The punter with the greatest punting name in the history of names commits to Tennessee

A punter with a very Tennessee name and a very appropriate name committed to the Volunteers out of the blue on Thursday, and he has a ranking worthy of excitement, no matter how unsexy a kicking commit is.

Skyler DeLong — that’s right, SKYler DeLONG, an awesome name for a kid who will earn his scholarship booming footballs — a punter from Nation Ford High School in Fort Mill, South Carolina, decided to become the 12th Tennessee pledge on Tuesday, and while he told GoVols247’s Ryan Callahan that he was firmly committed, he is still visiting Alabama this weekend and drawing interest from instate Clemson, too.

Sounds like the Vols are going to have to work to keep him. Even so, DeLong sounds like he’s excited to be a Vol.

“Hopefully I’ll be getting (an offer from) N.C. State, but I think I’m totally done with my recruiting and just ready to be part of Tennessee football,” said DeLong, who’s also ranked the nation’s No. 3 punter in the 2018 class by Kohl’s Professional Camps and the nation’s No. 2 punter by Chris Sailer Kicking, according to the article from Callahan.

“There’s probably, like, 15 to 17 schools, but I just told them, ‘Yeah, I’m done with my recruiting. Tennessee is where I want to be, but I thank you so much for recruiting me,’ and stuff like that.”

The kid is the nation’s top-ranked punter, according to 247Sports, and he averaged 48 yards per punt a season ago. If UT hangs onto him, DeLong has the potential to be a huge pickup, especially considering star punter Trevor Daniel is a senior who is out of eligibility following the 2017 season.

That means there’s opportunity for DeLong to step right in and be UT’s punter from Day One.

The punter’s pledge was met with excitement from some Vols assistants.

https://twitter.com/UTWWells/status/870363758740332544

https://twitter.com/coachcanales/status/870364578068213760

If you follow those two on Twitter, they’ve got some pretty hilarious reactions to pledges.

Also, while there hasn’t been any mention in the articles about it, the punter shares a common last name with a couple of Tennessee legends. Steve and Keith DeLong were All-American Volunteers, and those who follow UT closely knows that’s a name that is up there with Majors, Colquitts and others in the history books. So, even though Skyler isn’t likely a relative of the duo, it’s still pretty cool that he shares a common (uncommon) last name.

One of the most underrated facets of football is field position, and it cannot be overstated just how much of a weapon Daniel has been for the Vols the past couple of years and how vital it is to the health of the program to continue that by getting a strong-legged punter with which to replace him.

It seems the Vols have the guy they think is the answer in DeLong. He may not be the most exciting of UT’s commitments thus far in the 2018 class, but he very well may be one of the most important.

Gameday Today: Kum ba yah, giving Butch Jones the benefit of the doubt

Swords are beaten back into plowshares as people start to give irrepressible optimist Butch Jones the benefit of the doubt, John Adams remains confused, and Tennessee goes all in with Nike and experiments with parking passes. All that, plus hoops news and speedster Christian Coleman in Gameday Today.

And then everyone puts down their pitchforks

So yesterday, it was all outrage all the time, but today, everyone seems to have taken their happy pills. CBS’ Dennis Dodd makes the case that can only be made by an outsider, that Butch Jones is actually underrated. If you read only one thing today, read that.

But wait! There’s more! All for Tennessee says that Jones was actually right when he said that the Vols have competed for championships. And even Dave Hooker has come to the conclusion that Jones is just an irrepressible optimist, and isn’t that what you want in a head coach anyway, even if it makes fans roll their eyes?

Football

In other football news, Brad makes his projections for the Tennessee offensive line this fall. I’m with him mostly, but I think Coleman Thomas will start at center and that Jashon Robertson will go back to left guard, meaning the tackle spots are a three-way competition between Brett Kendrick, Drew Richmond, and Trey Smith. If I’m right, Brad’s shaving his head.

John Adams is confused about Tennessee’s preseason rankings. He has valid points, but it’s pretty easy pickings. They are preseason rankings, and nobody knows anything, so inconsistencies aren’t exactly smoking guns.

Dave Hart apparently extended (and improved, they say) Tennessee’s contract with Nike before he left. So the Vols will be with the swoosh through the end of the 2025-26 season. I’ve typed three things here and am settling on, “No comment.”

And Tennessee is experimenting with a new way for season ticket holders to get their parking passes and assignments. Haven’t tried it yet, myself, but okay. What they really need to do is figure out how to teleport me from the Tri Cities into section XX5 with a short stop at Strawberry Plains, because that would be lovely.

Basketball

New hoops players Zach Kent and Derrick Walker have arrived on campus, and Chris Darrington and James Daniel III plan to get here this week still. Yves Pons won’t show up until later, as he’s playing for France in the FIBA national team tournament.

