Tag Archives: Adrian Martinez

Gameday Today: Butch Jones, “classic over-explainer”

Gameday Today nods its head at the suggestion that Butch Jones is a “classic over-explainer,” loves new punters and old defensive ends, and wonders how many coaches will carry bullhorns on the sidelines this fall.

Butch Jones, Pitchforks, and Kum Ba Yah: An epilogue

Another national columnist weighs in, as USA Today’s Dan Wolken discusses Jones and his somewhat fragile relationship with a portion of the Tennessee fan base. Particularly interesting is Wolken’s suggestion that “you’re losing if you’re explaining, no matter how much you’re winning,” and his description of Jones as a “classic over-explainer.” It would seem that one of new athletic director John Currie’s main priorities is going to be managing “the disconnect between the real progress Tennessee has made under Jones and the toxic assessment of him that swirls around the social media sphere.” Well, that and deciding how best to undo the Lady Vols brand mess.

Local guy Mike Griffith says in a bit of a throwaway comment that UT is actively limiting access to Jones and encouraging less discussion about football, presumably as part of a strategy to give Jones the time he needs this fall to let his performance speak for itself.

In not unrelated news, Jones and his staff will be in Chattanooga this Saturday to attend the Big Orange Caravan, which has been remade into a “low-cost, family-friendly deal, where if your kid runs around a little bit, you don’t have to keep them quiet the whole time.” That sounds like more of a tailgate party than a star chamber for the head coach, and I’m all for it. As long as they actually make it to the Tri Cities.

Recruiting

Tennessee got a commitment yesterday from the nation’s top-ranked punter, Skyler DeLong. Tennessee’s class currently ranks ninth in the nation, according to 247Sports.

Congrats to Tennessee quarterback commit Adrian Martinez, who was recently named an Under Armour All-American.

Tennessee extended several new offers to recruits yesterday, including linebacker Caleb Kelly, defensive end/linebacker Andrew Johnson, Top 50 defensive end Nathan Pickering, and offensive lineman Harry Miller. 

VFLs

Congratulations to VFL Derek Barnett for signing a four-year contract with the Philadelphia Eagles. No word on the details yet, but Spotrac had projected it to be nearly $13M.

Miscellaneous fun stuff

SEC head of football officials Steve Shaw has apparently said (via quote on Twitter, thus the crazy grammar) that “coaches coming onto the field to argue calls will get automatic 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty.” Who’s your pick for the first coach to start carrying a bullhorn on the sideline?

Tennessee barely snuck in to the Sporting News’ Preseason Top 25, at the 25th spot. SEC East teams ahead of them are Georgia (No. 10) and Florida (No. 15). So, Tennessee just has to beat them, and they’ll be in the Top 10, no problem.

RTT suggests that the mere presence of Chip Kelly is going to give athletic directors all over the country itchy trigger fingers this fall. That’s probably right.

If you can’t wait for the new roster to be updated, 247Sports has a 28-click list of jersey numbers for the Vols’ newcomers.

Tennessee Vols land commitment from another 4-star recruit in quarterback Adrian Martinez

The Tennessee Vols just landed another huge commitment for the class of 2018, this one from 4-star quarterback Adrian Martinez, who 247Sports ranks as the nation’s seventh-best dual-threat quarterback in the class. Martinez had been committed to Cal up until a couple of weeks ago, but he started leaning orange after he visited Rocky Top. The distance from his home in Fresno, California, was a hurdle to overcome, but the lure of playing in the SEC and the fact that every game is televised was enough to overcome that drawback.

Martinez is also not phased by another potential drawback, that being the pending competition for the Vols quarterback position heading into this fall between Quinten Dormady and Jarrett Guarantano. Martinez acknowledged that dual-threat redshirt freshman Guarantano winning the job would not be ideal for Martinez, but he also said he’s comfortable with his decision even if that happens.

As a junior last season, Martinez threw for 2,561 yards and 25 touchdowns and ran for 1,462 yards and another 14 touchdowns. He’s excited about the flexibility of Tennessee’s offense, that it can take advantage of his skill set and also prepare him for the NFL. He plans to shut down his recruiting process, graduate early, and enroll at Tennessee in January.

Martinez had offers from 25 schools, including Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Oregon, plus a bunch of other schools closer to home.

The quarterback joins athlete Alontae Taylor and defensive tackle Brant Lawless as the 4-star prospects in Tennessee’s class of 2018 so far. The class is headlined by 5-star offensive tackle Cade Mays from Knoxville Catholic. 

Martinez’s commitment brings Tennessee to No. 8 in 247Sports’ team recruiting rankings. They currently have one 5-star, three 4-stars, and six 4-stars in the class.

It’s Raining Defensive Backs

Tennessee continued its recent hot streak on the recruiting trail Thursday with verbal pledges from a pair of cornerbacks.

First, 6’0″, 175-pound cornerback Adonis Otey of Blackman High School in Murfreesboro decided to get the recruiting process over with in a hurry, committing to the Vols over a slew of early offers. The 2019 class member gives UT its fourth pledge from two classes down the road already. All of them are rated 4-star prospects on either 247Sports or Rivals, and all four are from the state of Tennessee.

Though Otey isn’t rated yet by 247, he’s an early 4-star on Rivals and had early offers from Florida, LSU, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Louisville and others. He joins Independence High School receivers TJ Sheffield and Kendrell Scurry as well as Chattanooga (Notre Dame HS) athlete Cameron Wynn as ’19 pledges.

Then, the Vols received some more good news later in the day when Olive Branch, Mississippi, cornerback Jaylon Reed decided to end the recruiting process. He’s a member of the 2018 class and continues UT’s recent surge following Saturday’s Orange & White Game. In the past week, the Vols have commitments from running back Jashaun Corbin, receiver Jatavious Harris and quarterback Michael Penix.

