Tennessee Recruiting: Vols Land Grant, Second RB in As Many Days

After they visited Knoxville for “Orange Carpet Day” last weekend, it became clear that Lyn-J Dixon and Anthony Grant could decide they wanted to team up in Tennessee’s offensive backfield for the next few years.

On Sunday, that possibility came one step closer to a reality when Grant, a 3-star runner from Buford High School in the Atlanta suburb verbally committed to the Vols. His pledge came a day after 4-star running back Dixon announced he wanted to spend his college career on Rocky Top. Grant announced the news via Twitter.

https://twitter.com/anthonygrant204/status/879089347928174592

Now, if the duo follows through and signs with UT, the Vols will have their two running backs in this class.

It became clear over the past couple of weeks how Tennessee’s running backs board was formulating following the decommitment of Jashaun Corbin and his pledge to Florida State. Though the Vols were a finalist for Murfreesboro runner Master Teague, the interest between the school and the prospect never really heated up. Once Ohio State offered Teague, he decided Columbus is where he wanted to be.

Dixon was always at or near the top of Tennessee’s list, and he was a no-brainer take for the Vols, so when he wanted to pull the trigger yesterday, it was huge news. Grant’s flirtation grew over the past few weeks, and when Gurley (Ala.) running back Tae Provens committed to LSU this weekend after saying UT led for the longest time, it was obvious that the two parties were going in different directions. Grant wound up being higher on the Vols’ board, and he committed Sunday.

That gives the Vols a strong pair of running backs a year after UT signed three in Nashville stud Ty Chandler, late-rising athlete Timothy Jordan and Louisiana bruiser Trey Coleman.

For the second year in a row, the Vols beat out North Carolina for one of their runners. Grant chose UT over other finalists North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Florida and N.C. State. He came from Buford, where Tennessee head coach Butch Jones has enjoyed recruiting success recently, landing linebacker Austin Smith and defensive lineman Quay Picou three classes ago.

Grant plays for a powerhouse program and splits carries with a couple of other kids who’ll play college ball. Once Dixon committed to UT on Saturday, Grant sat down and evaluated his options and told VolQuest.com’s Jesse Simonton that Tennessee was still where he wanted to be, calling it “home.” The 5’11”, 195-pound athlete can slash, but he’s also a power back who can add weight and still be a quality three-down runner.

Plus, Dixon’s pledge was a plus.

“I feel like I can do it all. I’m an every down ‘back,” he told Simonton. “I can also catch the ball in the backfield. I can do a lot of things. … It’s going to be great playing (with Dixon). We’ve built a great relationship. We get along really good. I feel like it’s going to be fun and exciting to be in the same backfield as him.”

Tennessee now has 14 commitments in this year’s class, and the Vols continue to surge up the rankings. They’re second in the SEC according to 247Sports, and Jones’ re-assembled coaching staff is proving it can bring in plenty of quality players.

The Vols now have a pair of running backs and a pair of quarterbacks, addressing two huge needs on offense. With all the success the program has experienced recently in recruiting offensive linemen, if the young receivers pan out, this could be an exciting offense for new coordinator Larry Scott in the future.

It looks like UT will have plenty of options behind whoever wins the signal-caller battle. This year, every-down runners John Kelly and Chandler should lead the way with slashers Carlin Fils-aime and Jordan behind them with Coleman filling the role of short-yardage back if he doesn’t redshirt (which he should). Now, the Vols have a couple of talented runners to join them in 2018.

Tennessee Recruiting: Vols Get Top Target in Running Back Lyn-J Dixon

Before Tennessee got a commitment (and subsequent decommitment) from Florida running back Jashaun Corbin, before Master Teague was ever truly pursued, the Vols were hot and heavy after Georgia tailback Lyn-J Dixon.

It’s definitely not a stretch to say he was one of the biggest priorities in UT’s class.

On Saturday, the pursuit paid off with a pledge from the 5’11”, 178-pound Butler, Georgia, runner. He announced his decision with a Twitter video in which he said, in part, “I’m ready to carry the rock on Rocky Top.”

https://twitter.com/im_Next23/status/878708348274847744

He’s a 4-star prospect and the nation’s sixth-rated all-purpose back and the No. 307-ranked overall player in the country according to the 247Sports Composite rankings. The Vols have been after him for months and months, and he chose UT over offers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, LSU, Louisville, Michigan, Notre Dame and many others.