Also, the SEC has announced conference opponents for the upcoming season. The Vols will play Georgia, Kentucky, Ole Miss, South Carolina, and Vanderbilt both home and away. In addition, they’ll play Auburn, Florida, LSU, and Texas A&M at home and Arkansas, Mississippi State, and Missouri away.

The TFP has an interesting article on former Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin, who did a good job of honestly answering questions about his time at Tennessee while also being diplomatic about it. 

Miscellaneous other fun stuff

Vols track and field phenom Christian Coleman has been named the SEC Outdoor Runner of the Year. Not surprising for a guy who hasn’t lost a race yet this season. And be sure not to miss Mike Griffith’s excellent extended feature on Coleman at SEC Country.

Uh-oh. Peyton Manning is playing golf with Urban Meyer. Your pitchfork is leaning up against the wall in the corner.

Behind the paywalls

Looking for a reason to splurge for a subscription to 247 Sports? Here are two:

 

Post-Spring Projections: Tennessee Offensive Line

Let’s continue the series with a look at the Tennessee offensive line depth chart exiting spring with a prediction of what to expect this September.

Spring practice — like most all the springs before of the Butch Jones era — didn’t tell us much. But after what we saw and read, we can make some prognostications about what we may see, or at least expect to see, once fall practice starts. So, over the course of the next couple of weeks, I’m going to break down position-by-position what we saw, what we read and what I’ve heard about to project who’s gonna play where come opening weekend against Georgia Tech.

We’ll continue this series with our look at the offensive line

OFFENSIVE LINE

The addition of Walt Wells inserted into the coaching equation for the Vols replacing Don Mahoney already has paid massive dividends on the recruiting trail. But just how far the offensive line can take Tennessee may wind up being the difference in how long this coaching regime lasts in Knoxville.

It’s that big of a deal.

Everybody wants to talk about the quarterback battle — and rightfully so — but the bottom line is UT must have MUCH better offensive line play than it has experienced in the Butch Jones era in order to be successful offensively in the post-Joshua Dobbs era. After all, the former UT dual-threat quarterback oftentimes made up for mistakes up front. That won’t be the case if Quinten Dormady wins the job because he’s more of a traditional drop-back passer, and it may not happen if Jarrett Guarantano and his inexperience win the job, either.

That’s why the Tennessee offensive line, which jokes about spending life in the shadows on social media, needs to step onto center stage in 2017.

This spring showed glimpses of reasons to be excited as UT blends a ton of talent with a wealth of experience. It may not even be out of the realm of possibility to see an upperclassman redshirt to provide depth down the road. Tennessee’s potential up front is that strong. But potential and production, as 2016 proved in every area of the Vols, are two different things. UT has a stable of versatile linemen, so where they wind up is anybody’s guess. But where’s the fun in that? Let’s take a guess at where they’ll fall when everything sorts itself out.

Left tackle

Starting at the all-important left tackle position, the job is redshirt sophomore Drew Richmond’s to lose. The former highly touted recruit suffered an up-and-down season in ’16, but he did show some signs of being the player everybody expected coming out of high school in Memphis. With an offseason in Rock Gullickson’s strength & conditioning program, Richmond could take the next step forward. Richmond has a bright future, and he seems poised to take a big step forward after a strong spring. Look for him to beat out redshirt senior Brett Kendrick for the starting job, but Kendrick is a Swiss Army knife type of player who can (and will) help at a variety of positions. If Richmond falters for any reason, Kendrick should step right in, and it would be unwise to count out the fifth-year senior. Again, he’s a guy the Vols would love to have for another season, so his last year on Rocky Top could be spent helping out everywhere. Still, this looks like Richmond’s job to lose after this spring. Don’t sleep on Marcus Tatum getting a shot at this job if Richmond falters and Kendrick is entrenched at the other tackle spot. But it would be great to get Tatum a redshirt season.

Left guard

At left guard, Kendrick could definitely find a home there, and it would be a viable option for Tennessee if the Vols viewed him as one of the five best linemen, which he certainly was during the spring. This is a position that is as up-in-the-air as any on the team, and that’s not a bad thing. With Jashon Robertson working mostly at center this spring (and looking great doing it) Kendrick may be the guy who slots in here. But I’m going with a bit of a surprise and going with the spring stud, true freshman Trey Smith. The former 5-star prospect and ESPN.com’s top-ranked overall player in the country is almost certainly going to start somewhere. He’s that good. While he’ll get all kinds of looks at right tackle, it may be best for him to start out on the interior where mistakes may not be quite so glaring. Smith is going to be a monster and a Vol great — it’s evident he has the chops to do it — and while his long-term projection is at tackle, he may work his way into the rotation right away at guard.

