addressed a little bit — the stories that I have heard and some of y’all have heard that came out of Athens – that are true, (from) coaches that were on the staff, some of the things Jeremy Pruitt did to Mark Richt, some coaches would tell you are the most disrespectful, most crazy things they heard.

“So, I’ll be curious to watch Jeremy Pruitt as he evolves with this relationship with Phillip Fulmer because Jeremy Pruitt did a good job when he was with Nick Saban — because he knew where he stood. He did a good job with Jimbo Fisher — they let you know where you stand. The hierarchy was very clear. How does he evolve as a head coach?

“He put on a good show (at the main podium at SEC Media Days), he definitely showed you what he has. I want to see if he continues to treat people in the correct manner, if he respects authority, because to be honest, the stories we’ve heard — we’ve all heard the same stories, it was pretty bad. It was disrespectful, so that’s what I’m interested to see.”

In a separate interview, legendary high school coach and former Pruitt boss Rush Propst said Georgia was a little too “country club” before Pruitt got there. Saban himself addressed the buzz during his portion of Media Days.

That Pruitt punched back only made things better. I’d have probably told him to take off his skinny jeans and put on some blue jeans, but that’s just me. Pruitt was a little more diplomatic but still got his point across.

“I look at it like this: 15 years ago, I was a kindergarten teacher, and today I’m the head coach at Tennessee,” Pruitt said. “So you probably don’t make that ascension unless you know how to treat people.”

You sick of reading quotes?

Oh, me neither.

This is awesome.

All that’s really missing is a soft pack of Winstons, a case of Bud Diesel and maybe a stained wife-beater or two. This is as close as we’ve gotten to “how-big-a-boy-are-ya” in this league in a long time. When a bunch of Southern boys get together and get in a baccer-spittin’ contest, fur may fly.

Sometimes, as we saw Wednesday, some of that Sand Mountain may come out when he gets a little sand in his craw. I was halfway waiting for a “By gawd” to be uttered.

Let’s all hope this is today’s SEC.

For us Tennessee fans, it may be a little while before we can re-enter the fracas on the football field, but Pruitt is already proving he can go into living rooms and battle the titans on the trail. He isn’t a stranger to this league or putting on his big-boy britches in hairy situations. He’s paid his dues as an assistant on the best teams in this era and in this country in the past decade, and this is now his time to run his program his way.

Mark Richt got to run his Georgia program his way, and though he was very successful during his tenure in Athens, his teams lacked toughness and he never really did as much with all that talent as he probably should have. The fans said it. The media said it. Some of Richt’s former players have even said it.

It took two years for favorite son Kirby Smart to come in and take the Dawgs to the cusp of the national championship last year.

Did he do something Richt couldn’t do or did he just inherit the talent that Richt was eventually going to do it with? We won’t ever know the answer to that. But [if the reports and the comments are true] Pruitt obviously didn’t care for the way things were going down there during his short stint with UGA.

Long-time SEC reporter Tony Barnhart said in the book Fulmer Hires Pruitt that Pruitt was outspoken about UGA’s need for a better indoor practice facility. Maybe that was one of the many things that irked the assistant; Richt didn’t run the type of program and do all the things Pruitt thought he needed to do to be successful.

When that’s the case, and things are going downhill [remember, Richt was fired following that season] things get a little haywire, especially when you’ve got alpha coaches who like to speak their minds.

“For the longest time when Mark Richt was there, there was this ongoing debate as to whether or not Georgia needed an indoor practice facility,” Barnhart said. “They had a small version and was not big. Some were saying Georgia needs one because Tennessee has one, Alabama has one, Auburn has one; some were saying well no they don’t need one. Mark Richt mentioned it, but he never pushed the issue and then one day someone came to Jeremy and asked him about it and he said Georgia is at a competitive disadvantage in not having an indoor practice facility at a place like Georgia. So that also impressed me and these things made me believe that someday he was going to be a head coach.”

Now he is, and he’s entering a situation at Tennessee that needs discipline, needs toughness, needs bluntness, needs truth. For years, we were lied to by a thin-skinned politician of a coach in Butch Jones, a man Paul Finebaum referred to on Wednesday as a “pathetic carny barker.”

Pruitt has been a breath of fresh air and the complete opposite.

Will he win football games? We can’t know that, and you absolutely cannot be “sold” on him until he does because if there’s anything Tennessee fans should know by now, it’s how to get sucked into faux hope and get burned.

But Vols fans love somebody who’ll stand up for their team and their program. Fulmer did it back in the day, and even though the Ol’ Ball Coach Steve Spurrier and his one-liners ran rivets down big orange chalkboards, the Battle Captain was good for a quip every now and then. Before him, Johnny Majors authored some of the greatest coaches shows and player comments in the history of the league. After Fulmer, of course, was Lane Kiffin and all the immature fun that brought.

Pruitt isn’t going to just sit back and water bamboo or stack bricks. As we saw on Wednesday, he’ll hurl those bricks back in the direction where they came. It was a heck of a good time, wasn’t it; like a post-wreck tongue-lashing at Talladega. And two of the three folks involved were gussied-up Georgia pretty boys with $100 haircuts.

Can you imagine what it’s gonna be like when Pruitt gets “his” players in there and starts going toe-to-toe with Smart [no love lost with that pair] or former bosses Saban and Fisher? This has the potential to be a whole lot of fun.

Whoo-wee! Rubbin’, they say, is racin’.

If this is today’s SEC, buckle up boys!

The Next-Step List: Ryan Johnson and Theo Jackson

 

Football is near.

And it won’t be long until we’re gearing ourselves up for the Vols to usher in the Jeremy Pruitt era.

We all know 2018 likely isn’t going to be a pretty sight, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk ourselves into the Vols being much-improved under the former Alabama defensive coordinator. After all, Butch Jones is gone.

