Category Archives: Baseball

Omaha: How close are we now?

Tennessee’s last three trips to Omaha went like this:

  • 1995: The #5 overall seed had Todd Helton and R.A. Dickey, and beat Clemson in the opening game. Then they ran into one of the clearest cases of, “Yep, that team’s better than us,” in any of Tennessee’s postseason history: #1 seed Cal State Fullerton beat the Vols 11-1. Tennessee rebounded to win 6-2 over Stanford in the loser’s bracket, which brought them back to Fullerton, where they fell 11-0 in the rematch. Cal State then won it all by beating Southern Cal 11-6.
  • 2001: The Vols won at #7 East Carolina in the super regional to advance to Omaha. Back in the, “These bats might actually kill someone,” days, the Vols fell to Miami 21-13 in the opening game in Omaha, then had the pleasure of eliminating Georgia 19-12 in the loser’s bracket. The Vols took out #3 Southern Cal next to again be one of the last four teams standing. And again, they were vanquished by the eventual champs: Miami won 12-6, then beat Stanford 12-1 to win it all.
  • 2005: The Vols had no trouble coming out of Lindsey Nelson in their regional, but caught #2 Georgia Tech in the super regionals…where the Vols swept the Jackets in Atlanta. That was as good as it got: a 6-4 loss to Florida in the opening round in Omaha, then eliminated by Arizona State 4-2.

So three wins in Omaha, or advancing to the championship series in the current format, is the next bar for the 2021 Vols to clear in terms of school history. With Arkansas out, the Vols enter the field as the second-highest-seeded team.

So this is all great fun and will be no matter where we go from here. But make no mistake: we’re closer to the throne than we often get. There’s a real opportunity here.

In football, of course, the Vols won it all in 1998, and were 30 minutes away from another shot at it in 2001. In the last 20 years, the Vols went into November in the back half of the Top 10 in 2003, 2004, and 2006, but losses, injuries, and an unfortunate three-way-tie for the SEC East in ’03 meant they never really got close to the prize.

In men’s basketball, Tennessee has been among the last eight standing only once, now 11 years ago in 2010. The extended feelings we’re feeling right now in baseball would really require a trip to the Final Four to replicate, since making the Elite Eight by winning the Sweet 16 requires you to turn around and play 48 hours later. The 2019 Vols were the #5 overall seed and an overtime + Ryan Cline away from the Elite Eight, but would’ve faced eventual national champion Virginia; the route and the obstacles seemed more challenging than what awaits in Omaha.

The Lady Vols won Pat Summitt’s seventh and eighth titles in 2007 and 2008. Holly Warlick’s 2014 squad was the last to earn a #1 seed, but fell in the Sweet 16. The Lady Vols actually advanced to the Elite Eight in each of the next two years, but fell to #1 seed Maryland in 2015 and as a #7 seed in 2016. They’ve probably been closer than anything on the men’s side with the possible exception of the 2019 Rick Barnes squad, but I’m not sure if they ever felt like they could win it all given the top-heavy nature of women’s college basketball.

It’s softball that’s been closest to the promised land before this: seven trips to the Women’s College World Series in 11 years from 2005-2015, 60 feet away from the title in 2007, and back in the championship series in 2013. They fell to Oklahoma in 12 innings in game one, and were shut out in game two. That, now eight years ago, is the closest Tennessee has been in any of the big five sports since the Lady Vols won it all in 2007-08. Tennessee’s last trip to the WCWS in 2015 ended immediately with two straight losses.

I would argue this baseball team is as close to a national championship as any big five Tennessee sport has been since 2013 softball. Lady Vol basketball would’ve still had a UConn problem had they reached the Final Four in 2015-16. The 2019 men’s team went out with 16 teams left, and would’ve had to beat Virginia even if that Purdue game went the other way. And there’s no remote comparison at the moment in football.

So yeah. Happy to be here. But there’s more happiness out there yet.

Go Vols.

What does regular success look like in baseball?

The baseball Vols are deep in our hearts now, the general joy of advancing to the program’s first super regional since 2005, and the specific atom bomb of Drew Gilbert’s walk-off grand slam against Wright State to begin that journey last weekend. Baseball may not earn the crowds or the currency of men’s basketball, but this team is already making you feel the feels in ways only the Grant Williams/Admiral Schofield group did, both in terms of dramatic wins and the opportunity to advance. As we pointed out before the regional, a #3 national seed puts this baseball team in territory no big five sport on campus has entered since the Lady Vols were a #1 seed in 2014.

