Author Archives: Joel Hollingsworth

Report: Defensive lineman target Greg Emerson injured at The Opening, but only out 4-6 weeks

Tennessee defensive lineman target Greg Emerson reportedly went down with a lower leg injury during one-on-one drills at The Opening Finals. It appeared to be quite serious at first, as Emerson was carted off the field by EMTs. This tweet from SB Nation Recruiting seemed to corroborate the severity of the injury:

https://twitter.com/SBNRecruiting/status/881589342501720064

However, a subsequent tweet from Barton Simmons reports that a source close to Emerson says that he will need surgery for a dislocated ankle/fractured fibula but could be back sooner rather than later:

This is great news for Emerson, who’s a highly-touted recruit sought after by several programs. Tennessee does appear to be the current leader for his services, and he is probably their top remaining target as they try to firm up a stellar defensive line class full of in-state kids. Often you’ll hear that a recruit appreciates a school sticking with him through an injury that scares off other teams, so this is an opportunity for Tennessee to show Emerson that they mean what they say when they tell him how important he is to them.

Regardless of how his recruitment turns out, best of luck to Emerson in his rehab.

Gameday Today: New adventures with old friends, team chemistry, and over-aggressive facial hair

Gameday Today jumps off a cliff with old friends, fans the flames of team chemistry, and marvels at Spencer Hall’s facial hair. This and more in today’s Vols link roundup.

Sports writing meta

I just got back to East Tennessee from five days in San Francisco and the accursed Pacific Time Zone. It was the second time this year I’ve been to the PST, and I’m telling you, there is something quite unnatural about concluding your work day at the same time everyone back home is going to sleep.

Anyway, because I was without my favorite trusty computer and workspace and instead using a laptop and an unreliable personal hotspot, I missed a proper re-introduction of Will Shelton to the new digs a few days ago. So let me say it now — I could not be happier to be writing once again with both Will and Brad, and I am so incredibly grateful for their trust as we once more unto the breach together.

You might call it providential timing, too, as FoxSports just relieved most of its sportswriting staff of their jobs in order to feed a “growing appetite for video.” There’s a lot to digest on the topic of online sports writing, and you should start with Clay Travis’ take, which is dead on and articulates well much of the reason we recently made the jump to Gameday on Rocky Top after over a decade at SB Nation’s Rocky Top Talk. There’s much more to it than economics, though, and having the freedom to choose which appetites to nourish is one of the things that drives us here at GRT. And as I already said, I could not be happier to be working alongside Will and Brad again, pressing toward the same objectives.

Will’s already off to the start you’d expect from Will, using Bane and Batman to conjure new insights about this season and last, as well as hitching his wagon to a FiveThirtyEight scheduling system that uses “power-pairing” to create something that looks to me like a conference playoff. I might like that even better than my own idea of keeping everything the same but using only division results to determine division champions.

Football

  • Two public messages to another old friend, Spencer Hall: (1) YOUR CHEST HAIR IS ATTACKING YOUR FACE, and (2) STOP LAUGHING AT US WITH PAUL FINEBAUM. (Spencer thinks that Tennessee having to play Georgia Tech’s triple option in the first game of the season is hilarious:)

Recruiting

[ess_grid alias=”grt-2017-promo-grid”][/ess_grid]

 

Hoops

Forward Grant Williams will be venturing out onto the perimeter more this season in an attempt to improve his versatility, which will in turn improve the versatility of the team.

VFLs

Reggie Wayne says that Peyton Manning used to change the play at the line of scrimmage “85 to 90 percent of the time.” I looked this up for us non-math majors, and “85 to 90 percent” means “a lot.”

Other Vols news

  • The Lady Vols SEC schedule has been set for the upcoming season. The team will face Vanderbilt, South Carolina, and Texas A&M in home-and-home series this season. The SEC schedule also includes home games against Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State, and road games at Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, and Missouri.
  • UTSports.com has a beautiful behind-the-scenes feature with track phenom Christian Coleman.
  • Tennessee is mourning the loss of Dr. Earl C. Hudson, who recently passed away at the age of 91. He and his wife, Martha, have owned and trained UT’s Smokeys since 1994. Condolences to the family.