You just can’t help this time of year to be a tiny bit optimistic, even if logic (and recent history) suggests this is going to be yet another rebuilding campaign in Knoxville. Pruitt wants to win now, and he definitely isn’t used to losing after successful tenures in Tuscaloosa, Tallahassee and Athens, Georgia.

He’s outfitted UT’s roster with more size, and an infusion of collegiate talent. And he’s won some recruiting battles for guys who must be able to come right in and make an impact.

But what about the dudes already on the team? Who needs to make a major step forward in 2018 for the Vols to rise above the 4-8 doldrums of a historically horrible season where it looked like the team quit on former coach Butch Jones and his staff?

Let’s take a look at our latest installment.

OFFENSE

No. 4 Ryan Johnson, RS Sophomore Guard/Center

There are a ton of offensive line candidates who must step up and help star Trey Smith fortify the front, and even Smith has plenty of question marks next to his name after an undisclosed illness/injury kept him out of spring practice and there’s still a bit of uncertainty fogging his 2018 season.

A couple of players on the O-line made this list, and the first one we come to is Ryan Johnson, a former 4-star instate product from Brentwood Academy who enjoyed a solid spring and catapulted to the front of the race for the starting center gig ahead of Riley Locklear. Though Locklear may start at guard, he’s going to have plenty of competition from true freshman Jerome Carvin, and Johnson is expected to have his share of competition from Locklear as well. He’ll probablly rep at both spots. Brandon Kennedy stepping in as an Alabama transfer makes it an even healthier battle inside, and Johnson may find himself at guard.

Either way, he could settle firmly in the rotation.

He is extremely strong, possesses good size and is entering his third year of the program. It helps that Will Friend is a renowned offensive line coach who should get the most out of Johnson, especially after he’s played for unproven [Walt Wells] or flat-out bad [Don Mahoney] coaches his past two years.

At 6’6″, 305 pounds, Johnson is big enough to be a tackle, but he has never really fit at the position. After moving to the interior of the line, Johnson has proved his versatility and practiced at left guard this spring, too. So, it’s not a guarantee that he’ll play center.

To borrow a line from former coach/clown Derek Dooley, the offensive line looks like a “sack of potatoes” beyond Smith right now. Again, you could have inserted several guys like Marcus Tatum, Riley Locklear or Drew Richmond in this spot. But if Johnson can lock down the center of the line or a guard spot and not just be a leader but be a quality player, the Vols are going to surprise a lot of people on that offensive front.

 

DEFENSE 

No. 4 Theo Jackson, Sophomore Safety

There’s no question that Nigel Warrior is going to start at one safety spot, but the Vols have a lit-up vacancy sign opposite him. After a good spring, rising senior Micah Abernathy probably holds the edge, and another senior who has played a lot of football — Todd Kelly Jr. — will have a say in that race, too.

But Tennessee desperately needs Theo Jackson to emerge and take over that other spot on the back side.

“Needs to,” you say? Yes. He does. “Why?” you ask.

The answer is simple: He’s a big, long athlete who has blazing speed and quality ball skills. He put on 15 pounds this offseason to creep up over 190 pounds, which is huge news because he has such a wiry frame. If the scheme can click for him, Jackson could turn a major concern for the Vols into a strength.

At 6’2″ and now over 190 pounds, Jackson could be primed for a breakout sophomore year. Is he always in the proper position? Nope. But he’s still a baby, and maybe somebody can actually teach him how to play this year, right? There’s a reason why Bob Shoop and his staff loved the Overton High School product, and there’s a reason why Jeremy Pruitt, Kevin Sherrer and Co. love him. The upside is astounding.

It would be best-case scenario for the Vols if Shawn Shamburger can rise up and seize the Star position and Jackson emerges at safety. If that happens, you could have a secondary of Warrior-Jackson-Shamburger and a cornerback battle between Alontae Taylor, Bryce Thompson, Baylen Buchanan, Maleik Gray, Marquill Osborne and Kenneth George Jr. That’s a super-inexperienced group, but there would be a ton of talent and speed in that group.

And, let’s face it: The Vols badly need talent and speed on the back end of the defense. Those two things can make up for a lot of mistakes.

It’s encouraging that Jackson had a great offseason in the weight room and added some good weight. Now, he just needs to make big strides where it counts.

Here’s the first installment [Jauan Jennings and Jonathan Kongbo].

The Next-Step List: Jauan Jennings and Jonathan Kongbo

The other night, I drove past my old high school and saw the lights on at the “Pit” at Lincoln County High School. I went up to the gate, rolled the window down and smelled the wet grass on the field. It got me all gridiron-giddy.

Football is near.

And it won’t be long until we’re gearing ourselves up for the Vols to usher in the Jeremy Pruitt era.

We all know 2018 isn’t going to be a pretty sight, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk ourselves into the Vols being much-improved under the former Alabama defensive coordinator. After all, Butch Jones is gone.

You just can’t help this time of year to be a tiny bit optimistic, even if logic (and recent history) suggests this is going to be yet another rebuilding campaign in Knoxville. Pruitt wants to win now, and he definitely isn’t used to losing after successful tenures in Tuscaloosa, Tallahassee and Athens, Georgia.

He’s outfitted UT’s roster with more size, an injection of collegiate players like Stanford quarterback Keller Chryst, Michigan State running back Madre London, JUCO defensive tackle Emmit Gooden, JUCO cornerback Kenneth George Jr., JUCO tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson, JUCO offensive tackle Jahmir Johnson, and JUCO outside linebacker Jordan Allen who need to be able to help UT right away.

And he’s won some recruiting battles for guys who must be able to come right in and make an impact.

