Gameday on Rocky Top

In today’s Vols link roundup, we’re bracing for an extra dose of Maxim 1 the next 10 days, finding more hope in the secondary, and more.

Turning attention to Georgia Tech

With the Yellow Jackets playing that wicked flexbone triple option thing that focuses most of its energy on the running game, and with the Vols beginning to transition to game-week prep, Butch Jones is harping on the D in DAT stuff:

“Football is very difficult and we have to be a team that doesn’t beat itself and it all starts with the small details and communication when you’re out there,” Jones said. “We have to continue to demand it because we’re building habits. You’re going to rely on your training when we get to Monday night playing against a very talented Georgia Tech football team. We have to continue to demand, our older players need to demand from the younger players and vice versa. They’ve done that, but there’s a whole level of mental intensity and mental effort that comes into preparing for game week as well.”

That all appears to be a non-concise way of yelling, “MAXIM 1, GUYS!” to make sure your team isn’t the one that makes the most mistakes. Any missed opportunity against a team that eats clock like Joey Chestnut eats hot dogs is compounded by the decreased ability to make up for it, so expect Jones to emphasize mistake-free football at every opportunity for the next 10 days.

And that’s not the only detail on which Jones is harping, either. He’s also focused on making sure his players protect their assets:

“Again, them being accountable to each other for getting the sleep, the hydration, the nutrition and then coming to progress after a long day of classes.”

As much as I want to make a joke about everyone needing sleep, water, and food, I won’t. I’m sure Jones means he wants them to sleep enough, keep hydrated enough, and eat the right things instead of the wrong things, and I’m glad he’s focused on it.

Meanwhile, the defense is spending a great deal of time preparing to defeat cut blocks. Man, I’ll be glad when that game is out of the way.

Secondary getting stronger

There’s been some good news in the secondary for the Vols. Even though transfer Shaq Wiggins remains out with an injury, the coaches are optimistic that he’ll be back before the first game. Add to that that Emmanuel Moseley, who wore a limited-contact green jersey all of preseason camp, is finally full-go. And add to both of those things that freshman Shawn Shamburger continues to draw praise from the coaching staff, so much so that he’s at least in the two-deep and possibly even pushing the presumed starters.

It’s probably understating it to say that the secondary had some issues last fall, so if the unit actually improves like it sounds like it is, it could make a dramatic difference.

Quick hits

• The Vols picked up a commitment from 4-star cornerback Jaycee Horn last night. Horn had had it narrowed down to Alabama and South Carolina, but Jones and Co. turned the heat up on him, and at the end of the day, Horn said that he “just knew it was Tennessee.”
• Defensive tackle Shy Tuttle remains questionable for the season-opener, but it is beginning to look like he’s almost game-ready.
• Seniors Todd Kelly Jr., Evan Berry, Trevor Daniel, and Ethan Wolf have all been named to the Senior Bowl Watch List. In case you’re wondering, the watch list committee defers any decision on offensive linemen until they see them in action during the season.
• For some reason, I never really thought much about the complexity of player numbers, but Tennessee has just switched up some of the numbers of its guys so that they are available to play on special teams. With 120 guys on the roster and only two digits available, teams have to double up on numbers, but you obviously can’t have the same number on the field at the same time, so you put one on offense and one on defense. Problem solved, except for special teams, which is often made up of players from both units. So, apparently the Vols needed to change up some numbers so they could use the guys they wanted on special teams.
• The Knoxville News Sentinel continues its Tennessee football 2017 breakdown today with a look at the offensive line. They also note that it’s probably going to take live fire in a game to determine which of Quinten Dormady and Jarrett Guarantano should lead the team.
• The Vols, who opened at 40/1 odds to win the national championship, are now 100/1. It’s a steal! For somebody!
• If you haven’t been noticing our Vols video roundups, they generally go live in the late afternoon sometime. You can find yesterday’s down the video section, and it’s called Team 120 is dead (gasp!), and Chick-fil-A is all hyped up about it. Seriously, that Chick-fil-A video is something you’re going to want to watch.
• The SEC has announced the men’s basketball conference schedule, and the Vols hoops Twitter account has a handy video to relieve you of the burden of reading words:

https://twitter.com/vol_hoops/status/900797468245282817

• Don’t forget to submit your Vols win probability ballot here. We’ll be compiling and publishing the results next week.
• And don’t forget to join the Gameday on Rocky Top Pick ‘Em Pool. Always a lot of fun every year, and this time, there will be prizes to boot.