Dixon told GoVols247’s Ryan Callahan that Clemson has shown a lot of interest in him lately, but even if the Tigers offered, he’d feel comfortable with his decision. Still, head coach Dabo Swinney may pose the biggest threat.

The long-term relationship with Butch Jones and running backs coach Robert Gillespie led Dixon to Tennessee.

“They’ve been with me since I was, like, a freshman,” he told Callahan. “They’ve been with me ever since, and now I’m in 12th grade, so I have a lot of respect for that.”

He’s an elite athlete who can add weight and still be a dynamo with the ball in his hands. It’s exciting to think of him teaming with incoming freshman Ty Chandler for the next few years, and since Corbin elected to commit to Florida State, UT is still looking for another running back.

Perhaps Anthony Grant will be the other runner in this class. That wouldn’t be terribly surprising considering he preps at Buford High School outside of Atlanta where the Vols have experienced plenty of recruiting luck in recent years. Grant is a 5’10”, 190-pound runner who projects to be more of a between-the-tackles guy than Dixon.

They’d complement each other well.

The Vols are restocking their stable at running back for the future. Chandler, Timothy Jordan and Trey Coleman are all incoming freshmen, and they’ll team with junior John Kelly and sophomore Carlin Fils-aime this year. With Kelly only having two years left, Dixon will walk in at an opportune time to get plenty of carries throughout his career in Knoxville.

Tennessee tells Dixon it wants to use him like Alvin Kamara, which was the pitch to Corbin, too. It appears the New Orleans Saints rookie is going to be paying dividends for the Vols on the recruiting trail for years to come.

The commitment puts Tennessee back into the top 10 of the 247Sports rankings, and the Vols are second in the SEC behind LSU currently.

 

Vols Recruiting: Defensive end board suddenly looking robust

While the Vols signed a very promising group of defensive ends in the 2017 class, including early-enrollee Deandre Johnson, Matthew Butler, Ryan Thaxton, and Marcus Bembry, the DE position is arguably UT’s thinnest in terms of proven depth and talent.  Therefore, it is a position of immense focus for the Class of 2018.  Yet as the calendar turned to June and the Vols sat with a Top 10 2018 recruiting class, there were still justifiable concerns when it came to the position, as the Vols had zero commitments, and it seemed like top talent with which UT was in a strong position was nowhere to be found. 

Over the course of the last month, however, the script has been flipped and the Vols have established an extremely strong DE board with several defined tiers.  As of now, UT finds itself as the leader for three blue chip DEs, in the Top 2-3 for another three big timers, building relationships with two FL studs who have expressed reciprocal interest, and in good position for several players who at this point are lower on the board.  See below for the current DE board by tier and my current take on each prospect.

Top Tier – Outright Leader

Jamarcus Chatman – A former LSU commit who decommitted from the Tigers after surprising some by showing up to Orange Carpet Day, Chatman is likely the Vols next and first DE commitment.  He’s All Vol on Twitter right now, as is his entire family.  A funny thing is that it seems to have been unknown until this past weekend that Chatman’s family is full of UT fans, and his sister is even an alumna.  This one truly seems a matter of when and not if, with the only potential complication being the status of his best friend and current LSU DE commitment Jaquon Griffin.  Many think Griffin only received his LSU offer so that the Bayou Bengals could land not only Chatman but also their talented LB teammate Adam Anderson.  I don’t think the Vols are willing to take Griffin, and I think Chatman is going to be ok with that.  Possibly very soon…

Greg Emerson – All Vols fans who follow recruiting know who Emerson is, and he remains UT’s top overall target regardless of position.  He’s second on this list only because despite my 100% confidence that he will be a Vol when he enrolls in December he seems determined (at least for now) to wait on announcing his decision.  The kid is an absolute stud, and while some had him pegged initially as a DT he has expressed a strong desire to be a DE.  With athleticism like this, there is little reason to doubt him, and given that he’s an early enrollee he looks like an instant impact player in 2018

