Category Archives: Football

Gameday Today: Settlement agreements, 71% off! Today only!

Gameday Today leads off with an offer nobody wants, but at a bigly discount. Also, talking about the season, Larry Scott’s contract, softball, and who is this Travis Kelce guy?

Football

Tennessee receiver Josh Smith’s roommate, Kennedy Foster, wants to file a $3M lawsuit against Smith for allegedly beating him up, but he’s reportedly offering a 71% discount if he can pay, like, today, man. Hurry! Offer expires soon! (Yes, this smells like the backseat of the Grumpy Old Men car to me.)

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You know it’s the summer doldrums when sites start asking questions like What if basketball was football? Lay it on me, I’m famished. (And the answer, of course, without having to wear out your mouse button clicking through the morsels, is that Tennessee would beat Iowa State on the football field.)

Wes Rucker identifies the two most important swing games for Tennessee’s 2017 season. Hint: They rhyme with Skullfrogs and Waiters. 

Tennessee offensive coordinator Larry Scott got a $280k salary increase and a contract extension when he was promoted from his position as tight ends coach. He’ll be making $650k for the next two years, and his contract runs out at the end of February, 2019. Typing that out makes me wonder. When was the last time a college coach’s contract simply expired at the end of its term?

Tight end commitment Jacob Warren recently told The Swain Event that he wants to model his game after Travis Kelce. Who is this Travis Kelce, you ask? He’s a tight end (duh, I know) for the Kansas City Chiefs and was first-team All-Pro last season. But what’s the connection? Kelce played for Butch Jones at Cincinnati from 2010-12, and he was a third-round draft pick in 2013. So that’s why Jones has been whispering his name into Warren’s ear. Me, I’d shout “JASON WITTEN!”, but I don’t know either of them personally, so volume and brand awareness is all I have.

Softball

Tennessee lost its last two games against Texas A&M and came up just one win shy of making the Women’s College World Series. Mike Griffith puts it all in perspective, saying the team overachieved this season and is poised for something special in the immediate future.

 

 

Gameday Today: Vols Tight Ends and the Ninja Persuader Dad Power

Football

Who knew that promoting your tight ends coach to offensive coordinator would ignite a sudden interest in the tight end position? Seriously, I go on vacation for a week and suddenly everyone’s talking about tight ends. The current roster is looking pretty good, as is the incoming crop of tight end recruits, including local guy Jacob Warren, who sounds like a mature young man who’s made a careful and considered choice to follow in his father’s footsteps by playing at Tennessee, all without any undue pressure from his father. More likely, his dad has unlocked the Ninja Persuader Dad Power that steers your kids in the right direction without them knowing it. Dad High Five.
 
Speaking of new recruits, the 2018 class, which is already looking good in May, could begin to look outstanding in June. And SEC Country has an interesting theory on how Tennessee has refined its recruiting pitch to in-state prospects, asking them to consider life back home after they’ve played for a rival out-of-state.
 
One of the guys who’s buying in is kicker Brent Cimaglia, the nation’s No. 4 kicker in the 2017 class from Franklin, Tennessee, who’s ready to go, like right now.
 
We said this a lot in our magazine, but we’ll keep saying it because it’s true: Tennessee’s offensive line is experienced, deep, and talented. 
 
There is no easing in to the 2017 season, with Tennessee  a meager three-point favorite over Georgia Tech. I’ll take “meager favorite” over “underdog” any day, but three points is making for a nervous summer.
 
Butch Jones is extolling the virtues and early results of his new strength and conditioning coach Rock Gullickson while simultaneously playing the expectations game by telling us all not to expect the hire to reduce injuries this fall. Last year’s injuries, he says, were all in the “freak” category, and there was no pattern suggesting any correlation between the injuries and last year’s strength and conditioning program. Which, of course, begs the question: Why the change then, coach? Expect someone at the upcoming Big Orange Caravan to ask. And then expect to hear Jones say the exact same thing with no new information. But there’ll be food.

Softball

The No. 8 Tennessee softball team beat No. 9 Texas A&M last night 8-1 and is one win away from advancing to the Women’s College World Series. They can clinch their spot with another win against the Aggies tonight at 5:00. ESPN2 has the broadcast.
 

Basketball

Rocky Top Talk looks at the incoming class of basketball recruits and predicts that they’re going to be a fun group to watch.

