Category Archives: Football

BIG fan of “Little” Tanner Ingle

When you read up on new UT CB commit Tanner Ingle, you get the feeling very quickly that he feels overlooked due to his being “only” 5’10.  He mentions it often, and while it appears to motivate him it certainly does not enter his mind when he is bringing the lumber on the field.  The kid can obviously hit from the DB spot, which will give him a chance to potentially be a jack of all trades guy in the secondary who can play all of the CB/NB/S slots.  But I’m not a scout, so my film analysis ain’t worth much. 

What I can do is learn a lot about a prospect by looking at a few things, and when you do that it’s very easy to become very excited about this addition to the commitment list:

1)  He earned his UT offer at a camp in front of the entire staff by showing out at the Big Cat Camp in Memphis.  So they’ve seen him up close and worked him out very recently.

2)  This wasn’t his only strong performance.  He performed well at the Opening Regionals in Orlando, running a 4.5-second 40-yard dash with a 4.15-second shuttle and also registering a 35” vertical jump for a rating of 105.06.  He was also a standout performer at the adidas 3 Stripe Camp in Macon, GA two weeks ago, prompting Woody Wommack from Rivals to note “Ingle is a classic case of a highly productive player who is under recruited because of his size, but when given the chance to showcase his skills in front of coaches he excels and ends up getting the recognition he’s earned.”

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

 

3)  Speaking of recognition, Ingle has 30 offers, and has earned about half of them in the last two weeks after these camp showings.  Along with the one from UT, Ingle earned recent offers from Stanford, UNC, and Wisconsin to go with other notable offers including one from Bud Foster at VT.

4)  So it’s not like he’s completely overlooked.  In fact, Chris Hays of the Orlando Sentinel recently called him “arguably the best all-around football player in Central Florida and one of the best in the talent-rich state of Florida.”

5)  He’s played in big time games and made big plays: On the way to Dr. Phillips eventual loss in the 8A FL State Championship Game, Ingle returned a punt for a TD in the semifinal.

6)   He’s also a track athlete. Earlier this spring, he ran an 11.32-second 100-meter dash and 23.17-second 200-meter dash for the Dr. Phillips track team. He also participated on the 4×100 relay team and in the long jump, where he finished 6th in the state with a leap of 22-0.75 feet.

7) Along with his evident abilities as a punt returner, he should be a Special Teams maven given his athleticism and penchant for hitting.
 
8) Finally, he’s a big time student athlete with a 4.0 GPA.  The offers from Stanford, UNC, and Wisconsin aren’t notable just because they are from solid to top-flight football program with very strong academic reputations.  Those are also joined by the likes of academic powerhouses like Harvard, Dartmouth, and Vanderbilt
 
So what you’re looking at is a versatile DB who can run and jump and loves to hit.  A kid who has performed well at multiple camps and earned offers from big time programs with very good defensive reputations. A player who is recognized for being one of the best players in the state of FL all the while being a stud in the classroom.  And on top of that a young man with a chip on his shoulder because he feels like all of the above is still overlooked due to his smallish size in this new era of 6’+ CBs. 
 
Suffice it to say that I am a very big fan of this pickup, and when you combine him with Brandon Harris at S and CB Brandon Cross (who Austin Price of VQ really likes after seeing him in Knoxville on Saturday) and what’s left on the CB board (more to come on that in a future post) this DB class is off to a very nice start.

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.

The 2017 Tennessee offensive line is one of the most experienced in the SEC

You often hear from coaches and commentators that football is a “line of scrimmage” game and that the SEC, in particular, is a “line of scrimmage” league. What they mean, of course, is that the game is largely decided on which team’s offensive and defensive lines win their respective battles.

We know this intuitively to be true. Taken to its logical extreme, if the offensive line could magically make the entire defensive line disappear on every play, that offense would have an advantage even with mediocre players at quarterback, running back, and receiver. And conversely, if the defensive line just rolls right through the offensive line, no amount of Heisman Trophy contenders in the backfield are going to save the day.

The coaches and commentators are not saying that the skill players aren’t important. They’re just reminding everyone that the players no one talks about are at least as important, and perhaps even more important, to the success of the team.

So if that’s true, why is it that the offensive line doesn’t get more attention?

Evaluating offensive lineman is time-consuming and difficult

Offensive linemen get less attention from casual fans and pundits because, frankly, there’s just not much for them to talk about. Most folks in the stands and in front of their televisions watch football by watching the football. After the center snaps the ball, all eyes are first on the quarterback, and then on either the running back or the receiver. The eyes follow the ball on Saturdays and the stats on Sundays, but even most of the stats follow the ball. So it’s easy for fans to talk about skill players because there are numbers at the ready to measure their performance.

