Wanya Morris Commitment A Step Towards Building Championship Level OL

Tennessee picked up a big commitment on Tuesday from borderline 5-star OL Wanya Morris from Grayson, HS in Georgia.  Morris picked the Vols over fellow finalist Auburn after a back and forth recruitment.  He’s a true offensive tackle and an elite prospect with the kind of size and mobility that the Vols simply do not have at the position outside of Trey Smith, and is simply put a huge win on the recruiting trail for Coach Jeremy Pruitt and Tennessee.

Morris is a foundational piece for the class of 2019, and with 4-star Jackson Lampley already in the fold, the Vols are off to a great start when it comes to having a high-level OL class, which it absolutely has to have. To that end, Tennessee is very much in the thick of it with 5-star Darnell Wright as well as other highly regarded OL like Bryce Benhart and Anthony Bradford  – both of whom have taken spring official visits to Knoxville after previously seeing the campus unofficially, showing how much interest they have in the Vols – among others.

Despite the 2018 offensive line being arguably the biggest question mark on the team, it is notable that looking ahead to the 2019 season there are no seniors at the position.  Therefore, even though the talent that exists on the team is not the kind of top-tier talent that Tennessee needs to win at a high level, there is certainly room and time for OL coach Will Friend to develop it.  Obviously, Trey Smith is a tremendous building block that Pruitt and Friend inherited and upon which to build, and K’rojhn Calbert also appears to have the kind of size and natural ability to be a bigtime SEC talent.  But in a short period of time, Pruitt and Friend added Jerome Carvin (for whom they beat out Alabama, UF, Auburn among others) and Jahmir Johnson (a JUCO All-American with 3 years to play) to the class of 2018.  And now, with Lampley and Morris – and surely more to come – one can see a path to the kind of talented and physically imposing offensive line that Tennessee simply hasn’t had since arguably the Phillip Fulmer era ended.

How Should Tennessee Celebrate Jason Witten?

Jason Witten is retiring after 15 years with the Dallas Cowboys. The former Vol will be neither gone or forgotten:

Tennessee currently has two players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Doug Atkins and Reggie White. Peyton Manning will be the third in three more years. All three already have their number retired at Tennessee.

What do you do with Jason Witten?

The Elizabethton native trails only Tony Gonzalez in every major statistical category among NFL tight ends all-time. He retires fourth all-time among all players in NFL receptions. He was the 2012 Walter Payton Man of the Year. And he played more games than anyone in a Dallas Cowboys uniform.

Witten is a lock for Canton. The initial criteria for number retirement at Tennessee required far more than that, but was waived for Johnny Majors in 2012.

However, Witten’s career in Knoxville didn’t produce the sort of accolades one associates with that particular honor. As a sophomore in 2001 he played on a dynamic offense with Donte Stallworth, Kelley Washington, and a pound-the-rock mentality that nearly carried Travis Stephens to the Doak Walker Award. His contributions were memorable, including a big touchdown against Alabama and leaving the entire Michigan defense in the dust. But he only caught 28 passes for 293 yards.

As a junior in 2002, Witten suffered when injuries to Casey Clausen and Kelley Washington severely limited Tennessee’s passing attack. He still earned first-team All-SEC honors with 39 catches for 493 yards and five touchdowns, including the game-winner in the sixth overtime against Arkansas. Witten opted to leave for the NFL before a senior season could have improved his legacy at UT, but it was clearly the right decision.

What do you do with such a player, a future Pro Football Hall of Famer who didn’t necessarily have the opportunity to be a College Football Hall of Famer? The current answer is, “Put him on the JumboTron”, where he joins Al Wilson and, in years past, Condredge Holloway: beloved former Vols who may not get their number retired, but made a lasting impact on Tennessee Football. The university now has an all-sports Hall of Fame, which I’m sure Witten could make his way to one day. But I wonder if there’s a place for something more specific to football to celebrate former Vols.

Witten may not find his way to jersey retirement; for my generation, #1 makes me think of Leonard Little more than Witten in a Tennessee uniform. But there are other players who will fall short of jersey retirement status, but are well-deserving of additional recognition.

For example: this fall we’ll celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1998 National Championship, a group led by Al Wilson (who is in the all-sports UT Hall of Fame). But it’s also the 25th anniversary of Heath Shuler’s Heisman runner-up season, still the greatest statistical offense in school history. Shuler was the third pick in the NFL Draft, and though his pro career obviously didn’t pan out, it feels like his amazing college career gets more lost in the mist every year. It doesn’t help when you’re immediately followed by Peyton Manning, but still. The proverbial kids today should know about more than just Atkins, White, Majors and Manning. Witten’s NFL career should ensure he’s on that list anyway. Tennessee should find a way to celebrate it well.

The good news: these are the kind of things you’re probably in good hands with when the man in charge is Phillip Fulmer.

Congrats to Jason Witten on an incredible career.