Miscellaneous fun stuff

 
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The Vols 2018 Class is looking good, and could get even better in June

As June rapidly approaches, the Vols are in a situation not seen since the 2014 class that featured early commitments from studs like Todd Kelly Jr and Jalen Hurd: A highly-ranked class featuring not just a large collection of commitments, but a commitment list jampacked with studs from top to bottom AND two bigtime QB commits to boot.  And while the Vols have dominated instate recruiting so far, there are still more than a half-dozen instate prospects who the Vols are pushing hard and are in good position for (more on that below).

And with all of the momentum the Vols have on the trail right now, the relatively newly important month of June holds the promise of more message board booms.  In back-to-back-to-back weeks, June will feature two instate satellite camps, one in Nashville in one in Memphis, as well as the featured event of the offseason, Orange Carpet Day in Knoxville. It’s no secret that the MIdstate has and continues to be a growing area in terms of high level football talent, and Memphis (and nearby Mississippi) appears to be getting more attention from this staff of late with the 2018-2020 classes.  And Orange Carpet Day has been a source of summertime commitments every year since Butch created it.  Obviously last year was an anomaly in terms of the sheer volume of commitments (not to mention the fact that the majority of those didn’t end up signing with UT in the end), but it’s reasonable to expect some action that weekend.

While we haven’t seen attendee lists for the two camps, below are uncommitted prospects with Vol offers in the respective areas.  The sheer number boggles the mind for those who have followed instate recruiting for more than 3-4 years:

June 4th Satellite Camp – Nashville

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2018

  • RB Master Teague
  • DL D’Andre Litaker
  • OL Taylor Antonutti
  • WR Camron Johnson
  • CB Jaylon King

2019

  • OL Jackson Lampley
  • DL Joe Anderson
  • DL Ani Izuchukwu
  • WR Lance Wilhoitte
  • WR Trey Knox
  • DB Wesley Walker
  • DB Jashon Watkins

2020

  • DL Tyler Baron

June 11th Satellite Camp – Memphis

2018

  • DL Greg Emerson
  • LB Cam Jones
  • OL Jerome Carvin
  • DB Rayshad Williams
  • ATH Kundarrius Taylor
  • DL Jordan Davis (Bama commit)
  • WR CJ Bolar (MS)
  • DB Jeshaun Jones (MS)

2019

  • DL Kristian Williams
  • DL Trevis Hopper

2020

  • WR Darrin Turner

June 17th Orange Carpet Day

While the attendee list for Orange Carpet Day is similarly unclear at this point, based on history and the high volume of instate prospects who have UT high on their lists, one can expect a very impressive number of blue-chip prospects to be there.  Staying with the instate theme, the Vols have a real chance to build momentum with a bunch of kids heading into Orange Carpet Day at the camps held the prior two weeks and then potentially seal the deal with some of them when they are in Knoxville.

So far, commits Adrian Martinez and Jatavious Harris have said they will be there, along with CB prospects Rayshad Williams and Jaycee Horn.  I wouldn’t be shocked if most of the rest of the current commitments are also there.  Again, I don’t expect the kind of fireworks we saw at last year’s event, as not only is this class already at 10 high-level commitments but also the staff has shown at least so far this cycle they are willing to be pickier about who they take.  That said, a commitment or two that day wouldn’t be surprising in the least.

Finally, the staff will be holding camps on campus throughout the month and will likely bring in many more offered prospects for those while at the same time identifying others to offer. Happens every year.

In addition to what one could reasonably assume to be some guys pulling the trigger based on these camps and the Orange Carpet Day event, there are a handful of prospects that UT appears to lead for who have indicated that June commitments could be coming, including the aforementioned Litaker as well as Knoxville area TE Jacob Warren.  So while a Vols fan has to be feeling incredibly good about where the Class of 2018 sits heading into the last week of May, chances are things will be much better when the month of June closes.

Post-Spring Projections: Tennessee Tight Ends

Let’s continue the series with a look at the Tennessee tight ends 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 Tight Ends.

TIGHT ENDS

Back when Butch Jones took over at Tennessee, one thing that we all expected from the jump was that the tight end would be a huge part of the offense. In my mind, I saw an NFL-style scheme with players catching the football, blocking the edge and the offense centering around dynamic mismatches like Jones had with Travis Kelce at Cincinnati.

His tenure thus far at Tennessee has been anything but.