But what about the dudes already on the team? Who needs to make a major step forward in 2018 for the Vols to rise above the 4-8 doldrums of a historically horrible season where it looked like the team quit on former coach Butch Jones and his staff?

Over the course of the next five days, we’ll look at five offensive players and five defensive players who have to emerge and go beyond what they’ve already been. For some, it’s rising above good player status and becoming reliable stars. For others, it’s about reaching the potential that Jones failed to squeeze from them.

As always, you’re encouraged to make your own additions in the comments section.

OFFENSE

No. 5 Jauan Jennings, Junior Wide Receiver

There aren’t a lot of alpha-dog difference-makers on Tennessee’s roster. After all, recruiting too many of those guys would have meant challenging Jones’ ego, and we all know that wasn’t something the former UT head honcho liked. So, too often, there were a lot of nice guys on the field who didn’t get the job done when it came crunch time.

That’s easy to look back on now, but none of us wanted to believe it as it was happening.

Jennings is a bad mamma jamma, and we all know this. Unfortunately for UT fans everywhere, he also has a history of being a bit of a turd, to put things mildly.

If you can look beyond those shortcomings, though, Jennings is a playmaker with the potential to be one of the biggest stars in the SEC. Two years ago, he had 40 catches for 580 yards and seven touchdowns for the Vols, including a soul-stealing catch-and-run score against Florida’s Jalen Tabor in a massive comeback win and the Hail Mary grab in the Dobb-nail boot win over Georgia.

Those are arguably the two most memorable plays in the past decade of Vol football.

Tennessee needs Jennings, and — let’s be honest here — Jennings needs the Vols, too. He is good enough to play in the NFL, and though that league is full of guys who’ve done much worse than Jennings, he needs to prove that he can take a second chance and run with it.

That’s exactly what’s happened so far as, after interim coach Brady Hoke, kicked him off the team, Jennings met with Jeremy Pruitt and athletic director Phillip Fulmer, who gave him a short leash and let him work his way back into the fold. He’s done nothing since that time but be an exemplary player and a leading presence.

He’s without a doubt going to have some rust after getting hurt in the season opener last year against Georgia Tech, missing the rest of the year and this past spring, but if he’s in football shape, he can plug in and be a No. 1 receiver.

Actually, he may be one of the seven best receivers in the SEC. He’s that good.

The Vols need him. Jarrett Guarantano (or Keller Chryst) needs him. And Jennings has the potential of catching an even bigger career Hail Mary and finishing a promising UT career with a flourish. If he does, it would be a storybook ending and it could help the Vols make a major leap forward in what many think will be a throw-away season.

DEFENSE

No. 5 Jonathan Kongbo, Senior Outside Linebacker

If you were to look up “Typical Butch Jones recruit” in the figurative dictionary of disgruntled Tennessee fans, Kongbo’s picture would be right there beside the definition alongside Kahlil McKenzie, Drew Richmond, Kyle Phillips, and…and…and…

Yeah, you get the picture. It’s a long list.

Which is exactly the reason why Kongbo belongs on this list. Because, mainly, Kongbo still needs to prove he belongs.

He needs to prove that he belongs up there with the 5-star status that stood on his recruiting profile out of junior college. He needs to prove he’s a havoc-wreaking force who can make a difference on UT’s defense. Simply put: he needs to prove he belongs in an SEC starting lineup.

Those may be harsh words, but they’re true words.

Much like Jennings has to prove his maturity off the field, Kongbo needs to show growth on it. We’re not real sure what he can do.

After two largely ho-hum years, Kongbo enters his final season on Rocky Top moving a level back from defensive end to outside linebacker. It’s a spot that is also occupied by another former defensive end in Darrell Taylor. There are also players such as Allen, Austin Smith, and others who’ll battle for snaps at one of the spots. Nothing is going to be given to Kongbo, but there are also reasons to hope.

He’s an athletic physical specimen who fits perfectly in a 3-4 scheme. He’s playing for a coach now in Chris Rumph who has a rich history of developing players. And Kongbo is a natural pass-rusher, who can do just that this year. Rather than always having to be in position and getting taken off the field because he’s struggling to run-fit, Kongbo can just pin his ears back and get after quarterbacks.

If he is a one-trick pony this year for the Vols, that’ll be just fine, as long as that one trick is a good one. Give us sacks, young Kongbo. If you do that — say, give UT seven or eight sacks this year — that will completely transform this defense.

In my opinion, the biggest weakness on this entire team is the inability to get after the opposing quarterback. The second-biggest weakness is lack of proven, quality cornerbacks. When you combine the two — and throw in the inability to consistently stop anybody running up the middle — you have an atrocious, historically awful defense. The Vols are trying to emerge from the forgettable Bob Shoop era and return to respectability on that side of the ball.

In order to do that, quarterbacks need to fear somebody (anybody) coming off the edge.

If you have faith that somebody will be Kongbo, you have a whole lot more faith than you should. He’s shown us very little so far. But, how much of that was the Jones-Shoop fiasco, and how much of it is Kongbo maybe just not being an SEC player?

We all hope it’s the former and not the latter.

If Pruitt, Kevin Sherrer and Rumph can turn him into the kind of player that made everybody in the country want him out of JUCO, the Vols are going to have a very impressive player already on the roster.

Tennessee Recruiting: Future of the Nose Tackle Position Takes Shape With Simmons Pledge

We may not want to be too patient throughout the 2018 football season, but help is on the way for the Tennessee Volunteers as new coach Jeremy Pruitt continues to outfit the present and future roster with size and physicality to compete in the SEC.

On the same day the news emerged that incoming freshman Kingston Harris is listed on the SEC Media Days roster at 6’3″, 316 pounds and looks primed to compete for snaps at nose tackle in the future if not right away, UT received a massive commitment for the 2019 class.

And we mean “massive” in the most literal sense.