Dorian Gerald – A Florence, SC native who left high school with zero offers, Gerald has become a national recruit as a JUCO DE out in California.  While some assumed that South Carolina was the favorite due to proximity to his hometown, a June visit to Knoxville placed UT firmly in the leadership spot, blowing away his visit to Columbia that had taken place days earlier. As an early enrollee with a frame that appears SEC-ready, Gerald is a guy who looks like he could be in the 2018 DE rotation immediately.  That makes him one of the most important players left on the board. Despite offers from Bama and the like, this one looks like it will come down to UT and the ‘Cocks, and as it stands now the Vols are at the top of his list

Top Tier – Top 2/3

Jordan Davis – A Florida native and current Memphian who committed to Alabama months ago, Davis has proven himself to be one of the best DEs in the entire class in several camp performances this summer.  Davis had talked about making it to Knoxville on more than one occasion this past spring but would no-show.  Many observers were convinced he was going to be impossible to flip, and there was even some talk that it would actually be UF and not UT who would have the best chance to do so despite how hard UT had been trying.  However, after finally making the trip for Orange Carpet Day, Davis was blown away and he appears to be very open to what UT is pitching.  He is good friends with two fellow Memphis-based prospects, Cam Jones and Jerome Carvin, and it sounds like despite neither of them being committed to the Vols (yet) both of them are selling the Vols to Davis.  Saban won’t go down without a fight, and the Vols will need to get Davis and his family back on campus as much as possible.  But he is the kind of prospect you go all-in for, especially when you have the chance to take an in-state player at an impact position away from Alabama

Richard Jibunor – A freak athlete who has worked out as a DE, a LB, a TE, and even a S at camps this spring, Jibunor has the look of a player who Bob Shoop could use in a variety of ways.  He likes the LB spot, but Tennessee sees him as a rush DE who can add weight and keep his elite athleticism and be a terror off the edge.  Right now, the Vols are tied with Auburn at the top for Jibunor, who says he’s still going to visit schools like UF and others before making a decision by the end of the summer.  UT hasn’t had a ton of luck going head to head with Auburn, but here’s hoping that trend doesn’t continue here.  He’s one of my favorite players in this class, and I’d be ecstatic if the Vols landed him

Azeez Olujari – Olujari has been to Knoxville at least twice, with the latest visit coming last weekend for Orange Carpet Day.  By all accounts he had another tremendous trip, and the Vols are firmly in the mix here along with UGA, Bama, and UF.  So, once again, UT is fighting it out with fellow SEC powers.  Unlike fellow Peach State prospect Jibunor, UGA is recruiting Olujari very hard.  It will be a fight to the end for Olujari, but the Vols have positioned themselves firmly in the mix, and I expect will at least get an official visit.

Top Tier – In the Mix but Building Relationships

Gregory Rousseau – A Miami commit and another Vols prospect from South Florida, Rousseau got a Vols offer this week after attending a UT camp last week.  A long, lean, and uber-athletic player, Rousseau actually plays a variety of positions for his high school team.  He’ll need to add weight to be able to play DE in the SEC, but based on his athleticism, he appears to have an incredibly high ceiling.  What I like about Rousseau is that he landed his offer after working out in front of the coaches, so they have a very good feel for his talent level.  His level of interest, especially since he’s committed to Miami, is unknown at this point.  But for him to come to camp to try and earn an offer tells me he’s likely to at least listen.  Definitely one to watch moving forward.

Kayode Oledale – Stop me if you’ve heard this before: Oledale is (say it with me) an athletic freak.  He decommitted from FSU a few weeks ago and immediately listed UT as a school of strong interest.  There was even some talk in Indianapolis at the Rivals 5-Star Challenge that the Vols are one of the top contenders.  He’s very raw but, again, his ceiling is off the charts.  UT will need to get him to campus, and soon, to be an actual contender, so that will be something to watch this summer.  If they can, he’s a guy you take all day.

