Basketball:
Braxton Bonds transfer? Chance for him to get on scholarship. Probably transfer to a smaller school. This is not new. The arrival of the spring signees open the door for him to go elsewhere.
How you feeling about the roster for Rick Barnes at this point? Needs work. Kyle Alexander has some promise down the road. He will have to play immediately. He will have to put on some weight. I do like his game. Turner kid at PG will have the ball right out of the gate. It’s going to be his. Question of this team is how are they going to score? How will they shoot the BB? When they needed a bucket last year they went with Josh Richardson. Can the JUCO kid do it? He is not a big scorer. He is a big body kids that bangs around. The ultimate question of this team is who will put the ball in the basket on a consistent basis.
What do the coaches ( Men and Women) think about the new rule changes? Women going to 4 quarters? Curious is what brought about the 4 qrt change. I have not talked to Holly yet. Rick is pleased with what’s going on with the shot clock. He liked that move. The TO situation no body is losing any TO’s. With the TV time outs you will get yours. Big proponent of the shot clock change. He would like to eliminate the 5 second rule with guys dribbling the BB. He thinks that too much work for the officials.
Football:
Benefit of Gruden being in town? Brings credibility. For us old farts we know him as a coach. For recruits the know him as the guy on Monday Night football. The QB camps on ESPN. It’s another set of eyes for the coaches. The thing you know about Jon Gruden is he may be your best friend but he will be critical of you. Because he is honest. That is what he is about. When Butch has him in he will sit on some offense meetings. Breaks down offensive stuff. Critical of what works and what doesn’t work. He will look at the defensive side. Particularly the secondary. He would tell them how he would try to exploit them. Butch went to Gruden’s QB camp down in Florida a few months ago. They use him as a resource. He likes coming around the program. No secret he has a like for TN. His son is a FR here. Another son camped here.
What was Gruden’s connection in helping recruit Dormady? Sherion Jones and Dormady came to camp last year at TN. Both got offers from TN out of the camp. Gruden liked both of them Jones committed to FL. Dormady and Gruden hit it off. Dormadys dad is a HS coach and he liked the harsh feedback. Quinton enjoyed his time with him. When he was back last weekend he spent some more time with him. Remember when Quinton came to town last year Bama just offered and so did KY. Nobody from Texas offered. He was an unknown. A guy that Jon Gruden really took a liking to.
Nathan Renfro chance of starting at punter? Brings competition. Trevor Daniels came out of Spring as my biggest surprise given the way he punted in the Fall. There will be good competition there. Renfro has experience at the collegiate level. Trevor seems to be settling in. It should be fun. Butch Jones has done a great job with kickers. Particularly the punters. When you look what he inherited. Palardy was pretty much shattered as a punter and PK. We saw what Palardy did his SR year. Then we moved on to Matt Darr. Darr was very valuable to TN his SR year.
McKenzie make it to campus? He is here. Working out. Going through the summer workouts with the rest of the team. Working with the Navy Seals. He is getting indoctrinate quickly in the summer workouts. The good news for McKenzie is that he arrived on campus around 330 lbs. Which is not way heavy. They will trim him up.
The Seals don’t drop them in the River? They do some water stuff in the pool. It’s a program a lot of programs use. The softball team has used it here. Find beneficial physically and mentally. Learning who your leaders are. Leadership and team bonding deal.
Leadership? Safe to say Josh Dobbs and Maggitt are the leaders? No question. Maggit has been a leader since last year. Dobbs has moved into that role. They will need some leadership from the offensive side of the ball. Who will that leader be from the OL. North has a chance to lead if he is healthy. It is hard to lead when you are not on the field. Ironically Pig Howard is a guy who is a little bit of a leader. A bit of an unknown leader. Alex Ellis has a lot of respect. Defensively with the addition of Maggitt you can throw Dereck Barnett in there. As Coach Jones has called him he is an “Old Soul”. Didn’t play like a freshman. Add in Cam Sutton as well. They are pretty established with 2 or 3 leaders on Defense. Offensively they probably need a little more.
What about the addition of Abernathy IV? Play some spot duty at RB. Will not get 15 to 20 carries. He can do some things at the slot spot. What is interesting is that this coaching staff has played with him before. This is a guy that the staff has used before to win games. Azanni knows a great deal about as well as Butch. Interesting to see how they carve a nitch for him. They are looking for play makers particularly outside. He can find a role as an hybrid guy like we thought Devrin Young would be but it never came about.
Pearson? When do you think he will be back? It will come to a close whenever the investigation comes to a close. If he is not charged with anything he will be back. He is not in summer school right now. He is registered for Fall classes. He is in good academic standings. He doesn’t have to go to summer school to be in good academic standing. Some students have gone home for mini term. They are finishing up the investigation with more interviews. Once all those interviews are complete there will be nothing more to investigate. The feeling remains optimistic that he will be back on the team.