Jeremy Pruitt Lands Early Bell Cow of 2019 Recruiting Class in Wanya Morris

As much as I wanted to make an awful Boyz II Men reference in that headline, it would have buried the news on just how important 4-star offensive tackle Wanya Morris‘s pledge to Tennessee was on Tuesday.

After all, not only is this the nation’s No. 46 overall player, the seventh-rated offensive tackle and a 6’6″, 293-pound physical specimen at a position of need from a powerhouse program loaded with talent in this and future classes, it also helps flip the narrative on new coach Jeremy Pruitt’s recruiting.

The Vols had a rousing early signing period in the last cycle, but, let’s face it: Pruitt and Co. needed a recruiting win. Tennessee was largely shut out of landing any marquee names other than stud linebacker J.J. Peterson in the late period, mostly going silent following the flip-of-the-calendar all-star games. This recruiting cycle hasn’t started with sterling momentum, either, scarred by Memphis defensive end Bill Norton visiting Knoxville and committing to rival Georgia on the day he returned home.

All the while, though, Pruitt has kept swinging for the fences. And, as my good buddy Dylan wrote earlier this week, it’s setting up to be a marvelous May for Tennessee. It got off to a rousing start on the first day with Morris’s commitment.

The Grayson High School product out of Loganville, Georgia, had offers from virtually everybody in the nation, and it ultimately came down to Auburn. The topsy-turvy recruitment had its share of ups and downs and momentum swings, but, somehow, Tennessee turned Morris’s opinion in its favor for good with an official visit two weekends ago.

At the time, many recruiting pundits had Morris penciled in to the Tigers on the Plains’ loveliest village, despite UT holding early sway in the race to land his signature. Morris was expected to take his final official visit to Auburn this past weekend, which would have given the Tigers the final chance to convince him. But Morris must have made his mind up in Knoxville last weekend, because he chose not to make that visit.

Now, he says his recruitment is “over” and he’ll sign with Tennessee in December.

As we all know, this is recruiting. These are 17-year-old kids. There is a lot that can happen between now and then, especially considering the 2018 season doesn’t (at least on paper) look like it’s going to be a banner campaign on the field in Rocky Top. Auburn has some nice pieces on its roster and could contend with Alabama (and Mississippi State) in the West. Could that sway Morris’s decision?

It’s at least worth mentioning, but so is the fact that Morris said he’s done. Knoxville is where he wants to be, and while early playing time is obviously a massive factor on his agenda, so are relationships. Both he and his mother love Pruitt and offensive line coach Will Friend, who has a rich history of developing SEC linemen. The Vols have massive holes along the front and need building blocks around which to build their pro-style scheme.

Morris is one of the best early pledges they could have gotten. Now, much of the attention turns toward the nation’s top tackle in Darnell Wright, who loves Tennessee and Alabama and could make a decision before his senior season. Pairing the West Virginia lineman with Morris would be a massive coup, especially considering in-state lineman Jackson Lampley is already firmly in the fold.

Tennessee is still going to swing hard after Morris’s prep teammate and good buddy Owen Pappoe, one of the nation’s top linebackers who also made his choice today. Much like we’ve discussed with Morris, though, these are just verbal, non-binding commitments until they sign on the dotted line, and the first time that can happen is December.

Still, this is a huge early-cycle statement for Pruitt, who is still catching up on relationships in this cycle. He joins 4-star lineman Lampley, 4-star tight end Jackson Lowe, 3-star defensive tackle LeDarrius Cox and JUCO lineman Darrel Middleton as 2019 pledges.

With some players like linebacker Terrell Dawkins, cornerbacks Tyus Fields and Jaydon Hill, receiver Ramel Keyton and others feeling Tennessee right now, the Vols could wind up fleshing their class out with some big names soon. None will be bigger than Morris, who is an incredible piece to a class that’s only going to grow from here on.

This is an indication of the kind of recruiting battles Pruitt won while he was at Alabama. Hopefully, it’ll be one of many he pulls while the head coach at Tennessee.

Fore to Play One: Tennessee Basketball Gets Important Transfer in Richmond Point Guard

Any piece basketball coach Rick Barnes can add to his 2018-19 basketball team that will play critical minutes on a team that should make a deep run in the NCAA tournament is important. That’s why Monday night’s news that graduate transfer point guard Khwan Fore of Richmond was big news.

The Vols earned Fore’s pledge over Auburn and a host of others following the guard’s visit to the Plains this past weekend where coach Bruce Pearl tried to lure him to play for the Tigers.

In the end, the Vols won a rugged SEC battle of the top two regular-season teams as both look to put finishing touches on quality groups returning next season.

Fore made his decision public over Twitter.

The 6’0″, 175-pound guard is a pivotal piece who should step in nicely for the departed James Daniel, who transformed his game from a big-time scorer at Howard to a table-setter during the 2017-18 campaign for the Vols. Daniel split time with explosive point guard Jordan Bone and was an integral part of UT’s resurgent team.