Next Tier

  • Caleb Johnson
  • Caleb Kelly
  • Nick Fulwider
  • Leonard Taylor
  • Malik Langham
  • Jaquon Griffin

These guys have been on campus, have offers, and like the Vols a lot.  Johnson, Kelly, Fulwider and Taylor were all in attendance for Orange Carpet Day and are all relatively new to the Vols DE board.  Langham has been on campus more than once, and Griffin is the aforementioned teammate of Chatman and as of now is still committed to LSU. 

All of them appear to be solid prospects (some likely better than solid), but as of now likely wouldn’t be able to commit to UT.  However, the Vols will probably continue to recruit them throughout the summer and fall, and they are definitely guys to watch moving forward.

Tennessee’s Alabama problem is really an SEC problem

There’s been a lot of talk recently about Tennessee’s “Alabama Problem” — it’s annual rivalry game with the Tide on the Third Saturday in October. The Knoxville News Sentinel’s John Adams kicked things off on June 5 by publishing an article entitled Tennessee Vols shouldn’t have to play Alabama every year. That framed the issue as “whether Tennessee should play Alabama every year.”

Adams makes some valid points on the way to his conclusion that Tennessee should not play Alabama every year, namely that ten consecutive losses is too high a price to pay for tradition and rivalry.

He’s right that the annual rivalry game has put the Vols at a huge disadvantage in the SEC East recently.

His conclusion, though — that the SEC should do away with the idea of permanent cross-divisional rivals altogether — is all wrong.

Playing the game isn’t the problem

A couple of minor points first, based on a couple of things that Adams actually conceded before concluding that they didn’t matter enough to change his opinion. Rivalries are cyclical, and it’s not unreasonable to expect that Alabama’s rivals will eventually return the favor with a period of dominance over them. You don’t throw out 100 years of tradition because of a bad 10-year stretch. Also, it is “[b]etter to get run over by the Tide than appear to run away from them.” It’s not just that no one wants to back down. It’s also that that game provides a real opportunity to do something special every year.

But here’s the main point: The problem isn’t permanent cross-divisional opponents, it’s that those games are given too much weight when deciding which team should represent the division in the SEC Championship Game.

Losing sight of the question leads to wrong answers

An extreme example illustrates the point that such games may not provide the right answers the right questions. Suppose that a high school team plays the New England Patriots and, as expected, is absolutely destroyed. Does that tell you anything at all about how good that team is relative to other high school teams? Of course it doesn’t.

And cross-divisional games don’t answer questions about the division, either.

The SEC Championship Game ostensibly pits the best team in the East against the best team in the West. That’s the goal. If they happen to also be the league’s two best teams, great. But if not, it doesn’t matter. It’s best of the East against best of the West.

So, one of the SEC’s highest priorities should be a system that accurately identifies the best team in each division. Their current system, though, is faulty because it relies too heavily on the results of dissimilar cross-divisional schedules. Playing and losing to the Patriots says little to nothing about your standing in the SEC East, and neither does playing and losing to Alabama. Especially when the other teams in the East play Mississippi State instead.

And yet that one extra loss to the Tide can make all the difference when it’s time to decide who represents the East in the SEC Championship Game.

Why is it that the SEC doesn’t count non-conference games when determining SEC standings? Is it because games against MAC or FCS opponents (or Clemson or Ohio State) are simply not relevant to the SEC hierarchy? When determining which team is the best in the conference, the SEC says that only SEC games matter.

But even as the SEC completely (and appropriately) discounts non-conference games when calculating SEC standings, it gives equal weight to cross-divisional games when determining division standings.

The solution

The answer to Tennessee’s current Alabama problem isn’t to do away with the rivalry by persuading the SEC to toss out the notion of permanent cross-divisional rivals. Bring ’em on. Let’s keep making progress toward the top of that hill, and when we get there, let’s return the favor for a while.

No, the problem’s not that the SEC has permanent cross-division rivals, it’s that the conference improperly uses the results of those games to draw conclusions about division standings. And while Tennessee seems to be taking the brunt of it lately, this is really an SEC problem more than it is a Tennessee problem, and everyone in the conference should care about it.