In today’s link roundup, we take a closer look at the four Vols on the preseason Coaches All-SEC Team, pin our hopes on Charlton Warren, hope that Josh Smith is back for Florida, and more.

Vols on the preseason Coaches All-SEC Team

Four Tennessee players were named to the preseason Coaches All-SEC Team yesterday. Kick returner Evan Berry made second team, and offensive lineman Jashon Robertson, wide receiver Jajuan Jennings, and punter Trevor Daniel all made third team. Of course, a preseason All-SEC team is really not much more than a rehash of last year’s All-SEC team for the players who are still around, but it’s still nice to see your guys’ names on the list. What matters more, though, is who’s on that list at the end of the season.

Berry, by the way, shares the credit for his success returning kicks with his blockers:

“If you go back and look at the film, you really will see that I’m just running. But Micah Abernathy, my off-returner, and Tyler Byrd — they both give key blocks, as well as the front line.”

Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have a guy who can fly with the ball in his hands, either.

And somehow, Trevor Daniel’s story is still under-stated. Heading into his senior year, he is already surrounded on all sides by Colquitts in the Tennessee record books. If he does again this season what he’s been doing the past couple of seasons, the former walk-on will finish his career ahead of all of them.

Another reason to believe the defense will improve this season

Public Service Announcement: New defensive backs coach Charlton Warren played a major role in the nation’s best defensive turnaround in 2015 for the North Carolina Tar Heels. The Heels defense allowed 14.5 fewer points that season than they had the year before, and his secondary was the most improved in the nation in pass efficiency and yards-per-pass attempt. Oh, and they led the ACC in interceptions, turnovers gained, and passes defended.

Here’s to hoping he can do something similar for the Vols this fall.

Quick hits

• Good news: wide receiver Josh Smith’s collarbone injury is not, as originally feared, actually broken, and so instead of expecting to be out 4-8 weeks, he hopes to be able to return for the Florida game on September 16.
• Will has posted our staff win probabilities and is asking y’all to contribute as well. So far, we’re all hovering right around eight wins, but percentages on a game-by-game basis are interesting.
• GoVols247 also completed its list of the 17 most important players for the Vols this year, pegging “the quarterback” at the top, regardless of whether it’s Quinten Dormady or Jarrett Guarantano. Can’t really argue with that, I guess, but I am tempted to put linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. there myself because him staying healthy is key to the defense’s ability to improve this season.
• Gridiron Now has a post out ranking the toughest and easiest SEC home and road schedules and gives Florida the toughest home schedule and LSU the toughest road schedule. They also give Tennessee the distinction of having the toughest division-crossover schedule, which, of course, we already knew. And yes, I still think that deciding division standings using division-crossover games doesn’t make any sense and is more of an SEC problem than a Tennessee-Alabama problem.
• Meanwhile, the Knoxville News Sentinel is ranking the Vols’ 2017 opponents by degree of difficulty, and it’s about what you’d expect except that, after Alabama and Florida, they have Kentucky ranked ahead of Georgia. Me, I’d go Alabama, Georgia, and Florida to start. The Bulldogs might be flaky and fluky, but they still out-talent even the increasingly-talented Vols.
• 247Sports just updated their database to award several players higher rankings, but Tennessee is still sitting at No. 6 in the team rankings. Jaycee Horn, a 4-star cornerback who plans to announce his decision today, would still likely leave the Vols at No. 6 even if they land his commitment.
• Hoops coach Rick Barnes thinks that his team is going to take the proverbial next step this season, thanks to increased depth and improvement on defense.
• Athletic Director John Currie acknowledges that putting the Lady Vols brand out to pasture caused some hurt feelings, but he doesn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to do anything about it.
• I just gave a dollar to Matt Stillwell for his new country single I’m a Vol for Life, Y’all. A bunch of y’all should go do the same right now.

In today’s Vols link roundup, we’re tapping the brakes on expectations for the offensive line, looking objectively at the third consecutive preseason Top 25 for the Vols, and noting that nobody knows what to think about Tennessee this season.

