Author Archives: Joel Hollingsworth

Vols stuff worth watching 6.2.18

I’m loving the Field Level series, as it really shows just how focused this entire coaching staff is on teaching the guys what they need to know to be successful. I mean, I know that’s supposed to be the goal of every coach, but . . . you know.


Tennessee has put some work into creating a ton of Vols-related GIFs. I’ll always love this one:

via GIPHY

Vols stuff worth reading 6.2.18

If you read only one thing about the Vols today . . .

. . . make it VolQuest’s feature on why new hoops commit D.J. Burns chose Tennessee.

Other Vols stuff worth reading today

  • SEC relaxes intraleague grad transfer rules: ESPN. If you’re a graduate or playing for a team under a postseason ban, you can now transfer to another SEC school and play immediately instead of having to sit out a year.
  • Tennessee football could benefit from SEC Spring Meeting grad-transfer rule change: SEC Country. Vols are in a competition with Auburn for Alabama offensive lineman Brandon Kennedy, who’s now free to transfer to either school and play right away.
  • Saban will likely benefit from transfer rules he fought: Sports Illustrated. Alabama could easily fill any needs from the graduate transfer market.
  • Jonathan Kongbo tweets that he’s “excited to make this move to LB.” Twitter. Not a huge deal, really, as OLBs and DEs in a 3-4 are almost interchangeable.
  • Tennessee has some important visitors on campus this weekend, including the nation’s No. 2 player in offensive tackle Darnell Wright. Via VolQuest.
  • ETSU, UTEP Games Times & Broadcast Information Set – University of Tennessee: Via UTSports. ETSU will be at 4:00 and UTEP at noon, both on the SEC Network.
  • Vols football is 50:1 to win the SEC, but Vols basketball is 28:1 to win the national championship.
  • Tennessee to buy out ousted chancellor Beverly Davenport for $1.33 million: Via the Times Free Press.

Good stuff behind paywalls

  • Tennessee Vols Basketball Analysis: What the Vols are getting in 2018 four-star center D.J. Burns: Via 247Sports.

Vols hoops nabs commitment of 2018 4-star center D.J. Burns

GoVols247 is reporting that Tennessee hoops has landed the commitment of Class of 2018 4-star center D.J. Burns. The Rock Hill, South Carolina player chose the Vols this afternoon over South Carolina.

According to 247Sports, Burns is the No. 103 overall prospect in the Class of 2018 and the 12th-best center in the nation. That makes him the highest-rated signee under Rick Barnes at Tennessee. He’ll take one of the Vols’ two remaining scholarships.

Burns was originally a 2019 prospect but recently reclassified to the 2018 class. He’ll be joining a team that returns nearly everyone from a 2017-18 season that surprised many and ended with an SEC Championship and an NCAA Tournament bid.

Some of the credit for this commitment apparently goes to team chaplain and VFL Chris Walker:

Vols stuff worth watching 5.31.18

If you can get past the nagging question of how Paul Finebaum can become that tan in only one day in Florida, this is actually a really interesting interview:

I’m not entirely sure why, but new players arriving on campus is always compelling video:

Vols stuff worth reading 5.31.18

If you only read one thing today . . .

This is a huge, late get for Tennessee, probably at what is a real position of need for the team this fall.

Other Vols stuff to read today

  • Season Opener vs. West Virginia Set for National TV Broadcast on CBS: Link
  • Fulmer “invigorated by this opportunity’ as Vols athletic director”: Link Quote:

“Sometimes I feel like I did in 1993, when I took over (as head football coach),” Fulmer said during a segment on the Paul Finebaum Show on Tuesday. “It’s a great challenge. I get a second chance to finish well and I want to do that for me and my family, but also for my university.

“I’m invigorated by this opportunity, and I love the people I’m working with. I inherited a lot of really good people. Now it’s just getting everyone on the same page and getting the culture right.”

 

I love that “second chance to finish well,” as I’m guessing that that is what’s driving him the hardest.
  • Pruitt: Unity will help Tennessee achieve more in 2018: Link
  • Jimbo Fisher recruited Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt as high school QB: Link
  • Vols RB signee Jeremy Banks arrives on campus: Link
  • Vols in top five for four-star OT Warren McClendon: Link
  • Vols join chase for Class of ’20 four-star QB Jay Butterfield: Link
  • Tennessee offer ‘big deal’ for Wake Forest commit and three-star all-purpose back Kendrell Flowers: Link
  • Jeronimo Boche hired as Tennessee’s head football trainer: Link
  • Details of Phillip Fulmer’s contract: Link
  • Career skills emphasis could be Tennessee football recruiting tool: Link

Non-Vols stuff worth reading

  • Inside the NCAA’s years-long, twisting investigation into Mississippi football: Link. This is LOOOOONG and rated for language. It’s also depressing. But it’s really, really good. Set aside your entire lunch period if you plan on reading.
  • Which Star Wars film should Les Miles be in? Link. How in the world did I miss that Les Miles has seriously become an actor?

Vols stuff worth watching 5.30.18

Coach Fulmer stopped by to chat with Paul Finebaum yesterday, and he handled everything with grace and dignity.


Coach Pruitt, at the SEC meetings. This guy is NOT going to tell you anything he doesn’t want you to get from him. Also, there’s some fairly funny stuff toward the end about how he’s getting no help from his so-called friends.

Admiral’s back:


And so is this guy:

Vols stuff worth reading 5.30.18

If you only read one thing about the Vols today . . .

Maybe we’ll eventually learn what caused all the drama the past few days. Maybe we won’t. But does it really matter? No, not really. The main thing is the main thing, and Kirkland staying at Tennessee is the main thing. And that thing is good news for the Vols.
He’s right. Glad that guy’s going to be back this fall.