Between winning the East and advancing to the super regional, these Vols have already achieved their share of history. Get through LSU this weekend, and they’d become just the fifth Vol squad to ever advance to Omaha, and likewise the first since 2005. The present is glorious, and the future likewise so long as the Vols can keep their shoved-a-fan-but-in-the-good-way coach.

The strength of the SEC makes Tony Vitello’s accomplishments even more significant. It also provides some context for what kind of fun we might expect every summer, and how to set healthy benchmarks for Tennessee’s program.

Making the NCAA Tournament itself is a regular expectation; nine SEC programs made the field of 64 this year. Hosting a regional requires a Top 16 seed; six SEC teams accomplished that this year, plus South Carolina by way of Old Dominion’s lacking facilities. Under Vitello, the Vols played in the Chapel Hill region in 2019 before hosting this year.

Anything can happen in the regional, but the cream tends to rise to the top. So while you can’t always use, “How far did they advance?” as the best benchmark in March Madness, in baseball it’s a fair comparison, especially in the SEC. The current super regional format came into play in 1999; in these last 22 years, here’s how often SEC programs have advanced.

Super Regional appearances (since 1999)

  • 15: LSU (last in 2021)
  • 13: South Carolina (2018)
  • 10: Florida (2018), Mississippi State (2021), Vanderbilt (2021)
  • 9: Arkansas (2021)
  • 8: Texas A&M (2017)
  • 7: Ole Miss (2021)
  • 4: Georgia (2008)
  • 3: Alabama (2010), Auburn (2019), Tennessee (2021)
  • 1: Kentucky (2017)
  • 0: Missouri

You can see a break between essentially a top half and bottom half of the league from Ole Miss on up, though Auburn made the College World Series in 2019 and, of course, the Vols are currently two wins away. No one is getting to this weekend every year, and at best it’s done two-thirds of the time. That helps me appreciate where the Vols are right now even more. Advancing to the round of 16 becomes somewhat of a similar benchmark for Tennessee’s men’s basketball and baseball programs: if you’re doing it right, you get this far more often than you don’t.

College World Series appearances (since 1999)

  • 8: Florida (last in 2018), LSU (2017)
  • 6: Arkansas (2019), South Carolina (2012)
  • 4: Georgia (2008), Mississippi State (2019), Vanderbilt (2019)
  • 3: Texas A&M (2017)
  • 2: Tennessee (2005)
  • 1: Alabama (1999), Auburn (2019), Ole Miss (2014)
  • 0: Kentucky, Missouri

In the last decade, half the league made the College World Series multiple times. Six of those teams have made at least one appearance in the last three fields in Omaha. The best of this league is getting to Omaha 36% of the time overall; again, “We should get to Omaha every year,” is an unrealistic goal. But the idea that every player who steps on your campus should have a chance to go during their time wearing the orange? That’s a good promise.

National Championships (since 1999)

  • Florida (2017)
  • LSU (2000, 2009)
  • South Carolina (2010, 2011)
  • Vanderbilt (2014, 2019)

Six of the last 11 national championships have come home to the SEC. Consider this list doesn’t include Arkansas, current #1 and with six trips to Omaha since 1999. Or Mississippi State, with 10 super regional appearances in the last 22 years. This league is deep.

One thing at a time, of course, though the #3 Vols have plenty of opportunity ahead of them. Get through to the super regionals more often than not, give all your players the real possibility of getting to Omaha at least once during their time…and once you’re there, who knows what could happen…

Best chance to win it all since…

In today’s NCAA Baseball Tournament bracket reveal, the Vols were the #3 overall seed. They’ll host an opening regional against Duke, Liberty, and Wright State, with a chance to advance at host a super regional against the team coming out of the Oregon regional. Tony Vitello took the Vols to the North Carolina regional in 2019, where they were vanquished by the Tar Heels. Before that, Tennessee’s last NCAA Tournament appearance was way back in 2005.

Those Vols were the #15 overall seed back then, but took down #2 Georgia Tech in the super regional to advance to the College World Series. In 2001 the Vols likewise went on the road in the super regionals, defeating East Carolina to advance to Omaha. You have to go back to the Todd Helton days in 1995 to find the Vols hosting the equivalent of a super regional; when that team advanced to Omaha they were seeded #5 overall.

