Tag Archives: Butch Jones

Gameday Today: Is Butch Jones immune to the legion of the miserable?

Butch Jones stiff arms the negative talk and keeps building an awesome class, a bunch of Tennessee baseball players get drafted, and VFLs just keep making us proud, all in today’s Vols link roundup.

Football

This headline from Gridiron Now makes a really interesting point: 

Tennessee recruiting booms despite Butch Jones speculation

You’d think that recruiting would be even more difficult when rumors begin to swirl about your imminent demise, but Jones is instead putting together one of his best classes. Chest bump to Jones for that. Maybe players just understand that relentless optimism better than fans do.

And yet Jones seems to be learning to season that optimism with a pinch of reality when talking to fans through the media. He’s “proud of [his] players, but not yet satisfied.” He says in one breath that Tennessee-Alabama is a “great, great rivalry,” but in the next that “we were very disappointed when we played them last year.” Basically, he’s still being himself but also learning to keep his foot out of his mouth.

There’s little danger in this statement, though, in which Jones says that he is pleased that his veterans are leading and his freshman are following.

Mike Griffith has an excellent feature on incoming running back Ty Chandler that you should go read now. Speaking of Mike, here he is saying interesting things on the SEC Network:

And again, GoVols247 entices you to bear the indignities of a 16-click slideshow by promising Vols football’s best moments against the Georgia Bulldogs. Yes, it’s a pain, but this one’s worth it. (You can also see the whole thing on one page if you are a subscriber.) 

Recruiting

Offensive line coach Walt Wells is up to No. 5 on 247Sports‘ recruiter rankings after landing the commitment of 4-star D’Andre Litaker. He’s third among SEC assistant coaches, and largely responsible for Tennessee’s 2018 class, which is currently ranked in the Top 10 and heading into Orange Carpet Day.

Speaking of which, GoVols247 has a list of five guys to watch this weekend ($$$).

New offers:

Baseball

The Atlanta Braves drafted Tennessee third baseman Jordan Rodgers in the sixth round on Tuesday. Pitchers Kyle Serrano (10th round, by the Houston Astros), Zach Warren (14th round, by the Philadelphia Phillies), and Hunter Martin (20th round, by Houston), and infielder Jeff Moberg (30th round, by the Colorado Rockies) were also drafted. Serrano, however, told Jimmy Hyams that he’s inclined to return to Tennessee rather than heading to the big leagues.

If you’re interested, SEC Sports has a list of all 75 players taken in the 2017 MLB Draft. Actually, they still have it even if you’re not interested, but you know what I mean.

The baseball Vols have also hired Frank Anderson as pitching coach.

Hoops

Five of the first six picks in the Pilot Rocky Top League draft were Vols. Guard Chris Darrington went No. 1 overall. Jordan Bowden went second, and Admiral Schofield went third. Grant Williams and Jordan Bone were fifth and sixth. Play begins Monday night at 6:00 at Knoxville Catholic High School. 

VFLs

Cam Sutton has signed his contract with the Steelers, and according to Spotrac, it’s worth $3,236,714. Love to see these guys so richly rewarded for their hard work.

Peyton Manning offered Lamar Jackson this advice after he won the Heisman Trophy:

“Peyton Manning told me that if you’re not having fun with it, always talk with your guys. Talk to the people around the program who can help you with stuff like that. You’ve got to always have a smile on your face. People are always watching.”

Eric Berry said that he has a very good reason to regularly give hungry people food:

“I don’t do it for the attention,” Berry said. “I don’t do none of this for the attention. I do it to better myself and give back. That’s what you should do it for.”

Other fun stuff

Another sports book has set the over/under for the Vols this fall at 7.5 games. So the money-where-your-mouth-is people are banking on 7-8 wins for Tennessee. 

The USTFCCCA, which wins the award for laziest acronym, named Vols junior Christian Coleman its National Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. Assistant coach Tim Hall earned National Men’s Assistant Coach of the Year.

Golfer Hunter Wolcott is tied for 13th after the first round of the Southeastern Amateur at the Country Club of Columbus.

Gameday Today: East Tennessee loves West Tennessee

The Big Orange Caravan shows some love to West Tennessee, a few of Butch Jones’ favorite things, a raise for an assistant coach, and a relief for a player, all in today’s Vols link roundup.

Football

The Big Orange Caravan hit Memphis yesterday, and more than 900 Vols fans showed up.

Butch Jones took the opportunity to reiterate that West Tennessee is important to the University of Tennessee:

“It’s very, very important,” Jones said. “This is the state of Tennessee. We’ve really made a concentrated effort to get into the Memphis area, and I think that shows in our recent recruiting. Then you look at our players from the Memphis area, they’re having great success right now, with Drew Richmond and obviously Trey Smith from Jackson.