Other Vols stuff worth reading today

  • Tennessee’s had a year many would like to forget: Link. Ouch, but yeah.
  • It’s official: Admiral Schofield returning to Tennessee: Link. Woo.
  • Barnes: John Fulkerson’s injuries “affected him psychologically”: Link. Understandable.
  • Fulmer, on how his prior role with ETSU helped prepare him for his current role with Tennessee: Link. Quote:

“It gave me my football fix. Being around coaches and starting a program, that was a lot of fun,” he said. “I really enjoyed Dr. Sander and (ETSU President) Dr. (Brian) Noland. They were great. I saw the other side of it, from an administrative standpoint, and that was beneficial to me. I didn’t know it was going to be so much for later, but that was beneficial to me.

“I saw a vision that Dr. Noland had and how he followed up and got it done. I’m telling you, that was a great scene at that first football game, when we played a game in that stadium there. The folks at ETSU should be very proud, of what Dr. Noland’s done, what the city and the area has done.
“Couldn’t have a better guy than Randy Sanders leading the charge now, and Coach Torbush did a great job getting us started, so I was proud to be a part of that.”
 
  • It’s important to recruit well in Georgia for two reasons now: Link.
  • Barnes adds Bryan Lentz to basketball staff: Link. He’s a video coordinator/director of player development.
  • EVERYBODY PANIC:

Behind a paywall

Non-Vols stuff worth reading
Nick Saban is mad that you’re blaming him for following the rules: Link. Quote:
“Then we should change the rule,” Saban said Tuesday. “I don’t think it should be on me. I think we should change the rule, aight. If we agree in the SEC at these meetings that we’re going to have free agency in our league and everyone can go wherever they want to go when they graduate, that’s what’s best for the game, then I think that’s what we should do. Then Brandon Kennedy can go wherever he wants to go.
“But if we don’t do that, why is it on me? Because we have a conference rule that says he can’t do it. And he can do it, but he’s supposed to sit out for a year. So, why is it on me? It’s not even my decision. It’s a conference rule. I always give people releases and he has a release to go wherever he wants to go, but the conference rule says he can’t go in the conference. So, why is that on me? The Maurice Smith thing wasn’t on me, either.”

Dude’s kind of got a point.

 

It’s official: Admiral Schofield returning to Tennessee

It’s been a badly-kept secret for the past week or so, but now it’s official: Admiral Schofield is returning to Tennessee for another year:

Schofield was a First-Team All-SEC pick last year, and he’ll be joining SEC Player of the Year Grant Williams to reprise the one-two punch that surprised nearly everyone last season on the way to an NCAA Tournament bid. In all, the team returns 11 of 13 scholarship players, which is one of the main reasons the team has been rated as high as No. 3 in preseason polls. Schofield was second on the team in scoring with 13.9 points per game, and he led the team in rebounding with 6.4 per game. He scored in double figures in each of his last 11 games and was arguably the team’s most valuable player late in the season.

Schofield went through the NBA pre-draft process, but by not hiring an agent, he retained the option to return to school instead of committing to the NBA. He worked out with Oklahoma City, Brooklyn, Memphis, and Denver, among others, before making his return official.

Report: Darrin Kirkland likely to stay at Tennessee

Um, that report that Tennessee linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. would be leaving Rocky Top for another school as a graduate transfer? Never mind (maybe):


As I said, maybe. We’ll see. Who knows?

If true, it’s great news. It’s odd, though. The report that Kirkland was leaving came straight from his own Twitter account. That account has since been deleted. So, all we have is a tweet from the guy himself from an account that has now been nuked, and a subsequent tweet from a guy based on an unnamed source that the guy has changed his mind.

Intrigue!

As I said in our post earlier this week, we’d mentioned in our Vols preseason magazine just how important Kirkland’s healthy return could be to the team, and I still believe that. If he has reconsidered after meeting with both his family and Pruitt, then that’s a good thing for the team.

 

Vols stuff worth reading today

If you read only one thing about the Vols today, make it this:

Remembering Bill Nowling, Willis Tucker, Rudy Klarer and Ig Fuson: Four Tennessee Legends You Need to Know | Gameday on Rocky Top

And here’s some other good stuff to know today:

VolQuest.com – Madre London ready to seize opportunity, be a veteran voice for Vols

Rivals.com – Quavaris Crouch, the No. 1 player in the country, updates his recruitment

Spring meetings this week

Coach Fulmer: “The coaches, sometimes, it’s like sitting with the Russians – or at least it used to be. Nobody wanted to agree on anything,” said Fulmer, UT’s first-year AD and former football coach. “In the athletic directors’ meetings, everybody has their reasons for doing things or voting how they vote, and everybody’s protective, but there’s also some feeling of cooperation for the conference sake. I’ve enjoyed that.”

Update on when top-50 LB JJ Peterson is expected to join the Tennessee Vols ($$$)

Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt stays true to word, opens 4-quarterback derby

Pruitt: “We’ll have four guys, we practice four groups, and those guys all get the same amount of reps and we’ll see how they develop over the summer and into fall camp,” Pruitt said Thursday in Kingsport, Tenn., at the final Big Orange Caravan stop of the 2018 tour.

“As we get closer to the times we scrimmage — we’ll scrimmage on the ninth [fall period] practice — we’ll chart things from Day 1 until that scrimmage and that will give us an idea about how they are going to scrimmage.”

Tennessee Vols football: OL signee Tanner Antonutti ready ‘to compete’ after dealing with illness

Junior college CB Kenneth George Jr. watched Alabama games to prep for Jeremy Pruitt’s defense

 


Not sure how much credence to give this, to be honest, so grain of salt and all that.


“Not against it” also means “not a priority,” you know.