Not so for offensive linemen. There are few easy stats adequately measuring their contributions that fans can toss back and forth in conversation. The explanation for the lack of such stats is that the real contributions of the offensive line are difficult to measure. Their value comes not from actually moving the ball but from creating opportunities for the skill guys by creating space or time.

So if offensive linemen don’t get noticed because they rarely touch the ball and therefore rarely end up in the box score, how do you evaluate them apart from actively studying their individual efforts on video or relying on the experts who do?

One way is to use the decisions of the coaching staff as a proxy. They are studying film, closely evaluating each player, and presumably, the best guys are earning the most playing time. So the number of games a player starts and the number of games in which he played should be a pretty good indication of how a staff values an offensive lineman. More games and more starts means more experience, and experience matters in football, especially along the offensive line. We’ll talk about the degree to which experience matters later, but first, let’s look at the relative experience of the offensive lines in the SEC.

Phil Steel’s SEC offensive line experience list

Yesterday, Phil Steele posted his compilation of offensive line experience, which is a ranking of teams by most career starts on the line. Here are the SEC teams:

So, according to that table, Tennessee has a pretty significant experience advantage over most of its SEC East rivals, with only South Carolina and Kentucky really coming close.

Gameday on Rocky Top’s SEC offensive line experience list

In compiling the Gameday on Rocky Top All-SEC team for our magazine, we, too, compiled a list of offensive line experience for the SEC teams. Ours included both starts and games played, and in that list Kentucky edged Tennessee for first place by a small margin. So our numbers are in general agreement with Phil Steele and show that Tennessee’s offensive line is in good shape this fall from an experience standpoint.

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

 

Conclusion

The Vols’ offensive linemen for 2017 have played and started a lot of games in their careers. Being pressed into action early in their careers undoubtedly gives them experience, and experience presumably makes them better. At the very least, they should be better than they were before they gained the experience.

Of course, being the best on your team and the unit being better than it was last year says little about how good you are relative to other teams. For that, we’ll need to look at other factors, which we will get to in a later post.

For now, though, one thing is crystal clear: The 2017 Tennessee Volunteers have one of the most experienced offensive lines in the SEC.

Gameday Today: East Tennessee loves West Tennessee

The Big Orange Caravan shows some love to West Tennessee, a few of Butch Jones’ favorite things, a raise for an assistant coach, and a relief for a player, all in today’s Vols link roundup.

Football

The Big Orange Caravan hit Memphis yesterday, and more than 900 Vols fans showed up.

Butch Jones took the opportunity to reiterate that West Tennessee is important to the University of Tennessee:

“It’s very, very important,” Jones said. “This is the state of Tennessee. We’ve really made a concentrated effort to get into the Memphis area, and I think that shows in our recent recruiting. Then you look at our players from the Memphis area, they’re having great success right now, with Drew Richmond and obviously Trey Smith from Jackson.

“We’re very, very excited about this area. We’ve made a great commitment to recruit here and be very visible here, as well.”

Jones is also excited about his receiving corps this year, looking forward to Peyton Manning visiting campus sometime this week to spend some time with Quinten Dormady, Jarrett Guarantano, and Will McBride, and managing expectations about the Shy Tuttle’s return from injury (there’s “no timetable,” but Jones does expect him to be back by the season opener, which is great news.) Oh, and Jones has a picture of Jajuan Jennings’ “I-just-burned-Jalen-Tabor” touchdown against the Gators last season on the wall in his office.

Not sure why this is news, really, but athletic director John Currie says that he’s not talked with Butch Jones about his contract. He’s in the middle of it, and I’m not a huge fan of regular re-negotiations anyway, although I know it’s the way of the world these days.

Running backs coach Robert Gillespie got a $35,000 raise, and his now-$510,000 annual salary makes him the highest-paid non-coordinator assistant on the Vols staff. Related: ESPN put Tennessee running back John Kelly on a list of potential 1,000-yard rushers for this fall.

Not only have all criminal charges against Josh Smith been dropped, the threat of civil liability has been dropped as well. Good news. I don’t know the story, and we’ll probably never know, but the whole thing just looked like a molehill.

