GoVols247: A Tennessee Volunteers athletics podcast

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Episode 134: Between The Blowouts Sep 14, 2018

Show notes

GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down Tennessee's blowout win over East Tennessee and look forward to ... well ... a likely blowout win over UTEP.

Tennessee hoped to use the ETSU/UTEP portion of the schedule as a time to take mistakes from the season-opening game against West Virginia and clean them up before the SEC opener against longtime Eastern Division rival Florida. So far, so good on that front. The Vols took care of business in a big way (59-3) against ETSU, and they'll likely do the same thing against a UTEP that opened the season with a 30-10 loss to NCAA Division I FCS opponent Northern Arizona and then took the business end of a blowout loss at UNLV.

Much can be learned from any game, though, and this episode focuses on the things we learned from the win over the Buccaneers and things we might see against the Miners on Saturday.

Who is underperforming? Who is exceeding expectations? Who is doing what we thought they would do? Why is Grant Ramey avoiding the podcast? There are many questions, and this episode provides many answers.

Episode 133: Hello darkness, my old friend Sep 07, 2018

Show notes

GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down the good, the bad, the ugly and the fugly from Tennessee's season-opening, 40-14 loss to then-17th-ranked West Virginia in Charlotte.

As much as everyone in and around the Tennessee program would love to flush that season-opening cow pie and forget it forever, the fact is the Vols play East Tennessee State and UTEP the next two Saturdays, so it'll be a few weeks before they face another quality opponent — SEC Eastern Division rival Florida.

Some things actually did go well in Jeremy Pruitt's first game at Tennessee, and those things are discussed in this episode. Obviously there's more bad than good to break down following a 40-14 loss, though, and that bad also is broken down in this episode.

Can Tennessee's offense get explosive? Can Tennessee's defense stop making opponents look so explosive?

How many of the mistakes from Saturday's loss are correctable in the immediate future? How many of them will take longer?

And what, exactly, is chicken skin?

Those and other pressing topics — including some fun facts about East Tennessee State University — are included in this episode.

Episode 132: Tennessee-West Virginia preview Aug 31, 2018

Show notes

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker and Patrick Brown (and Grant Ramey for a bit) went into Fort Rucker Studio to ask a simple question: Is the last-minute buzz surrounding the Vols heading into this game based in reality?

For whatever reason, the confidence level in the Tennessee program has seemed to rise in the past week-and-change, and some are considering the Vols a chic upset pick over the double-digit-favored Mountaineers.

Why is that the case, though? This episode features some discussion on the potential reasons for that change.

GoVols247 settled this issue with a debate. Patrick played the part of someone thinking about picking the Vols to upset the Mountaineers, and Wes played the part of someone trying to reel him back to reality and the bigger picture. It was an interesting discussion that should generate plenty of talking points for the next 24-plus hours.

Other football news is included in this episode, as well. There’s discussion on the “or”-filled Tennessee depth chart heading into this game, especially at the quarterback position, and whether the Vols will play one or more quarterbacks against West Virginia.

Ramey joined the final segment of the podcast to break down an interesting week for Tennessee basketball on the recruiting trail, and to discuss the places Tennessee will look after losing five-star point guard commitment Tre Mann to Florida. There’s also a discussion on what Rick Barnes and his staff need to do to seal the deal on all these five-star and high-four-star prospects who keep putting them on the lists of finalists but committing elsewhere.

Episode 131: Depth chart projections Aug 24, 2018

Show notes

GoVols247’s full crew — Wes Rucker, Ryan Callahan, Grant Ramey and Patrick Brown — went into Fort Rucker Studio to discuss the Vols’ potential depth charts on each side of the ball heading into the opener against the 17th-ranked Mountaineers.

Plenty of discussion on Tennessee’s quarterback situation is included in this episode. As first-year Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt said, though, there are competitions for several other positions heading into the final week of preseason camp.

Tennessee’s fall academic semester started this week, so the Downtown Knoxville campus is packed with students and football season is tantalizingly close on the horizon. Come get the latest on which Vols should be on the field to start the season.

It’s been a big week for the Vols on the recruiting trail, too, and we discuss the recent commitments of Top247 Atlanta-area safety Jaylen McCullough and Memphis-area offensive lineman Melvin McBride that pushed Tennessee into top-10 status in the updated 247Sports Team Recruiting Rankings. There’s plenty of recruiting talk in this episode.

Episode 130: Mid-camp checkup Aug 17, 2018

Show notes

GoVols247’s full crew Wes Rucker and Patrick Brown went into Fort Rucker Studio to reassess Tennessee football at the midway point of coach Jeremy Pruitt's first preseason camp in Knoxville.

The Vols had a laundry list of questions to answer heading into camp, and some of those answers have started to emerge. But many have not.

What's the deal at quarterback? How many running backs will be in the rotation? Have the wide receivers had a slow start? Have things become any clearer on the offensive line? How many tight ends are in the picture, and what are they bringing to the table?

How has the adjustment to Pruitt's defense gone? Is there enough depth up front? Who's in and who's on the outside looking in at linebacker? Has anyone not named Nigel Warrior stepped up in the secondary?

Will Tennessee have adequate replacements on special teams, with a great punter, a solid kicker and an All-America return specialist out of eligibility?

See what we meant when we suggested the Vols had a lot of questions to answer heading into camp?

There are so many questions to answer. Come get at least some of those answers.