It’s not a question of fairness, it’s a question of accuracy. If the SEC truly wants its championship game to feature a contest between the best team from the East and best team from the West, it doesn’t need to eliminate permanent cross-divisional rivals, it just needs to de-emphasize the impact of those games on division standings.

 

 

Gameday Today: Phillip Fulmer, summer football, and summer hoops

More thoughts on The Papa, football keeps grinding, and updates on the Rocky Top League. This and more in today’s Vols link roundup.

Football

The Tennessee offense is gearing up for the fall:

And apparently, Butch Jones is taking the whole “pace” thing to an extreme this offseason:

https://twitter.com/vol_football/status/877503882984775680

What does Butch Jones think about Fulmer’s return to Rocky Top? Good question!

“It’s an exciting time for the entire Tennessee family to have Coach Fulmer and his expertise and the ability to build relationships that he brings,” Jones told SEC Country on Wednesday. “I consider Coach a mentor and a great friend, and I think this is healthy for everyone involved, not just football, but the entire Tennessee community.”

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to hear all of that, but really, what else is he going to say?

And what does Wes Rucker think about Fulmer’s return to Rocky Top? Good question!

So pretty much everybody but one person likes this move.

Speaking of Fulmer, The Papa is really happy that the talent pool in the state of Tennessee is improving, and he says having local Tennessee kids matters:

“It means more in the fourth quarter against Alabama, it just does,” Fulmer said. “You have to go back home and live it.”

And in case you missed it, you’ll want to check out the latest Vols hype video and the details of the Big Orange Caravan’s Tri Cities stop.

Hoops

Recruiting

New offers:

VFLs

  • Nobody here is going to be surprised to hear that Josh Dobbs has already displayed a real knack for learning what he needs to know as a quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but you may be surprised to hear that he’d already learned a bunch of pro knowledge while at Tennessee running Butch Jones’ system.
  • If this keeps up, we’re going to need a whole new blog just for Eric Berry:

https://twitter.com/vol_football/status/877564733544595457

Seriously, follow that link and watch that video.

Other Vols news

Big Orange Caravan Tri Cities stop set for July 11

Tennessee has finally announced the location, date, and time for the Big Orange Caravan’s stop in the Tri Cities. The BOC will be at the Kingsport Farmers Market on Tuesday, July 11 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. ET.

As of right now, we only know that Butch Jones, John Currie, and Bob Kesling will be there, but the release says that additional coaches and VFLs may be added in the coming days. The Tri Cities version of the event will be more like the ones held earlier in Chattanooga and Memphis and less like the most recent one in Nashville, meaning that it’s going to be less expensive and more fun. Admission is $5 per person in advance ($10 at the door), and kids 12 and under get in free. They’ll have music, a prize wheel, a photo booth, cornhole, a social media station, free popcorn, face painting and more.

Register online at BigOrangeCaravan.com. Online registration closes three days prior to the event.

 

 

The Papa! The Papa! Phillip Fulmer returns to Rocky Top as an official advisor

We’re huge fans of Phillip Fulmer around here. Back at the old place, we called him The Papa, after Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, and credited him with much of the best parts about Tradition on Rocky Top. He was the “guy who’d been hugging history and tradition so tightly that it had become both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. He had voluntarily assumed the role as the proverbial salt of the earth, the individual charged with preserving the way things were, the guy who was constantly reminding his peers of the good old days, the paternal old crank who, whether you wanted him to or not, took it upon himself to shield and protect you from the decomposition that too often follows forgetting where you’re from.”The Papa - Tradition!

 

The program put The Papa out to pasture in 2008 and went on a Rumspringa that lasted not just a Kiffin-Year, but a Dooley-Decade. Some wanted the new way, and some wanted the old, but none wanted it to take ten years. The process has been gradual, but we have been slowly walking home the past few years, and the re-hiring of The Papa in an advisory capacity is a comforting signpost of progress.

So count us among the many who were ecstatic about yesterday’s news. Fulmer’s official job duties include serving as an ambassador for the University, supporting the programs, and working with UT government relations and alumni affairs leadership to advocate for the school.