Nashville defensive tackle Elijah Simmons committed to Tennessee over Missouri, Vanderbilt, Memphis and others. The 3-star defensive tackle may not have a ton of marquee offers, but he’s a big, physical specimen who looks tailor-made to plant in the middle of a 3-4 defensive front.

He is 6’1″, 344 pounds and is a low center of gravity who packs a mean punch at the line of scrimmage. He’s a space-eating force who can dunk a basketball at his size, and the Pearl-Cohn High School product gives UT the kind of huge, athletic presence that it doesn’t currently have.

Plus, it’s always nice when a kid looks like he wants to destroy you and then eat your face like Hannibal Lecter.

**Shudders; trickle of pee**

LOOK AWAY!

He probably will need to shed some “bad” weight, but there’s no reason why Simmons can’t play at 330 pounds and clog up running lanes in the near future. That’s exactly what UT needs for him to do to become a much-needed puzzle piece to the future.

So much of what’s yet to come from Simmons is still untapped.

“He still don’t even really know the position yet,” Pearl-Cohn head coach Tony Brunetti told GoVols247’s Ryan Callahan. “He’s still learning it. But he’s got major potential.”

Though it’s asking a ton of Simmons to be a future star when he hasn’t even played his senior year of high school yet, there are a couple of factors that are at least worth mentioning: Pearl-Cohn is the same high school that produced another pretty good UT defensive tackle in former Outland Trophy winner and long-time NFL defensive stalwart John Henderson.

Also, Simmons will be coached by another former Outland Trophy winner in Tracy Rocker.

Now, before you think we’re already putting him on early watch lists, nose tackles never win the award. But he’s going to be playing for a defensive staff that has a rich history of getting the most out of their players, and if he develops right, he could help the Vols fill a void that has plagued them for years. When’s the last time you remember UT having a quality rush defense?

I’m waiting.

Still waiting…

Thought so. Me neither.

It’s going to be interesting to see how (and if) Simmons and 3-star defensive tackle commit LeDarrius Cox fit into the same class. Cox has made no secrets that he isn’t 100 percent locked in with the Vols, and as Auburn and others come after him, he may not stick. If he does, UT will probably happily take two big dudes at the position in the 2019 class.

But it’s encouraging that a few productive months in the weight room has helped Harris, the IMG Academy under-the-radar prospect to look the way he does, and the Vols are encouraged by his early returns. Also, JUCO transfer Emmit Gooden will play the position this year along with seniors Shy Tuttle and Alexis Johnson.

Tennessee needs quality production out of that position this year and in the future, and Simmons is a player who UT worked out, he camped well, and the Vols loves what he brings to the table. He’s a very important piece of the ’19 haul.

The Vols want size, and Simmons certainly has that.

The Vols are still 18th nationally in recruiting and ninth in the SEC, but there are several other major targets expected to commit fairly soon. Though UT missed out on instate prospect Zion Logue who pledged to Georgia this past week, Simmons is a quality cog on the defensive line. There are some defensive backs who could “pop” soon, too. Jaydon Hill, Warren Burrell, Jaylen McCollough and Devin Bush are a few defensive backs with possible summer pledge dates. All of those guys have UT high on their list.

So, buckle up. It could be a strong month for the Vols, who should wind up in the top 12 or so in recruiting in this class, and that could surge with a strong showing on the field.

Tennessee Recruiting: Vols Get Big Puzzle Piece With Commitment from QB Brian Maurer

In a cycle where there aren’t a ton of highly rated quarterbacks, the Tennessee Volunteers and their first-year coaching staff wanted to see several work out before slinging offers. Last week, 3-star signal-caller Brian Maurer of Ocala, Florida, traveled to Knoxville to throw for the staff.

Both sides liked what they saw.

Wednesday morning, the West Port HS quarterback committed to the Vols, choosing UT over Ohio State, West Virginia, Central Florida and others.

After gaining the offer from Tennessee, Maurer went to Columbus to throw for the Buckeyes, who offered him on the spot, but OSU flipped a quarterback from Michigan State shortly after.

That made Maurer’s decision ultimately between the Vols and the Mountaineers, and the lure to play in the SEC and walk in the footsteps of his idol Peyton Manning were too much.

Maurer has great size, a quick release and really good accuracy. Rivals lists him at 6’4″, and 247Sports lists him at 6’2.5″, but he’s probably somewhere in the middle. That’s plenty tall enough to see over defenses.

He’s currently rated as the nation’s No. 18 pro-style quarterback nationally according to 247Sports and the 21st-rated pro-style passer according to Rivals. Those numbers will improve now that he’s done the camp circuit and showed out.

His quick release and accuracy were some of the attributes offensive coordinator Tyson Helton loved about him when he witnessed him throwing in person. Though the signal-caller grew up in the shadow of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, probably pulling for the Gators, the Vols made a ton of sense.

Florida — who hadn’t extended an offer — will run more spread concepts under new coach Dan Mullen, so that made Maurer perhaps not the best fit for that offense. The Vols are going to be a smashmouth offense with a pro-style passer if everything works out, and there may be some West Coast elements to the scheme as well, if Helton’s body of work at USC is any indication.

This all makes Maurer’s accuracy and ability to throw on the run intriguing aspects of his game. He continues to shine no matter where he goes and throws. He made the Elite 11 Finals and finished among the final 12 quarterbacks at the event, which earned him a spot in Nike’s The Opening Finals, which starts Saturday in Frisco, Texas.

Maurer will get the opportunity to prove he’s among the top quarterbacks in the country. He runs an eye-popping 4.5 40-yard dash, which proves his athleticism. So, that’s a pretty strong skill set when you factor in everything else he brings to the table. The offense and his skills fit what UT wants to do.