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

 

Recruiting

Latest offers:

 

 

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:

 

 

Gameday Today: Eric Berry makes everything better

The legend of VFL Eric Berry continues to grow, a prospect turns the table on Tennessee, and we’re beginning to feel better about the secondary, all in today’s Vols link roundup.

Eric Berry just keeps leveling up in Awesome

My favorite NFL team – Eric Berry – is apparently still engaged in the continuous improvement of his Awesome game, getting to-go food at a Knoxville restaurant while he was in town for the purpose of giving it to some homeless people on his way out. He also reportedly stopped and prayed with them. All of this without any cameras or public relations folks following him around. It’s just Eric Berry living his life, and no one but the people involved would have known if it hadn’t been captured by a random Facebooker:

Recruiting

As Brad posted yesterday, the Vols landed a commitment from top-shelf Class of 2020 running back Miles Friday. The 247Sports follow-up article includes a quote from Friday that makes it sound like he was recruiting Tennessee:

“It’s always been a school that I’ve really looked into and could see myself going to at a young age,” said Friday, who’s expected to be one of the top prospects from Georgia in the 2020 class. “It was a few schools I was basically waiting for — them, LSU — but Tennessee was really just the one I really, really wanted. And when I got it, I was ecstatic.

“They looked at me for a while, since my eighth-grade year. But they were like, ‘You’re too young,’ and stuff. And I just kept pushing. I kept going over there, and every time I’d see the coaches, I would just push for them.

“And when they finally did it, I was just like, ‘It’s time.’”

There were more offers yesterday, too:

Football

Brad also weighed in on his projections for the Tennessee secondary yesterday. And we’re adding this bit from 247Sports to our list of reasons to be excited for this season:

The quartet of seniors Todd Kelly Jr. and Evan Berry, junior Micah Abernathy and sophomore Nigel Warrior recorded a combined 25 starts last season alone, and there’s talent to go along with their experience, as all four are former four-star prospects according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

I’ll keep saying it: Folks are under-appreciating the talent that will take the field for the Vols this fall.

Hey, Tennessee offensive coordinator Larry Scott, how do you keep quarterbacks happy? Teach them about process and patience.

Hey, Lane Kiffin, what do you think about Butch Jones? 

“I think Coach [Butch Jones] has done a great job there,” Kiffin told Saturday Down South. “They really have had some tough breaks down the stretch. They started out really fast with some big wins and it seems like they are right there and need one break to get it done. … Injuries take their toll, especially as the season keeps going on. It’s a tough sport and that’s why it’s one of the hardest sports to maintain winning because of that factor and so many variables.”

Odds and Ends

Grant Williams!

https://twitter.com/Vol_Hoops/status/872904997670973441

UTSports has a roundup of what people who matter are saying about new baseball coach Tony Vitello.

Eight members of the Tennessee women’s golf program will play in 18 different tournaments over the summer.

 

 

Post-Spring Projections: Tennessee Defensive Backs

Let’s continue the series with a look at the Tennessee defensive backs depth chart exiting spring with a prediction of what to expect this September.

Spring practice — like most all the springs before of the Butch Jones era — didn’t tell us much. But after what we saw and read, we can make some prognostications about what we may see, or at least expect to see, once fall practice starts. So, over the course of the next couple of weeks, I’m going to break down position-by-position what we saw, what we read and what I’ve heard about to project who’s gonna play where come opening weekend against Georgia Tech.

We’ll continue this series with our look at the defensive backs.

Tennessee Defensive Backs

A season ago, Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop and defensive backs coach Willie Martinez didn’t see eye to eye on scheme or philosophy. Fast-forward a year later, and Shoop is getting used to a new DBs coach in former North Carolina assistant Charlton Warren, who hopes to take all that talent the Vols have accumulated on the back end and mold it into something much better than it’s been the past couple of seasons.

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

 

Teaching the defensive backs to turn their heads around and actually look for the ball would be a start. Outside of Cameron Sutton, finding actual, impressive development among UT’s defensive backs during the Martinez era is difficult. The Vols simply struggled at cornerback and safety despite recruiting fairly well at the position.

Now, Warren must try to help those guys regain their form they displayed as top recruits, especially with Sutton now in camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s take a look at what UT has on the third level.

Cornerbacks

The post-Sutton era may be a bit rocky, but it certainly doesn’t have to be, especially considering the Vols got a very big boost with a graduate transfer who should step right in and not only help right away but start. That would be Shaq Wiggins, who will be playing for his third program after starting his career with Georgia before leaving Athens for Louisville along with defensive coordinator Todd Grantham.