That’s why this group enters 2017 with so much untapped potential — and that includes senior Ethan Wolf, who looks like the ultimate player at the position but has yet to live up to the expectations many heaped on him four years ago when he stepped in at UT and got starting reps immediately. The tight end position was under-utilized with Joshua Dobbs at quarterback and Mike DeBord calling plays. Hopefully, all that changes with Larry Scott.

You’d think it would. After all, Scott was UT’s tight ends coach, and he understands the value in using the big man on the edge as a target for your quarterback. Either Quinten Dormady or Jarrett Guarantano would benefit from Wolf [or somebody else] emerging at the position.

It all starts with Wolf, a 6’6″ senior from Minster, Ohio, who was a huge coup for Jones four years ago, choosing the Vols over a bunch of impressive offers. After UT got him to commit, Alabama and others came calling, but Wolf stayed strong. While he’s enjoyed a stellar career, there haven’t been any glimpses of his idol, Jason Witten, in his play, and that’s what a lot of us hoped for when we saw him get immediate playing time.

In three years, he’s totaled 67 catches for 752 yards and just four touchdowns. That’s not even averaging two catches per game. It’s hard to say that’s disappointing, but it isn’t up to Wolf’s capability. For UT’s offense to be better, he must be better. The promotion of Scott gave Wolf visions of what his role potentially could be in his final season on Rocky Top.

“I shot him a text to say congrats on the promotion and made a little joke about (getting) 10 targets a game or something like that,” Wolf told then-Chattanooga Times-Free Press and current GoVols247 reporter Patrick Brown during spring practice. “I was extremely happy for him, because he’s a guy that wants to succeed in everything that he does. He wants to get to the absolute pinnacle he can of his job

“He turned down the head coaching job at Miami to come here, and for him to be able to take that step up to the offensive coordinator, I think he’s going to succeed tremendously at it. We’re going to have a very explosive year this year offensively.”

If that’s going to happen, UT needs Wolf to be an all-around force at tight end, catching and blocking. Beyond him, it’s anybody’s guess who’ll fill the role for the Vols. Teams need more than one tight end, and if the Vols are to be multiple with different sets, they need able bodies. Last year, Jason Croom moved from wide receiver and did OK, but he’s gone to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills on a free agent contract. Now, the Vols have a handful of unproven commodities.

Starting with the other senior on the list, Jakob Johnson bounced around from linebacker to defensive end to tight end in his career, and the latter position seems to suit him OK. Though Johnson is never going to be a dynamic target, he is a good, physical blocker on the edge and could carve himself a role, especially in short-yardage situations.

After Devante Brooks moved over from tight end to offensive tackle, the Vols still have talent at receiving tight ends. Redshirt sophomore Eli Wolf is a walk-on brother of Ethan who could have a good year for UT, and redshirt freshman Austin Pope is a local product who had a lot of good offers out of Christian Academy of Knoxville. If he gets more physical this year, he could be the breakout player of the position. This spring, the younger Wolf got a lot of reps, and he will be a guy who gets on the field and makes some plays for the Vols in 2017. 

The biggest upside guys, though, are the youngsters. Pope is 6’4″, 230 pounds and extremely athletic, but he isn’t as physical as he needs to be yet to play the position. With an offseason in Rock Gullickson’s strength & conditioning program, he could really see his career take off. Though he won’t start the year as the second tight end, he’s a strong bet to seize that role as the season progresses.

UT also went out and signed two tight ends in the 2017 recruiting class that flew a bit under-the-radar. That starts with instate talent LaTrell Bumphus, a 6’4″, 240-pound athlete from Hardin County who was offered by schools such as Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Georgia as a weak-side defensive end. Though he may wind up playing on that side of the ball for the Vols, UT told him it would give him his first crack at tight end. If Bumphus could stick there, he’ll be an extremely impressive weapon for Scott to mold. The other player in the ’17 class taken by the Vols is James Brown, a 6’3″, 221-pound tight end from Jones High School in Orlando who had very few offers when UT pulled the trigger. His only other decent offers came from South Florida and Marshall, so if he hits, he’ll definitely be a diamond find for Robert Gillespie. The former high school quarterback is only now transitioning to the position and dealt with offseason labrum surgery.

According to VolQuest’s Jesse Simonton, Brown’s position switch led to a flurry of interest, however.

“[Brown] switched from quarterback to tight end midway through his senior season. He played just a handful of games at the position, recording 10 catches for 176 yards and four touchdowns. Following the release of a mini-highlight tape, Brown immediately heard from several SEC schools, including Tennessee, which ultimately offered him a scholarship late one Sunday night. About half an hour later, Brown called Scott back and committed on the spot.”