 

Tennessee’s Alabama problem is really an SEC problem

There’s been a lot of talk recently about Tennessee’s “Alabama Problem” — it’s annual rivalry game with the Tide on the Third Saturday in October. The Knoxville News Sentinel’s John Adams kicked things off on June 5 by publishing an article entitled Tennessee Vols shouldn’t have to play Alabama every year. That framed the issue as “whether Tennessee should play Alabama every year.”

Adams makes some valid points on the way to his conclusion that Tennessee should not play Alabama every year, namely that ten consecutive losses is too high a price to pay for tradition and rivalry.

He’s right that the annual rivalry game has put the Vols at a huge disadvantage in the SEC East recently.

His conclusion, though — that the SEC should do away with the idea of permanent cross-divisional rivals altogether — is all wrong.

Playing the game isn’t the problem

A couple of minor points first, based on a couple of things that Adams actually conceded before concluding that they didn’t matter enough to change his opinion. Rivalries are cyclical, and it’s not unreasonable to expect that Alabama’s rivals will eventually return the favor with a period of dominance over them. You don’t throw out 100 years of tradition because of a bad 10-year stretch. Also, it is “[b]etter to get run over by the Tide than appear to run away from them.” It’s not just that no one wants to back down. It’s also that that game provides a real opportunity to do something special every year.

But here’s the main point: The problem isn’t permanent cross-divisional opponents, it’s that those games are given too much weight when deciding which team should represent the division in the SEC Championship Game.

Losing sight of the question leads to wrong answers

An extreme example illustrates the point that such games may not provide the right answers the right questions. Suppose that a high school team plays the New England Patriots and, as expected, is absolutely destroyed. Does that tell you anything at all about how good that team is relative to other high school teams? Of course it doesn’t.

And cross-divisional games don’t answer questions about the division, either.

The SEC Championship Game ostensibly pits the best team in the East against the best team in the West. That’s the goal. If they happen to also be the league’s two best teams, great. But if not, it doesn’t matter. It’s best of the East against best of the West.

So, one of the SEC’s highest priorities should be a system that accurately identifies the best team in each division. Their current system, though, is faulty because it relies too heavily on the results of dissimilar cross-divisional schedules. Playing and losing to the Patriots says little to nothing about your standing in the SEC East, and neither does playing and losing to Alabama. Especially when the other teams in the East play Mississippi State instead.

And yet that one extra loss to the Tide can make all the difference when it’s time to decide who represents the East in the SEC Championship Game.

Why is it that the SEC doesn’t count non-conference games when determining SEC standings? Is it because games against MAC or FCS opponents (or Clemson or Ohio State) are simply not relevant to the SEC hierarchy? When determining which team is the best in the conference, the SEC says that only SEC games matter.

But even as the SEC completely (and appropriately) discounts non-conference games when calculating SEC standings, it gives equal weight to cross-divisional games when determining division standings.

The solution

The answer to Tennessee’s current Alabama problem isn’t to do away with the rivalry by persuading the SEC to toss out the notion of permanent cross-divisional rivals. Bring ’em on. Let’s keep making progress toward the top of that hill, and when we get there, let’s return the favor for a while.

No, the problem’s not that the SEC has permanent cross-division rivals, it’s that the conference improperly uses the results of those games to draw conclusions about division standings. And while Tennessee seems to be taking the brunt of it lately, this is really an SEC problem more than it is a Tennessee problem, and everyone in the conference should care about it.

It’s not a question of fairness, it’s a question of accuracy. If the SEC truly wants its championship game to feature a contest between the best team from the East and best team from the West, it doesn’t need to eliminate permanent cross-divisional rivals, it just needs to de-emphasize the impact of those games on division standings.

 

 

Gameday Today: Phillip Fulmer, summer football, and summer hoops

More thoughts on The Papa, football keeps grinding, and updates on the Rocky Top League. This and more in today’s Vols link roundup.

Football

The Tennessee offense is gearing up for the fall:

And apparently, Butch Jones is taking the whole “pace” thing to an extreme this offseason:

https://twitter.com/vol_football/status/877503882984775680

What does Butch Jones think about Fulmer’s return to Rocky Top? Good question!

“It’s an exciting time for the entire Tennessee family to have Coach Fulmer and his expertise and the ability to build relationships that he brings,” Jones told SEC Country on Wednesday. “I consider Coach a mentor and a great friend, and I think this is healthy for everyone involved, not just football, but the entire Tennessee community.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to hear all of that, but really, what else is he going to say?