So, at least in your bracket, this isn’t just a strong statement from Tony Vitello in his fourth year in Knoxville. This is Tennessee’s best on-paper chance to win it all in the modern era.

How does this opportunity translate on campus? Last week we looked at the relative difficulty of winning the SEC Tournament/Championship Game in the five major sports, something no one on campus has accomplished since the Lady Vols did it in basketball in 2014. That team represents the best on-paper chance any big five team has had to win it all until now, a #1 seed in an NCAA Tournament with the Final Four set for Nashville…but they were bounced by Maryland in the Sweet 16. They made it farther in the bracket the next two years, but fell in the Elite Eight as a #2 seed in 2015 and a #7 seed in 2016.

The softball team last made the Women’s College World Series in 2015 as the #8 overall seed. Their highest overall seed came in 2007 at #5 overall, the year they advanced to the finals and were a heartbeat away from winning the whole thing before falling to Arizona. They were also national runners-up in 2013 as the #7 seed; while the 2014 Lady Vol basketball squad had a better chance on paper, the 2013 softball team is as close as any big five Tennessee squad has come to a national championship once everything played out.

In men’s basketball, in 2019 the Vols were a #2 seed and fifth overall on the seed list. It’s the third time Tennessee has earned a #2 seed in the last 15 years, with the Vols still in search of their first Final Four and second Elite Eight.

What’s the closest comparison in football? Preseason polls are worth little, but the Vols did open the 2005 season at #3. On the field, Tennessee of course won the whole thing in 1998 and came close to playing for another one in 2001, second in the BCS going to the SEC Championship Game. Tennessee hasn’t carried any real opportunity for the national championship into November since 2006, or into October since 2016.

All that to say this: I’m not sure what’s going to happen from here, and this baseball team has already given us plenty coming out of the pandemic. But whatever a bracket is worth, this baseball team has the best chance to advance on paper of any major sport here since the Lady Vols in 2014. Only the Lady Vols can compete with this kind of national seed on campus in the last 20 years; it’s the best on-paper opportunity the baseball team has ever had, and an even better seed than the softball team was ever given.

The Vols are already a great story. But make no mistake: this is a real opportunity.

In Search of a Tournament Championship

When we search for the good old days, we don’t have to go back quite as far as you think. Pat Summitt, Candace Parker, and the Lady Vols finished off their second straight national championship in the spring of 2008, probably the last major mountaintop for the University of Tennessee. But for the athletic department as a whole, consider how good life was in that moment. While the Lady Vols had claimed back-to-back titles, the men’s team was ascending to new heights, less than two months removed from a week at number one and an SEC Championship. The football team played in Atlanta in December 2007. And the softball team was rapidly ascending, having just missed a national championship of their own the summer before.

The apparent weakest link in that moment was baseball: Rod Delmonico wasn’t retained following the 2007 season, but the diamond Vols made the College World Series just two seasons earlier in 2005.

I have a memory from that 2007 WCWS run, though I can’t find it documented anywhere online, of Phillip Fulmer, Bruce Pearl, and Pat Summitt all together in attendance to watch the softball team. It was a picture of not only current success, but what we all believed to be a bright, stable future. Fulmer was 15+ years in, Summitt 30+, and Pearl seemed like someone you’d want to keep around for that long too.

It got away from us in a hurry, of course. Fulmer was out in November of 2008, Pearl in the spring of 2011, with Summitt’s diagnosis soon to follow. We think of the wilderness as football, but the athletic department has been in search of its own cohesion and elite success for 10+ years now.

There have been moments, for sure. Softball found its way back to the Women’s College World Series four times after that near miss in 2007. Rick Barnes has elevated our idea of program success in men’s basketball. And as football resets again, new athletic director Danny White is fond of pointing out how well so many of Tennessee’s programs are actually doing.

Nowhere is that more apparent than in baseball: SEC East champions for the first time since 1997, destined to have a shot to host a regional and super regional. And they’ll take the field in Hoover today in the gauntlet of the SEC Tournament, looking for the type of success that has eluded all of Tennessee’s big five programs for a very long time.

How long it’s been for each in winning an SEC Tournament doesn’t tell the full story, of course, as the longest drought currently belongs to the healthiest program among them all. But it does give us an excellent sense of what kind of history could be made this week.

