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:
- Wide receiver Princeton Fant is coming to Tennessee largely because he literally dreamed about playing at Tennessee. Lots of other good stuff in there, too, including his mature reaction to Tennessee proposing a blueshirt for him.
- The team over there previews the Tennessee-Florida game and weighs in on who has the advantage over the other for each unit.