Fore, though, is more of a pure point guard; something UT has been missing in recent years. The former Huntsville, Alabama, native will joint fellow North Alabamian Lamonte Turner on the Vols roster. Tennessee has enjoyed success in that area in recent years, also landing former guard Detrick Mostella from the area. Fore is an experienced player who’s appeared in nearly 100 games for the Spiders. He started 26 games this past season and averaged 11 points per game.

Though Fore isn’t known for his marksmanship, he is a quick guard who can slash to the basket and whose game thrives on penetration, much like Bone’s.

A couple of weeks ago, Fore told VolQuest.com’s Rob Lewis:

“I definitely want to go somewhere where we’re going to be able to win and make the tournament, with the kind of success they had here already they’re definitely set up to do that,” Fore said in an interview following his trip to Knoxville two weeks ago.

“The coaches told me that they need a guy like me, someone that can penetrate, finish and play tough on the ball defense. Those are my strengths.

“One thing that I really liked about Coach Barnes was that he didn’t just talk about the things I could do, he talked about my weaknesses and how they could help me get better.”

Though Barnes’ high school recruiting hasn’t landed many marquee names, he’s shown a propensity for evaluation, development and fit. The Vols are thriving because of it. Barnes also is proving he knows how to go out and add important missing elements to his team. Daniel was a major part of the success of the past season, and though JUCO guard Chris Darrington didn’t pan out, Darrington’s transfer led to the opportunity to sign Fore.

He’ll be a vital piece this year, and the Vols could go a long way. Getting another guy who can penetrate and dish to a group of players poised to win big is big news.

May Could be Big Month for Vols for Both Near and Short Term

After a successful recruiting weekend for the Orange & White Game that brought in a slew of high level 2019 and 2020 prospects, Tennessee heads into the month of May with a 2019 class that is relatively small on quantity but impressively high on quality.  In OL Jackson Lampley, TE Jackson Lowe, and DL LeDarrius Cox and DL Darrel Middleton, Tennessee has a group of 2019 commitments for whom they have beaten out SEC powers, and who at the same time represent both Coach Jeremy Pruitt’s commitment to fixing Tennessee in the trenches and also simply recruiting more physically imposing players – the kind of prospects that Tennessee needs to land in order to get back to contending for SEC East and conference championships as quickly as possible.

Depending on the decisions of a handful of players, May could be a month where things significantly heat up on the recruiting trail for the Vols in which the pattern of beating out bigtime programs for elite-level players would continue.  Below is a quick look at prospects who will make May decisions and where the Vols stand:

2019

May 1: OL Wanya Morris – The saga is pretty well-known at this point, with Morris seemingly going back and forth between his finalists Tennessee and Auburn on a daily basis.  As of this writing the Vols have the momentum coming out of his official visit to Knoxville last weekend and subsequently cancelling his previously scheduled trip to the Plains.  He is scheduled to announce his decision on the first day of May along with a handful of his Grayson HS teammates, and right now things look good for the Vols.  This could certainly take some more twists and turns between now and then though, and regardless of his pronouncements (publicly and, apparently, privately) that once he commits he will completely shut it down, it’s hard to believe that the “loser” on May 1 will simply roll over.  The bottom line though is that Morris would be a foundational piece of this class and with Lampley already in the fold and the Vols very much in the thick of it with 5-star Darnell Wright among highly regarded OL like Bryce Benhart, Triston Miller, and others

May 12: TE Sean Brown: Another Tennessee-Auburn battle is brewing for the physical TE prospect from Georgia, and Tennessee would love to add him to Jackson Lowe to form a highly-ranked and potentially instant impact set of TEs.  Brown has been on campus three times in the last month or so including last weekend for the O&W Game and is set to announce in a few weeks.  He could end up visiting Auburn again before then but right now all the money is on the Vols for Brown

May ?: WR Ramel Keyton – Keyton made his sixth trip to campus and his third since Pruitt and Co. came to town this past weekend and immediately after announced that he ready to decide sometime in May. Yet again the Vols are head to head with Auburn, and yet again at this point Tennessee looks to be in good position.  He’s one of the best WRs in the class, and is the kind of big physical pass-catchers that Pruitt loves.  Notably, Keyton hails from the talent-laden Marietta HS in Marietta, GA, also home to Tennessee’s #1 QB prospect in the 2020 class Harrison Bailey as well as fellow 2020 5-star 2020 TE Arik Gilbert (who recently named UT his leader) and 2020 DB Rashard Torrence (who visited for the 3rd time this spring last weekend).  Adding Keyton would further aid the Vols in their pursuit of these other studs