The last time Tennessee won the SEC Tournament/Championship Game in…

Men’s Basketball: 42 years

  • Last SEC Tournament title: 1979
  • Other SEC teams to win it since then: 10

Aside from things that Tennessee has never done before (Final Four in basketball, national championship in baseball/softball), this is the longest drought on campus. One of the worst parts: the only teams who haven’t won the SEC Tournament since 1979 came to the league via expansion. South Carolina (1992), Missouri (2012), and Texas A&M (2012) are the only programs other than Tennessee who haven’t cut down the nets on a Sunday afternoon in March in the last four decades. The Vols have made it to Sunday four times sinced 1979 (1991, 2009, 2018, 2019), but were thwarted each time.

Baseball: 26 years

  • Last SEC Tournament title: 1995
  • Other SEC teams to win it since then: 9

Tennessee’s greatest baseball success in the Todd Helton/R.A. Dickey era came with some of the weirdest formats, something I’d forgotten until Wikipedia reminded me: the SEC played only divisional tournaments from 1993-95, and the Vols won all three SEC East Tournaments, including the ’95 title on their home field in Knoxville. The league switched back to a full conference tournament in 1996, and the Vols have never won it. Fun fact: neither has Arkansas, the tournament’s top seed this year.

Football SEC Championship: 23 years – SEC East Championship: 14 years

  • Last SEC Championship: 1998
  • Other SEC teams to win it since then: 5
  • Last SEC East Championship: 2007
  • Other teams to appear in Atlanta since then: 7

Just getting to Atlanta is a prize in football, where the Vols haven’t been since 2007. The usual suspects have ruled the SEC West since then, with only Alabama, Auburn, and LSU getting to Atlanta. But in the East, while the Vols have been away, South Carolina (2010) and Missouri (2013-14) broke through, along with Florida and Georgia. The other five traditional powers have all won at least three SEC titles since Tennessee won its last two in 1997 and 1998: eight for Alabama, five for LSU, and three each for Auburn, Florida, and Georgia. Gross.

Softball: 10 years

  • Last SEC Tournament Championship: 2011
  • Other SEC teams to win it since then: 5

The Lady Vols won the SEC Tournament in 2006 and 2011, and made the Women’s College World Series seven times in eleven years from 2005-2015, coming in second place twice. Since then they’ve been bounced in a super regional four times, and knocked out in the opening round twice, including this year. The SEC is vicious in softball, with five different teams winning the tournament in the last ten years.

Women’s Basketball: Seven years

  • Last SEC Tournament Championship: 2014
  • Other SEC teams to win it since then: 2

Not sure if it’ll make you feel better or worse, but since the Lady Vols cut down the nets in 2014 (a 29-5 squad that was third in the AP poll but got bounced by Maryland in the Sweet 16), South Carolina has won six of the last seven SEC Tournaments. Mississippi State took the prize in 2019.

Even for the flagship sport on campus, it’s been a while…which would make a title run in Hoover this week all the more memorable.

Go Vols.

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

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.

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

 

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.

Gameday Today: History lessons, accelerators, and brakes

Butch Jones is bringing back the history lessons and trying to find the brake on the Trey Smith hype train. Plus hoops updates and more in today’s Vols link roundup.

Football

I’ll just leave this here:

https://twitter.com/vol_football/status/875442820676411393

And now that your pump is primed, let’s get on with the football news:

Butch Jones is bringing back the Tennessee Football history assignments this fall. Each player has to get up in front of the team and present a little lesson on the guys who have worn their numbers before them. I love this, no joke. 

SEC Country has a great feature on Tennessee commit D’Andre Litaker. That dude has had a rough time of it lately and is somehow managing to keep his head above water.

More praise for the quiet monster on the offensive line, Trey Smith. Jones is doing his best to fight the urge to mash the accelerator instead of the brakes on the Trey Smith hype, but man do we have legit high hopes for this guy.

VFLs

Phillip Fulmer thinks that Jones has made some especially nice tweaks in the offseason:

“The coaching changes give him a great opportunity, and it’s not like this team is coming from nowhere, they had a pretty good season,” Fulmer said. “This can put him over the hump and that’s what everyone wants.

“That’s what Butch is trying to do, to take it to a championship level. The coaching experience he has hired around him is obvious, and it should project on the field.”