And what does Wes Rucker think about Fulmer’s return to Rocky Top? Good question!

So pretty much everybody but one person likes this move.

Speaking of Fulmer, The Papa is really happy that the talent pool in the state of Tennessee is improving, and he says having local Tennessee kids matters:

“It means more in the fourth quarter against Alabama, it just does,” Fulmer said. “You have to go back home and live it.”

And in case you missed it, you’ll want to check out the latest Vols hype video and the details of the Big Orange Caravan’s Tri Cities stop.

Hoops

Recruiting

New offers:

VFLs

  • Nobody here is going to be surprised to hear that Josh Dobbs has already displayed a real knack for learning what he needs to know as a quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but you may be surprised to hear that he’d already learned a bunch of pro knowledge while at Tennessee running Butch Jones’ system.
  • If this keeps up, we’re going to need a whole new blog just for Eric Berry:

https://twitter.com/vol_football/status/877564733544595457

Seriously, follow that link and watch that video.

Other Vols news

Big Orange Caravan Tri Cities stop set for July 11

Tennessee has finally announced the location, date, and time for the Big Orange Caravan’s stop in the Tri Cities. The BOC will be at the Kingsport Farmers Market on Tuesday, July 11 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. ET.

As of right now, we only know that Butch Jones, John Currie, and Bob Kesling will be there, but the release says that additional coaches and VFLs may be added in the coming days. The Tri Cities version of the event will be more like the ones held earlier in Chattanooga and Memphis and less like the most recent one in Nashville, meaning that it’s going to be less expensive and more fun. Admission is $5 per person in advance ($10 at the door), and kids 12 and under get in free. They’ll have music, a prize wheel, a photo booth, cornhole, a social media station, free popcorn, face painting and more.

Register online at BigOrangeCaravan.com. Online registration closes three days prior to the event.

 

 

The Papa! The Papa! Phillip Fulmer returns to Rocky Top as an official advisor

We’re huge fans of Phillip Fulmer around here. Back at the old place, we called him The Papa, after Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, and credited him with much of the best parts about Tradition on Rocky Top. He was the “guy who’d been hugging history and tradition so tightly that it had become both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. He had voluntarily assumed the role as the proverbial salt of the earth, the individual charged with preserving the way things were, the guy who was constantly reminding his peers of the good old days, the paternal old crank who, whether you wanted him to or not, took it upon himself to shield and protect you from the decomposition that too often follows forgetting where you’re from.”The Papa - Tradition!

 

The program put The Papa out to pasture in 2008 and went on a Rumspringa that lasted not just a Kiffin-Year, but a Dooley-Decade. Some wanted the new way, and some wanted the old, but none wanted it to take ten years. The process has been gradual, but we have been slowly walking home the past few years, and the re-hiring of The Papa in an advisory capacity is a comforting signpost of progress.

So count us among the many who were ecstatic about yesterday’s news. Fulmer’s official job duties include serving as an ambassador for the University, supporting the programs, and working with UT government relations and alumni affairs leadership to advocate for the school.

Unofficially, though, this seems to me to be even more valuable than any of that because it signals a long overdue and serious effort to eliminate some of the dysfunction that has been lingering on campus for almost a decade now. Basically, The Papa is adored by nearly everyone and is associated with the last great era in Volunteer history, and having the guy who was unceremoniously fired back in the office and diplomatically and gracefully asking everyone to start pulling in the same direction is a very good thing for the program.

Here’s the press conference announcing the move:

Fulmer’s first great move was preempting speculation about whether he had any lingering bad feelings about not getting the athletic director job and it going instead to John Currie, who some rumors credit with having some role in his ouster as coach. It sounds to me like he’s saying that to the extent it’s true, it’s water under the bridge and that everyone has learned from it.

And Currie himself is echoing the same message:

Of course, at least one person was either not listening or not hearing.

But thankfully, most are applauding the move:

Me, I couldn’t be happier. I love the guy. I know there are varying opinions about what happened in 2008, but I think he got a raw deal. What should not be up for debate, though, is the class with which he handled the whole situation. That continues now, as he sits there smiling, happy to be serving the University he loves for a sixth decade.