“Tennessee runs a true pro-style offense,” Maurer told VolQuest.com’s Austin Price. “Tennessee has some best facilties in the country and the coaches made a big impression on me.”

It’s going to be interesting to see now what happens with quarterback recruiting for the Vols. Are they finished? With the only scholarship signal-callers on the roster being Jarrett Guarantano, Will McBride, fifth-year graduate transfer Keller Chryst and incoming freshman JT Shrout, it may not be a bad idea for UT to keep going after another quarterback it really likes. If Chryst beats out JG for the starting gig, it’s not out of the question that the latter would transfer, even though he’d still have two years of eligibility remaining after Chryst graduates.

If Tennessee is still going to recruit a quarterback, that would be Alabama commitment Taulia Tagovailoa, the Hawaiian quarterback who currently goes to school at Thompson High School in Alabaster, Alabama. Of course, he is the younger brother of Crimson Tide national championship game hero Tua Tagovailoa, who is expected to be in a heated battle with Jalen Hurts for the Tide’s starting QB gig.

There’s a chance the Vols can flip Tagovailoa from the Tide, though. Even though Alabama would seem the logical fit, the Tide also has a pledge from 4-star quarterback Paul Tyson in this class, and Tyson is the grandson of legendary coach Bear Bryant. So, the younger Tagovailoa isn’t a guarantee to be UA’s quarterback of the future, either.

If the Vols can somehow get Maurer and Tagovailoa, that would be exceptional, but Maurer is a stellar pickup all by himself. He’s got a lot of attributes that should make him a coveted player for a lot of teams if they saw them in person. That’s what happened for the Vols, who loved what they saw, and he became Helton’s hand-picked man in this class.

Like Shrout before him, Maurer has thrown his share of interceptions in high school, but that isn’t something (obviously) that scares off Tennessee coaches. Helton believes he can mold those positive attributes and turn those guys into quality SEC quarterbacks.

Head coach Jeremy Pruitt likes him, too, according to 247Sports’ Luke Stampini.

“The coaching staff, you know,” he said. “Sitting down with Coach [Jeremy] Pruitt for about an hour and a half, him just saying I’m the guy. He doesn’t just like the way I throw the football or run. He likes my toughness most of all.”

247Sports’ Greg Biggins thinks Maurer can be “elite.”

It has been a long time since the Vols had one of those signal-callers who could get the ball downfield. Yes, Joshua Dobbs was a game-changing athlete, but he struggled throwing vertically consistently, and Butch Jones’ one-dimensional offense didn’t help. You have to go back to Tyler Bray for when UT had a quality thrower, but the lack of a running game did Tennessee in then.

Can this staff put everything together offensively? That remains to be seen. But Maurer will have the opportunity to lead Tennessee’s offense into the next generation.

Tennessee Recruiting: Jalil Clemons Camps, Commits

Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt has fared well recently in picking up several coveted recruiting prospects for the Vols, but he has said time and time again that he trusts his recruiting evaluations over those of analysts.

That manifested itself Sunday with an out-of-the-blue pledge from Starkville, Mississippi, defensive end/outside linebacker Jalil Clemons, who camped in Knoxville this past weekend and committed. He had an offer before heading up to the camp, but the coaching staff saw him in person, and when the two parties liked what they saw — Clemons of campus and the Vols of the prospect — he chose the Vols.

The 6’3″, 240-pound prospect did not have a Power 5 offer besides the Vols. He did have offers from Memphis, UT-San Antonio, Florida Atlantic, Arkansas State and others. Despite the lack of big-time offers, Clemons is a guy the Vols zeroed in on for a while. They love his speed, and he has the body type to add 40 pounds and play at 270-280. That’s intriguing for a staff that wants to make the Vols a much bigger team, as evidenced by recent recruiting exploits.

Clemons told GoVols247’s Ryan Callahan that UT coaches compared him to former Alabama outside linebacker/pass rusher Ryan Anderson, who is now in the NFL. His high school coach, Chris Jones, compared Clemons to MSU defensive end Jeffrey Simmons.

Last year, Clemons had 72 tackles, including 22 for a loss and 11 sacks for the Starkville High Yellow Jackets.

He told 247Sports’ Yancy Porter that the hometown Bulldogs told the school they weren’t going to recruit him because he was too small. That’s a mistake, according to his high school coach.

“Wait until he gets at some of these camps and combines this summer,” Jones told Porter a month ago, according to Callahan’s story. “He’ll blow up. Hands down, he’s better than (LSU commitment and teammate) Zach Edwards. That’s no knock on Zach. Jalil is just in another league.”

As we’ve mentioned before on this site, Pruitt’s evaluations are paramount to Tennessee achieving early success. The Vols may not immediately recruit with the likes of Alabama and Georgia, but they also can’t afford to miss on guys who may not be as highly rated as teams like the Crimson Tide’s and Bulldogs’ prospects. After all, they compete with those teams every year.

So, players like Clemons need to be the kind of player coaches project them to be.

Given the way Pruitt coached and developed in his time as defensive coordinator with the Tide, Bulldogs and Florida State Seminoles, it’s hard to doubt him. Even if you think this may be an early reach, there’s no way this staff quits recruiting outside linebackers. And if Clemons continues to develop, this will wind up a steal.

If he doesn’t, the two can part ways. Happens all the time.

But what more can you ask for? This staff laid eyes on Clemons, liked what they saw, thought he fit the scheme and took a commitment. That may not be what the star-gazers like, but Pruitt gets paid the big bucks to make these decisions.

The Vols are currently ranked 19th in the nation in recruiting and just eighth in the SEC. Expecting a smallish class, it’s going to be interesting to see just how high this class can rise. With limited spots, you know the staff must really like Clemons to take him now. There’s no reason to think this is a stretch taking a commit like this.