Center

For the past two years, UT has played Coleman Thomas most of the time at center, but after a rough junior season and an emergency appendectomy this spring, it left the door open for somebody to take over. In a bit of a surprise, veteran Jashon Robertson was that guy, stepping in and looking like a natural. It may be the position where Robertson plays on the next level, and if the Vols and Wells are truly going to go with the five best players, it’s going to be impossible to keep him off the field. The senior from Montgomery Bell Academy will be a starter either at one of the guard spots or at center. The guess here is he slots inside snapping the ball, and UT either plays Thomas behind him or tries to get a redshirt year out of the senior so he can be the man at the position next year once Robertson leaves. That’s a pie-in-the-sky situation that probably won’t come to fruition. But Thomas would easily be the sixth offensive lineman in this scenario, and he’d play a lot regardless. 

Right guard

At right guard, this looks like a two-man battle between junior Jack Jones and redshirt sophomore Venzell Boulware. Both of those guys are going to start for the Vols in the future, and one of them will win the battle this year. Boulware may be the most talented interior lineman UT has (with the exception of Smith, who is best-suited for tackle). But Jones is a technician with a mean streak and tons of strength. Rather than go home for mini-term, he stuck in Knoxville to get some extra reps with Gullickson, sensing this may be his year to make a major move. Look for it to pay major dividends for the Vols and for himself as he beats Boulware out for the gig. But Venzell is uber-talented, and he’ll start at least a couple of games somewhere this year. That’s the good thing about UT’s offensive line: there are a lot of players who can play a lot of spots and play them well.

Right tackle

Finally, at right tackle, it’s anybody’s guess who’ll step in. But if we’re going to play Smith on the inside, that means Kendrick will fit in here as the starter. Why? Because Kendrick has played the position before, and he’s a veteran with a ton of experience. So, you put him there where he’s comfortable and play Smith on the inside right away. Of course, the Vols may decide Smith has to play tackle, in which case, Kendrick could play at guard where he’s worked in practice during his career but never in a game. In case you haven’t noticed by now, the options UT has are limitless.

The depth

So, that leaves the other guys, and there is no shortage of talent. First, there’s Chance Hall, who simply hasn’t been able to stay fully healthy since a promising freshman season. If Hall regains the talent, strength and consistency that made him a young force, he’s a guy who could bust the starting lineup wide-open. There’s no reason to give up on a talent like him yet, and Hall has a lot of football left to be played in Knoxville. Surely, some of that is going to be in the starting rotation. Another viable option who could really benefit from a redshirt year after playing as a true freshman a season ago is Marcus Tatum. The Florida product in no way looked out-of-place as a fill-in tackle a season ago despite being woefully undersized. If the Vols can get away with redshirting him this season, he may wind up being a multi-year starter in the future. He’s a guy a lot of top-notch teams wanted in the recruiting process, and he’s a high-upside player who essentially wasted a season a year ago that he needs to get back.

Others who can work their way into the rotation but are currently on the outside looking in for playing time are redshirt freshman Ryan Johnson from Brentwood who is 6’6″, 275 pounds and looks like a prototypical tackle prospect in the future. Of course, that means he probably will play guard. Tennessee doesn’t always play guys where they’re expected to go, and with so many tackle bodies on the exterior of the line, Johnson may have a quicker path to playing time inside. Nathan Niehaus filled out his thin frame nicely during his redshirt year, putting on some 40 pounds, and he’s now 6’6″, 295 pounds. The great thing about the Cincinnati tackle prospect is the Vols can bring him along slowly because they don’t need him right now. He’s somebody who could get some seasoning, strength and work his way into the rotation this year or next. Devante Brooks moved over from tight end after two bad knee injuries kept him from having the athleticism necessary to catch balls in the SEC, and though he’s currently just 255 pounds, he’s an intriguing prospect who may wind up being a worthwhile project as a tackle. Finally, freshman Riley Locklear was the staff’s top-rated center prospect in the 2017 recruiting class, and the Vols are thrilled to have the West Virginia product in the fray. He’s a guy who could take over snapping the ball once Robertson and Thomas are gone.

Prediction

LT – Drew Richmond, Brett Kendrick, Marcus Tatum, Nathan Niehaus
LG – Trey Smith, Jashon Robertson, Ryan Johnson
C – Jashon Robertson, Coleman Thomas, Riley Locklear
RG – Jack Jones, Venzell Boulware, Ryan Johnson
RT – Brett Kendrick, Chance Hall, Trey Smith, Devante Brooks

** NOTE: Coleman Thomas can play guard or tackle, too.

Gameday Today: ALL THE OUTRAGE OF THE DAY IN A SINGLE POST

Gameday Today rounds up the outrage of the day, including Butch Jones believing he’s making progress, Josh Dobbs wearing the colors of his new home, Vegas believing in Kentucky, and declining to cut off our South Florida nose to spite Lane Kiffin’s face.