Grad Transfer CB Nick Harvey

A Grad Transfer, Harvey is a former four-star prospect and U.S. Army All-American.  He appeared in all but one game during his first three years at Texas A&M and then started 12 games in 2016, but sat out last season and tearing his ACL during the offseason. He’s already taken official visits to Arizona, Auburn, and South Carolina, and is deciding whether or not to take one more, to either Florida or Oklahoma State, before announcing his decision on May 11. Were the Vols to land him he would be an instant impact addition to the 2018 team, bringing talent and SEC experience to a CB room that sorely lacks both.  Adding him to the top group of CBs made up of Baylen Buchanan, Shawn Shamburger, Alontae Taylor and Marquill Osborne would increase the odds that Coach Terry Fair and Pruitt can cobble together a solid secondary.  It would also reduce the pressure on newcomers to the position (Carlin Fils-aime and Maleik Gray) and to the team (Treveon Flowers, Kenneth Gaines, and Brandon Davis

With coaches on the road and some prospects simply tiring of the process and deciding they are ready for it to be over, there could certainly be others who pop in May.  With a relatively small class – which could get smaller if Pruitt decides to take any further grad transfers in a bid to make his first season as successful as possible – it will be interesting to see how Tennessee’s staff manages the numbers.  So far it’s safe to say they’ve done a great job of taking only impact players and positioning themselves for a good number of others to fill out the remaining spots.

The 5 ‘Musts’ For Tennessee Football To Succeed in 2018

 

Most of us are realists who realize that six wins in 2018 is going to be a chore. That doesn’t mean we’re going to be satisfied with it or even give coach Jeremy Pruitt a pass if he coaches the Vols to it, because no matter how much the failures of the past decade-plus want to change us, we still expect the best.

It’s part of the diabolical frustration that comes with being a Vols fan.

We know that it’s going to be hard to get bowl-eligible, but asking for three conference wins [or just two and an upset of West Virginia] shouldn’t be too much. Pruitt is looking for quick-fixes with hopeful plug-and-play transfers like Keller Chryst, Madre London, Kenny George Jr., Jahmir Johnson, Dominick Wood-Anderson and Jordan Allen.

So, if those guys pan out, it’s because Pruitt thinks they can help the Vols get closer to where they want to be.

The question everybody wants to know in the post-Butch Jones, near-apocolyptic roster situation is this: What’s it going to take for Tennessee to be good again in 2018?

First, it depends on your definition of “good.” It would be stunning for the Vols to get to eight regular-season wins, but “good” for this year after ’17’s 4-8 debacle would be a 7-5 regular season. That won’t be “good” deeper into Pruitt’s tenure, but given what he has to work with, it’d be fine in 2018. Probably not good enough for him, and definitely not good enough for us to be pumped, but it would be fine.

Here are five things UT must have happen if it’s going to reach seven [or, heck, even six] wins in 2018.

1. Quarterback play must be much-improved

Jarrett Guarantano got much better this spring. He had a long way to go, but he took some steps forward. The redshirt sophomore from New Jersey is going to have to continue to get better and even thrive in Tyson Helton’s offense if he’s going to be the man in ’18.

Stanford transfer Keller Chryst is coming this summer, and he’ll elevate the play at the position just by being the type of quarterback tailor-made to run a pro-style offense. Is Chryst a star? No. He has accuracy issues and hasn’t proven he can lead a top-shelf team, but neither has Guarantano.

Last year, Tennessee simply didn’t have a player at the position who could take over a game. Now, the Vols must find somebody who can advance the ball downfield, take care of possessions and make all the throws. This has to be a more vertical team if it’s going to keep defenses honest and balance things. Also, with the expected offensive line issues, running the ball against good defenses, at times, will be tough. So, Tennessee has to get the ball in the hands of potential playmakers like Jauan Jennings, Marquez Callaway and Brandon Johnson.

That will fall on the shoulders of Guarantano or Chryst. One of them must take a massive step forward if the Vols’ offense is going to be stout. There’s no way around it. This team doesn’t have enough talent on the roster to win with mediocre quarterback play.

That’s a harrowing reality for this team that has yet to prove it has anybody dependable throwing the ball.

2. The rush defense has to see a dramatic turnaround

Tennessee’s rush defense in ’17 — and in Bob Shoop’s entire two-year tenure — was atrocious. It was one of the worst marriages of any team and coach in recent memory. The Vols were dead-last in the SEC a year ago, allowing 251.25 yards per game. They were 126th nationally, which means just four FBS teams were worse.

That’s pathetic.

Quite frankly, the Vols didn’t look much better in the Orange & White Game, either. Shy Tuttle played one of the worst games I’ve ever seen him play in the scrimmage game, and while I hate to call out kids, he’s an upperclassman and cannot be showing up like that. It was really bad. With possible starting inside linebackers Darrin Kirkland Jr. and Daniel Bituli out, that unit was bad, too. Quart’e Sapp was ineffective, and Will Ignont — who everybody hoped would take a major step forward this spring — looked like he was playing patty-cake out there. Maybe they’ll get a wake-up call when they review the film. It was bad.