I personally like it. I want Clemons to add the weight and come in with a chip on his shoulder. If he’s an SEC prospect, it’ll bear itself out between now and national signing day. Welcome aboard!

Farewell, Friend: How Do We Say Goodbye to John Ward?

Every time I sit down to write, a blank canvass stares back at me. The space is waiting to be filled with words. With excitement. With pain. With sadness. With euphoria.

With life.

Tonight, I have to write about death, and I don’t know where to start. How can any of us? What all do we owe the great John Ward, the voice the Vols for so many years, who told us so many stories, shared with us — authored to us — so many great memories, so many great games? I owe him greatness on this computer screen with words of my own.

I’ll fall short.

The first word that comes to my mind, honestly, when I think of John Ward is “Vols.” I think he’d love that. He’s synonymous with the university, with the athletic department, with years and years of success and failure, the ebbs and flows of any program. The second word I think of when I hear John Ward is “storyteller.” I think he’d love that, too.

He was more than an announcer. Every Saturday of my childhood, I let him and Bill Anderson into my living room. They sat down with me, sometimes around a three-channel television and sometimes without, and gave me three hours of joy, of heartache, of happiness, of dejection.

They never knew the ending, but the story of each game was a journey where we lived and died.

So many words fill my head now, so many of his calls. “The national champions are clad IN BIG ORANGE.” “Ladies and gentlemen, he’s running all the way to the STATE CAPITOL!”

“GIVE HIM SIX! TOUCHDOWN, TENNESSEE!” “BOTTOM!”

The catch phrases are simple, the deliveries were on-point. There’s no way to forget them.

When somebody gets his mitts on a story and truly does it justice, you not only remember the story but the teller. Sometimes, the stories fade, but the experiences meld together to mean a lot more. For me, John Ward narrated my childhood…

When I try to tell a story, I feel as if there are things lurking just below the surface of the skin of my fingertips, jumping toward the surface, trying to come out. Honestly, that’s the way it is. Sometimes, when I have a story on my mind and I’m driving home, I’ll have to stretch my fingers or pop them to keep them at bay. Other times, I’ll clinch my fists to fight them back.

My feelings take shape long before I sit at a keyboard, and I’m often left feeling spent afterward; whether I knocked it out of the park or grounded out to the pitcher, I’ve gotten it off my chest. There’s a sense of accomplishment, and of nakedness. “Here I am world, for better or for worse.”

You try to do life — experiences — justice with words. Sometimes, you succeed. Other times, you fail. But you want to tell a story. You want to paint a picture. You want to leave a mark.

Few people in my lifetime have done that for me when it comes to art. For my money, nobody spins a yarn like Stephen King. It’s impossible for somebody to hear the English language and translate it like Cormac McCarthy. When it comes to sports writing, Wright Thompson wields a mighty pen. Chris Cornell’s voice wove tapestries of silk and gravel. Jason Isbell writes songs that see to our souls.

In sports announcing, it was John Ward. Hands down.

Yes, I appreciate legendary Los Angeles baseball announcer Vin Scully — the standard bearer when it comes to storytelling from the booth. But as a Southern boy with orange blood, those Dodgers may as well been on another planet. I appreciated them from my Vanntown home every now and then when Scully’s voice came across my television speakers. But Ward was my own personal sports preacher, sitting high above the cathedral of Neyland Stadium and laying the gospel of “Go Vols!” on me every Saturday before the real preacher hit me upside the head with the Lord to end the weekend.

When I was about 8 on up through about the age of 17, many of my Saturdays were spent waking up early for “Coaches’ Coffee” on WYTM-FM in Lincoln County, Tennessee, where our beloved Falcons sat at Stone Bridge Restaurant in Fayetteville and talked about the game from the night before. Given that we won three state championships in my childhood, most of these mornings were victorious. I’d listen to the radio while playing my Nintendo Entertainment System and always look forward to hearing Leonard’s Losers afterward.

Sometime in here, I’d grab a football, lay on my bed, and toss it in the air, waiting on Ward and Anderson to start the pregame show. Then, they’d deliver the main event, and I’m not sure I ever remember anybody Ward loved more than Heath Shuler, who became one of my all-time favorites. Listening to Ward call a Shuler play was music.

Then came Peyton and Tee and Al Wilson and Phillip Fulmer. Then came heights the program hadn’t reached in my lifetime.

Ward called them all.

When I first met him as a college sophomore — my first year covering a college football game of any type and the year after UT won the national championship in 1998 — I tried hard to be unfazed. After all, as a professional journalist, you’re supposed to be unflappable. Nothing — nobody — is supposed to rattle your chain.

I failed.

I’m pretty sure my eyes were bigger than the plates on which they were serving the media dinner. When I shook his hand, it felt as if I’d dipped my hand in the Tennessee River, it was sweating so much.

There he was, newly retired and a real-life legend. This man was one of my idols. He’d meant so much to me, and I knew no matter how hard I tried, I’d never be able to tell a story like him. Ever.

His voice was college football’s watermark for me. It still is. It always will be.

The Vols won the national championship in 1998, and he walked away. What a storybook ending for the greatest storyteller of my lifetime. How could it end any better than that? Then, in a flash, he was gone. We had to get snippets of his golden voice from halftime interviews and Natural Gas commercials. It was like little moments of sunshine in the cold and barren wasteland of the past 15 years of Tennessee football.

Every time he spoke, I thought of better days, better times; not only for Vols football but the simpler days, when all I had to do was wake up and live my life and maybe listen to a football game here and there.

The night before my Papaw died, my dad and I sat down with him and listened to John Ward call a rare Thursday night Tennessee game. Papaw was too far gone then, but we’d listened to so many Vols games together that it was only fitting that we got to do it one last time, whether he remembered it or not. The night of my first date at 16, as I was walking out of the house, John Ward was on the radio, getting ready to call a Tennessee-Oklahoma State game in 1995.