Outrageous!

The SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Florida are underway, and so reporters are asking questions and coaches are opening their mouths and saying stuff that makes people MAD ONLINE:

“It’s a journey and it’s a process,” Butch Jones told reporters Tuesday. “I’m very, very grateful to all the players and staff that have really brought Tennessee football back. We still have so much to do, and it’s all about winning championships. But the first element that goes into winning championships is contending to win championships on a consistent basis, and our program has done that.”

The man said that we’ve taken a step, and OH THE HORROR AND OUTRAGE OF AGGRIEVED TWITTERERS! 

And the fire’s just beginning to burn. Because lo, Josh Dobbs is wearing a Penguins jersey! And the Tennessee-Kentucky line is a pick ’em! (This according to a motel in Vegas that apparently can’t afford a PDF scanner.) And Butch Jones has the audacity to believe that attending a Lane Kiffin satellite camp in South Florida isn’t awkward! I could spit!

I am OUTRAGED! INCENSED! MORTIFIED BY WORDS AND LAUNDRY AND STUFF! Mike Griffith, sir, why aren’t you mad? Do you hate America?

Football

Twenty-one members of the 2017 class reported to campus yesterday. With the five guys who enrolled in the spring and graduate transfer Shaq Wiggins also on campus and set to enroll Thursday, that leaves only receivers Jacquez Jones and Jordan Murphy on a delayed schedule. The team meets today and starts work with strength and conditioning coach Rock Gullickson tomorrow. Power up, boys!

Josh Smith and Todd Kelly Jr are having a workout party at D1 Sports Training and YOU’RE INVITED! You’ll have to have one of those Instagram thingies, though, because that article doesn’t say when or where, and you’ll have to track Smith and Kelly down by stalking them online.

Class of 2019 4-star receiver Kendrell Scurry has de-committed from Tennessee, and as far as I can tell, no one has used the word “scurry” to describe it, which is a terrible shame and a dereliction of duty for journalists and bloggers everywhere.

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Miscellaneous fun stuff

Tennessee athletic director John Currie will continue to explore neutral-site games. I’ve loved those games against Oklahoma and Virginia Tech, but I do wonder whether ramping up your non-conference slate might somehow be making it more difficult to win the SEC East. 

Butch Jones is hinting that there are some shenanigans going on behind the curtain when it comes to graduate transfers. He’s all for letting graduates transfer with eligibility remaining, but thinks the NCAA and the conferences need to be careful about how they go about allowing it. That sounds reasonable, but I’m sure that we can find something outrageous if we look long enough.

CBS has ranked the SEC by difficulty of schedule and slotted Tennessee as having the third-easiest slate of the entire conference. Hey, I’m on record as loving where the bye week is this year, but it hardly makes up for drawing both Alabama and LSU from the West.

Tennessee-Florida is set for 3:30 p.m. on CBS, as it should be.

We’re no fans of slideshows, but we’re such fans of great moments against the Florida Gators that we will gladly click ten times for all the feels on this one.

 

Gameday Today: Settlement agreements, 71% off! Today only!

Gameday Today leads off with an offer nobody wants, but at a bigly discount. Also, talking about the season, Larry Scott’s contract, softball, and who is this Travis Kelce guy?

Football

Tennessee receiver Josh Smith’s roommate, Kennedy Foster, wants to file a $3M lawsuit against Smith for allegedly beating him up, but he’s reportedly offering a 71% discount if he can pay, like, today, man. Hurry! Offer expires soon! (Yes, this smells like the backseat of the Grumpy Old Men car to me.)

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You know it’s the summer doldrums when sites start asking questions like What if basketball was football? Lay it on me, I’m famished. (And the answer, of course, without having to wear out your mouse button clicking through the morsels, is that Tennessee would beat Iowa State on the football field.)

Wes Rucker identifies the two most important swing games for Tennessee’s 2017 season. Hint: They rhyme with Skullfrogs and Waiters. 

Tennessee offensive coordinator Larry Scott got a $280k salary increase and a contract extension when he was promoted from his position as tight ends coach. He’ll be making $650k for the next two years, and his contract runs out at the end of February, 2019. Typing that out makes me wonder. When was the last time a college coach’s contract simply expired at the end of its term?

Tight end commitment Jacob Warren recently told The Swain Event that he wants to model his game after Travis Kelce. Who is this Travis Kelce, you ask? He’s a tight end (duh, I know) for the Kansas City Chiefs and was first-team All-Pro last season. But what’s the connection? Kelce played for Butch Jones at Cincinnati from 2010-12, and he was a third-round draft pick in 2013. So that’s why Jones has been whispering his name into Warren’s ear. Me, I’d shout “JASON WITTEN!”, but I don’t know either of them personally, so volume and brand awareness is all I have.