Addition and subtraction in recruiting? Baily Phillips de-commits? Jeff George a JUCO WR commits? Phillips doesn’t surprise me. Size was a concern there. It was a surprise take when they took him early a year ago. Mutual parting of ways. This is a small class. I don’t think he brings his size to the table the way TN wanted. Speaking of size that is what Jeff George brings to the table. 6’5 ½ . Not fast but uses his size to an advantage. That is the one position in this class that TN is going for depth in. Go heavy numbers at the WR position even though this will be a small class. They got the Henderson kid who is a fast kid from down in Louisiana. They got a possession receiver in Jeff George. They want to close it with a big name receiver. Cooley kid from up in Michigan will make a decision soon. It’s between TN and Mich St. Mecole Ardeman is guy from GA that GA has come on strong with as of late. Davis is a de-commit from South Carolina. He is from GA and has GA in his final group with TN. He has been talking to TN’s QB commit as well and that might pay some dividends.
2016 class number situation? Being more picky? First two class was all about flipping the roster. There was so much turnover on the roster they had with guys transferring out, graduation and just lack of depth. Ended up blue shirting a couple of kids. I liken it to paying a scholarship with a credit card. It is not due at the time but it comes forth later. Pay for it going forward. I don’t expect to Blue shirt anyone in this class. Their numbers are up. They are not in position to sign 25 to 30 kids. Smaller class around 17 to 20. As a result of it being smaller you will see TN be more selective. They will go heavy at WR. They want another RB. They got their QB. Want to get specific in certain areas. Probably one DT. A rush end. You’re not going to have that run of 6 to 8 commitments in June simply because they don’t have the numbers.
Re-sodding the field at Neyland? Do they get that much work to re-sod every year? No, it is interesting. There has been a real shift in how they approach it once Bobby Campbell retired. The new turf guy is a big believer in re-sodding. He has re-sodded the field more than Bobby Campbell did in 20 years. They have re-sodded the turf in each of the last 4 years. $125,000 for sodding. I don’t think Bobby Campbell ever sodded it and he retired 5 years ago. Difference in philosophy. It is a concern. Last year they had a hard time growing the grass. Keeping the growth of the grass in the fall. That is why they got that company out of the Netherlands who had the light heating system. The Packers have used them. It is still on campus. Butch has even noted that it was the best playing surface last Spring since they been here. The put the new sod down and had camp on it last week. I was surprised they had camp on it. ( sounds like this new sod guy is costing TN a lot of money)
That’s all folks!! GO Vols!!!!!!
Braxton Bonds transfer? Chance for him to get on scholarship. Probably transfer to a smaller school. This is not new. The arrival of the spring signees open the door for him to go elsewhere.
How you feeling about the roster for Rick Barnes at this point? Needs work. Kyle Alexander has some promise down the road. He will have to play immediately. He will have to put on some weight. I do like his game. Turner kid at PG will have the ball right out of the gate. It’s going to be his. Question of this team is how are they going to score? How will they shoot the BB? When they needed a bucket last year they went with Josh Richardson. Can the JUCO kid do it? He is not a big scorer. He is a big body kids that bangs around. The ultimate question of this team is who will put the ball in the basket on a consistent basis.
What do the coaches ( Men and Women) think about the new rule changes? Women going to 4 quarters? Curious is what brought about the 4 qrt change. I have not talked to Holly yet. Rick is pleased with what’s going on with the shot clock. He liked that move. The TO situation no body is losing any TO’s. With the TV time outs you will get yours. Big proponent of the shot clock change. He would like to eliminate the 5 second rule with guys dribbling the BB. He thinks that too much work for the officials.
Football:
Benefit of Gruden being in town? Brings credibility. For us old farts we know him as a coach. For recruits the know him as the guy on Monday Night football. The QB camps on ESPN. It’s another set of eyes for the coaches. The thing you know about Jon Gruden is he may be your best friend but he will be critical of you. Because he is honest. That is what he is about. When Butch has him in he will sit on some offense meetings. Breaks down offensive stuff. Critical of what works and what doesn’t work. He will look at the defensive side. Particularly the secondary. He would tell them how he would try to exploit them. Butch went to Gruden’s QB camp down in Florida a few months ago. They use him as a resource. He likes coming around the program. No secret he has a like for TN. His son is a FR here. Another son camped here.
What was Gruden’s connection in helping recruit Dormady? Sherion Jones and Dormady came to camp last year at TN. Both got offers from TN out of the camp. Gruden liked both of them Jones committed to FL. Dormady and Gruden hit it off. Dormadys dad is a HS coach and he liked the harsh feedback. Quinton enjoyed his time with him. When he was back last weekend he spent some more time with him. Remember when Quinton came to town last year Bama just offered and so did KY. Nobody from Texas offered. He was an unknown. A guy that Jon Gruden really took a liking to.