Unofficially, though, this seems to me to be even more valuable than any of that because it signals a long overdue and serious effort to eliminate some of the dysfunction that has been lingering on campus for almost a decade now. Basically, The Papa is adored by nearly everyone and is associated with the last great era in Volunteer history, and having the guy who was unceremoniously fired back in the office and diplomatically and gracefully asking everyone to start pulling in the same direction is a very good thing for the program.

Here’s the press conference announcing the move:

Fulmer’s first great move was preempting speculation about whether he had any lingering bad feelings about not getting the athletic director job and it going instead to John Currie, who some rumors credit with having some role in his ouster as coach. It sounds to me like he’s saying that to the extent it’s true, it’s water under the bridge and that everyone has learned from it.

And Currie himself is echoing the same message:

Of course, at least one person was either not listening or not hearing.

But thankfully, most are applauding the move:

Me, I couldn’t be happier. I love the guy. I know there are varying opinions about what happened in 2008, but I think he got a raw deal. What should not be up for debate, though, is the class with which he handled the whole situation. That continues now, as he sits there smiling, happy to be serving the University he loves for a sixth decade.

I’m sure that there are still some relationship issues bubbling under the surface, but it honestly feels like the program is tweaking its way back to health, making all of the right small moves on a grueling path out of the shadows. This was another positive step in the right direction.

BIG fan of “Little” Tanner Ingle

When you read up on new UT CB commit Tanner Ingle, you get the feeling very quickly that he feels overlooked due to his being “only” 5’10.  He mentions it often, and while it appears to motivate him it certainly does not enter his mind when he is bringing the lumber on the field.  The kid can obviously hit from the DB spot, which will give him a chance to potentially be a jack of all trades guy in the secondary who can play all of the CB/NB/S slots.  But I’m not a scout, so my film analysis ain’t worth much. 

What I can do is learn a lot about a prospect by looking at a few things, and when you do that it’s very easy to become very excited about this addition to the commitment list:

1)  He earned his UT offer at a camp in front of the entire staff by showing out at the Big Cat Camp in Memphis.  So they’ve seen him up close and worked him out very recently.

2)  This wasn’t his only strong performance.  He performed well at the Opening Regionals in Orlando, running a 4.5-second 40-yard dash with a 4.15-second shuttle and also registering a 35” vertical jump for a rating of 105.06.  He was also a standout performer at the adidas 3 Stripe Camp in Macon, GA two weeks ago, prompting Woody Wommack from Rivals to note “Ingle is a classic case of a highly productive player who is under recruited because of his size, but when given the chance to showcase his skills in front of coaches he excels and ends up getting the recognition he’s earned.”

[ess_grid alias=”grt-2017-promo-grid”][/ess_grid]

 

3)  Speaking of recognition, Ingle has 30 offers, and has earned about half of them in the last two weeks after these camp showings.  Along with the one from UT, Ingle earned recent offers from Stanford, UNC, and Wisconsin to go with other notable offers including one from Bud Foster at VT.

4)  So it’s not like he’s completely overlooked.  In fact, Chris Hays of the Orlando Sentinel recently called him “arguably the best all-around football player in Central Florida and one of the best in the talent-rich state of Florida.”

5)  He’s played in big time games and made big plays: On the way to Dr. Phillips eventual loss in the 8A FL State Championship Game, Ingle returned a punt for a TD in the semifinal.

6)   He’s also a track athlete. Earlier this spring, he ran an 11.32-second 100-meter dash and 23.17-second 200-meter dash for the Dr. Phillips track team. He also participated on the 4×100 relay team and in the long jump, where he finished 6th in the state with a leap of 22-0.75 feet.

7) Along with his evident abilities as a punt returner, he should be a Special Teams maven given his athleticism and penchant for hitting.
 
8) Finally, he’s a big time student athlete with a 4.0 GPA.  The offers from Stanford, UNC, and Wisconsin aren’t notable just because they are from solid to top-flight football program with very strong academic reputations.  Those are also joined by the likes of academic powerhouses like Harvard, Dartmouth, and Vanderbilt
 
So what you’re looking at is a versatile DB who can run and jump and loves to hit.  A kid who has performed well at multiple camps and earned offers from big time programs with very good defensive reputations. A player who is recognized for being one of the best players in the state of FL all the while being a stud in the classroom.  And on top of that a young man with a chip on his shoulder because he feels like all of the above is still overlooked due to his smallish size in this new era of 6’+ CBs. 
 