Softball

Tennessee lost its last two games against Texas A&M and came up just one win shy of making the Women’s College World Series. Mike Griffith puts it all in perspective, saying the team overachieved this season and is poised for something special in the immediate future.

 

 

Gameday Today: Vols Tight Ends and the Ninja Persuader Dad Power

Football

Who knew that promoting your tight ends coach to offensive coordinator would ignite a sudden interest in the tight end position? Seriously, I go on vacation for a week and suddenly everyone’s talking about tight ends. The current roster is looking pretty good, as is the incoming crop of tight end recruits, including local guy Jacob Warren, who sounds like a mature young man who’s made a careful and considered choice to follow in his father’s footsteps by playing at Tennessee, all without any undue pressure from his father. More likely, his dad has unlocked the Ninja Persuader Dad Power that steers your kids in the right direction without them knowing it. Dad High Five.
 
Speaking of new recruits, the 2018 class, which is already looking good in May, could begin to look outstanding in June. And SEC Country has an interesting theory on how Tennessee has refined its recruiting pitch to in-state prospects, asking them to consider life back home after they’ve played for a rival out-of-state.
 
One of the guys who’s buying in is kicker Brent Cimaglia, the nation’s No. 4 kicker in the 2017 class from Franklin, Tennessee, who’s ready to go, like right now.
 
We said this a lot in our magazine, but we’ll keep saying it because it’s true: Tennessee’s offensive line is experienced, deep, and talented. 
 
There is no easing in to the 2017 season, with Tennessee  a meager three-point favorite over Georgia Tech. I’ll take “meager favorite” over “underdog” any day, but three points is making for a nervous summer.
 
Butch Jones is extolling the virtues and early results of his new strength and conditioning coach Rock Gullickson while simultaneously playing the expectations game by telling us all not to expect the hire to reduce injuries this fall. Last year’s injuries, he says, were all in the “freak” category, and there was no pattern suggesting any correlation between the injuries and last year’s strength and conditioning program. Which, of course, begs the question: Why the change then, coach? Expect someone at the upcoming Big Orange Caravan to ask. And then expect to hear Jones say the exact same thing with no new information. But there’ll be food.

Softball

The No. 8 Tennessee softball team beat No. 9 Texas A&M last night 8-1 and is one win away from advancing to the Women’s College World Series. They can clinch their spot with another win against the Aggies tonight at 5:00. ESPN2 has the broadcast.
 

Basketball

Rocky Top Talk looks at the incoming class of basketball recruits and predicts that they’re going to be a fun group to watch.

Miscellaneous fun stuff

 
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Tennessee Continues to Churn Out Tight Ends in Recruiting

Though none of them have made a single play for the Tennessee Volunteers yet, head coach Butch Jones has found a tight end from within state borders for the third year in a row.

On Wednesday, the Vols got a much-needed and long-expected pledge from Farragut tight end Jacob Warren, a legacy whose father, James, was an offensive lineman for UT not that long ago. The athletic pass-catching weapon will need to put on 30-35 pounds and will probably benefit from a redshirt season, but he is an ideal, big-bodied athlete who has the frame to develop into a mismatch nightmare.

Now, it’s just a matter of whether Warren or either of the other two Volunteer State tight end prospects on the roster can emerge into the much-needed weapon at the position that UT needs. With former tight ends coach Larry Scott now calling the shots as the offensive coordinator, that is an exciting potential twist in the offense that could start with the emergence of senior Ethan Wolf in 2017.

If he follows through with his commitment and signs with Tennessee, Warren will join incoming freshman LaTrell Bumphus (Hardin County) and redshirt sophomore Austin Pope (Christian Academy of Knoxville) on the roster. All three were highly recruited, though none of them were 4-star prospects.

Bumphus will get his first shot on offense though teams such as Alabama, Auburn, Florida and others wanted him as a defensive end. If he flames out on that side of the ball, Bumphus could really provide a boost to the Vols off the edge on defense at a major position of need. Pope looks the part from an athleticism standpoint but needs to live in Rock Gullickson’s weight room and get stronger.

Then there’s Warren, who is 6’6″, 211 pounds and built like a receiver. However, with that massive frame, there’s nothing not to like about a prospect who could dazzle with his speed and upside at 250 pounds and has plenty of time and players in front of him to develop at his own pace. Teams such as Auburn, Oregon, Duke, Louisville, Oklahoma State and others wanted Warren; especially the Ducks where he took a visit.

In the end, he elected to stay home and follow in his father’s footsteps. Everywhere he went, he told GoVols247’s Ryan Callahan he compared it to home.

“When I went to Oregon or Duke or whatever, it was kind of like, ‘Is this place going to be able to take me away from my home and away from Tennessee and everything?’” Warren said. “When I got to all my visits, none of those schools really drew me away from Tennessee. I guess Tennessee was always in the back of my mind when I went there. I was always kind of comparing them to Tennessee, so I guess none of those schools really stood out more to me than Tennessee did.”