Hoops

The NCAA has instituted some new rules changes for the upcoming season, including extending the coach’s box from 28 feet to 38 feet, presumably to make it easier for them to communicate with their team. Except at Vandy, of course, where its insidious court configuration necessitates a satellite phone to reach your players if they’re on the opposite end. “HEAD THREE CLICKS WEST. OVER!”

Other rules changes affect the resetting of the shot clock and the locations of throw-ins.

Injury updates: Graduate-transfer James Daniel III should be back from injury in time for the team’s trip to Europe, and guard Lamonte Turner could also be back. Forward John Fulkerson probably won’t be by then, but Rick Barnes does expect him back in time for preseason practice in October.

Barnes is also excited to finally have the depth to be able to take the governor off the strength and conditioning coach without worrying whether he’ll wear his guys out before the season ends.

And in case you weren’t aware of this fact, Barnes is also a funny and entertaining guy. In discussing the Pilot Rocky Top League, he said:

“That league is so good defensively, I’m going to play,” the 62-year-old Barnes said Sunday.

Baseball

UTSports.com has a compilation of information about all five baseball Vols recently drafted.

Recruiting

Punter Skyler DeLong’s commitment to Tennessee lasted about as long as most high school relationships, as he’s now smitten with Alabama and has given his committed heart to the Evil Empire.

New offers:

Odds and Ends

Athletic Director John Currie has written you a letter on the web, and it has actual links and stuff. Particularly impressive for what has traditionally been a real curmudgeon when it comes to new media.

And shoot, that man is going to totally wear himself out reaching for the prize(s):

“We’re not gonna relax until we win all the championships . . . .”

Currie’s also going to have Neyland Stadium painted over the course of three summers at the same time. I don’t really know why it takes three years, unless they just don’t know that they can rent a paint sprayer at Home Depot.

AND, Currie’s also going to upgrade the stadium’s curb appeal along the river. The man’s going to need a vacation after we win everything while painting. 

Track and field star Christian Coleman is a finalist for The Bowerman Award, given to the top male collegiate track athlete.

Tennessee has golfers at the 17th Annual Tennessee Match Play Championship, and they’re apparently doing well.

That’s it for today. Happy Friday to y’all.

 

 

Gameday Today: Is Butch Jones immune to the legion of the miserable?

Butch Jones stiff arms the negative talk and keeps building an awesome class, a bunch of Tennessee baseball players get drafted, and VFLs just keep making us proud, all in today’s Vols link roundup.

Football

This headline from Gridiron Now makes a really interesting point: 

Tennessee recruiting booms despite Butch Jones speculation

You’d think that recruiting would be even more difficult when rumors begin to swirl about your imminent demise, but Jones is instead putting together one of his best classes. Chest bump to Jones for that. Maybe players just understand that relentless optimism better than fans do.

And yet Jones seems to be learning to season that optimism with a pinch of reality when talking to fans through the media. He’s “proud of [his] players, but not yet satisfied.” He says in one breath that Tennessee-Alabama is a “great, great rivalry,” but in the next that “we were very disappointed when we played them last year.” Basically, he’s still being himself but also learning to keep his foot out of his mouth.

There’s little danger in this statement, though, in which Jones says that he is pleased that his veterans are leading and his freshman are following.

Mike Griffith has an excellent feature on incoming running back Ty Chandler that you should go read now. Speaking of Mike, here he is saying interesting things on the SEC Network:

And again, GoVols247 entices you to bear the indignities of a 16-click slideshow by promising Vols football’s best moments against the Georgia Bulldogs. Yes, it’s a pain, but this one’s worth it. (You can also see the whole thing on one page if you are a subscriber.) 

Recruiting

Offensive line coach Walt Wells is up to No. 5 on 247Sports‘ recruiter rankings after landing the commitment of 4-star D’Andre Litaker. He’s third among SEC assistant coaches, and largely responsible for Tennessee’s 2018 class, which is currently ranked in the Top 10 and heading into Orange Carpet Day.

Speaking of which, GoVols247 has a list of five guys to watch this weekend ($$$).