“We’re very, very excited about this area. We’ve made a great commitment to recruit here and be very visible here, as well.”

Jones is also excited about his receiving corps this year, looking forward to Peyton Manning visiting campus sometime this week to spend some time with Quinten Dormady, Jarrett Guarantano, and Will McBride, and managing expectations about the Shy Tuttle’s return from injury (there’s “no timetable,” but Jones does expect him to be back by the season opener, which is great news.) Oh, and Jones has a picture of Jajuan Jennings’ “I-just-burned-Jalen-Tabor” touchdown against the Gators last season on the wall in his office.

Not sure why this is news, really, but athletic director John Currie says that he’s not talked with Butch Jones about his contract. He’s in the middle of it, and I’m not a huge fan of regular re-negotiations anyway, although I know it’s the way of the world these days.

Running backs coach Robert Gillespie got a $35,000 raise, and his now-$510,000 annual salary makes him the highest-paid non-coordinator assistant on the Vols staff. Related: ESPN put Tennessee running back John Kelly on a list of potential 1,000-yard rushers for this fall.

Not only have all criminal charges against Josh Smith been dropped, the threat of civil liability has been dropped as well. Good news. I don’t know the story, and we’ll probably never know, but the whole thing just looked like a molehill.

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Recruiting

Latest offers:

 

 

Gameday Today: Eric Berry makes everything better

The legend of VFL Eric Berry continues to grow, a prospect turns the table on Tennessee, and we’re beginning to feel better about the secondary, all in today’s Vols link roundup.

Eric Berry just keeps leveling up in Awesome

My favorite NFL team – Eric Berry – is apparently still engaged in the continuous improvement of his Awesome game, getting to-go food at a Knoxville restaurant while he was in town for the purpose of giving it to some homeless people on his way out. He also reportedly stopped and prayed with them. All of this without any cameras or public relations folks following him around. It’s just Eric Berry living his life, and no one but the people involved would have known if it hadn’t been captured by a random Facebooker:

Recruiting

As Brad posted yesterday, the Vols landed a commitment from top-shelf Class of 2020 running back Miles Friday. The 247Sports follow-up article includes a quote from Friday that makes it sound like he was recruiting Tennessee:

“It’s always been a school that I’ve really looked into and could see myself going to at a young age,” said Friday, who’s expected to be one of the top prospects from Georgia in the 2020 class. “It was a few schools I was basically waiting for — them, LSU — but Tennessee was really just the one I really, really wanted. And when I got it, I was ecstatic.

“They looked at me for a while, since my eighth-grade year. But they were like, ‘You’re too young,’ and stuff. And I just kept pushing. I kept going over there, and every time I’d see the coaches, I would just push for them.

“And when they finally did it, I was just like, ‘It’s time.’”

There were more offers yesterday, too:

Football

Brad also weighed in on his projections for the Tennessee secondary yesterday. And we’re adding this bit from 247Sports to our list of reasons to be excited for this season:

The quartet of seniors Todd Kelly Jr. and Evan Berry, junior Micah Abernathy and sophomore Nigel Warrior recorded a combined 25 starts last season alone, and there’s talent to go along with their experience, as all four are former four-star prospects according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

I’ll keep saying it: Folks are under-appreciating the talent that will take the field for the Vols this fall.

Hey, Tennessee offensive coordinator Larry Scott, how do you keep quarterbacks happy? Teach them about process and patience.

Hey, Lane Kiffin, what do you think about Butch Jones? 

“I think Coach [Butch Jones] has done a great job there,” Kiffin told Saturday Down South. “They really have had some tough breaks down the stretch. They started out really fast with some big wins and it seems like they are right there and need one break to get it done. … Injuries take their toll, especially as the season keeps going on. It’s a tough sport and that’s why it’s one of the hardest sports to maintain winning because of that factor and so many variables.”

Odds and Ends

Grant Williams!

https://twitter.com/Vol_Hoops/status/872904997670973441

UTSports has a roundup of what people who matter are saying about new baseball coach Tony Vitello.

Eight members of the Tennessee women’s golf program will play in 18 different tournaments over the summer.

 

 

Gameday Today: Sensible quotes on Rocky Top, but no plans for Dubai

Gameday Today is awestruck at all of the sensible things said on Rocky Top over the weekend and disappointed at news the Vols will not be playing in Dubai anytime soon. This and more in today’s Vols link roundup.

Football

So the Vols hire a public relations expert and suddenly everybody’s saying all of the right things.