How bad was the rush defense? The first-team defense allowed 140 rushing yards, even against an offensive line that was missing many of its top players.

I don’t know how you improve that rush defense that much, but you can’t do what Tennessee has been doing in the SEC in recent years and have success. Getting Kirkland and Bituli back will help. Getting Darrell Taylor acclimated to a new position will help. Having Tuttle play like he can will help. Kyle Phillips and Jonathan Kongbo need to be much better. Newcomers like JJ Peterson and Kurott Garland could help. Something has to, or it’s going to be another long, awful year.

3. A patchwork offensive line must overachieve

Tennessee got some players back this spring as guys like K’Rojhn Calbert, Chance Hall and Nathan Niehaus did some things in pads. That’s huge for an offensive line that desperately need them all and for them all to surge.

Hall’s knee issues have derailed a once-promising career that began with him having some dominant SEC games as a true freshman. Can he return to that form? If so, it’ll be a MASSIVE help to the exterior of the offensive line. Who knows what Niehaus will give the Vols, but though we don’t know too much about Calbert, he’s big and athletic. He played a lot this spring, and once the redshirt freshman matures, he could be a force. He actually looks like an SEC tackle.

True freshman mid-term enrollee Jerome Carvin definitely looked like he could help the team out right away this spring, and there are other important “musts” like Drew Richmond playing like he was expected to when he came in as a blue-chip prospect, Marcus Tatum being able to put on and add weight and play at a consistent level, and JUCO prospect Johnson to come in and thrive.

But the biggest thing the Vols need — without question — is for superstar sophomore Trey Smith to return.

He’s battling an undisclosed medical issue that kept him out all spring, and though Smith worked on the sideline, his future is very much up-in-the-air. Folks around the program and my sources are optimistic that he’ll be able to play again, but that isn’t a guarantee. If he does, he automatically becomes an anchor that is not only a potential All-SEC player but a possible All-American.

He’s that good, and he can help the Vols right away immensely. First, he’s got to get out there. If he doesn’t, it’s hard to envision this line being SEC-worthy.

4. The Vols simply can’t have injuries

There really aren’t any words to describe the bad luck Tennessee had in the injury department the past couple of years. On one hand, you had to believe players struggled to learn the difference between “hurt” and “injured” during that tenure. It may sound harsh, but it’s true. Some players were accused on being “soft” during that regime, and it manifested itself on the injury report.

But, even in that, I blame Butch.

After all, there were four strength and conditioning coaches in this program in five years. That’s pathetic. It’s a disservice to the kids and the assistant coaches who lost their careers because of coaching malpractice. Different strength coordinators — like coaches — have different philosophies. But when that happens and you’re changing them year after year, you’re screwing around with players’ bodies. That’s what’s been happening in Knoxville.

One year, the Vols may want to get bigger; the next faster. One year, the Vols may want to work agility-heavy, and the next, there would be an emphasis on power-lifting. There’s no consistency, no continuity, and bodies broke down.

That shouldn’t happen under Pruitt, who has been part of the program with the best strength & conditioning program in the nation. UT is paying Craig Fitzgerald a ton of money to make sure that doesn’t happen. This team needs to get healthy after a few offseason surgeries and some clean-up from the Jones tenure.

Once they get there, they need to stay there.

5. They’ve got to find a pair of quality cornerbacks

Let’s close back on the field. That’s where the Vols desperately need to find some cornerbacks who can stick with some of the top receivers in the SEC.

The league is a bit down at pass-catcher in ’18 which helps the Vols, but they’re still going to have to contend with players like Ryan Davis, Deebo Samuel, Bryan Edwards and the stable of Mizzou receivers.

This spring, junior Baylen Buchanan blossomed into a guy Pruitt believes he can trust. Is he a true No. 1 cornerback? Eh, I wouldn’t go that far. But he took some big steps forward, and he has the NFL pedigree and the potential to be a very solid player. Also, Marquill Osborne’s time to shine is now or never for the Vols.

But while Buchanan could emerge, there are vacancies. And it isn’t like he has a spot locked down. Pruitt is a defensive back guru, and he wants to find some guys back there on which he can depend.

Alontae Taylor is intriguing. Though he wants to play receiver, the top UT prospect and true freshman moved over to the defensive side to get a look and showed instant promise. That’s where Pruitt wanted him when he was with the Crimson Tide, and it’s where UGA wanted him, too. That’ two pretty good defenses that saw massive potential from Taylor at corner, and he showed why quickly. Will he stay there? Could he play on both sides of the ball some? Don’t rule anything out.

Two other names to watch are incoming JUCO transfer Kenneth George Jr., who was a late addition to the class and boasts 6’0″, 200-pound size. There’s also Treon Flowers, from the Atlanta area, who UT beat out Clemson for in one of a few late-signing period victories.

Both of those guys have the potential to step in and be forces in the race to be starting cornerbacks. The opportunity is now here.