Though Grantham and defensive backs coach Terrell Buckley tried to get Wiggins to follow them to Mississippi State, he elected to finish his career in Knoxville, where he has some friends, including former UT running back Alvin Kamara, who helped recruit Wiggins to UT. He’ll have every opportunity to win one of the starting corner jobs, and the Vols are thrilled to have a player with his talent and experience to insert into a rotation needing an alpha. In three seasons, Wiggins has 57 tackles, including 4.5 for a loss and four interceptions. The 5’10”, 172-pound senior needs a big year for Warren on Rocky Top.

Also at cornerback, the Vols have a pair of rising seniors who’ve experienced up-and-down careers at UT and need to finish on a high note. Both are talented enough to, but neither have been very dependable as of yet. I’m talking about Emmanuel Moseley and Justin Martin.

The latter of the two came in with huge fan fare as a 4-star prospect who was recruited by virtually everybody in the Southeast and seemed set to go to LSU before John Chavis left for Texas A&M. As it turned out, the former Overton High School standout came back from his Oklahoma JUCO to Tennessee, and the Vols thought they were getting a stud in Martin. Throughout his first two years, it hasn’t panned out that way. However, he admittedly has grown up a lot. He told GoVols247’s Wes Rucker this spring that the arrival of Warren really helped with a fresh start.

“In particular, I think what made everything click was, really, this is my last year, and I knew I could do it,” he said. “I knew I was talented and capable enough to do it, but just getting a fresh start with the new coaching staff, that was pretty much it. Coach Warren is a real good coach. I appreciate him.”

After a spring where he balled out and was not only one of the best defensive backs but one of the best players on the team, Martin looks poised for a big senior year. It would be big news for UT if he lived up to the athleticism that once had him as an NFL prospect.

As for Moseley, he started his career at UT in just the opposite way. He was a 2-star player committed to Charlotte when the Vols flipped him, and though he wound up a 3-star, he was largely overlooked as a skinny defender. However, Moseley added weight quickly, stepped right in and started some games as a true freshman. It looked like his career was ready to take off. But he sort of plateaued, and he’s never really gotten over the hump. In 2016, he had 57 tackles and 3.5 tackles for a loss but had no interceptions. He’s the poster boy for not getting his head around, and teams have picked on him because of it. If he can get his mechanics down, Moseley could end in good fashion. He’s definitely proven he has the talent to.

Those are the big three at cornerback and the guys who should get the most reps for the Vols if everything falls the way they think. But there’s talent behind them. First, I’m excited to see sophomore Baylen Buchanan develop. He was forced into action too early a season ago, but the son of Ray Buchanan has a lot of talent, and he should get better under Warren’s tutelage. Senior former JUCO transfer D.J. Henderson looks like he’s more of a special teams player, but he could possibly play in a pinch.

At nickelback, the Vols simply must stay healthy and get better play than they had a season ago. Rashaan Gaulden, a 6’1″, 185-pound redshirt junior, has immense potential and was one of UT’s best defenders a season ago with 68 tackles and six tackles for a loss. But he needs more difference-making, game-changing plays. Actually, UT needs that from everybody on the back end, but Gaulden should be a leader who steps up and provides that. Behind him, Marquill Osborne enters his sophomore year with a chance to get on the field and make a difference. He has the versatility to play cornerback or nickel, and Osborne is too talented not to be in the rotation. In a pinch, Micah Abernathy has proven he can play nickelback as well, though the Vols would love for him to stay at safety.

UT wound up with three cornerbacks in the 2017 recruiting class, and though none of the signees were higher than 3-star players, they had huge offer sheets, and the Vols had to fend off big programs to keep them in the fold. It all starts with Louisiana product Cheyenne Labruzza, who was wanted by home-state LSU as well as Florida, but he committed to UT early and stuck through the Vols even when they got rid of Martinez. He has the potential to be an immediate-impact player if some of the upperclassmen falter. Then, there’s little-recruited Shawn Shamburger, who fans gave a collective “WHO?” when he committed. Toward the end of the recruiting process, however, in-state Georgia and Kirby Smart tried to get him to visit Athens and steal him late in the process. He also stayed true to his pledge. Terrell Bailey is another Louisiana product who was coveted by Notre Dame late in the process but came to UT.

The Vols love their cornerbacks class, and those guys are going to have the opportunity to come in and fit in.