Also in that Brown article by Simonton, the player stressed Scott told him the Vols were going to use the tight end in the passing game, and he saw evidence of that in the spring game with a scoring strike to Wolf. “Before we got there, (Scott) kept on stressing to me, ‘We throw it to them. We throw it to the tight ends,’” Brown said. “Then when we got to the spring game, the tight ends caught touchdowns, so I was like, ‘Let’s go.’ I know how to catch. They’re not blocking. They’re receivers. They’re catching the football.”

The Vols need a lot of that when the season starts.

Prediction

First team: Ethan Wolf, Second Team: Eli Wolf, Third Team: Austin Pope. Jakob Johnson, LaTrell Bumphus, James Brown

Post-Spring Projections: Tennessee Wide Receivers

Let’s continue the series with a look at the Tennessee wide receivers 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 Wide Receivers.

WIDE RECEIVERS

When you think of Tennessee wide receivers, the first thing that may come to your mind is a lanky, sleek route-runner who is graceful with the football. All that is nice, but when I think of building my perfect receiver, I can just point in the direction of Tennessee’s No. 15.

Jauan Jennings.

Yep. He may not be the fastest wide receiver on the team, but UT’s 6’3″, 205-pound junior pass-catcher is plenty big, he’s uber-tough and he’s an alpha dog. He’s the type of guy who’ll go up for a football, and he’d rather slit your throat than let you come down with his football. He wants to gain yards; he wants to score touchdowns; and nobody works harder doing it. If Tennessee’s offense is going to reach its pinnacle in 2017, it needs to get Jennings the football.

You know Quinten Dormady and Jarrett Guarantano know that. Jennings is good, and he’s mean. His new coach, Kevin Beard, knows just how good he is, too, telling former Chattanooga Times Free Press [and current GoVols247] reporter Patrick Brown:

“I’m trying to get him to understand that we’re going to do big things,” Beard said. “I’m excited to work with him and just working on him being a leader and working on being the leader that we need him to be. He is a championship football player, and he can help bring the whole team to that level just by walking and talking. Then when he gets out there to play, it takes care of itself.

“I’m just trying to get him to understand that this team is going to go as far as he’s going to take us.”

Those are heavy words, but, in essence, they’re true. Behind John Kelly, Jennings is the most irreplaceable player on UT’s offense. The Vols must have him playing at his absolute highest, most-freakish level to win big in ’17. You can go ahead and write his name in Sharpie in the starting lineup.

Plus, Jennings will always be know for catching the Dobbs-nail boot Hail Mary to beat Georgia. Oh, and this against Jalen “Teez” Tabor to help UT beat Florida.

https://twitter.com/AndrewHamrick16/status/781111055405625344

Oh, and after that catch against Georgia, when asked where it ranked, Jennings said, “Probably second, behind burning Tabor.”

Savage.

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Who’s after Jennings?

But the Vols need more than just Jennings in 2017. There’s a lot of talent, but there simply aren’t a lot of proven playmakers. Though it would have benefited both UT and Josh Malone for him to return for his senior season, it’s hard to fault the Nashville native, who was picked by Cincinnati in the fourth round of the NFL draft and just signed a four-year deal worth $3 million. With him gone, Tennessee needs to find some guys for the quarterbacks to bombard.

Also, kind of a forgotten man who’d really help Tennessee this year but transferred to Colorado State instead is Preston Williams, a former 5-star receiver who didn’t mesh well with former Vols receivers coach Zach Azzanni and transferred early in the season a year ago. The Vols really could have used him in 2017. But the cupboard isn’t bare.

It’s time for senior Josh Smith to finally be consistent. After a horrendous freshman year, it appeared that his sophomore season would be a breakout campaign before he got hurt and missed the rest of the year. The past two years have been underwhelming, and as a junior in ’16, he wound up with just 13 catches for 97 yards. Is he even a starter? He’s certainly capable, but Smith must do better than that, and he’s shown no consistency in a career that’s been halted by injuries, too.

The better bets for UT’s breakout, complimentary receivers could come in the form of a quartet of second-year players. Sophomore Marquez Callaway certainly looks the part. At 6’2″, 190 pounds, the Warner Robins, Georgia, native is smooth and sturdy, and he looked super-athletic during a 62-yard punt return for a touchdown last year against Tennessee Tech. He never really got worked into the receiver rotation, but he wound up with a solid spring, and the Vols are going to depend on him this year. 