That’s the kind of words you want to hear from a legacy, and Jones has thrived at signing those guys in his Tennessee tenure.

In a year where it looks like Jones is going to clean up instate, the Vols have added a bunch of East Tennessee flavor they hope will help the program take the big leap into the SEC Championship Game. The other two locals are 5-star offensive tackle Cade Mays and 3-star center Ollie Lane. Toss in 4-star Chattanooga [Baylor] safety Brendon Harris and ease on over into the eastern half of Middle Tennessee where stud receiver Alontae Taylor resides, and you’ve got a pretty good cadre of local boys prepared to play for the orange and white.

Warren isn’t a guy who’s going to wow you in the rankings, but he’s a player who is going to look like a great pickup a couple of years and 40 pounds from now. The Vols desperately need one or two of these instate tight ends to hit and become weapons for the future quarterbacks.

The Vols 2018 Class is looking good, and could get even better in June

As June rapidly approaches, the Vols are in a situation not seen since the 2014 class that featured early commitments from studs like Todd Kelly Jr and Jalen Hurd: A highly-ranked class featuring not just a large collection of commitments, but a commitment list jampacked with studs from top to bottom AND two bigtime QB commits to boot.  And while the Vols have dominated instate recruiting so far, there are still more than a half-dozen instate prospects who the Vols are pushing hard and are in good position for (more on that below).

And with all of the momentum the Vols have on the trail right now, the relatively newly important month of June holds the promise of more message board booms.  In back-to-back-to-back weeks, June will feature two instate satellite camps, one in Nashville in one in Memphis, as well as the featured event of the offseason, Orange Carpet Day in Knoxville. It’s no secret that the MIdstate has and continues to be a growing area in terms of high level football talent, and Memphis (and nearby Mississippi) appears to be getting more attention from this staff of late with the 2018-2020 classes.  And Orange Carpet Day has been a source of summertime commitments every year since Butch created it.  Obviously last year was an anomaly in terms of the sheer volume of commitments (not to mention the fact that the majority of those didn’t end up signing with UT in the end), but it’s reasonable to expect some action that weekend.

While we haven’t seen attendee lists for the two camps, below are uncommitted prospects with Vol offers in the respective areas.  The sheer number boggles the mind for those who have followed instate recruiting for more than 3-4 years:

June 4th Satellite Camp – Nashville

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2018

  • RB Master Teague
  • DL D’Andre Litaker
  • OL Taylor Antonutti
  • WR Camron Johnson
  • CB Jaylon King

2019

  • OL Jackson Lampley
  • DL Joe Anderson
  • DL Ani Izuchukwu
  • WR Lance Wilhoitte
  • WR Trey Knox
  • DB Wesley Walker
  • DB Jashon Watkins

2020

  • DL Tyler Baron

June 11th Satellite Camp – Memphis

2018

  • DL Greg Emerson
  • LB Cam Jones
  • OL Jerome Carvin
  • DB Rayshad Williams
  • ATH Kundarrius Taylor
  • DL Jordan Davis (Bama commit)
  • WR CJ Bolar (MS)
  • DB Jeshaun Jones (MS)

2019

  • DL Kristian Williams
  • DL Trevis Hopper

2020

  • WR Darrin Turner

June 17th Orange Carpet Day

While the attendee list for Orange Carpet Day is similarly unclear at this point, based on history and the high volume of instate prospects who have UT high on their lists, one can expect a very impressive number of blue-chip prospects to be there.  Staying with the instate theme, the Vols have a real chance to build momentum with a bunch of kids heading into Orange Carpet Day at the camps held the prior two weeks and then potentially seal the deal with some of them when they are in Knoxville.

So far, commits Adrian Martinez and Jatavious Harris have said they will be there, along with CB prospects Rayshad Williams and Jaycee Horn.  I wouldn’t be shocked if most of the rest of the current commitments are also there.  Again, I don’t expect the kind of fireworks we saw at last year’s event, as not only is this class already at 10 high-level commitments but also the staff has shown at least so far this cycle they are willing to be pickier about who they take.  That said, a commitment or two that day wouldn’t be surprising in the least.

Finally, the staff will be holding camps on campus throughout the month and will likely bring in many more offered prospects for those while at the same time identifying others to offer. Happens every year.

In addition to what one could reasonably assume to be some guys pulling the trigger based on these camps and the Orange Carpet Day event, there are a handful of prospects that UT appears to lead for who have indicated that June commitments could be coming, including the aforementioned Litaker as well as Knoxville area TE Jacob Warren.  So while a Vols fan has to be feeling incredibly good about where the Class of 2018 sits heading into the last week of May, chances are things will be much better when the month of June closes.