In many ways, his voice is a soundtrack to my youth.

That voice left us many years ago, and now he has, too. How can we thank him for all hours we spent with him? How can we do justice all the moments, all the calls, all the wins, all the losses? What can I say to convey to all of you what I can’t articulate in my brain?

I can’t. We can’t. There’s no way.

There are no itchy fingers tonight just waiting to type something as I sit here writing this because there are no words. None of us can do or say enough.

Thank you, John. For being the constant voice of my youth, for giving me so much more than football and basketball. For telling me stories that became memories.

Tennessee Continues to Get Better Right Away With Kennedy Addition

The SEC recently relaxed its graduate transfer rule for players wishing to switch schools inside the conference after graduation. It didn’t take long for new Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt to capitalize on the rule change.

The first-year coach reached into his old stomping grounds and plucked Alabama center transfer Brandon Kennedy from the Crimson Tide. The former 4-star recruit has the potential to be a huge pickup for the Vols with two seasons left to play. He should step right in and be the favorite to win UT’s starting center gig.

Kennedy was slated to be Alabama’s backup center in 2019, but he wanted to go elsewhere and battle for a starting job. The Vols from the beginning were picked as a probable destination along with rival Auburn. Both of those programs have massive holes along the offensive front, and Kennedy saw an opportunity to make an immediate impact.

That’s hard for anybody to pass up, especially considering the NFL could come calling in a couple of years. In the end, the familiarity of Pruitt and the chance to play for known offensive line coach Will Friend gave Tennessee an advantage.

Once the Tide moved Ross Pierschbacher from left guard to center this spring, it became evident that UA coach Nick Saban had no desire to start Kennedy, so he looked to leave. Saban was against transfers within the SEC, calling it “free agency” at one time, according to SEC Country’s Marq Burnett. He also recently tried to block Kennedy from transferring to Tennessee or Auburn and was ridiculed for it. Then, he said according to SI.com’s Andy Staples:

“If we agree in the SEC in these meetings that we’re going to have free agency in our league and everybody can go wherever they want to go when they graduate and that’s what’s best for the game, then I think that’s what we should do,” Saban said. “Then Brandon Kennedy can go wherever he wants to go. But if we don’t do that, why is it on me?”

Of course, as Mike Griffith points out, Saban has benefitted in the past from “free agency” getting receivers Richard Mullaney (Oregon State) and Gehrig Dieter (Bowling Green), among others. But for all of his talk about wanting what’s best for the student-athlete, it’s smoke if it negatively affects the Crimson Tide.

No matter. His opinion means squat now. Kennedy is going to be a Vol, and that’s huge news for Tennessee, which all of a sudden has some reasons to be excited about a ’19 season that appeared dismal on the surface.

Though there remains a lot of holes, Pruitt has added quarterback Keller Chryst (Stanford), running back Madre London (Michigan State), offensive tackle Jahmir Johnson (JUCO), cornerback Kenneth George (JUCO), tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson (JUCO), outside linebacker Jordan Allen (JUCO), defensive tackle Emmit Gooden (JUCO), and late addition from high school Bryce Thompson, who could play cornerback or wide receiver.

That’s a lot of firepower to add who can step right in and play, and they are part of or in addition to a late-surging recruiting class. The Vols suddenly don’t look like pushovers, even though they still need to play better than expected to make a splash in the SEC East.

As far as the O-line goes, the Vols could surprise. Kennedy should be penciled into the starting rotation, and UT expects to get its best player back this fall if Trey Smith returns from a mysterious illness/injury that kept him out of spring practice. If he continues to progress, Smith will be a massive help. With Johnson being added to the mix along with players who could benefit from Friend’s tutelage such as Ryan Johnson, Drew Richmond, K’Rojhn Calbert, freshman Jerome Carvin, Riley Locklear, Marcus Tatum, Devante Brooks and returning oft-injured tackle Chance Hall. Among those guys, UT could piece together a strong unit, especially if Smith and Kennedy are injected as starters.

This is big news for Tennessee, and it continues to make some important moves under Pruitt. Now, if he can only put everything together, the Vols have some reasons for optimism.

Tennessee Recruiting: Vols Complete Bookend Commitment Weekend With Aaron Beasley Commitment

Tennessee landed its second commitment in the past three days with Sunday’s pledge of Heard County (Georgia) High School athlete Aaron Beasley. It could wind up helping fortify the back end of the defense for years to come.

Or, it could help the Vols shore up running back recruiting.

That’s why Beasley’s commitment is a big deal — he can play either way. UT loves him as a hard-hitting safety or a big running back. At 6’1″, 220 pounds, Beasley is a big name even if he doesn’t have a lot of stars by his name. The 3-star prospect could wind up seeing a ratings bump, especially if his offer sheet is any indication.

Beasley chose the Vols over Florida State, Auburn, Florida, Miami, Nebraska and others. He did tell GoVols247’s Ryan Callahan that he’s a Georgia fan, so if the Bulldogs wind up offering the Franklin, Georgia, native, it may be tough to hang onto him. But he loves the Vols, and it’s been that way for some time.

Beasley was recruited by UT safeties coach Charles Kelly, who recruited him since his days back at Florida State, too. Kelly may wind up having a monstrous weekend as the Vols also got Anthony Harris back on Friday. Though Harris is just 180 pounds, he has the frame to easily pack on 20 pounds and be a hard-hitting safety. Truth be told, Beasley could move up another level if he keeps growing and be a linebacker.

His size actually may be a deterrent in coverage; he looks like a typical in-the-box safety who can come up and be a force in the run game, but he’s never going to have the wiggle to be exceptional in coverage.