I’m sure that there are still some relationship issues bubbling under the surface, but it honestly feels like the program is tweaking its way back to health, making all of the right small moves on a grueling path out of the shadows. This was another positive step in the right direction.

Gameday Today: The importance of focus in a distracted world

Rock Gullickson focuses on focus, football welcomes a new commit, and punter Trevor Daniel is actually a real live person with a face and everything. This and more in today’s Vols link roundup.

Football and learning to focus

You’ve probably heard that new strength and conditioning coach Rock Gullickson came to Rocky Top from the NFL, where he trained NFL pros for years. Well, he’s finding that kids right out of high school these days have a difficult time paying attention. Gullickson does not seem like a get-off-my-lawn type of guy, though, as he’s not just yelling at the guys to PAY ATTENTION! No, he’s imposed on himself a responsibility to take that observation and make something out of it.

Gullickson is actually onto something really important here. I’m currently reading Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport, the gist of which is that the distraction problem is growing rapidly in today’s world and so people who are able to recognize the issue and overcome it are going to have huge advantages over others who allow their valuable time to be stolen away by invaluable, shallow activities. Basically, the ability to concentrate is becoming more and more scarce and therefore more and more valuable.

So if Gullickson and the Tennessee coaching staff have not only identified distraction as a real problem but are also actively working to correct it, they can create and leverage an additional important advantage for themselves and for the team. So, you know. Go Vols.

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Recruiting

Tennessee received a commitment from 3-star Class of 2018 cornerback Tanner Ingle last night. His commitment moved the Vols up to No. 9 nationally in 247Sports‘ team rankings.

Orange Carpet Day didn’t net the landslide of commitments this year that it did last, but most believe that the Vols field-position game this time around was a success.

New hoops offers:

Other Football

Brady Hoke: Mr. Energy, but (presumably) without the cases of Red Bull:

Phillip Fulmer is playing both sides of the two-quarterback system debate, saying both that playing two QBs can be valuable because it stresses defenses but that it’s really not preferable. He is confident, though, that Butch Jones “will handle that fine.”

Vince Ferrara is posting his take on each of the Tennessee units this week. He started with the quarterbacks and has worked his way through the running backs and the wide receivers.

Trevor Daniel has a face. This is what it looks like. GVX has a nice feature on punter Trevor Daniel, who is just continuing to do what he’s been doing, which would be just fine with all us folks on Rocky Top. There are two especially interesting things about the article, though. First, it includes a video interview with Daniel, which makes you realize you would have no idea who he was if you were standing next to him not wearing a helmet on campus. And second, he’s awesome and everything, but that picture they included with the story is so awkwardly timed that it looks like how I would look trying to punt the football.

VFLs

Alvin Kamara’s new teammates in New Orleans are saying nice things about him, and Josh Dobbs is literally hitting home runs in Pittsburgh:

https://twitter.com/josh_dobbs1/status/876963169469640704

Hoops

Transfer guard James Daniel III should be ready to go by August, but in the meantime, the scoring machine is salivating while watching the Pilot Rocky Top League.

Other Vols news

Tennessee track sensation Christian Coleman, who recently announced that he was going pro, has published a letter to Vols fans. Also, the USTFCCCA (seriously, they are in desperate need of a new acronym) has given Jared Prescott — Tennessee’s media relations contact for track — its 2017 Division I Track & Field Excellence in Communications Award. Maybe he’s the only guy who could memorize the acronym, I don’t know.

We reported this earlier, but it’s now official: Vols baseball has hired former Oklahoma State head coach Frank Anderson as its new pitching coach.

Golfer Lorenzo Scalise is tied for 58th after Monday’s opening round of the 122nd Amateur Championship at Prince’s Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, England.

That’s it for today. Go Vols!

Gameday Today: Orange Carpet Day, Peyton Manning, and donuts

It’s Orange Carpet Day on Rocky Top, Peyton Manning’s on campus, and I apparently eat donuts like offensive linemen eat donuts. This and more in today’s link roundup.

Orange Carpet Day

Rocky Top hosts its annual Orange Carpet Day today, and a slew of recruits are on campus to just hang out and have fun. GoVols247 says that there should be as many as 80 players attending, including more than a dozen 4- and 5-star guys ($$$).