Post-Spring, 2018 Heavily Dependent on “Ifs” at Two Key Positions, Part II

Coming out of the spring, the 2018 Tennessee football team looks like it certainly has some talent on the roster, but depth at most positions and overall attitude (expecting to win, being willing to compete on every snap, etc.) are the biggest issues.  So in late April when evaluating the team and its prospects for 2018, let me start by stipulating a few things:

  • I do not expect this team to compete for the SEC East Championship in 2018
  • I think a reasonable expectation for Year 1 under Coach Jeremy Pruitt is 6 wins and a bowl game, and given the schedule I think 7 and even 8 wins are not beyond the realm of possibility with some breaks
  • Due to the huge upgrade in coaching; the recruiting pedigree of many of the players on the team; and the simple fact that Pruitt has had a bigtime defense everywhere he’s been, Vol fans should have some confidence that the defense will be much improved over the past two seasons
  • At the same time, and for many of the same reasons, there should be reason for optimism at the skill positions of QB, RB, and WR/TE
  • Related to #2/#3, there are incoming players that should be able to contribute immediately at a variety of positions, including but not limited to graduate transfer RB Madre London (Michigan State); JUCO All-American TE Dominick Wood-Anderson; JUCO DL Emmitt Gooden; LB JJ Peterson; and CB Treveon Flowers

All that said, easily the two biggest areas of concerns heading into the summer are the Offensive Line and Cornerback.  And everyone knows the old adage that “the SEC is a line of scrimmage league,” while at the same time many of the offenses in this league – not to mention that of opening game opponent West Virginia – are well suited to exploit a weak secondary.  So, where does that leave Vol fans looking for some optimism about the upcoming season?  It’s a game of “Ifs” at these two crucial positions, and after looking at the OL over the weekend, below we’ll take a look at the Cornerback position

Secondary Will Depend on Coaching Upgrade, Talent Development

Much like the 2017 Offensive Line, last season’s secondary was simply bad.  And like the OL, Coach Pruitt has not just upgraded the coaching talent with new CB Coach Terry Fair, new Safeties Coach Charles Kelly, and himself, but also experimented with a number of position changes to the secondary.  He appears to think there is talent there – although there isn’t the number of former four and five-stars that are at other positions – and has also been adamant that he is going to coach the guys to play the press-man to man style he wants to play.

The good news is that from an overall secondary perspective there is some help that the Cornerbacks can get from the Safety position, and Nigel Warrior looks like he is in ready to combine the coaching upgrade he’s getting and two season’s worth of experience to become the kind of future NFL player everyone who watches him for 5 minutes knows he can be. Battling it out for the spot next to Nigel will be two experienced veterans in Todd Kelly Jr. and Micah Abernathy and Theo Jackson.  The key for the first two will be returning from injury and bringing his playmaking ability for TKJr and simply stepping up his overall play for Micah Abernathy. Jackson has meaningfully less experience than the two seniors but no doubt possesses better athletic ability, and as his opportunistic interception in the Orange & White game showed he’s got some playmaking ability of his own.

Here are 8 “Ifs” that the Vols will need to see come through for the Cornerback position to be strong enough for the Vols to reach their ceiling in 2018:

  • IF Baylon Buchanan can build on his strong spring that saw him stake a claim to a starting CB spot
  • IF the Vols can sign Texas A&M Grad transfer Nick Harvey, who would bring talent, production, and SEC experience to a CB room sorely lacking in all three
  • IF Alontae Taylor sticks at CB, spends the summer learning the actual craft, and applies his elite athleticism and “dog” mentality to the position
  • IF Shawn Shamburger, who Jeremy Pruitt recruited while at Alabama and showed out when he got an opportunity last season, can take a step
  • IF Marquill Osborne can use his strong spring game performance as a jumping off point to reach his 4-star pedigree
  • IF Carlin Fils-aime and Maleik Gray can continue to make the transition to CB and showcase their athleticism and physicality
  • IF the Vols can get any contributions from newcomers Kenneth George, Treveon Flowers and Brandon Davis – guys Pruitt has brought in himself
  • IF Louisianans Cheyenne Labruzza and Terrell Bailey, who both had nice recruiting pedigrees but had a quiet spring, can find their way

Like the OL, Tennessee doesn’t need 100% of the above things to happen.  That said, landing Nick Harvey would go a long way, as he would upgrade the CB room a ton. From there it needs talent development from specifically the most physically talented among the group, which includes Taylor, Shamburger, Buchanan, Osborne and Gray.  Those 5+Harvey could make a better than average CB corps with the right development and coaching.  Getting anything from its three newcomers would be a bonus. IF that were to happen I think there is enough talent throughout the rest of the roster that, along with what should be a very strong coaching staff, Tennessee can have a successful season in Pruitt’s first year and serve as a springboard to quickly getting back to competing for championships.

The Cold, Hard Truth About Tennessee Football

Our Tennessee Vols are not a good football team.