“I really am excited to watch these guys,” Shoop said at the Big Orange Caravan stop in Chattanooga recently, according to GoVols247’s Patrick Brown. “I haven’t seen them do anything athletically, I have to say, but Labruzza makes such a positive first impression. We’re talking about a 4.0 student, high character, smart, tough, unselfish. I feel the same way about Sham and Terrell. All three of those guys, they know they’re in a position to compete.”

Safeties

At safety, the Vols should be able to go four deep with a pretty strong unit if they’d play up to their potential, and a pair of youngsters could help as well.

Senior Todd Kelly Jr. needs to have a big year. The 5’11”, 208-pound enforcer has eight interceptions in his career, but he needs to get a step quicker and make a difference on the back end more consistently than he has in the past. Kelly is a sure tackler who had 71 a season ago, and he has the potential to be an elite player on the back end. He just needs to take the next step. He’s more of a linebacker on the third level, and he needs to anticipate plays a little quicker than he has. Still, that’s nitpicking considering TK has been UT’s biggest playmaker besides Sutton throughout his career. He’s a leader and a solid contributor who you can write in ink as a starter. 

He needs to will UT’s secondary to a better season with his play and his leadership.

The guy everybody wants to see is sophomore Nigel Warrior, who took a huge leap this past spring after a freshman year where he struggled to stay on the field due to his inability to get lined up and grasp the scheme quickly. Now, with a year in the system, it appeared a light came on for Warrior during these 15 film sessions. He’s easily the most talented player in Tennessee’s secondary, and if he can click the way many expect he will, he’s a guy who could develop into an All-SEC player in a hurry. There’s a reason why Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, LSU and everybody else wanted him. But Warrior is Dale Carter’s son, and the Vols legend’s legacy seemed destined to wind up in Knoxville. Now, it’s time for him to dominate.

The duo of quality backups should be Micah Abernathy, who started a lot of games a season ago, and special teams monster Evan Berry, who spent most of 2016 injured. Abernathy is a quality player who very easily could be a starter as a junior, and he’ll probably be in the lineup in his fair share of games. The 6’0″, 195-pound junior started 10 games a season ago and finished with 69 tackles, three tackles for a loss and two interceptions. Warrior may well be too talented to keep out of the starting lineup, but don’t expect Abernathy to give it up easily. It’s excellent to have a player of his ilk back there, even if he’s a versatile guy who provides quality snaps off the bench.

Then there’s Berry, who is one of the best kick returners in the nation. In the bowl game two years ago, it looked like a light was coming on for him at safety where he was playing fast and furious. Last year, it just never came together. He played in nine games, starting three at free safety. He needs to be a lot more consistent on defense, but if he can be, his elite athleticism will help with key reps.

That leaves the two freshmen, including LaVergne’s Maleik Gray, who is one of the prize recruits of this past cycle. The 4-star player chose UT over tons of offers, and the Vols came on and swept him away from Florida State and USC, his early favorites. He could grow into a linebacker, but the Vols want him to stay at safety, where they expect him to be a playmaker soon. He’ll at least help on special teams this year and has the potential to crack the rotation. Then there’s Theo Jackson, who is also from the Midstate. While he probably needs a year in the weight room and a redshirt, he’s a guy the Vols love, and he could be a steal. Jackson is a player who could start a lot of games down the road.

Conclusion

If you look across this list, you’re probably pretty excited, right? After all, the names above are a lot of guys many of us were excited about when they committed and signed. Names like Warrior, Gray, Abernathy, Kelly, etc., were huge recruiting wins.

It’s time for them to be difference-makers on Saturday.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a lot of fans who were thrilled with Martinez’s coaching the past couple of years, and now that he’s gone, a lot is expected of Warren. He was a good hire by most accounts, and he’s got a lot of talent with which to work. If that sounds familiar, the same was said for Shoop a season ago, and we all know how that worked out.

It’s time for a lot of these kids to play like they deserve scholarships, and it’s time for the coaches to coach like they deserve their salary. Above, you see a lot of big names and some decent statistics, but the Vols need game-breaking, drive-killing plays from their secondary. Those have been missing throughout the past couple of seasons, and UT needs to get back to that. This is the unit that has the potential to carry the defense.

It needs to do it.

Prediction

CB — Shaq Wiggins, Emmanuel Moseley, Baylen Buchanan
CB — Justin Martin, Emmanuel Moseley, Cheyenne Labruzza
NB — Rashaan Gaulden, Marquill Osborne, Micah Abernathy
S — Todd Kelly Jr., Micah Abernathy, Maleik Gray
S — Nigel Warrior, Micah Abernathy, Evan Berry