Episode 129: Football. In pads. OMG. Aug 10, 2018

Show notes

GoVols247’s full crew — Wes Rucker, Ryan Callahan, Grant Ramey and Patrick Brown — went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down the latest news, notes and insights from Tennessee's first preseason camp under coach Jeremy Pruitt.

The Vols have practiced a couple of times in full pads now, and just before that they had an open practice for fans at Neyland Stadium.

We've seen enough at this point to start discussing some of the potential strengths and weaknesses of this team, and some potential surprises. We discuss all of those things in this episode.

There's plenty of talk about Tennessee's ongoing competition at quarterback, but it seems like one of the candidates (sophomore Jarrett Guarantano) still seems to be holding the lead in that competition. No one needs to assume anything about that battle for now, though, and we discuss the reasons for that in this episode.

A season-opening game against high-flying West Virginia is barely more than three weeks away for the Vols, but a lot can happen in those three weeks. There's also plenty of discussion on that in this episode.

Episode 128: (Preseason) Football Time in Tennessee Aug 03, 2018

Show notes

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker, Ryan Callahan and Patrick Brown went into Fort Rucker Studio to discuss the hot topics heading into Tennessee's preseason camp — a camp set to start Friday afternoon with a practice at Haslam Field.

The offseason and ended, the preseason is here and the actual season will be here in a month. There are plenty of questions first-year coach Jeremy Pruitt's Vols need to answer, and there isn't much time to answer them.

Who will be Tennessee's quarterback or quarterbacks? How much of a boost should the Vols' offensive line get by the returns of Trey Smith and Chance Hall? What's the overall health of the team after summer workouts? Who's ready for camp, and who isn't? Where will some of the team's talented, versatile newcomers line up to open camp? How many running backs will be in the game-day rotation? What did coordinator Kevin Sherrer, Chris Rumph and Tyson Helton have to say after their one and only interview session of the season?

Those are just a few of the many questions discussed in this episode.

Episode 127: Preseason camp preview — defense Jul 27, 2018

Show notes

GoVols247’s full crew — Wes Rucker, Ryan Callahan, Grant Ramey and Patrick Brown — went into Fort Rucker Studio to discuss the state of Tennessee’s defense heading into its first preseason camp with new head coach Jeremy Pruitt.

Pruitt has spent the past decade cultivating a reputation as one of the best up-and-coming defensive minds in the college game, and he's already got a handful of national championship rings as an assistant coach. His first season as a head coach will be spent trying to fix (or at least patch) a Tennessee defense that hasn't been consistently solid for several years.

The Vols will have a new base defense this season, but it's not nearly as simple as suggesting they're switching from a 4-3-base defense to a 3-4-base defense. If Pruitt's history proves to be an accurate barometer, they'll be multiple and they'll be very aggressive. But it remains to be seen how aggressive Pruitt and co-defensive coordinators Kevin Sherrer and Chris Rumph will be with a defense that has tons of questions marks in the secondary aside from junior star Nigel Warrior.

Defense is the only topic in this episode, but there's plenty to discuss on that side of the ball.

Episode 126: Preseason camp preview — offense Jul 26, 2018

Show notes

GoVols247’s full crew — Wes Rucker, Ryan Callahan, Grant Ramey and Patrick Brown — went into Fort Rucker Studio to discuss the state of Tennessee’s offense heading into its first preseason camp with new head coach Jeremy Pruitt.

Pruitt completely overhauled Tennessee’s offensive staff, and that new staff — a group led by offensive coordinator Tyson Helton, who came to the Vols from USC — is installing a new system that’s supposedly a more traditional, pro-style offense. That will be a big change for a group that’s been spread-based on offense the past five seasons.

There will be position battles all over the field, but the most prominent battle will be at the quarterback position, and Pruitt insists that all four of his scholarship quarterbacks — sophomore Jarrett Guarantano, senior graduate transfer Keller Chryst from Stanford, sophomore Will McBride and freshman JT Shrout — will be given a fair chance to earn the starting spot in the team’s season opener against West Virginia.

Position battles across the board will be a major theme in Tennessee’s preseason camp, though. Few players can be truly confident that they’ll start the game against the Mountaineers, but several players will head into camp believing — and with good season — that they could win first-team spots. That should make this camp an exciting one.

This week’s second GoVols247 Podcast — an episode looking at Tennessee’s defense heading into camp — will be published Friday morning.

Episode 125: SEC Media Days, stupid controversies, et al. Jul 20, 2018

Show notes

GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Ryan Callahan and Patrick Brown went into Fort Rucker Studio to recap the news and notes of this week's SEC Media Days at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

In case you missed it — surely you didn't miss it — there's been a silly controversy surrounding new Tennessee football coach Jeremy Pruitt's personality and whether it's a good fit for his new position. Several Georgia players have weighed in on the matter, with two former Bulldogs who never played for Pruitt (Aaron Murray and David Pollack) on one side and a quarterback who played for Pruitt at Georgia (Hutson Mason) on the other, at least in some ways.

We break down the many reasons why this quasi-controversy centered around the former Alabama, Georgia and Florida State defensive coordinator is silly, but there's also plenty of other things to discuss. We have updates on the statuses of two key Tennessee players — sophomore offensive lineman Trey Smith and junior wide receiver Jauan Jennings — as well an update of the status of touted linebacker signee JJ Peterson.

Tennessee's quarterback battle, the players' thoughts on Pruitt and several other topics also are included in this episode.

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