That doesn’t mean they won’t be or they can’t be. But they were awful in 2017, as we all know. And they didn’t look a whole lot better on Saturday.

They may say that you can’t tell a whole lot about a spring football game, and they’re right. But if you’ve been watching football as long as I have, you can tell when a team doesn’t have what it takes. This Vols team doesn’t. Yet.

Sure, quarterback Jarrett Guarantano looked much improved from a season ago, and there were times throughout the day when the first-team offense moved the ball well. That’s a good thing. It’s encouraging to see a player like senior Kyle Phillips look better after such a struggle-filled, injury-riddled career. He’s responded well to this new coaching staff, and it was evident Saturday. There’s good reason why Guarantano won the game’s MVP and Phillips was the spring’s top defensive performer.

But the Vols were very vanilla schematically with what it wanted to do. That makes the dreadful performance by the defense even more worrisome. Injuries was one main hindrance, and when some of the new guys get on campus this summer, they’ll help UT get a little better, too.

The SEC isn’t going anywhere, though, folks. First-year coach Jeremy Pruitt knows that. So, when he chided some of the players for quitting Saturday, it wasn’t without meaning or merit. As a matter of fact, the poor-mouthing was rampant in the postgame press conference, but what do you expect with what he was left with?

 

Ouch.

But what do you want him to say?

Do you want him to blow smoke and say we’re going to be good; to act like things are hunky-dorey? Do you want the Bob Shoop comments about a stud defense only to watch the tire fire that UT trotted out there the past couple of years? Do you want orange sunshine and unicorns trotting all over Rocky Top on a hillside strewn in lies?

I actually read several message-board posts today from fans who were perturbed with Pruitt calling out some of the fans for not filling Neyland Stadium on a beautiful spring afternoon. Still, a crowd of nearly 66,000 came to watch a bad team play in hopes that maybe what we had last year and what we thought we had this spring could magically improve before our eyes.

It hasn’t.

Say what you want about Pruitt chirping that some of the fans could have come and didn’t. After all, you can’t expect a proud group of fans fed up with failure to be fed McDonalds year after year and show up like they’re getting filet mignons. But even Pruitt’s comments for the fans weren’t all that bad. And they were weren’t false.

Pruitt wants the fans to come out and embrace something he can’t abide: A team that isn’t up to standards. I think the majority of us will once the season starts, but there’s really no reason to chide the fifth-largest attendance in school history for a practice game, especially when it was to watch a team you just spent the entire postgame press conference ripping.

They need to be ripped, though. And it’s a breath of fresh air that Pruitt is doing it. I don’t understand what some of you want. If you think he hasn’t “earned the right” to be so negative yet, to spend so much time talking about what Tennessee isn’t rather than trying to fix what it is, I think it’s obvious that’s what he’s ultimately trying to do. Is he a little surprised the roster is so bad? Sure, I think so. I mean, he watched the Vols get thrashed by his ‘Bama teams the past two years, but every coach has to believe they can come in and sprinkle some of their own secret sauce on the new team and have things improve.

The Vols may actually get better. Heck, I thought they were better on Saturday than they looked at any time during a historically horrible 2017 season. But they still aren’t anywhere near being where they need to be to be competitive in the SEC. Pruitt knows that, and he isn’t used to it. It’s going to take time for him to realize that it’s going to take a lot of time to get the Vols up to the standards he wants.

Pruitt has to recruit better than he’s currently recruiting. He needs to learn on the job the PR side of things — it took far too long for UT and the coaching staff to promote this spring game, and the mad dash to get the word out and try to “sell out” was too little, too late — but the football side of things will be fine. He isn’t going to tolerate quitting, and he isn’t going to tolerate failure when it comes to execution.

That’s why Saturday wasn’t acceptable to him. And while we all wanted a feel-good story to sweep us into the offseason, there simply isn’t one. There aren’t holes to fill as much as craters. There aren’t leadership gaps as much as gulfs. There isn’t a handful of players who’ve failed to live up to their recruiting rankings as much as the majority.

Thank Butch Jones for that. Seriously. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: This is the worst shape of any roster left by any coach since Bill Battle. It’s worse than what Phil Fulmer left Lane Kiffin after a few bad years of recruiting at the end. It’s much worse than what Kiffin left Derek Dooley, and I think it’s even worse than what Dooley left Jones.

There might be three players on this team that would start for Alabama. Three. Perhaps that’s generous. Trey Smith and Jauan Jennings (neither of which played Saturday) could, and maybe Nigel Warrior would. That’s it. That’s all.

So, pardon Pruitt’s frustration if he sees what we all should and fails to sugarcoat it. The time for looking through orange-colored glasses is over. This is a bad football team, and we all have to hope Pruitt’s time with Nick Saban will help him fix that. Our new coach has a lot to learn, and he certainly has a lot to prove. But he’s proved before that he can identify talent, recruit it, and develop it.