Tyler Byrd’s best position may well be cornerback, and while it’s puzzling UT isn’t playing him there, the sophomore has the ability to be a quality receiver, too. He was raw in 2016, but the playing time he earned could be invaluable. The 6’0″, 195-pound athlete caught 15 passes for 209 yards, and Tennessee tried to get him loose in space. It didn’t happen often, but Byrd has the wiggle you want for a slot receiver. He also had 63 rushing yards and averaged more than 26 yards per kickoff return. If he could somehow get to 500 receiving yards as a sophomore, it probably means the Vols passing game is just fine.

The third of the quartet is a wild card, but he sure is a blazing fast one. Late in the 2016 recruiting class, the Vols snagged a surprise commitment in speedy receiver Latrell Williams, getting him to flip from Miami on national signing day. Williams redshirted in ’16 after battling some nagging injuries, and he looked like a potential electrifying athlete this spring who really could help the Vols. He, too, is far from a finished product, but the ability is there.

“…[T]he one thing he’s learning is how to control that speed,” Beard told Wes Rucker of GoVols247. “A lot of times, fast guys, they try to do everything fast. But they’re out of control, ultimately. So he’s learning how to control his speed and keep his toes under his shoulders. He’s coming along really good.”

Finally, keeping the Florida trend of UT receivers recruited by Larry Scott is Brandon Johnson, the nephew of former Cincinnati Bengals great Chad “Ocho Cinco” Johnson. The 6’2″, 180-pound sophomore had seven catches for 93 yards a season ago, and he hit a bit of a wall. But he also showed ability, and he’s a great route-runner who could wind up really helping UT.

Senior Jeff George could be a red-zone weapon with his 6’6″ height, and though he never really lived up to the initial strong spring he had, it’s not too late for him to be a jump-ball guy inside the 20. Let’s face it: Last year, when the Vols needed touchdowns, there was no better weapon on the roster than Dobbs on a keeper with his magnificent freelancing ability. Also, they changed it up some and gave Alvin Kamara a lot of bubble screens that he took to the goal line as well. 

This year, those options aren’t around. So, George could find himself on the field with Jennings in scoring situations.

What about the new guys?

The Vols also did a quality job recruiting receivers, and though Oak Ridge’s Tee Higgins [who committed to Clemson] could have pushed UT’s class over the edge, the guys the Vols did bring in will help if they can just get them on campus. Probably the best of the bunch, Mississippi pass-catcher Jordan Murphy, has yet to qualify, and he’s really the only one in the class who could have a hard time getting in. There’s still a good chance he’ll make it to Knoxville, but he isn’t a guarantee as of yet. If he makes it, he’s got the opportunity to step right in and get reps.

Perhaps the most under-the-radar player who has the opportunity for an excellent freshman campaign is Florida freshman Josh Palmer, who came down to the Sunshine State from his native Ontario, Canada, to get noticed. It worked. He was committed to Syracuse until late in the game when the Vols, Michigan, Florida and others offered. He chose UT, and he could be one of the biggest coups of the class. “Air Canada” is 6’2″, 200 pounds and is extremely fast. He is a difference-maker who’ll score some touchdowns for UT in ’17. Finally, another Florida product [the UT receiving corps is full of them] is fast freshman Jacquez Jones, and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of impact he makes as a freshman.

So, if you’re scoring at home, there are two trends here.

  1. The Vols have an absolute ton of players from Florida, and new offensive coordinator Larry Scott recruited a lot of them, so he’s familiar with them and, hopefully for UT, he’ll know how to use them.
  2. The vast majority of the guys are freshmen or sophomores who have little or no experience. That doesn’t bode well for UT, but who knows what these guys are going to do when given an opportunity? They have the ability to shine, and some guys need to emerge for the young quarterbacks.

Prediction

WR1: Jauan Jennings, Jeff George, Jordan Murphy
Slot: Tyler Byrd, Josh Smith, Latrell Williams, Jacquez Jones
WR3: Marquez Callaway, Brandon Johnson, Josh Palmer

Prior posts in this series

Post-Spring Projections: Running Backs

Post-Spring Projections: Quarterbacks

What to expect from Bob Shoop’s defense in 2017

Earlier today, we looked at the numbers and concluded that Bob Shoop’s defense in 2016 was not as bad as Sal Sunseri’s 2012 defense. That’s not to say that it wasn’t bad, though. It was. Bad enough to put Butch Jones on the Screaming Pundits’ 2017 Hot Seat Watch List, and bad enough to spur Jones into shaking up his coaching staff in the offseason.