Suffice it to say that I am a very big fan of this pickup, and when you combine him with Brandon Harris at S and CB Brandon Cross (who Austin Price of VQ really likes after seeing him in Knoxville on Saturday) and what’s left on the CB board (more to come on that in a future post) this DB class is off to a very nice start.

Gameday Today: The importance of focus in a distracted world

Rock Gullickson focuses on focus, football welcomes a new commit, and punter Trevor Daniel is actually a real live person with a face and everything. This and more in today’s Vols link roundup.

Football and learning to focus

You’ve probably heard that new strength and conditioning coach Rock Gullickson came to Rocky Top from the NFL, where he trained NFL pros for years. Well, he’s finding that kids right out of high school these days have a difficult time paying attention. Gullickson does not seem like a get-off-my-lawn type of guy, though, as he’s not just yelling at the guys to PAY ATTENTION! No, he’s imposed on himself a responsibility to take that observation and make something out of it.

Gullickson is actually onto something really important here. I’m currently reading Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport, the gist of which is that the distraction problem is growing rapidly in today’s world and so people who are able to recognize the issue and overcome it are going to have huge advantages over others who allow their valuable time to be stolen away by invaluable, shallow activities. Basically, the ability to concentrate is becoming more and more scarce and therefore more and more valuable.

So if Gullickson and the Tennessee coaching staff have not only identified distraction as a real problem but are also actively working to correct it, they can create and leverage an additional important advantage for themselves and for the team. So, you know. Go Vols.

[ess_grid alias=”grt-2017-promo-grid”][/ess_grid]

 

Recruiting

Tennessee received a commitment from 3-star Class of 2018 cornerback Tanner Ingle last night. His commitment moved the Vols up to No. 9 nationally in 247Sports‘ team rankings.

Orange Carpet Day didn’t net the landslide of commitments this year that it did last, but most believe that the Vols field-position game this time around was a success.

New hoops offers:

Other Football

Brady Hoke: Mr. Energy, but (presumably) without the cases of Red Bull:

Phillip Fulmer is playing both sides of the two-quarterback system debate, saying both that playing two QBs can be valuable because it stresses defenses but that it’s really not preferable. He is confident, though, that Butch Jones “will handle that fine.”

Vince Ferrara is posting his take on each of the Tennessee units this week. He started with the quarterbacks and has worked his way through the running backs and the wide receivers.

Trevor Daniel has a face. This is what it looks like. GVX has a nice feature on punter Trevor Daniel, who is just continuing to do what he’s been doing, which would be just fine with all us folks on Rocky Top. There are two especially interesting things about the article, though. First, it includes a video interview with Daniel, which makes you realize you would have no idea who he was if you were standing next to him not wearing a helmet on campus. And second, he’s awesome and everything, but that picture they included with the story is so awkwardly timed that it looks like how I would look trying to punt the football.

VFLs

Alvin Kamara’s new teammates in New Orleans are saying nice things about him, and Josh Dobbs is literally hitting home runs in Pittsburgh:

https://twitter.com/josh_dobbs1/status/876963169469640704

Hoops

Transfer guard James Daniel III should be ready to go by August, but in the meantime, the scoring machine is salivating while watching the Pilot Rocky Top League.

Other Vols news

Tennessee track sensation Christian Coleman, who recently announced that he was going pro, has published a letter to Vols fans. Also, the USTFCCCA (seriously, they are in desperate need of a new acronym) has given Jared Prescott — Tennessee’s media relations contact for track — its 2017 Division I Track & Field Excellence in Communications Award. Maybe he’s the only guy who could memorize the acronym, I don’t know.

We reported this earlier, but it’s now official: Vols baseball has hired former Oklahoma State head coach Frank Anderson as its new pitching coach.

Golfer Lorenzo Scalise is tied for 58th after Monday’s opening round of the 122nd Amateur Championship at Prince’s Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, England.

That’s it for today. Go Vols!