There isn’t a whole lot of development that has gone on in Knoxville the past few years, and that’s the painful, obvious takeaway from Saturday. Pruitt may be able to squeeze the most out of these guys yet, but how high is that ceiling? If Saturday was it (and I’m not saying I think it was), but IF it was, we’re in for another long season.

Post-Spring, 2018 Heavily Dependent on “Ifs” at Two Key Positions, Part I

Coming out of the spring, the 2018 Tennessee football team looks like it certainly has some talent on the roster, but depth at most positions and overall attitude (expecting to win, being willing to compete on every snap, etc.) are the biggest issues.  So in late April when evaluating the team and its prospects for 2018, let me start by stipulating a few things:

  • I do not expect this team to compete for the SEC East Championship in 2018
  • I think a reasonable expectation for Year 1 under Coach Jeremy Pruitt is 6 wins and a bowl game, and given the schedule I think 7 and even 8 wins are not beyond the realm of possibility with some breaks
  • Due to the huge upgrade in coaching; the recruiting pedigree of many of the players on the team; and the simple fact that Pruitt has had a bigtime defense everywhere he’s been, Vol fans should have some confidence that the defense will be much improved over the past two seasons
  • At the same time, and for many of the same reasons, there should be reason for optimism at the skill positions of QB, RB, and WR/TE
  • Related to #2/#3, there are incoming players that should be able to contribute immediately at a variety of positions, including but not limited to graduate transfer RB Madre London (Michigan State); JUCO All-American TE Dominick Wood-Anderson; JUCO DL Emmitt Gooden; LB JJ Peterson; and CB Treveon Flowers

All that said, easily the two biggest areas of concerns heading into the summer are the Offensive Line and Cornerback.  And everyone knows the old adage that “the SEC is a line of scrimmage league,” while at the same time many of the offenses in this league – not to mention that of opening game opponent West Virginia – are well suited to exploit a weak secondary.  So, where does that leave Vol fans looking for some optimism about the upcoming season?  It’s a game of “Ifs” at these two crucial positions, and below we’ll take a look at the OL

Offensive Line Will Depend on Health and Overall Improvement

Tennessee’s Offensive Line was nothing short of atrocious last season, suffering numerous injuries and attrition that led to virtually non-existent pass protection – and the resulting near death of QB Jarret Guarantano on multiple occasions – and a run game that was below average at best despite an NFL RB in John Kelly.  This spring has shown some faint glimmers of hope though, as Pruitt has doled out some of his very rare compliments to the OL, at least in terms of their relative improvement over the course of the five weeks of practice.  The OL as a whole, with some minor exceptions, has managed to avoid the kind of daily injuries that it suffered last spring and even into the fall, while at the same time some players who were thought to be lost for good to injury have made reappearances.  However, there are still more than a few things that will need to happen in order for Tennessee to field an average OL, which it will need to if it wants to improve on last season’s disastrous 4-8 record.  So looking to the fall, here are 10 “Ifs” that the Vols will need to see come through:

  • IF Trey Smith, Tennessee’s best OL and an anchor for the entire team, can come back healthy and pick up where he left off last season
  • IF K’rohjn Calbert can shake off the rust from his multiple injuries to bring his physical presence, matched only by Trey Smith on the entire OL, and make a play for a starting spot
  • IF Chance Hall can come back from missing the last two seasons and regain at least some of the form that made observers think he was a possible 3-years-and-done Tackle
  • IF Drew Richmond, on his 3rd OL coach in three seasons, can unlock his 5-star pedigree and become an above-average LT
  • IF Marcus Tatum can combine the weight gain that’s finally got him over 300 lbs with his better than average athleticism to become the kind of player the previous staff (and UF’s) thought he could be at RT
  • IF JUCO Jahmir Johnson can get to campus having put weight on his relatively light frame and show up ready to contribute immediately
  • IF Ryan Johnson, Riley Locklear and Devonte Brooks can leverage their experience gained last season and the reps they’ve gotten in the absence of Smith and Calbert to take a large step in their respective games
  • IF Jerome Carvin and Ollie Lane can leverage the massive amount of reps this spring as early enrollees to become contributors
  • IF either spring practice position changers Greg Emerson or Eric Crosby can stick on the OL and become contributors
  • IF Nathan Niehaus can stay healthy and push for rotational snaps, at least in out of conference games like ETSU, UTEP, and Charlotte to give starters a breather

Tennessee doesn’t need 100% of the above things to happen, although getting Trey Smith is as close to a must as there can be.  From there it needs some combination of health and talent development among its maximum 15 scholarship OL (the above plus true freshman Tanner Antonutti, who I expect to redshirt) to field an average unit that can allow it to compete in each of its twelve scheduled games.  IF the right combination happens I think there is enough talent throughout the rest of the roster that, along with what should be a very strong coaching staff, Tennessee can have a successful season in Pruitt’s first year and serve as a springboard to quickly getting back to competing for championships.