Nathan Renfro chance of starting at punter? Brings competition. Trevor Daniels came out of Spring as my biggest surprise given the way he punted in the Fall. There will be good competition there. Renfro has experience at the collegiate level. Trevor seems to be settling in. It should be fun. Butch Jones has done a great job with kickers. Particularly the punters. When you look what he inherited. Palardy was pretty much shattered as a punter and PK. We saw what Palardy did his SR year. Then we moved on to Matt Darr. Darr was very valuable to TN his SR year.
McKenzie make it to campus? He is here. Working out. Going through the summer workouts with the rest of the team. Working with the Navy Seals. He is getting indoctrinate quickly in the summer workouts. The good news for McKenzie is that he arrived on campus around 330 lbs. Which is not way heavy. They will trim him up.
The Seals don’t drop them in the River? They do some water stuff in the pool. It’s a program a lot of programs use. The softball team has used it here. Find beneficial physically and mentally. Learning who your leaders are. Leadership and team bonding deal.
Leadership? Safe to say Josh Dobbs and Maggitt are the leaders? No question. Maggit has been a leader since last year. Dobbs has moved into that role. They will need some leadership from the offensive side of the ball. Who will that leader be from the OL. North has a chance to lead if he is healthy. It is hard to lead when you are not on the field. Ironically Pig Howard is a guy who is a little bit of a leader. A bit of an unknown leader. Alex Ellis has a lot of respect. Defensively with the addition of Maggitt you can throw Dereck Barnett in there. As Coach Jones has called him he is an “Old Soul”. Didn’t play like a freshman. Add in Cam Sutton as well. They are pretty established with 2 or 3 leaders on Defense. Offensively they probably need a little more.
What about the addition of Abernathy IV? Play some spot duty at RB. Will not get 15 to 20 carries. He can do some things at the slot spot. What is interesting is that this coaching staff has played with him before. This is a guy that the staff has used before to win games. Azanni knows a great deal about as well as Butch. Interesting to see how they carve a nitch for him. They are looking for play makers particularly outside. He can find a role as an hybrid guy like we thought Devrin Young would be but it never came about.
Pearson? When do you think he will be back? It will come to a close whenever the investigation comes to a close. If he is not charged with anything he will be back. He is not in summer school right now. He is registered for Fall classes. He is in good academic standings. He doesn’t have to go to summer school to be in good academic standing. Some students have gone home for mini term. They are finishing up the investigation with more interviews. Once all those interviews are complete there will be nothing more to investigate. The feeling remains optimistic that he will be back on the team.
Addition and subtraction in recruiting? Baily Phillips de-commits? Jeff George a JUCO WR commits? Phillips doesn’t surprise me. Size was a concern there. It was a surprise take when they took him early a year ago. Mutual parting of ways. This is a small class. I don’t think he brings his size to the table the way TN wanted. Speaking of size that is what Jeff George brings to the table. 6’5 ½ . Not fast but uses his size to an advantage. That is the one position in this class that TN is going for depth in. Go heavy numbers at the WR position even though this will be a small class. They got the Henderson kid who is a fast kid from down in Louisiana. They got a possession receiver in Jeff George. They want to close it with a big name receiver. Cooley kid from up in Michigan will make a decision soon. It’s between TN and Mich St. Mecole Ardeman is guy from GA that GA has come on strong with as of late. Davis is a de-commit from South Carolina. He is from GA and has GA in his final group with TN. He has been talking to TN’s QB commit as well and that might pay some dividends.
2016 class number situation? Being more picky? First two class was all about flipping the roster. There was so much turnover on the roster they had with guys transferring out, graduation and just lack of depth. Ended up blue shirting a couple of kids. I liken it to paying a scholarship with a credit card. It is not due at the time but it comes forth later. Pay for it going forward. I don’t expect to Blue shirt anyone in this class. Their numbers are up. They are not in position to sign 25 to 30 kids. Smaller class around 17 to 20. As a result of it being smaller you will see TN be more selective. They will go heavy at WR. They want another RB. They got their QB. Want to get specific in certain areas. Probably one DT. A rush end. You’re not going to have that run of 6 to 8 commitments in June simply because they don’t have the numbers.
Re-sodding the field at Neyland? Do they get that much work to re-sod every year? No, it is interesting. There has been a real shift in how they approach it once Bobby Campbell retired. The new turf guy is a big believer in re-sodding. He has re-sodded the field more than Bobby Campbell did in 20 years. They have re-sodded the turf in each of the last 4 years. $125,000 for sodding. I don’t think Bobby Campbell ever sodded it and he retired 5 years ago. Difference in philosophy. It is a concern. Last year they had a hard time growing the grass. Keeping the growth of the grass in the fall. That is why they got that company out of the Netherlands who had the light heating system. The Packers have used them. It is still on campus. Butch has even noted that it was the best playing surface last Spring since they been here. The put the new sod down and had camp on it last week. I was surprised they had camp on it. ( sounds like this new sod guy is costing TN a lot of money)
That’s all folks!! GO Vols!!!!!!