But what is a realistic expectation of improvement for a defense that . . . struggled . . . last season, bless its heart?

To answer that, we went to the spreadsheets to determine what happened, if anything, between Sunseri’s 2012 defense and the 2013 defense fielded by Jones’ first defensive coordinator, John Jancek.

John Jancek’s improvement in 2013 over Sal Sunseri’s 2012

What did we find when we compared 2012 to 2013? A bag full of mixed nuts, some of them tasty, honey-roasted and sea-salted almonds, and some of them lone and wrinkled peanuts retrieved from the men’s room floor.

You’ll recall from our earlier post that Sunseri’s 2012 defense was “not good” in three defensive categories (48-56), “bad” in four other categories (85-86), and “terrible” in five more (98-115). That’s what Jancek inherited. Welcome to Rocky Top, coach!

How did Jancek do in his first season? He somehow made a miracle turnaround in Red Zone Defense, improving to No. 11 from No. 115. He also dramatically improved the team’s pass defense. Under Sunseri, the team ranked No. 111 in Passing Yards Allowed and No. 86 in Passing Efficiency Defense, and Jancek improved those rankings to No. 27 and No. 58, respectively. The team was also much better in defending on first downs and better in Scoring and Total Defense.

Those are the almonds.

Unfortunately, Jancek’s 2013 defense was still “terrible” in five categories (90-117), “bad” in two more (78-83), and “not good” in three others (40-58). Jancek made little to no improvement with regard to sacks and rushing defense, and the defense actually got worse against the run, in TFLs, and on third and fourth downs.


Click here to view full spreadsheet

 

What gets measured, gets managed

(Or, fixing things without breaking others)
Gameday on Rocky Top 2017
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The most interesting thing about all of this, though, is that Jancek fixed what was broken and broke what wasn’t. He improved in 2013 the worst things about 2012, some of them dramatically so. (See the Red Zone and Pass Defense discussed above.)

At the same time, though, other areas got worse. TFLs went from No. 48 to No. 90, and Third Down Conversion Pct Defense went from No. 50 to No. 91.

Overall, though, one could say that Jancek was able to make some degree of improvement over Sunseri’s historically bad defense. What he focused on got better, but those gains were somewhat diminished by other areas getting worse.

What to expect from Bob Shoop’s defense this fall

So what does all of this mean for Team 121 and Bob Shoop’s defense this season? It’s reasonable to expect Shoop to fix what was wrong last year. The real test is what happens to the rest of the defense while he’s focused on the warts.

The biggest areas of concern from last season are first downs, rushing defense, and the defense of long pass plays. Expect Shoop and his new position coaches to focus first on those areas, and expect the team to be better at those things.

But they need to make sure they don’t break something else in the process. They need to focus on first downs without losing their edge on third and fourth downs. They need to focus on improving their ability to stop the run without absolutely falling apart in pass defense. Basically, they need a tweaker who will shift the proper amount of focus to areas of need without completely diverting attention from things they already do well. And if, as many of us suspect, most of the problem last year was attributable to injuries, then just keeping everyone healthy could make a dramatic difference.

Bottom line, it’s reasonable to expect that Bob Shoop’s defense will improve in 2017. If he does it especially well, he could even improve it significantly by fixing last year’s problems without creating new ones this year.

 

Was Bob Shoop’s 2016 defense historically bad?

While reading something the other day, I ran across a throwaway comment about Bob Shoop’s 2016 defense being “historically bad.” It triggered a double-take, because that was a phrase I used a lot back in 2012 to describe Sal Sunseri’s defense, but I don’t recall using it at all last season (although I did use some others). What had prevented me from using that phrase last season? Was it because, as bad as it was, it wasn’t as bad as 2012, or was it really that bad and I just didn’t realize it because Josh Dobbs occupied my full attention?

Was Bob Shoop’s 2016 defense as bad as Sal Sunseri’s 2012 defense?

The short answer is no, I don’t think so. It was bad, yeah, but not historically so unless you want to cherry pick the data.

Gameday on Rocky Top 2017
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Sal Sunseri’s 2012

Sunseri’s defense in 2012 did absolutely nothing well. The highest it ranked in official NCAA defensive rankings was 48th, in tackles for loss. Also in the not-good-but-not-terrible range was third down defense and interceptions. The team ranked 50th and 56th, respectively, in those categories.

After that, things went into the pit quickly. Four separate defensive categories were in the 85-86 range. Five more were in the HIDE YOUR EYES range of 98-115. The winner of the raspberry award was Red Zone Defense, which ranked 115th. But Passing Yards Allowed and both Total and Scoring Defense were also U-G-L-Y.

Bob Shoop’s 2016

The 2016 defense piloted by first-year Tennessee defensive coordinator Bob Shoop was, on the whole, much more diverse in its rankings. They were actually really good on fourth downs and TFLs, thanks primarily to Derek Barnett. They were in the not-good-but-not-terrible range in four to seven categories, depending on how wide you want to define that range. The defense was actually terrible in only three categories: Total Defense (which, yeah, that one’s kind of important), Rushing Defense (ditto!), and First Downs Defense.

The Comparison

So how does Bob Shoop’s 2016 actually compare to Sal Sunseri’s 2012? Shoop was much, much better in at least one category and much better in another six categories. Note that even where he was much better, he was still mostly in the “not good” range. And the defense last year was basically just as bad as 2012 in three categories and actually worse and into Terrible Land in two categories (Rushing Defense and First Downs Defense). 

So, if you are predisposed to characterize Shoop’s first season on Rocky Top as historically bad, you can point to 2-5 defensive categories to support that argument. But on the whole, it actually wasn’t as bad last year as it was in 2012, even without the balm of the 2016 offense to soothe the pain. The defense really struggled in some key areas and could be called “just as bad” as Sunseri in a few places, but Shoop managed to be mostly better and to actually do some things well. And he did it under some less-than-ideal circumstances due to a viral injury bug.

Here are the numbers, in case you want to characterize them yourself:


Click here to view the full size chart

Stay tuned, because next we’ll look at how much, if any, the defense improved in 2013 after Sunseri left. Whatever we find should help us set some realistic expectations for improvement of the defense in Shoop’s second year.

Gameday Today: Decommits have the worst, only-mostly-dead phones

Recruiting

So yeah, 3-star running back Jashaun Corbin decommitted from Tennessee. I have just two pieces of advice for you, young man, after seeing this:
 Corbin
Charge your phone and switch to Verizon.
But seriously, what do you do after a guy like that decommits? You figure out who else is on the board. And then you remind everyone about the 4-star quarterback we just got and how he could help woo a bunch of other players in his neck of the woods. And you also don’t give up on him.

Football

I roll my eyes every time I read a quote from Butch Jones with the phrase “talk about” in it. Dude loves to talk about talking about stuff. But I digress.
Jones is now talking about talking about team chemistry, which he believes they have now, and about his decision to promote Larry Scott to offensive coordinator:
“But in terms of the promotion, that was kind of a very, very easy choice. I was able to evaluate him for a full year and what he brought to the offensive staff in terms of the dynamics of really managing personalities, being part of his staff and also his input on game day, his input throughout the course of the week and his relationship with the players.”
That there’s pretty good spin. “I hired him after a grueling, year-long interview process” sounds much better than, “Well, he was standing right there when Mike left.”
(This is a joke. I’m digging Larry Scott.)

Big Orange Caravan

The BOC must be all vamped out, because Tennessee is revamping the thing this summer. It’s apparently going to supplement the “look and feel” of the “traditional caravan” (dust and camel dung?) with some “new, fan-friendly elements.”
Hmm. What could those fan-friendly elements be, you ask? Music. A prize wheel, whatever that is. Smokey will be there (the mascot costume, I’m guessing). A photo booth with a Neyland Stadium backdrop, cornhole, a social media station, free popcorn, face painting, and more. I’m hoping the “and more” includes funnel cake, because they’re only one step away from a full-on carnival, and who doesn’t love the carnival? The Big Orange Carnival. Somebody get the USPTO on the phone.
The first stop is at the First Tennessee Pavilion in Chattanooga on Saturday, June 3 from 12:30-2:30 Eastern Time. They then go to the Expo Center at Agricenter International/West Pavilion (most awkward name ever?) in Memphis on Sunday, June 11 from 6:00-8:00 Central Time. Then it’s off to Nashville, where they’ll take over The Barn at Sycamore Farms on Monday, July 10, also from 6:00-8:00 Central.
They are actually planning something for the Tri Cities, but they don’t have the details yet because we’re the black sheep of the state, apparently. They’ll probably decide to set up a card table in a Pal’s parking lot or something. Which, as long as Pal’s is within walking distance, I’m good.

Miscellaneous fun stuff

The Football Writers Association of America has awarded Tennessee’s athletic media relations staff the “Super 11” tag as one of the best FBS sports information departments last year. High five to them.
Our friends at GoVols247 are running an awesome special, and if you’re going to pay for Vols content, get Gameday on Rocky Top 2017 first, and then go save $100 on a year’s worth of GoVols247.

QB Meetings with Erik Ainge: What do they look for in pre-game film study?

The latest episode of Quarterback Meetings with Erik Ainge provides a glimpse into what kind of stuff the team is looking for in pre-game film study. This one focuses on how two linebackers play the “interior receivers,” i.e., the tight end and the running back.

According to Ainge, what the ‘backers should do is “combo” the interior receivers, which sounds a lot like “switching” in basketball defense. If two offensive players go different directions and cross each other in the process, it creates a problem for defensive players playing them man-to-man because they are already lined up incorrectly and with all of that crossing, there’s bound to be a traffic jam. But if they “combo” and essentially hand off their guy to their teammate, they’ll each be closer to the guy they have to defend and won’t have to avoid each other in defending their respective guys.

In this video, you’ll see that the linebackers don’t “combo” and thus both the tight end and the running back are open. The running back goes left to the flat while the tight end lined up on the left goes right, and the linebackers are just out of position the entire time.

GAMEDAY ON ROCKY TOP 2017 PRESEASON ANNUAL NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER

Gameday on Rocky Top 2017 hits the newsstands all over the state of Tennessee (and select locations in neighboring states) on Friday, June 2, but as a Gameday on Rocky Top reader, you can get it before then, and with free shipping to boot.

Pre-order Gameday on Rocky Top 2017 online, and we’ll ship it the day after we get it from the printer (which we expect to be Friday, 5/26/17), Plus, you’ll get FREE SHIPPING (a savings of $4.95). So basically, you’ll have it delivered right to your door for the same price you’d pay at the grocery store, plus, if you order before Monday, 5/29/16, you’ll likely have it in your hands before it even shows up on the newsstands.
 

Free shipping will show up as an option automatically as long as you have the magazine in your cart.

Gameday on Rocky Top 2017 will only be available on newsstands in Tennessee and in limited areas in neighboring states, so if you live outside those areas, order online. And heck, even if you live in Tennessee, order online anyway this week and get it early.

We had an awesome time writing the annual this year. As always happens, the longer we spent working on it, the more we discovered reasons to be excited for the season. New position coaches, more talent than we think, an offensive line that is as experienced, talented, and deep as we’ve seen in a long time, plus an earlier bye week all makes us hopeful for this fall.
 
Here’s the Table of Contents for this year’s edition:

 

Table of Contents

2017 TENNESSEE VOLS

5 Position Previews
By Joel Hollingsworth
Next man up 

22 2017 Roster

23 The Quarterback Battle
By Brad Shepard
Coaching staff in no hurry to name a leader 

25 The Vols Staff Overhaul
By Brad Shepard 
Coaching for chemistry

29 The Outside Zone
By Seth Price 
New coordinator, same system

31 Class of ’17
By Brad Shepard 
Designed to fill needs, the new class is high-potential

41 Team Talent Rankings
By Joel Hollingsworth
The Vols become contenders in 2017

2016 IN PERSPECTIVE

45 The 2016 Vols
By Will Shelton
Sweet and Bitter

THE ROAD AHEAD

57 Expectations in Context
By Will Shelton
Comparing Jones to his non-Saban contemporaries 

61 Scouting the Competition
By Joel Hollingsworth
An in-depth look at all of the Vols’ 2017 opponents 

67 Tennessee 2017 Schedule 

81 Check Those Emotions
By John Pennington
Facts show Jones has earned more time

83 Preseason All-SEC Team
By the Gameday on Rocky Top 2017 Staff
Our list of the best SEC players heading into 2017

85 Top 25
By the Gameday on Rocky Top 2017 Staff
Our preseason favorites for 2017

ORANGE-HUED HISTORY

93 A Chaotic 2007
By Will Shelton 
Remembering a season of highs and lows