Also, fifth-year graduate transfer cornerback Shaq Wiggins gave the Vols some massive news when he elected to play his final year in Knoxville after transferring from Louisville. He’s buddies with departed running back Alvin Kamara who helped recruit him at this past weekend’s spring game. Wiggins also considered South Carolina and Mississippi State, and he should provide UT some much-needed help at a position of need in 2017. He has a great chance to step right in and start.

Though the Vols have a lot of talent on the back end of the defense, this spring showed the secondary again as one of the team’s biggest worries. With Cameron Sutton headed to the NFL, the Vols need a rotation to step up among cornerbacks Justin Martin, Emmanuel Moseley, Marquill Osborne, D.J. Henderson, Baylen Buchanan and others. UT also has a trio of freshmen coming in with Shawn Shamburger, Cheyenne Labruzza and Terrell Bailey ready to step onto campus.

On top of the commits UT has enjoyed this past week, the Vols also received intriguing news that top quarterback target Adrian Martinez decommitted from California following his weekend visit to Knoxville. Though Martinez hasn’t pledged to UT yet, the Vols have to be seen as a frontrunner for his services.

As for Reed, the 6’1″, 170-pound defensive back had offers from Georgia, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Purdue, South Carolina, Vanderbilt and others. He’s blessed with good length and athleticism, and he appears to be a nice prospect. The Vols and new defensive backs coach Charlton Warren identified him as a top target and were excited for him to end the process.

It’s been a big week on the recruiting trail for the Vols, and it may not be finished with quarterbacks coach Mike Canales expected to visit Martinez in his California home this weekend.

Tennessee Focusing on the Future of its Quarterbacks Along with Present

Much of the talk around spring practice has centered on Tennessee’s quarterbacks battle as Quinten Dormady and Jarrett Guarantano vie to replace Joshua Dobbs as the Volunteers’ signal-caller of the future.

But just as intriguing of a storyline as camp comes to a close is who the Vols will tab as the quarterback in their 2018 recruiting class.

After swinging and missing on Hunter Johnson and other high-profile targets a season ago, UT settled on Will McBride, who chose the Vols following a late offer after he was all set to enroll mid-term with Memphis.

There hasn’t been that much talk about McBride this spring, as expected, because he’s probably swimming in learning all the vernacular and nuances that come from studying playbooks and making calls for a college team. No matter how good you are in high school, that learning curve is sharp for the vast majority of players. McBride may wind up being a star, but his thin offer sheet and limited experience make that a huge question mark.

So, with UT coach Butch Jones wanting to take a quarterback each year and considering there was a gamble taken at recruiting the position in the ’17 class, that makes this year’s quarterback prospect an important undertaking. With the Orange & White Game set to commence tomorrow, Tennessee is expected to host a few of its targets at the position.

With new quarterbacks coach Mike Canales now calling the shots, the “big board” at the position has changed. Would UT love to get back in on former top targets and Georgia prospects Emory Jones (Ohio State commit) and Justin Fields (Penn State commit) and become major players for those two? Most likely. They’ve got elite ceilings as dual-threat quarterbacks with big arms and fast feet. But as far as uncommitted prospects go, this week has been big for Tennessee’s future recruiting the offensive leader.

After hosting 4-star California signal-caller Brevin White earlier this week—a visit that put the Vols “high on the list” for the pledge of the player, according to 247Sports’ Ryan Callahan—UT will host several other prospects at the position this weekend.

Perhaps the most lauded of the bunch is 4-star California Bears commitment Adrian Martinez, who may just be at the top of UT’s current board that includes uncommitted players. Martinez is blessed with great arm strength, and he isn’t a statue in the pocket, either. He has seemed to be feeling the Vols since they extended an offer, and though other teams such as Alabama have swooped in with offers since then, Martinez is making the cross-country trip from Cali to visit Knoxville this weekend. Most importantly for UT, he isn’t going anywhere else. That means he’s coming to SEC Country and only taking in the Neyland Stadium atmosphere.

Considering all the turnover the Bears coaching staff has experienced over the past year, that can’t be a bad development for UT.

Martinez isn’t the only gunslinger coming to Knoxville from the West, either. Fresh off getting an offer from the Georgia Bulldogs, 3-star quarterback Cammon Cooper (of Utah) is also going to be in Knoxville. He’s more of a traditional dropback passer, but that may not be such a unique development. Ever since Larry Scott took over as offensive coordinator and Canales joined the fray as UT’s quarterbacks coach, the Vols seem more interested in pro-style passers than they were with the previous regime.

The Vols reportedly practiced more under center this spring after running out of the shotgun the vast majority of the time during Dobbs’ tenure under former offensive coordinator Mike DeBord. Does that signify a regime change? Not necessarily, especially if redshirt freshman Guarantano wins the job. But it also could prove that UT is going to be more diverse from a schematic standpoint under Scott, especially in short-yardage situations.

Still, if you want a dual-threat quarterback prospect to whet your appetite, Tennessee hosted several of them this spring, and the Vols are getting another visit this weekend from Michael Penix of Tampa Bay (Florida) Tech, who fits that mold. The 6’2″, 182-pounder is a player who 247Sports’ Crystal Ball believes will wind up in Knoxville. With Tennessee potentially taking two quarterbacks in this year’s class, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that he could pull the trigger for the Vols this weekend if he indeed is a take. He likes UT that much.

So, there hasn’t been that much movement on the recruiting front just yet, and everybody wants a quarterback around which to build your class. With so many prospects coming this weekend and with players at the position traditionally deciding to choose their schools early, could this be the weekend the Vols land a signal-caller for the 2018 class?

That remains to be seen. But it’s definitely something else to watch along with tomorrow’s Orange & White spring finale.