Bob Shoop falls on his sword, taking responsibility first:

“[M]aybe [I] was a little bit stubborn right there . . . I really wanted to force-fit, this is my style of defense or whatever. I probably didn’t do a great job at times of tailoring things.”

But ending on a positive note:

“The bowl game was the one game we really put together that looked like my vision for the defense.”

And then he’s making music when talking about the linebacker position as well:

“Kirkland had a good spring,” Shoop said before Saturday’s Big Orange Caravan Stop at Chattanooga’s First Tennessee Pavilion. “He’s hopefully the Derek Barnett, the alpha male of the defense. He’s vocal. He’s a good leader. He’s good high football intelligence. He’s smart, tough, unselfish and he wants it. I think he’s a little bit like Kongbo and myself.

“I mean, I don’t think 2016 went the way Darrin Kirkland, Jonathan Kongbo and Bob Shoop wanted. We talk about that all the time, and Darrin’s got a chip on his shoulder and he’s really determined.”

Offensive coordinator Larry Scott also gets in on the action with this sensible tone-setter for the incoming guys:

“Let’s start by being on time and being where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there, and then making sure that when you’re there, you’re 100 percent locked in and you’ve giving the very best effort you have.”

Even new athletic director John Currie managed to deftly walk the narrow ledge in voicing his opinion about Butch Jones:

“I believe you look at what has been accomplished and where we stand today versus where we were four years ago,” Currie told GoVols247. “We’ve made incredible progress in our program — academically, athletically, talent, engagement. There’s no measure where we’re not better than we were four years ago.

“We want to win every single game. There are going to be some years, eventually, where we do win every single game. But we have to make sure that the fundamentals that are in place to continue to build towards those championships that we all want to win, we have to make sure that those fundamentals continue.

. . . .

“I’m very impressed with recruiting organization. I’m impressed with the energy. I’m impressed with creativity and thought.”

And coach Jones, well, he answered questions about the quarterback battle by saying nothing and keeping his feet far away from his mouth. One interesting note in that article is that Quinten Dormady is practicing with NFL quarterback Jeff Christensen and Jarrett Guarantano is practicing with George Whitfield Jr.

More good news

The defensive line is healing up quite nicely, thank you.

Shoop thinks that the late addition of graduate transfer Shaq Wiggins is going to make a big difference, and he’s excited about all of his options at linebacker.

Tennessee will be getting its new QBs (and its secondary) a little extra practice by allowing some 7-on-7 drills this summer.

Breaking news

The Vols will not be playing in Dubai.

Hoops

Rick Barnes thinks SEC basketball is ” probably in the best shape it’s been since back in the early 2000s.” John Fulkerson, though, is not yet back from injury.

Miscellaneous fun stuff

We’ve already been over oddsmaker Danny Sheridan saying that he thought Kentucky would beat Tennessee this fall, but this article from 247Sports orders the guy’s quotes in a way I found amusing. Paraphrased: “I was wrong last year. I can confidently say what’s going to happen this year.”

Class of 2020 Receiver Leonard Manuel has committed to Tennessee. Yeah, he’ll be a sophomore in high school this year.

There were nearly 1,000 people at the Big Orange Caravan in Chattanooga Saturday.

VFLs  Chad Clifton, Willie Gault, Haskel Stanback, Graham Vowell, and Al Wilson were all enshrined into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame Saturday.

Here’s a look at the new-look Big Orange Caravan:

 

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.

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:

 

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: Decommits have the worst, only-mostly-dead phones

Recruiting

So yeah, 3-star running back Jashaun Corbin decommitted from Tennessee. I have just two pieces of advice for you, young man, after seeing this:
 Corbin
Charge your phone and switch to Verizon.
But seriously, what do you do after a guy like that decommits? You figure out who else is on the board. And then you remind everyone about the 4-star quarterback we just got and how he could help woo a bunch of other players in his neck of the woods. And you also don’t give up on him.

Football

I roll my eyes every time I read a quote from Butch Jones with the phrase “talk about” in it. Dude loves to talk about talking about stuff. But I digress.
Jones is now talking about talking about team chemistry, which he believes they have now, and about his decision to promote Larry Scott to offensive coordinator:
“But in terms of the promotion, that was kind of a very, very easy choice. I was able to evaluate him for a full year and what he brought to the offensive staff in terms of the dynamics of really managing personalities, being part of his staff and also his input on game day, his input throughout the course of the week and his relationship with the players.”
That there’s pretty good spin. “I hired him after a grueling, year-long interview process” sounds much better than, “Well, he was standing right there when Mike left.”
(This is a joke. I’m digging Larry Scott.)