In his recruiting commitment stories, Beasley mentions former Seminoles safeties Derwin James and Jalen Ramsey a lot, so that sounds like at least he thinks it’s going to be a safety. That would be fine with the Vols, who still need several cornerback commitments, but safety is looking like a solid spot.

It may not be a stretch to see his ultimate destination in the offensive backfield. UT coach Jeremy Pruitt loves big backs from his days at Alabama, and it’s obvious that’s what he wants to employ at Tennessee, especially after a commitment from Jeremy Banks in the 2018 cycle and a transfer from big-bodied Michigan State runner Madre London, who has one season left to play.

Much like a lot of the other players the Vols have taken under Pruitt, Beasley has options and positional flexibility.

If you like stars, you may snarl your nose at Beasley, but that would be ridiculous. He’s an excellent prospect who had plenty of options, and he’s the kind of guy that either Kelly or running backs coach Chris Weinke would love to have and be able to mold.

UT is now up to 16th in the recruiting rankings for the 2019 class, according to the 247Sports composite ratings.

This also means Tennessee continues to be a force in Georgia. This makes 6. Offensive lineman Wanya Morris, JUCO linebacker Lakia Henry, receiver Ramel Keyton, tight ends Jackson Lowe and Sean Brown, and now Beasley hail from the Peach State, which is fertile enough to outfit many of the top programs in the country with star players.

After a slow start, the Vols remain hot on the recruiting trail. It’s still going to be interesting to see how this class shapes up at several positions, including quarterback, running back and cornerback. Those are major needs, and while the Vols have a ton of options, there aren’t any guarantees right now.

Everybody also wants to know if UT can close the deal on the nation’s top two players in offensive tackle Darnell Wright and running back Quavarius Crouch. Those two things are perhaps the biggest storylines in the cycle.

But Pruitt was known as a formidable recruiter at Alabama, Georgia and Florida State, and he’s doing that at UT.

Tennessee Recruiting: Vols Add Important Piece to ’18 Class in Bryce Thompson

 

When it became clear that 4-star athlete Bryce Thompson wasn’t going to be a part of Will Muschamp’s class, Tennessee swept in and tried to get him to come to Knoxville. Even after national signing day, things weren’t clear about his potential future with the Gamecocks, to whom he was pledged.

Louisville, Marshall and others stayed hard after him. In the end, he enrolled at UT this week and will be a part of the Vols’ class. South Carolina filled its last possible spot when Texas A&M defensive back Nick Harvey chose the Cocks over the Vols.

That wound up being huge news for Tennessee.

I said way back during the recruiting cycle before the Vols were in the picture that I thought Thompson was the best player in Muschamp’s class. I still think he has elite potential.

He is ranked the No. 301 overall player and the 12th-rated athlete in the class according to the 247Sports composite. Thompson told reporters on Wednesday that he wants to start out on offense for the Vols where he’s expected to play in the slot. But he isn’t opposed to moving to defense if the need arises.

The guess here is that the need will, indeed, arise. UT hasn’t had a ton of success yet recruiting defensive backs in the short tenure of Jeremy Pruitt, though that’s expected to change with a lot of top targets liking the Vols in ’19. But we’re talking about a major need right away — as in 2018. That’s why Pruitt moved freshman wide receiver Alontae Taylor to defense, and he thrived at cornerback over the last couple of weeks of spring, though he’s raw.

Thompson has that potential, too. He’s 6’0″, 180 pounds, so he has the size to play the position and be a force in press-man coverage under Pruitt as a cornerback. But he also could be dynamic with the ball in his hands, too. He wants to play the slot, and the Vols really don’t have anybody with his skill set on that side of the ball unless it’s Latrell Williams. UT has receivers, though, and the Vols simply don’t have a lot of depth or quality at corner.

It’s not hard to see Thompson being one of the key pieces of the present and the future on defense. But he also can do a lot of things on offense, and that’s where he thrived for Dutch Fork High School in Irmo, South Carolina, right outside of Columbia.

The best thing about this pledge is Thompson can make an impact a lot of places with his versatility. The Vols have a lot of needs — really all over the field — and to be able to get an instant-impact player at this point of the cycle (really, the cycle is long over) is a major coup. It’s unclear why Thompson wasn’t part of Carolina’s class, but it had nothing to do with his ability. If he has some off-the-field issues, he’s the type of player you take a chance on and try to rehabilitate him and hope he matures. Yes, he’s that good, and every single team has players who needed a second chance. I’m not suggesting that, and I also don’t know about his academic status, but he’s at UT enrolled now, so whatever the case, the Vols, Phillip Fulmer and Pruitt got him there.

That’s a major recruiting win for Tennessee, who has added 3-star JUCO cornerback Kenneth George, former 4-star graduate transfer quarterback Keller Chryst, former 3-star graduate transfer running back Madre London and hopes to add former 4-star offensive lineman graduate transfer Brandon Kennedy if they can get over the SEC transfer hurdles. That’s a lot of instant-impact ability to go along with players like JUCO OT Jahmir Johnson, JUCO TE Dominick Wood-Anderson and JUCO DT Emmit Gooden. It’s evident Pruitt isn’t worried about “rebuilding,” even though a lot of that can’t be helped. He wants to do everything he can to win now.

Pruitt knows recruiting, and he knows prospects want to see improvement on the field. If the Vols can impress this season, it’ll bode well for the next few recruiting classes. Thompson is a major win right now. It’s not every day you get a kid who could be an impact player on both sides of the ball. With him and Taylor now, and safety Trevon Flowers, cornerback Brandon Davis coming soon, UT could patch together a good corps of young defensive backs. That is Pruitt’s forte, if you recall.

Or, Thompson could step right in and be a difference-maker with the ball in his hands on offense.

Options are fun and nice to have. That’s what Thompson provides the Vols.