SEC Country says that the No. 1 target today is in-state defensive lineman Greg Emerson, a 4-star recruit listed as the No. 6 defensive tackle in this year’s class.

Peyton Manning

Peyton Manning’s in town and on campus. He’s helping to dedicate a new dining facility in Stokely Hall named after friends Carmen and Deborah Tegano. Carmen is associate athletic director, and Deborah was one of Peyton Manning’s professors at UT.

Manning’s also honoring his 2017 Peyton Manning Scholarship recipients Emma Kate Hall, Grace Neiman, Sydney Peay, and Blake Turpin.

And of course, he’s hanging out with the quarterbacks in the quarterback room:

https://twitter.com/vol_football/status/875729750676959232

I’d say it was a good day in the QB room. I’d also say, though, that maybe they should rethink the order of the goat and the orange so that it looks like the goat is eating the orange instead of, well, you know.

The fact that all of this is happening the same weekend as Orange Carpet Day? Pure coincidence, I’m sure.

Other football

Another article with more details supporting our four reasons to be excited about the 2017 season:

Any notion the Vols are lacking in talent simply isn’t factual.

Tennessee’s past four recruiting classes ranked seventh, fourth, 14th and 17th nationally.

There are 32 former four- or five-star prospects on the roster. Two at quarterback and running back, three at wide receiver and four on the offensive line. Seven on the defensive line, six at linebacker and eight in the secondary.

To compete for national championships, you generally want more than half your roster to be 4- or 5-star guys, and Tennessee’s not there, but they’re closer than most think right now.

The strength and conditioning program is apparently starting to produce visible results, and you have to like this balanced attitude from coach Rock Gullickson:

“I like where we’re at, but I’m more excited about where we’re going,” said Gullickson.

That story also includes a video of the team working out, which you might find worth a watch. I didn’t actually try it, but I bet it’s better to the Theme from Rocky. I mean, isn’t everything?

GoVols247‘s latest edition of its weekly What-If Game asks what might have happened if the Vols hadn’t lost the 2001 SEC Championship Game. It’s a painful read, but the included video of Phillip Fulmer’s post-Florida locker room speech is balm for the soul.

Speaking of Fulmer, he had some interesting things to say about the current state of the program in a recent radio appearance with Erik Ainge. The good bits start at around the 5:00 mark:

Hoops

In case you missed it, check out this great video of Rick Barnes watching the NBA Finals with his team.

There’s good reason for Barnes to be smiling. He sincerely believes his team is now poised to take the next step into postseason play.

Other recruiting

New offers:

Other Vols News

After repeatedly touting the new format of the Big Orange Caravan as a less-expensive family friendly venture that won’t charge you $35 for a rubber chicken plate, the school announced that the Nashville stop is limited to 400 pre-registered people who must pay $20 ($12 for kids) for a rubber BBQ plate. The new PR guy must have been outvoted on this one.

Tennessee’s hand-me-downs have surfaced in Israel. I’m a huge fan of adidas over Nike, but those Smokey Grey with Checkered Shoulders unis were sold to us retailers with the promise that the team was going to wear them on the field sometime that season. They were so hideous, though, that they were treated like Christmas sweaters from your Grandma. You know, you smile politely and thank her for her kindness, and then look for the first opportunity to unload them to some poor unfortunate soul in a faraway land.

New baseball coach Tony Vitello thinks he just landed the best pitching coach in the country in Frank Anderson.

Vols track and field phenom Christian Coleman is going pro.

Tennessee freshman golfer Chase Roswall won the 17th Annual Tennessee Match Play Championship yesterday. Follow that link and tell me that picture doesn’t make him look like the caddy from Caddyshack.

The ladies tennis team just signed Elizabeth Profit, who’s transferring to Tennessee after two years at Baylor.

Other fun stuff

This video from the SEC Network has made me realize that I eat donuts like an offensive lineman:

Seriously, that exact conversation takes place at my house on an almost daily basis, except it’s usually about ice cream. I think it’s my 15-year-old, but she thinks its me. Either one or both of us are right. We report, you decide.

Texas is objecting to KISS’ attempt to trademark the horns hand signal. Is it a college football signal that says, “Hook ‘Em Horns?” or is it the sign of the devil? (Or is it both? Ba-dump-bump.) Really, they should just have KISS do the halftime show at a game this fall, and they can share.