Consider the brakes tapped on the offensive line

We’ve been saying since we published the magazine back in May that the offensive line was one of the main reasons to believe in this team this fall. But fall camp is essentially over now, and you haven’t really heard much, if any, praise about the unit from coaches or reporters. If anything, the news has tended on the negative side, what with the season-ending injuries to Chance Hall and K’Rojhn Calbert and three other key guys reportedly missing time during camp for unspecified minor injuries.

Butch Jones is apparently concerned, having left Monday’s practice this week a wee bit frustrated:

“We have to have the discipline to execute, football is too hard of a game as it is, from the technical aspect, to fundamentals, efforts, techniques, [and] winning your one-on-one matchups,” Jones said, “let alone a team that jumps offsides, a team that doesn’t take care of the football, a team that doesn’t snap the ball well.

“All those things, it comes down to the disciple to execute, having that ability.”

Not only that, but one of the takeaways from this GoVols247 roundtable about what their reporters have learned during preseason camp is that we may have been expecting too much out of the offensive line. When the guys who are not charged with winning but with reporting are beginning to wonder, it might be time to break out the sideways eyes.

I sincerely hope those guys are an absolute strength of the team this year, but I have to admit that I’ve transitioned a bit from belief to hope.

Vols in the Top 25 again

Tennessee is in the preseason AP Poll for the third year in a row, albeit barely at No. 25. That makes three consecutive seasons now that the Vols have started the season in the Top 25, something that hasn’t happened in nine years.

And yeah, when you hear Tennessee officials say that they are one of only 10 teams to have been ranked for three years straight, you chalk it up to PR, but look at the other nine teams:

• Ohio State (1, 6, 2)
• Alabama (3,1, 1)
• Florida State (10, 4, 3)
• Georgia (9, 18,15
• Southern California (8, 20, 4)
• Clemson (12, 2, 5)
• LSU (14, 5, 13)
• Oklahoma (19, 3, 7
• Stanford (21, 8, 14)

That’s pretty good company, and I think it shows that the Vols are at least building some consistency. Now to focus on the Top 10 instead of the Top 25.

Quick Hits

• You know it’s Football Time in Tennessee when Will rolls out the Idiot Optimist’s Guide and when you can turn on the radio at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday nights to hear Vol Calls at Calhoun’s on the River.
• Also on tonight is the SEC Network’s Vols Football Season preview. It’s on at 8:00 p.m. as well, so set your DVRs.
• SB Nation has released its 2017 Blue-Chip Ratio post, identifying the 10 teams that are candidates to win the national title based on the ratio of 4- and 5-star recruits on a team to the other players on the team. Tennessee, by the way, is mentioned as a “Blue-Chip Ratio Riser.” The Vols will need another class or two to make the list.
• Vols defensive back Justin Martin has learned that you shouldn’t always say everything you’re thinking. If that’s true, he’s learned something most of humanity has not.
• Freshman running back Tim Jordan has earned the removal of his black helmet stripe.
• Did you know that Vols wide receiver Brandon Johnson is the son of MLB catcher Charles Johnson? Well, know you do.
• If you’ve ever wanted to try walking on to the football team, here’s everything you need to know. It’s not everything you need, just everything you need to know.
• The Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game between the Vols and Georgia Tech is sold out, as is Tennessee’s home game against Georgia on September 30. There are still some tickets left for the home-opener against Indiana State and the home game against LSU on November 18.
• Coach Jones says that he’s not hung up on the term “starters,” saying instead that he wants multiple starters at every position. Really, this is just another way to drive home the competitive depth point. You’d better have a good Plan B, because it’s going to become Plan A at some point, probably sooner rather than later and likely when you least want it to happen.
• Transfer cornerback Shaq Wiggins has apparently missed a “number of days” due to a hip injury. They’re hoping to get him back soon.
• The Knoxville News Sentinel has a feature breaking down Tennessee’s secondary and is giving safety Nigel Warrior the leading role in the story. KNS also puts the defense on notice, saying that no matter how much better it might be, it’s going to go up against some really good offenses this fall.
• Something called The Undefeated has translated college football’s opening weekend matchups into Marvel comics, which is worth a look.
• Look, nobody knows what to think about Tennessee this year. CBSSports can’t even agree with itself, as they have listed Tennessee as both under- and over-rated.
• So, don’t be too concerned about Matt Stinkbomb from the SEC Network predicting that the front will fall off in the back end of the season again for the Vols this fall and that they’ll go 6-6.