Post-Spring Projections: Tennessee Tight Ends

Let’s continue the series with a look at the Tennessee tight ends depth chart exiting spring with a prediction of what to expect this September.

Spring practice — like most all the springs before of the Butch Jones era — didn’t tell us much. But after what we saw and read, we can make some prognostications about what we may see, or at least expect to see, once fall practice starts. So, over the course of the next couple of weeks, I’m going to break down position-by-position what we saw, what we read and what I’ve heard about to project who’s gonna play where come opening weekend against Georgia Tech.

We’ll continue this series with our look at the Tight Ends.

TIGHT ENDS

Back when Butch Jones took over at Tennessee, one thing that we all expected from the jump was that the tight end would be a huge part of the offense. In my mind, I saw an NFL-style scheme with players catching the football, blocking the edge and the offense centering around dynamic mismatches like Jones had with Travis Kelce at Cincinnati.

His tenure thus far at Tennessee has been anything but.

That’s why this group enters 2017 with so much untapped potential — and that includes senior Ethan Wolf, who looks like the ultimate player at the position but has yet to live up to the expectations many heaped on him four years ago when he stepped in at UT and got starting reps immediately. The tight end position was under-utilized with Joshua Dobbs at quarterback and Mike DeBord calling plays. Hopefully, all that changes with Larry Scott.

You’d think it would. After all, Scott was UT’s tight ends coach, and he understands the value in using the big man on the edge as a target for your quarterback. Either Quinten Dormady or Jarrett Guarantano would benefit from Wolf [or somebody else] emerging at the position.

It all starts with Wolf, a 6’6″ senior from Minster, Ohio, who was a huge coup for Jones four years ago, choosing the Vols over a bunch of impressive offers. After UT got him to commit, Alabama and others came calling, but Wolf stayed strong. While he’s enjoyed a stellar career, there haven’t been any glimpses of his idol, Jason Witten, in his play, and that’s what a lot of us hoped for when we saw him get immediate playing time.

In three years, he’s totaled 67 catches for 752 yards and just four touchdowns. That’s not even averaging two catches per game. It’s hard to say that’s disappointing, but it isn’t up to Wolf’s capability. For UT’s offense to be better, he must be better. The promotion of Scott gave Wolf visions of what his role potentially could be in his final season on Rocky Top.

“I shot him a text to say congrats on the promotion and made a little joke about (getting) 10 targets a game or something like that,” Wolf told then-Chattanooga Times-Free Press and current GoVols247 reporter Patrick Brown during spring practice. “I was extremely happy for him, because he’s a guy that wants to succeed in everything that he does. He wants to get to the absolute pinnacle he can of his job

“He turned down the head coaching job at Miami to come here, and for him to be able to take that step up to the offensive coordinator, I think he’s going to succeed tremendously at it. We’re going to have a very explosive year this year offensively.”

If that’s going to happen, UT needs Wolf to be an all-around force at tight end, catching and blocking. Beyond him, it’s anybody’s guess who’ll fill the role for the Vols. Teams need more than one tight end, and if the Vols are to be multiple with different sets, they need able bodies. Last year, Jason Croom moved from wide receiver and did OK, but he’s gone to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills on a free agent contract. Now, the Vols have a handful of unproven commodities.

Starting with the other senior on the list, Jakob Johnson bounced around from linebacker to defensive end to tight end in his career, and the latter position seems to suit him OK. Though Johnson is never going to be a dynamic target, he is a good, physical blocker on the edge and could carve himself a role, especially in short-yardage situations.

After Devante Brooks moved over from tight end to offensive tackle, the Vols still have talent at receiving tight ends. Redshirt sophomore Eli Wolf is a walk-on brother of Ethan who could have a good year for UT, and redshirt freshman Austin Pope is a local product who had a lot of good offers out of Christian Academy of Knoxville. If he gets more physical this year, he could be the breakout player of the position. This spring, the younger Wolf got a lot of reps, and he will be a guy who gets on the field and makes some plays for the Vols in 2017. 

The biggest upside guys, though, are the youngsters. Pope is 6’4″, 230 pounds and extremely athletic, but he isn’t as physical as he needs to be yet to play the position. With an offseason in Rock Gullickson’s strength & conditioning program, he could really see his career take off. Though he won’t start the year as the second tight end, he’s a strong bet to seize that role as the season progresses.

UT also went out and signed two tight ends in the 2017 recruiting class that flew a bit under-the-radar. That starts with instate talent LaTrell Bumphus, a 6’4″, 240-pound athlete from Hardin County who was offered by schools such as Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Georgia as a weak-side defensive end. Though he may wind up playing on that side of the ball for the Vols, UT told him it would give him his first crack at tight end. If Bumphus could stick there, he’ll be an extremely impressive weapon for Scott to mold. The other player in the ’17 class taken by the Vols is James Brown, a 6’3″, 221-pound tight end from Jones High School in Orlando who had very few offers when UT pulled the trigger. His only other decent offers came from South Florida and Marshall, so if he hits, he’ll definitely be a diamond find for Robert Gillespie. The former high school quarterback is only now transitioning to the position and dealt with offseason labrum surgery.