Big Orange Caravan

The BOC must be all vamped out, because Tennessee is revamping the thing this summer. It’s apparently going to supplement the “look and feel” of the “traditional caravan” (dust and camel dung?) with some “new, fan-friendly elements.”
Hmm. What could those fan-friendly elements be, you ask? Music. A prize wheel, whatever that is. Smokey will be there (the mascot costume, I’m guessing). A photo booth with a Neyland Stadium backdrop, cornhole, a social media station, free popcorn, face painting, and more. I’m hoping the “and more” includes funnel cake, because they’re only one step away from a full-on carnival, and who doesn’t love the carnival? The Big Orange Carnival. Somebody get the USPTO on the phone.
The first stop is at the First Tennessee Pavilion in Chattanooga on Saturday, June 3 from 12:30-2:30 Eastern Time. They then go to the Expo Center at Agricenter International/West Pavilion (most awkward name ever?) in Memphis on Sunday, June 11 from 6:00-8:00 Central Time. Then it’s off to Nashville, where they’ll take over The Barn at Sycamore Farms on Monday, July 10, also from 6:00-8:00 Central.
They are actually planning something for the Tri Cities, but they don’t have the details yet because we’re the black sheep of the state, apparently. They’ll probably decide to set up a card table in a Pal’s parking lot or something. Which, as long as Pal’s is within walking distance, I’m good.

Miscellaneous fun stuff

The Football Writers Association of America has awarded Tennessee’s athletic media relations staff the “Super 11” tag as one of the best FBS sports information departments last year. High five to them.
Our friends at GoVols247 are running an awesome special, and if you’re going to pay for Vols content, get Gameday on Rocky Top 2017 first, and then go save $100 on a year’s worth of GoVols247.

Gameday Today: Vols not resisting the sweat-talk

Football

 
Breaking News Flash: Butch Jones inherited an “absolute total mess” at Tennessee. Seriously, though, this is VFL Phillip Fulmer speaking truth, but doing so publicly, going on the record with his opinion that he thinks Jones is doing fine.
 
Vols’ defensive tackle Kendal Vickers is not making excuses for the defensive line this season, tight end Jakob Johnson is not taking his degree for granted, and new cornerback Terrell Bailey is not resisting his transition from sweet-talk to sweat-talk.
 
And finally, new quarterbacks coach Mike Canales is winning hearts and minds, giving up his seat on a flight so a mom could get home to see her kid play in his baseball game. The kid even hit a home run. So did Canales.
 
The new guy at Rocky Top Talk has made a list of the five defensive guys that are the most indispensable (and one for the offense as well), which looks quite reasonable.
 

Recruiting

 
Tennessee is in the running for Harold Joiner, the No. 3 running back in the Class of 2018, and Owen Pappoe, the No. 1 outside linebacker and No. 4 prospect overall in the Class of 2019. These would be big gets for a program on a bit of a roll lately.
 

Baseball

 
Sigh. Tennessee baseball got swept by Kentucky, moving the team to 26-22 overall and 7-18 in the SEC, which even hurts to type.
 

Miscellaneous fun stuff

 
Vols’ sprinter Christian Coleman won the 100-meter dash with one shoe untied behind his back. Or something like that. And Vols wide receiver commit Jatavious Harris won three Georgia state titles this weekend.

Gameday Today: Not a fan of Will Muschamp edition

Football

 
Tennessee freshman offensive tackle K’Rojhn Calbert is not a fan of the Muschamp culture at South Carolina. Sort of confirms most of what you thought a Muschamp locker room would be like, doesn’t it? Muschamp, though, does outrank Butch Jones in CBS’ list of the best coaches in college football. No. 52 doesn’t sound bad for Jones, but being ranked lower than Muschamp has to add a little salt to the sting. That’s what you get when you haven’t ever beaten the guy. Let’s fix that this fall, shall we?
 
And speaking of things to fix . . . Dave Hooker says that Vols defensive coordinator Bob Shoop needs to rebound this year. Yeah.
 
Things that don’t need fixing? Josh Dobbs, who is still winning hearts, participating in graduation activities and throwing his first pass for the Pittsburgh Steelers all within the same 24-hour span. 

Recruiting

The Twitter profile of 4-star defensive tackle Jaquaze Sorrells makes him look like a pretty solid commit to the Florida Gators, but that didn’t stop Tennessee from throwing their hat in the ring.
 

 

 Hoops

Little late to this party due to the magazine deadline, but . . . Vols guard Shembari Phillips is transferring. The Vols have also lost Kwe Parker, but they have signed JUCO All-American Chris Darrington and are trying to land James Daniel, a grad transfer from Howard. 

Baseball

 
Tennessee baseball . . . has a really good APR.