Worth reading 7.13.18: Vols commits rise in rankings

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

. . . make it this, from Ryan Callahan:

Other Vols stuff worth reading today

  1. Tennessee Vols football recruiting: Brian Maurer makes ‘biggest jump’ among Elite 11 QBs, via 247Sports
  2. Former Tennessee football DB Jonathan Hefney recovering after freak injury, via 247Sports
  3. Tennessee Volunteers football: Simmons likes Pruitt’s “approach” in recruiting, via 247Sports
  4. Questions for Jeremy Pruitt: What’s the latest on Trey Smith?, via the Times Free Press
  5. Second-Year Surge: Tennessee DE/LB Ryan Thaxton, via 247Sports
  6. 2019 Football Team Rankings, via 247Sports. Vols are No. 18, behind SEC East foes Georgia and South Carolina.
  7. Tennessee Vols recruiting: Offensive line commitment Chris Akporoghene on ‘mission’ at IMG Academy, via 247Sports
  8. VOL FOOTBALL SINGLE GAME & MINI-PLAN TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW – University of Tennessee, via UTSports
  9. The NCAA, not Ed O’Bannon, killed college sports video games, via SB Nation
  10. Meet the people who keep NCAA Football video game alive, via ESPN
  11. SEC Hype Meter 2018: Which teams are overrated and underrated every offseason?, via CBS Sports. Looking for the cause of that nauseating feeling in the pit of your stomach? Here it is.

Behind the paywalls

  • War Room 7-13-18, via VolQuest
  • Scouting the Opponent: Florida, via VolQuest
  • Tennessee Vols football recruiting: Four-star WR Khafre Brown still high on Vols after ‘great experience’ at camp, via 247Sports
  • Cameron Smith will at least visit South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia after making a commitment, via 247Sports

Worth watching 7.12.18: Award-winning “Feed the Floor”

There’s a short ad at the beginning of this one, but after that is the Feed the Floor video that recently won an award.

Good story here about new commit Akporoghene. Not sure why he’s getting so much more post-commitment publicity. Maybe because he’s good at it.

Lots of short video snippets from the official school Twitter accounts yesterday. Here are some:


And still more VOLeaders:

Worth reading 7.12.18: Vols’ chemistry in 2018

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

. . . make it this, from Will:

Other Vols stuff worth reading today

  1. Tennessee Vols football recruiting: Tennessee’s newest Class of 2019 football targets, via 247Sports
  2. Phillips, Callaway & Wolf to Represent Vols at SEC Media Days – University of Tennessee Athletics, via UTSports
  3. When will SEC divisional power shift? When the great coaches do, via 247Sports
  4. Second-Year Surge: Tennessee OL Trey Smith, via 247Sports
  5. The 15 most important assistant coaching hires of the 2018 season – No. 7: Tyson Helton, Tennessee – FootballScoop, via Football Scoop
  6. Basketball’s “Feed the Floor” Promo Earns National Marketing Award – University of Tennessee, via UTSports
  7. Preview 2018: Ranking The SEC Coaches, via College Football News. Pruitt comes in at No. 9.
  8. Meet the leadership guru trusted by Dabo Swinney, Doc…, via The Athletic. This baby will not be thrown out with the bath water.
  9. How Jeremy Pruitt can solidify reputation at SEC Football Media Days, via KnoxNews
  10. Tennessee football: 10 critical questions the Vols must answer in 2018, via Saturday Down South
  11. 2018 SEC Football Media Days attendees announced, via SEC Sports. This is a list of every school’s representatives.

Behind the paywalls

  • Tennessee Vols football recruiting: Former Michigan State commit Jordan Huff planning to visit Vols again, via 247Sports

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?

 

Worth watching 7.11.18: Manning on campus

Always good to see Peyton Manning on Rocky Top:

These guys are LIVING LIKE KINGS!


I’ll say it again, I’m so glad that these student-athletes are getting this experience:

Worth reading 7.11.18: 2018 blueprint for success

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

. . . make it this blueprint for success, from Patrick Brown:

Other Vols stuff worth reading today

  1. Second-Year Surge: Tennessee LB Shanon Reid, via 247Sports
  2. Jimmy’s blog: How does UT offense compare to best of the East the past 4 years?, via WNML
  3. Preview 2018: Top 30 Offensive Guards & Centers, via College Football News. Vols lineman Trey Smith is No. 9.
  4. College Football’s Top 50 Wide Receivers for 2018, via Athlon Sports. Jauan Jennings comes in at No. 42.
  5. SEC Wild Card Players in 2018, via Athlon Sports. The two picks for the Vols are Jennings and Shy Tuttle.
  6. ‘NCAA Football’: Why video game series hasn’t returned five years after last release, via Sporting News
  7. 10 highest rated Volunteers in Madden NFL 19, via 247Sports
  8. Friday Five: The biggest Heisman Trophy snubs in college football history, via CBS Sports. FARCE! Manning’s not on this list.
  9. Peyton Manning, Todd Helton visit Jeremy Pruitt, Vols, via 247Sports

Note the inclusion of the inside joke on the far right-side column of this tweet:

Behind the paywalls

  • The twin pillars of Rick Barnes’ rebuilding job? Consistency and intensity, via VolQuest
  • Tennessee Vols football recruiting: Three things I know, three things I think, via 247Sports
  • Scouting the Opponent: ETSU, via VolQuest

Worth watching/listening 7.10.18: Phil Steele with Bobby Rader

First up this morning, an audio interview from friend of the blog Bobby Rader with Phil Steele:


Liking this guy a lot already:


Hoops hype!


Cool interview with Grant Williams:


And here’s the first segment of the always-good Sports Source from John Pennington and his guests:

 

Worth reading 7.10.18: Akporoghene’s journey from Nigeria to the SEC

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

. . . make it this, from Jesse Simonton:

Other Vols stuff worth reading today

  1. 10 Questions for 2018: Wide Receiver Depth, via Gameday on Rocky Top
  2. Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee Vols football continue rebuilding line of scrimmage in recruiting, via 247Sports
  3. UT Vols have limited track record of playing two QBs in opener, via KnoxNews
  4. Tennessee Vols football’s 2018 opponents at a glance: Charlotte 49ers, via 247Sports
  5. Second-Year Surge: Tennessee CB Shawn Shamburger, via 247Sports
  6. College Football’s Top 50 Underrated Players for 2018, via Athlon Sports. Tennessee’s Nigel Warrior made the list.
  7. The chaos and consequences of the BCS era, 20 years later, via Sports Illustrated

Behind the paywalls

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.