According to VolQuest’s Jesse Simonton, Brown’s position switch led to a flurry of interest, however.

“[Brown] switched from quarterback to tight end midway through his senior season. He played just a handful of games at the position, recording 10 catches for 176 yards and four touchdowns. Following the release of a mini-highlight tape, Brown immediately heard from several SEC schools, including Tennessee, which ultimately offered him a scholarship late one Sunday night. About half an hour later, Brown called Scott back and committed on the spot.”

Also in that Brown article by Simonton, the player stressed Scott told him the Vols were going to use the tight end in the passing game, and he saw evidence of that in the spring game with a scoring strike to Wolf. “Before we got there, (Scott) kept on stressing to me, ‘We throw it to them. We throw it to the tight ends,’” Brown said. “Then when we got to the spring game, the tight ends caught touchdowns, so I was like, ‘Let’s go.’ I know how to catch. They’re not blocking. They’re receivers. They’re catching the football.”

The Vols need a lot of that when the season starts.

Prediction

First team: Ethan Wolf, Second Team: Eli Wolf, Third Team: Austin Pope. Jakob Johnson, LaTrell Bumphus, James Brown

What Brendon Harris’s Commitment Means for the Vols

A year after Tennessee head coach Butch Jones struggled to keep instate players at home, he’s racking up on the trail in the Volunteer State in the 2018 cycle.

That trend continued Friday with the pledge of 4-star Chattanooga [Baylor School] safety Brendon Harris, who is an elite defensive back coveted by top teams in the country such as Clemson, Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State. In the end, he cited “loyalty” as a reason for committing to the Vols.

https://twitter.com/harrisbrendon2/status/865600481913053185

Harris is 6’1″, 205 pounds and hits like a linebacker. He’s super-intelligent and is also fast and very good in coverage. On 247Sports, he’s the 151st-rated overall player in the country and in the top 70 on Rivals. Though he’s not quite a can’t-miss star, he’s close, and he comes from a program in Chattanooga that has been very good to the Vols in the past. His defensive coordinator with the Red Raiders is former UT great Eric Westmoreland.

Harris is the sixth pledge for the Vols from Tennessee in an ’18 class that is loaded within state borders, joining 5-star lineman Cade Mays, 4-star receiver Alontae Taylor, 4-star defensive tackle Brant Lawless, 3-star offensive lineman Ollie Lane and 3-star safety Shatar McClay. Major targets such as 4-star defensive end Greg Emerson, 4-star running back Master Teague, 4-star offensive lineman Jerome Carvin, 3-star tight end Jacob Warren and 3-star linebacker Cam Jones, among others, remain on the board. It could be a year where the Vols wind up with 12-14 Tennessee boys to fill out a class.

This is huge news for Jones, who obviously has pushed the right buttons repairing any rocky relationships with prospects with these new assistant coaching hires. Tommy Thigpen still has a presence instate, but the additions of Walt Wells and Charlton Warren are paying dividends. Harris developed a relationship with Warren that was big for the Vols. Though Clemson and Ohio State were pushing Harris hard, he is a Tennessee boy who wanted to play for his home state.

That’s the message Jones is selling, and kids are listening. Last year, that wasn’t the case. Thus far, the only Volunteer State prospects that Tennessee desperately wanted and haven’t landed are offensive lineman Max Wray (Ohio State) and 4-star defensive end Jordan Davis of Memphis. The Vols are still trying hard to flip Davis, and he’s visited Knoxville recently, despite being firm to the Crimson Tide. Though getting Teague over Georgia and Auburn may be a battle, UT is heavy favorites for its other top instate targets.

On the field, this is a major win for Warren, who needs to revamp the secondary. The Vols should be able to find some playmakers among rookies Shawn Shamburger, Cheyenne Labruzza and Terrell Bailey at cornerback from the ’17 class. Then, Maleik Gray is an elite safety prospect, and Theo Jackson looks like a safety all the way, too. Add Harris into the fray along with Gray, Jackson and rising sophomore Nigel Warrior, and Tennessee looks extremely athletic on the back end.

Maybe with Willie Martinez gone, those guys may actually develop. The Vols paid Warren big money to get him away from North Carolina, and are banking on that.

As for today’s pledge, Harris is massive on many different levels. Right now, Tennessee remains extremely hot in recruiting, even though it lost Jashaun Corbin earlier this week. The Vols have a lot of momentum, and they should keep it going.