New offers:

Baseball

The Atlanta Braves drafted Tennessee third baseman Jordan Rodgers in the sixth round on Tuesday. Pitchers Kyle Serrano (10th round, by the Houston Astros), Zach Warren (14th round, by the Philadelphia Phillies), and Hunter Martin (20th round, by Houston), and infielder Jeff Moberg (30th round, by the Colorado Rockies) were also drafted. Serrano, however, told Jimmy Hyams that he’s inclined to return to Tennessee rather than heading to the big leagues.

If you’re interested, SEC Sports has a list of all 75 players taken in the 2017 MLB Draft. Actually, they still have it even if you’re not interested, but you know what I mean.

The baseball Vols have also hired Frank Anderson as pitching coach.

Hoops

Five of the first six picks in the Pilot Rocky Top League draft were Vols. Guard Chris Darrington went No. 1 overall. Jordan Bowden went second, and Admiral Schofield went third. Grant Williams and Jordan Bone were fifth and sixth. Play begins Monday night at 6:00 at Knoxville Catholic High School. 

VFLs

Cam Sutton has signed his contract with the Steelers, and according to Spotrac, it’s worth $3,236,714. Love to see these guys so richly rewarded for their hard work.

Peyton Manning offered Lamar Jackson this advice after he won the Heisman Trophy:

“Peyton Manning told me that if you’re not having fun with it, always talk with your guys. Talk to the people around the program who can help you with stuff like that. You’ve got to always have a smile on your face. People are always watching.”

Eric Berry said that he has a very good reason to regularly give hungry people food:

“I don’t do it for the attention,” Berry said. “I don’t do none of this for the attention. I do it to better myself and give back. That’s what you should do it for.”

Other fun stuff

Another sports book has set the over/under for the Vols this fall at 7.5 games. So the money-where-your-mouth-is people are banking on 7-8 wins for Tennessee. 

The USTFCCCA, which wins the award for laziest acronym, named Vols junior Christian Coleman its National Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. Assistant coach Tim Hall earned National Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year.

Golfer Hunter Wolcott is tied for 13th after the first round of the Southeastern Amateur at the Country Club of Columbus.

Gameday Today: Bob Shoop’s covfefe, cocky wide receivers, and recovering former QBs

Bob Shoop’s covfefe oops, cocky wide receivers, and recovering former quarterbacks, all in today’s Vols link roundup.

Football

Tennessee defensive coordinator has apparently out-covfefe’d Donald Trump. I vote ei.

New Vols wide receivers coach likes his receivers to be cocky and knows how to handle ’em that way:

“I love ‘em cocky,’’ Beard said. “I love ‘em. Why? That’s who you are. That’s all the great receivers.

“It’s not about, `Oh, you can’t handle those guys because they’re cocky.’ No, you’ve got to explain to them when and when not to exercise those actions. Once you learn how to cultivate them and coach them up on when should and shouldn’t, you’ve got a great football player. So I like them cocky.’’

One of his other quirky qualifications is “juice,” meaning a guy whose actions prove that he just loves to play.

And Tennessee coaches are pleased that the offensive line is taking on a leadership role this year. It’s important, says offensive coordinator Larry Scott:

“You always want your guys up front to set the tone, no matter how experience or how skilled you are everywhere else,” he said. “Football games are won, especially in the SEC, up front. It’s a line-of-scrimmage league. With that being said, you always want that to kind of be the strength, even though they may be young or whatever. 

“It’s the mentality and the mindset that you’ve got to have from those guys up front that’s more important than anything else.”

Vince Ferrara ranks the SEC’s toughest stretches in the 2017 schedule. The Vols’ schedule ranks 12th, from October 14-28, which is South Carolina, at Alabama, and at Kentucky. That really doesn’t sound all that bad, as far as gauntlets go.

VFLs

It’s a shame that former quarterback Jonathan Crompton does not look back at his Tennessee days fondly. I don’t blame him, as too many folks were too ugly during that tough time and, as the quarterback, he was often the target.

What would have happened if Peyton Manning had left Tennessee early for the NFL? Surprisingly, the answer is not, “The world would have come to a screeching halt.” Maybe there would be fewer folks named “Peyton” or “Payton” in East Tennessee right now. Or maybe not.

Baseball

Get to know new baseball coach Tony Vitello a little bit:

If five minutes isn’t enough and you’d rather have 40, here’s the entire presser:

Hoops

Three players — James Daniel III, Lamonte Turner, and John Fulkerson — are not playing in the Rocky Top League, which holds its draft this Wednesday.

Recruiting

New offers: