Category Archives: Football

Jeremy Pruitt-Aaron Murray Feud Good for the SEC and Tennessee

 

Families fight. Tempers flare. Insults — and sometimes punches — get thrown.

That’s the way it is in the South, and, though I haven’t been out of this region too much in my life, I assume that’s the way it is everywhere else, too. If you haven’t seen a conversation get a little heated at a family reunion, well, I’m not sure you’re from ’round these parts.

Most of the folks running programs in the SEC are, indeed, from ’round these parts.

Many of them have coached together, played against each other, recruited the same players and cut teeth on the same coaches.

Heck, the Nick Saban tree has reached its gnarled roots all over the conference. Texas A&M coach Jimbo Fisher, Georgia coach Kirby Smart and Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt are all disciples of college football’s greatest coach. Will Muschamp played at Georgia, coordinated at Auburn, led a program at Florida. Heck, even “outsiders” like that Yankee Dan Mullen down in Gainesville has spent enough time in the league now that he’s common-law.

Some of these good ol’ boys like each other, take weekends at the lake together, shoot the breeze about a little ball together. Some of them don’t care much for one another.

That’s how good ol’ boys are.

So, when former Georgia players Aaron Murray and David Pollack puckered their bottom lips out and went poor-mouthing Pruitt on national platforms on Wednesday, nobody should have been surprised.

Said Murray to a radio station at the always-entertaining circus of SEC Media Days in Atlanta:

“I don’t know if his personality is fit to be a head coach. As a head coach, there’s so many things that go into it. It’s not just going out there and coaching. You have to deal with front office. You’ve got to go talk with the president. You have to deal with boosters. You have to deal with the offense. The defense. It’s not just going in there and scheming it up. … I don’t think he’s the right guy to kind of be the CEO of a corporation. He’s really good managing just a defense and being a defensive coordinator. He needs to prove to me that he can handle the whole ship. We’ll see what happens this year. I don’t think it helps that he doesn’t have a lot of talent at Tennessee.”

Pollack saw a place to pile on, and did so. The former UGA defensive end who took his share of beatings at the hands of the Vols has never had too much good to say about the program, anyway. He said according to Saturday Down South’s Michael Wayne Bratton:

“To address Aaron’s (Murray) comment — because I think it needs to be addressed a little bit — the stories that I have heard and some of y’all have heard that came out of Athens – that are true, (from) coaches that were on the staff, some of the things Jeremy Pruitt did to Mark Richt, some coaches would tell you are the most disrespectful, most crazy things they heard.

“So, I’ll be curious to watch Jeremy Pruitt as he evolves with this relationship with Phillip Fulmer because Jeremy Pruitt did a good job when he was with Nick Saban — because he knew where he stood. He did a good job with Jimbo Fisher — they let you know where you stand. The hierarchy was very clear. How does he evolve as a head coach?

“He put on a good show (at the main podium at SEC Media Days), he definitely showed you what he has. I want to see if he continues to treat people in the correct manner, if he respects authority, because to be honest, the stories we’ve heard — we’ve all heard the same stories, it was pretty bad. It was disrespectful, so that’s what I’m interested to see.”

In a separate interview, legendary high school coach and former Pruitt boss Rush Propst said Georgia was a little too “country club” before Pruitt got there. Saban himself addressed the buzz during his portion of Media Days.

That Pruitt punched back only made things better. I’d have probably told him to take off his skinny jeans and put on some blue jeans, but that’s just me. Pruitt was a little more diplomatic but still got his point across.

“I look at it like this: 15 years ago, I was a kindergarten teacher, and today I’m the head coach at Tennessee,” Pruitt said. “So you probably don’t make that ascension unless you know how to treat people.”

You sick of reading quotes?

Oh, me neither.

This is awesome.

All that’s really missing is a soft pack of Winstons, a case of Bud Diesel and maybe a stained wife-beater or two. This is as close as we’ve gotten to “how-big-a-boy-are-ya” in this league in a long time. When a bunch of Southern boys get together and get in a baccer-spittin’ contest, fur may fly.

Sometimes, as we saw Wednesday, some of that Sand Mountain may come out when he gets a little sand in his craw. I was halfway waiting for a “By gawd” to be uttered.

Let’s all hope this is today’s SEC.

For us Tennessee fans, it may be a little while before we can re-enter the fracas on the football field, but Pruitt is already proving he can go into living rooms and battle the titans on the trail. He isn’t a stranger to this league or putting on his big-boy britches in hairy situations. He’s paid his dues as an assistant on the best teams in this era and in this country in the past decade, and this is now his time to run his program his way.

Mark Richt got to run his Georgia program his way, and though he was very successful during his tenure in Athens, his teams lacked toughness and he never really did as much with all that talent as he probably should have. The fans said it. The media said it. Some of Richt’s former players have even said it.

It took two years for favorite son Kirby Smart to come in and take the Dawgs to the cusp of the national championship last year.

Did he do something Richt couldn’t do or did he just inherit the talent that Richt was eventually going to do it with? We won’t ever know the answer to that. But [if the reports and the comments are true] Pruitt obviously didn’t care for the way things were going down there during his short stint with UGA.

Long-time SEC reporter Tony Barnhart said in the book Fulmer Hires Pruitt that Pruitt was outspoken about UGA’s need for a better indoor practice facility. Maybe that was one of the many things that irked the assistant; Richt didn’t run the type of program and do all the things Pruitt thought he needed to do to be successful.

When that’s the case, and things are going downhill [remember, Richt was fired following that season] things get a little haywire, especially when you’ve got alpha coaches who like to speak their minds.

“For the longest time when Mark Richt was there, there was this ongoing debate as to whether or not Georgia needed an indoor practice facility,” Barnhart said. “They had a small version and was not big. Some were saying Georgia needs one because Tennessee has one, Alabama has one, Auburn has one; some were saying well no they don’t need one. Mark Richt mentioned it, but he never pushed the issue and then one day someone came to Jeremy and asked him about it and he said Georgia is at a competitive disadvantage in not having an indoor practice facility at a place like Georgia. So that also impressed me and these things made me believe that someday he was going to be a head coach.”

Now he is, and he’s entering a situation at Tennessee that needs discipline, needs toughness, needs bluntness, needs truth. For years, we were lied to by a thin-skinned politician of a coach in Butch Jones, a man Paul Finebaum referred to on Wednesday as a “pathetic carny barker.”

Pruitt has been a breath of fresh air and the complete opposite.

Will he win football games? We can’t know that, and you absolutely cannot be “sold” on him until he does because if there’s anything Tennessee fans should know by now, it’s how to get sucked into faux hope and get burned.

But Vols fans love somebody who’ll stand up for their team and their program. Fulmer did it back in the day, and even though the Ol’ Ball Coach Steve Spurrier and his one-liners ran rivets down big orange chalkboards, the Battle Captain was good for a quip every now and then. Before him, Johnny Majors authored some of the greatest coaches shows and player comments in the history of the league. After Fulmer, of course, was Lane Kiffin and all the immature fun that brought.

Pruitt isn’t going to just sit back and water bamboo or stack bricks. As we saw on Wednesday, he’ll hurl those bricks back in the direction where they came. It was a heck of a good time, wasn’t it; like a post-wreck tongue-lashing at Talladega. And two of the three folks involved were gussied-up Georgia pretty boys with $100 haircuts.

Can you imagine what it’s gonna be like when Pruitt gets “his” players in there and starts going toe-to-toe with Smart [no love lost with that pair] or former bosses Saban and Fisher? This has the potential to be a whole lot of fun.

Whoo-wee! Rubbin’, they say, is racin’.

If this is today’s SEC, buckle up boys!

Pruitt says the quarterback battle this fall will be fair but quick

Tennessee head coach Jeremy Pruitt knows that he needs to make the right decision about which quarterback to trot out onto the field this fall, but he also knows the decision needs to be made quickly.

At the podium during his main room appearance at SEC Media Days this morning, Pruitt said that each of the four quarterbacks he’ll have at his disposal this fall is going to get a chance to earn playing time.

“We have two young men, Jarrett [Guarantano] and Will [McBride] that were there in the spring,” Pruitt said. “They’ll have 15 practices under their belt. We add Keller Chryst coming from Stanford who has played football there, has experience. And we are adding another young man from California, J.T. Shrout. We’ll give those guys opportunities in fall camp.”

Despite everyone getting a chance, conventional wisdom suggests that the quarterback competition is going to come down to Guarantano and Chryst. Guarantano redshirted in 2016 and then threw for 997 yards and 4 touchdowns with 2 interceptions in 6 starts and 9 games played last season. Like Guarantano, Chryst redshirted as a freshman at Stanford. He then played in four games as a sophomore and 12 games as a junior last season, going 5-2 as the starter before losing the job to K.J. Costello. He threw for 962 yards and 8 touchdowns. Guarantano has an edge in the form of having a spring with Pruitt already under his belt, while Chryst may have an edge by being more of a true pro-style quarterback to fit into Tyson Helton’s offensive system.

McBride and Shrout may well be good prospects, but they simply don’t have the experience that the other two do. In filling in for an injured Guarantano last season, McBride threw for 152 yards and a touchdown with 2 interceptions, and he rushed 18 times for 70 yards. Incoming 3-star pro-style quarterback JT Shrout reportedly held his own at a QB camp last summer against some elite competition, including 5-star Georgia signee Justin Fields, the top dual-threat quarterback in the class, but Shrout is still just a true freshman.

Whichever guy is going to win the starting job this fall is going to have to do so quickly, as Pruitt also said that he is aware of the need to make an early decision for the sake of getting that guy ready to play.

“I think for us seeing what these other two new guys can do,” Pruitt said, “along with what the guys, see how they progress in fall camp, I think it’s going to be important for us as a staff to start whittling it down pretty fast so we can kind of create rhythm and timing and a little bit of chemistry on offense and figure out who our guys are going to be.”

Pruitt said earlier this year that he may not know which quarterback was going to start until the fourth quarter of the first game, and by that he may have just meant that you don’t really know how good a guy is until you see him in live action with the game on the line. But by his statement today, don’t expect him to draw out the quarterback competition this fall any longer than is absolutely necessary.

Pruitt says both Trey Smith and JJ Peterson will be available for fall camp

Tennessee fans got some not unexpected yet still extremely welcome news this morning when Jeremy Pruitt confirmed that two key players would be ready to go for fall camp:


Trey Smith’s availability was up in the air since a mysterious medical condition limited him in the spring. Today’s confirmation that it won’t keep him off the field this fall is huge news for an offensive line in desperate need of all hands on deck and a team looking for some stability and improvement in nearly every key area.

JJ Peterson, the highest-ranked player of the Class of 2018, has yet to arrive on campus despite signing a letter of intent back in February, and his absence has been a source of concern for some time. Pruitt’s confidence that he’ll be ready to go this fall is more welcome news for Tennessee.

10 Questions for 2018: Vols vs The Non-UGA SEC East

Tennessee takes the stage in Atlanta today, and the media will unveil their picks for the 2018 SEC standings before the week is out. Georgia should be the overwhelming favorite in the SEC East coming off a near-miss in the national championship game and the number one recruiting class of 2018. How the rest of the division shakes out will be of interest to Tennessee, and not just this season.

This is an era Tennessee fans of my age (36) and younger are unaccustomed to. Georgia hasn’t won the SEC in consecutive years since the Herschel Walker days in the early 1980’s. The Dawgs have two sets of back-to-back division titles (2002-03 and 2011-12), but both times the second year came via a tiebreaker. Tennessee fans who grew up familiar with Georgia playing third fiddle have never seen a Bulldog program consistently on top the way they’ll have a chance to be in 2017, 2018, and beyond.

And the gap between one and two is substantial. Their traditional contemporaries at Florida and Tennessee changed coaches. Missouri seems due for an up year on the field, but is yet to level up in recruiting. Kentucky and Vanderbilt have yet to shed their reputations under their current administrations. Will South Carolina be the #2 pick in this year’s SEC East?

That idea may also seem foreign to those of us holding on tightly to Tennessee’s glory days in the 1990’s. But the truth is it’s not just South Carolina, but the vast majority of the SEC that’s been better than Tennessee the last ten years:

SEC Overall Records 2008-2017

Team Wins Losses Pct.
Alabama 125 14 .899
LSU 95 34 .736
Georgia 95 39 .709
Florida 86 43 .667
Auburn 83 48 .634
South Carolina 81 49 .623
Missouri 80 50 .615
Texas A&M 77 52 .597
Mississippi State 74 54 .578
Ole Miss 69 57 .548
Arkansas 67 59 .523
Tennessee 62 63 .496
Kentucky 53 72 .424
Vanderbilt 53 72 .424

(data from the always-helpful stassen.com)

This is the Tennessee recruits know: not Kentucky and Vanderbilt, but not on par with the rest of the league either.

And this is where Jeremy Pruitt’s first comparison must fall: not to Georgia, and certainly not to Alabama. But what are his Vols doing against the rest of the SEC East?

#5: The Vols vs The Non-UGA SEC East

At the old site we did an annual off-season piece ranking the importance of each game for the upcoming season. It was equal parts fun and futility, because it’s impossible to know how good or bad Derek Dooley’s offense will actually be when Missouri comes rolling into Knoxville on November 17. But in general, I think we can say this for 2018: the five most important games will be the ones against the non-Georgia SEC East.

West Virginia will be the first impression and would be fun to steal, but Pruitt’s first real measuring stick will be how this rebuild is going compared to the one in Gainesville, how quickly it can catch what’s happening in both Columbias, and how well it can avoid another loss to Kentucky or Vanderbilt.

A little more than a month ago we looked at Pruitt’s relative recruiting success compared to the non-UGA East in blue-chip ratio. Tennessee’s has fallen, for the moment, below the 50% threshold needed to be in the national championship hunt. But the Vols are still out-performing the rest of the non-UGA division. Six of Tennessee’s 14 commitments for 2019 are four-or-five-stars, 42.3%. South Carolina sits at 6-of-16 (37.5%), Florida at 4-of-11 (36.3%), while Kentucky, Missouri, and Vanderbilt are yet to nab a four-or-five-star.

That’s good news for climbing the ladder in the future. In the present?

Here’s how the non-UGA SEC East projects in ESPN’s FPI, Bill Connelly’s S&P+, and Phil Steele’s Power Poll:

Team FPI S&P+ Steele
Florida 21 32 23
Missouri 29 30 28
South Carolina 28 35 24
Tennessee 54 79 70
Kentucky 60 64 75
Vanderbilt 76 75 85

As you can see, the preseason expectation for Tennessee is basically what the last ten years have been: better than Kentucky and Vanderbilt, but in a lower tier than Missouri, South Carolina, and Florida’s restart.

We’ve got this as only the fifth most important question for Pruitt’s first year. But it will rise quickly as time goes on. Derek Dooley had the Vols competitive for four quarters with the entire division in 2012 until he was a dead man walking, but couldn’t take advantage. Butch Jones should have won the SEC East in 2015 and 2016, but too many close games led to too many close losses before the bottom fell out. Now Georgia is the biggest threat within the division since Urban Meyer and Tim Tebow a decade ago.

The early returns in recruiting suggest Pruitt will bring in the necessary talent to get the Vols back in the conversation. How much progress will we see on the field in those five games this fall?

 

10 Questions for 2018

10. Which backups on the defensive line will be starters in 2019?

09. Can special teams make the difference in a coach’s first year?

08. What do we know about Tyson Helton’s offense from his time at USC?

07. Who’s the third/fourth wide receiver in an offense that will actually throw them the ball?

06. What about team chemistry with a first-time coach and a hodgepodge of players?

 

The Next-Step List: Ryan Johnson and Theo Jackson

 

Football is near.

And it won’t be long until we’re gearing ourselves up for the Vols to usher in the Jeremy Pruitt era.

We all know 2018 likely isn’t going to be a pretty sight, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk ourselves into the Vols being much-improved under the former Alabama defensive coordinator. After all, Butch Jones is gone.

You just can’t help this time of year to be a tiny bit optimistic, even if logic (and recent history) suggests this is going to be yet another rebuilding campaign in Knoxville. Pruitt wants to win now, and he definitely isn’t used to losing after successful tenures in Tuscaloosa, Tallahassee and Athens, Georgia.

He’s outfitted UT’s roster with more size, and an infusion of collegiate talent. And he’s won some recruiting battles for guys who must be able to come right in and make an impact.

But what about the dudes already on the team? Who needs to make a major step forward in 2018 for the Vols to rise above the 4-8 doldrums of a historically horrible season where it looked like the team quit on former coach Butch Jones and his staff?

Let’s take a look at our latest installment.

OFFENSE

No. 4 Ryan Johnson, RS Sophomore Guard/Center

There are a ton of offensive line candidates who must step up and help star Trey Smith fortify the front, and even Smith has plenty of question marks next to his name after an undisclosed illness/injury kept him out of spring practice and there’s still a bit of uncertainty fogging his 2018 season.

A couple of players on the O-line made this list, and the first one we come to is Ryan Johnson, a former 4-star instate product from Brentwood Academy who enjoyed a solid spring and catapulted to the front of the race for the starting center gig ahead of Riley Locklear. Though Locklear may start at guard, he’s going to have plenty of competition from true freshman Jerome Carvin, and Johnson is expected to have his share of competition from Locklear as well. He’ll probablly rep at both spots. Brandon Kennedy stepping in as an Alabama transfer makes it an even healthier battle inside, and Johnson may find himself at guard.

Either way, he could settle firmly in the rotation.

He is extremely strong, possesses good size and is entering his third year of the program. It helps that Will Friend is a renowned offensive line coach who should get the most out of Johnson, especially after he’s played for unproven [Walt Wells] or flat-out bad [Don Mahoney] coaches his past two years.

At 6’6″, 305 pounds, Johnson is big enough to be a tackle, but he has never really fit at the position. After moving to the interior of the line, Johnson has proved his versatility and practiced at left guard this spring, too. So, it’s not a guarantee that he’ll play center.

To borrow a line from former coach/clown Derek Dooley, the offensive line looks like a “sack of potatoes” beyond Smith right now. Again, you could have inserted several guys like Marcus Tatum, Riley Locklear or Drew Richmond in this spot. But if Johnson can lock down the center of the line or a guard spot and not just be a leader but be a quality player, the Vols are going to surprise a lot of people on that offensive front.

 

DEFENSE 

No. 4 Theo Jackson, Sophomore Safety

There’s no question that Nigel Warrior is going to start at one safety spot, but the Vols have a lit-up vacancy sign opposite him. After a good spring, rising senior Micah Abernathy probably holds the edge, and another senior who has played a lot of football — Todd Kelly Jr. — will have a say in that race, too.

But Tennessee desperately needs Theo Jackson to emerge and take over that other spot on the back side.

“Needs to,” you say? Yes. He does. “Why?” you ask.

The answer is simple: He’s a big, long athlete who has blazing speed and quality ball skills. He put on 15 pounds this offseason to creep up over 190 pounds, which is huge news because he has such a wiry frame. If the scheme can click for him, Jackson could turn a major concern for the Vols into a strength.

At 6’2″ and now over 190 pounds, Jackson could be primed for a breakout sophomore year. Is he always in the proper position? Nope. But he’s still a baby, and maybe somebody can actually teach him how to play this year, right? There’s a reason why Bob Shoop and his staff loved the Overton High School product, and there’s a reason why Jeremy Pruitt, Kevin Sherrer and Co. love him. The upside is astounding.

It would be best-case scenario for the Vols if Shawn Shamburger can rise up and seize the Star position and Jackson emerges at safety. If that happens, you could have a secondary of Warrior-Jackson-Shamburger and a cornerback battle between Alontae Taylor, Bryce Thompson, Baylen Buchanan, Maleik Gray, Marquill Osborne and Kenneth George Jr. That’s a super-inexperienced group, but there would be a ton of talent and speed in that group.

And, let’s face it: The Vols badly need talent and speed on the back end of the defense. Those two things can make up for a lot of mistakes.

It’s encouraging that Jackson had a great offseason in the weight room and added some good weight. Now, he just needs to make big strides where it counts.

Here’s the first installment [Jauan Jennings and Jonathan Kongbo].

The Next-Step List: Jauan Jennings and Jonathan Kongbo

The other night, I drove past my old high school and saw the lights on at the “Pit” at Lincoln County High School. I went up to the gate, rolled the window down and smelled the wet grass on the field. It got me all gridiron-giddy.

Football is near.

And it won’t be long until we’re gearing ourselves up for the Vols to usher in the Jeremy Pruitt era.

We all know 2018 isn’t going to be a pretty sight, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk ourselves into the Vols being much-improved under the former Alabama defensive coordinator. After all, Butch Jones is gone.

You just can’t help this time of year to be a tiny bit optimistic, even if logic (and recent history) suggests this is going to be yet another rebuilding campaign in Knoxville. Pruitt wants to win now, and he definitely isn’t used to losing after successful tenures in Tuscaloosa, Tallahassee and Athens, Georgia.

He’s outfitted UT’s roster with more size, an injection of collegiate players like Stanford quarterback Keller Chryst, Michigan State running back Madre London, JUCO defensive tackle Emmit Gooden, JUCO cornerback Kenneth George Jr., JUCO tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson, JUCO offensive tackle Jahmir Johnson, and JUCO outside linebacker Jordan Allen who need to be able to help UT right away.

And he’s won some recruiting battles for guys who must be able to come right in and make an impact.

But what about the dudes already on the team? Who needs to make a major step forward in 2018 for the Vols to rise above the 4-8 doldrums of a historically horrible season where it looked like the team quit on former coach Butch Jones and his staff?

Over the course of the next five days, we’ll look at five offensive players and five defensive players who have to emerge and go beyond what they’ve already been. For some, it’s rising above good player status and becoming reliable stars. For others, it’s about reaching the potential that Jones failed to squeeze from them.

As always, you’re encouraged to make your own additions in the comments section.

OFFENSE

No. 5 Jauan Jennings, Junior Wide Receiver

There aren’t a lot of alpha-dog difference-makers on Tennessee’s roster. After all, recruiting too many of those guys would have meant challenging Jones’ ego, and we all know that wasn’t something the former UT head honcho liked. So, too often, there were a lot of nice guys on the field who didn’t get the job done when it came crunch time.

That’s easy to look back on now, but none of us wanted to believe it as it was happening.

Jennings is a bad mamma jamma, and we all know this. Unfortunately for UT fans everywhere, he also has a history of being a bit of a turd, to put things mildly.

If you can look beyond those shortcomings, though, Jennings is a playmaker with the potential to be one of the biggest stars in the SEC. Two years ago, he had 40 catches for 580 yards and seven touchdowns for the Vols, including a soul-stealing catch-and-run score against Florida’s Jalen Tabor in a massive comeback win and the Hail Mary grab in the Dobb-nail boot win over Georgia.

Those are arguably the two most memorable plays in the past decade of Vol football.

Tennessee needs Jennings, and — let’s be honest here — Jennings needs the Vols, too. He is good enough to play in the NFL, and though that league is full of guys who’ve done much worse than Jennings, he needs to prove that he can take a second chance and run with it.

That’s exactly what’s happened so far as, after interim coach Brady Hoke, kicked him off the team, Jennings met with Jeremy Pruitt and athletic director Phillip Fulmer, who gave him a short leash and let him work his way back into the fold. He’s done nothing since that time but be an exemplary player and a leading presence.

He’s without a doubt going to have some rust after getting hurt in the season opener last year against Georgia Tech, missing the rest of the year and this past spring, but if he’s in football shape, he can plug in and be a No. 1 receiver.

Actually, he may be one of the seven best receivers in the SEC. He’s that good.

The Vols need him. Jarrett Guarantano (or Keller Chryst) needs him. And Jennings has the potential of catching an even bigger career Hail Mary and finishing a promising UT career with a flourish. If he does, it would be a storybook ending and it could help the Vols make a major leap forward in what many think will be a throw-away season.

DEFENSE

No. 5 Jonathan Kongbo, Senior Outside Linebacker

If you were to look up “Typical Butch Jones recruit” in the figurative dictionary of disgruntled Tennessee fans, Kongbo’s picture would be right there beside the definition alongside Kahlil McKenzie, Drew Richmond, Kyle Phillips, and…and…and…

Yeah, you get the picture. It’s a long list.

Which is exactly the reason why Kongbo belongs on this list. Because, mainly, Kongbo still needs to prove he belongs.

He needs to prove that he belongs up there with the 5-star status that stood on his recruiting profile out of junior college. He needs to prove he’s a havoc-wreaking force who can make a difference on UT’s defense. Simply put: he needs to prove he belongs in an SEC starting lineup.

Those may be harsh words, but they’re true words.

Much like Jennings has to prove his maturity off the field, Kongbo needs to show growth on it. We’re not real sure what he can do.

After two largely ho-hum years, Kongbo enters his final season on Rocky Top moving a level back from defensive end to outside linebacker. It’s a spot that is also occupied by another former defensive end in Darrell Taylor. There are also players such as Allen, Austin Smith, and others who’ll battle for snaps at one of the spots. Nothing is going to be given to Kongbo, but there are also reasons to hope.

He’s an athletic physical specimen who fits perfectly in a 3-4 scheme. He’s playing for a coach now in Chris Rumph who has a rich history of developing players. And Kongbo is a natural pass-rusher, who can do just that this year. Rather than always having to be in position and getting taken off the field because he’s struggling to run-fit, Kongbo can just pin his ears back and get after quarterbacks.

If he is a one-trick pony this year for the Vols, that’ll be just fine, as long as that one trick is a good one. Give us sacks, young Kongbo. If you do that — say, give UT seven or eight sacks this year — that will completely transform this defense.

In my opinion, the biggest weakness on this entire team is the inability to get after the opposing quarterback. The second-biggest weakness is lack of proven, quality cornerbacks. When you combine the two — and throw in the inability to consistently stop anybody running up the middle — you have an atrocious, historically awful defense. The Vols are trying to emerge from the forgettable Bob Shoop era and return to respectability on that side of the ball.

In order to do that, quarterbacks need to fear somebody (anybody) coming off the edge.

If you have faith that somebody will be Kongbo, you have a whole lot more faith than you should. He’s shown us very little so far. But, how much of that was the Jones-Shoop fiasco, and how much of it is Kongbo maybe just not being an SEC player?

We all hope it’s the former and not the latter.

If Pruitt, Kevin Sherrer and Rumph can turn him into the kind of player that made everybody in the country want him out of JUCO, the Vols are going to have a very impressive player already on the roster.

Tennessee Recruiting: Future of the Nose Tackle Position Takes Shape With Simmons Pledge

We may not want to be too patient throughout the 2018 football season, but help is on the way for the Tennessee Volunteers as new coach Jeremy Pruitt continues to outfit the present and future roster with size and physicality to compete in the SEC.

On the same day the news emerged that incoming freshman Kingston Harris is listed on the SEC Media Days roster at 6’3″, 316 pounds and looks primed to compete for snaps at nose tackle in the future if not right away, UT received a massive commitment for the 2019 class.

And we mean “massive” in the most literal sense.

Nashville defensive tackle Elijah Simmons committed to Tennessee over Missouri, Vanderbilt, Memphis and others. The 3-star defensive tackle may not have a ton of marquee offers, but he’s a big, physical specimen who looks tailor-made to plant in the middle of a 3-4 defensive front.

He is 6’1″, 344 pounds and is a low center of gravity who packs a mean punch at the line of scrimmage. He’s a space-eating force who can dunk a basketball at his size, and the Pearl-Cohn High School product gives UT the kind of huge, athletic presence that it doesn’t currently have.

Plus, it’s always nice when a kid looks like he wants to destroy you and then eat your face like Hannibal Lecter.

**Shudders; trickle of pee**

LOOK AWAY!

He probably will need to shed some “bad” weight, but there’s no reason why Simmons can’t play at 330 pounds and clog up running lanes in the near future. That’s exactly what UT needs for him to do to become a much-needed puzzle piece to the future.

So much of what’s yet to come from Simmons is still untapped.

“He still don’t even really know the position yet,” Pearl-Cohn head coach Tony Brunetti told GoVols247’s Ryan Callahan. “He’s still learning it. But he’s got major potential.”

Though it’s asking a ton of Simmons to be a future star when he hasn’t even played his senior year of high school yet, there are a couple of factors that are at least worth mentioning: Pearl-Cohn is the same high school that produced another pretty good UT defensive tackle in former Outland Trophy winner and long-time NFL defensive stalwart John Henderson.

Also, Simmons will be coached by another former Outland Trophy winner in Tracy Rocker.

Now, before you think we’re already putting him on early watch lists, nose tackles never win the award. But he’s going to be playing for a defensive staff that has a rich history of getting the most out of their players, and if he develops right, he could help the Vols fill a void that has plagued them for years. When’s the last time you remember UT having a quality rush defense?

I’m waiting.

Still waiting…

Thought so. Me neither.

It’s going to be interesting to see how (and if) Simmons and 3-star defensive tackle commit LeDarrius Cox fit into the same class. Cox has made no secrets that he isn’t 100 percent locked in with the Vols, and as Auburn and others come after him, he may not stick. If he does, UT will probably happily take two big dudes at the position in the 2019 class.

But it’s encouraging that a few productive months in the weight room has helped Harris, the IMG Academy under-the-radar prospect to look the way he does, and the Vols are encouraged by his early returns. Also, JUCO transfer Emmit Gooden will play the position this year along with seniors Shy Tuttle and Alexis Johnson.

Tennessee needs quality production out of that position this year and in the future, and Simmons is a player who UT worked out, he camped well, and the Vols loves what he brings to the table. He’s a very important piece of the ’19 haul.

The Vols want size, and Simmons certainly has that.

The Vols are still 18th nationally in recruiting and ninth in the SEC, but there are several other major targets expected to commit fairly soon. Though UT missed out on instate prospect Zion Logue who pledged to Georgia this past week, Simmons is a quality cog on the defensive line. There are some defensive backs who could “pop” soon, too. Jaydon Hill, Warren Burrell, Jaylen McCollough and Devin Bush are a few defensive backs with possible summer pledge dates. All of those guys have UT high on their list.

So, buckle up. It could be a strong month for the Vols, who should wind up in the top 12 or so in recruiting in this class, and that could surge with a strong showing on the field.

10 Questions for 2018: New Coach, New Chemistry

We tend to overestimate the importance of a previous coach’s weakness. Butch Jones got elite talent to Knoxville, but struggled to keep it there. Potential difference makers from Preston Williams to Venzell Boulware left the program before their time was up, and actual difference makers like Jalen Hurd did the same. You can call it chemistry or culture or whatever you like, but it’s a significant percentage of the reason Jones isn’t here anymore.

How significant will this issue be for Jeremy Pruitt, a first-time head coach?

#6: New Coach, New Chemistry

So far, it’s been a non-issue. Darrin Kirkland Jr. flirted with the idea of transferring but ultimately stayed. Rashaan Gaulden, John Kelly, and Kahlil McKenzie all went pro earlier than hoped, the latter two going only in the sixth round. But we’ve avoided the rash of transfers a new coach often deals with.

One significant difference between Jones and Pruitt: the current coach is thoroughly familiar with recruiting, coaching, and developing four-and-five-star talent. There’s no other option at Florida State, Georgia, and Alabama. Butch Jones was successful at Central Michigan and Cincinnati, but his only experience at a power five school before coming to Knoxville was two years as the receivers coach at West Virginia.

Again, we’re probably overestimating the importance of chemistry just because Jones struggled with it. But though the Vols have avoided the transfer bug, chemistry can become an issue in another way for first-year coaches.

As you’re probably aware, Nick Saban lost to Louisiana-Monroe in year one. Kirby Smart lost to Vanderbilt. Dabo Swinney lost to a 2-10 Maryland squad. It happens.

But it usually doesn’t happen out of the gate. Swinney lost to Maryland on October 3, Smart to Vanderbilt on October 15, Saban to ULM on November 17.

(Of note: if you think Lane Kiffin’s worst loss at Tennessee wasn’t the Ole Miss debacle, but the UCLA game – and I’m in this camp – that happened in week two. So this isn’t a hard and fast rule.)

When you have players who were recruited on the promise of championships, and especially players who almost got a taste of one like Alabama in 2005, Georgia in 2014, and Tennessee in 2016? They can lose interest much faster in a rebuilding year, especially if they’re seniors.

The good news on that front: the Vols only have 12 seniors, and only seven of them (Todd Kelly Jr., Micah Abernathy, Shy Tuttle, Jonathan Kongbo, Kyle Phillips, Chance Hall, Paul Bain) have been meaningful contributors. There shouldn’t be a whole lot of guys who lose interest, because most of them can be back in 2019.

The (potential) bad news: there aren’t a whole lot of guys in any one category.

You’ve got those seven seniors, plus guys like Kirkland and Jauan Jennings who know what it’s like to play in and win big games. You’ve got the major contributors from last year looking for redemption like Guarantano, Ty Chandler, Marquez Callaway, etc. You’ve got high profile recruits who haven’t gotten their chance yet like Maleik Gray and Jordan Murphy. You’ve got Pruitt’s signees. And then you’ve got a whole bunch of graduate transfers, including potential starters at quarterback and running back.

That’s a lot of ingredients in the soup bowl. We’re all wondering if it’s any good. But it’s also worth wondering if it’ll turn five or six weeks in.

The scenario some pundits play out for this team is a 2-6ish start with a chance to get bowl eligible in November via Charlotte, Kentucky, Missouri, and Vanderbilt. It’s what Derek Dooley was able to accomplish in 2010 (against a worse version of Vanderbilt and a lifeless Ole Miss team), in part by turning the team over to the future with Tyler Bray. If Jeremy Pruitt’s first year ends up in a similar ditch, he may have to make a similar call to get it back out and bowl eligible.

Chemistry is tricky business, and there are some things you just can’t learn until you’re the head coach. I don’t know if this is the sixth-most-important question this year or the tenth or the first. But it’s in there somewhere. And when the Vols lose a couple of games – hopefully later than sooner – how Pruitt gets his hodgepodge of players to respond as a team will be important.

10 Questions for 2018

10. Which backups on the defensive line will be starters in 2019?

09. Can special teams make the difference in a coach’s first year?

08. What do we know about Tyson Helton’s offense from his time at USC?

07. Who’s the third/fourth wide receiver in an offense that will actually throw them the ball?

 

New Vols commit Akporoghene’s highlight video is full of LOLs

Three-star offensive tackle Chris Akporoghene announced this afternoon on Twitter that he is All Vol:

The Nigeria native and former Knoxville-area resident played at The King’s Academy in Seymour, Tennessee before transferring to IMG Academy earlier this year. According to 247Sports, Akporoghene is the No. 72 offensive tackle in this year’s class, and he chose the Vols over an impressive list of other offering schools that included Texas, Miami, Auburn, Washington, Florida, Oregon, and South Carolina.

Akporoghene gives Tennessee its 13th commitment, and he joins Wanya Morris and Jackson Lampley as the offensive linemen of the Class of 2019.  The Vols currently rank 19th in the nation, but are ahead of seven higher-ranked teams in score-per-commitment.

The 3-star lineman puts UT under the coveted 50% blue-chip ratio, but he’s a really important guy to get, in part because he’s from national powerhouse IMG Academy in Florida, which is attracting blue-chip talent from all over the country. If he has any influence on his teammates, it could be a relationship that opens even more doors for the Big Orange.

Akporoghene, who moved to the Knoxville area three years ago to chase his football dreams, plans to enroll early in January to get a head start as a Vol.

Have a look at the guy’s Hudl video, which is full of LOLs.

10 Questions for 2018: Wide Receiver Depth

The best highlights of 2016 belonged to Jauan Jennings, and the best highlights of 2017 belonged to Marquez Callaway. When building the case for Tennessee’s success in 2018, they’re a great place to start.

Who’s next?

#7: Wide Receiver Depth

The Butch Jones offense threw the ball to the running back more than any other in the SEC.

In 2015 Von Pearson was Tennessee’s leader in targets at 15.4%, the lowest rate for a number one option for any team in the conference. By contrast, the Vols targeted their running backs on 21% of passes, highest in the league. Alvin Kamara was on the receiving end of 12.6% of those, the highest for any back in the SEC.

Kamara’s number increased to 14.4% in 2016, even as Josh Malone and Jauan Jennings established themselves as the top two options at receiver.  And last year it went up even more for John Kelly, getting a look on 15.8% of Tennessee’s passes (advanced stats from the always-awesome Football Study Hall).

What’s more, Tennessee tried to spread the ball around with tight ends as well. Backs and tight ends accounted for three of the Vols’ top six targets in 2015, three of the top five in 2016, and two of the top four last year. “Who is Tennessee’s number three receiver,” hasn’t mattered much during that span: Josh Smith had 12.4% of UT’s targets in 2015, 8.3% in 2016, and Josh Palmer was at 10.1% last year. Being Tennessee’s third option at receiver meant only nine catches for Palmer in 2017.

That will not be the case in Tyson Helton’s offense.

Last year USC’s four most-targeted players were all wide receivers, accounting for 67.1% of the balls Sam Darnold threw. 2015 was no different: top four targets all receivers, accounting for 65.9%. 2015 at Western Kentucky? Top four targets all receivers, accounting for 74%.

Jennings, Callaway, check. But who’s number three (and number four) is getting ready to matter a whole lot more.

Last year, Brandon Johnson was really number one. He was targeted on 18.5% of passes to lead the Vols, again a low number for a priority target. He was huge against UMass (7 for 123) and Vanderbilt (6 for 107), and was often a safety valve in an offense that needed a lot of that. If Jennings and Callaway return to health and form, he could be in for an even bigger year with less attention.

But Helton’s offense is a new lease on life for the entire receiving corps. And if history holds, one of Josh Palmer, Alontae Taylor, Latrell Williams, Tyler Byrd, Jordan Murphy, or Jacquez Jones is going to have a big year. And perhaps the best news is the entire position group contains zero seniors. What starts this fall could build into a much more dangerous passing game in 2019, especially if Guarantano wins the job.

10 Questions for 2018

10. Which backups on the defensive line will be starters in 2019?

09. Can special teams make the difference in a coach’s first year?

08. What do we know about Tyson Helton’s offense from his time at USC?