KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee football will have 12 players graduate in the 2019 Fall Commencement ceremony at Thompson-Boling Arena including redshirt seniors Brandon Kennedy and Riley Lovingood, who are earning their master’s degrees on Thursday.
Friday’s ceremonies will celebrate Vols finishing their undergraduate studies and includes seniors Marquez Callaway, Carlin Fils-Aime, Jauan Jennings, Brandon Johnson and Darrell Taylor and redshirt juniors Matt Ballard, Andrew Craig, Jarrett Guarantano and Marcus Tatum.
Of the 12 players graduating this semester, seven are eligible to return next season. That list includes Kennedy and Guarantano.
Obtaining graduate degrees while playing large roles on the field for the Vols has been especially meaningful for Kennedy and Lovingood.
“Graduating early with a second degree is an accomplishment that means so much to me,” said Kennedy, who earned a bachelor’s while at Alabama, before he transferred to UT before the 2018 season. “I’m glad I’ve had the privilege to obtain a master’s degree while also playing football at such a prestigious university.”
Lovingood shared similar sentiments: “To be able to leave my time here at Tennessee with a master’s degree along with a bachelor’s is absolutely incredible,” he said. “I am thankful to be able to represent the Tennessee brand on the field, in the classroom and in the community.”
Lovingood was one of many graduates who expressed gratitude to the staff of the Thorton Center, which offers academic counseling services, career development programs and tutor programs among many features.
“It is always a team effort here,” Lovingood said. “Everyone is only wanting to help you accomplish your dreams between professors and counselors, to everyone in the athletics department and at the Thorton.”
Tennessee Football Fall Graduates (Major in Parenthesis):
LB Matt Ballard (Finance)
WR Marquez Callaway (Communication Studies)
TE Andrew Craig (Supply Chain Management)
RB Carlin Fils-aime (Communication Studies)
QB Jarrett Guarantano (Psychology)
WR Jauan Jennings (Communications Studies)
WR Brandon Johnson (Communications Studies)
OL Brandon Kennedy (Sports Psychology & Motor Behavior)
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee’s freshman trio of offensive linemen Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright and linebacker Henry To’o To’o were recognized on the Freshman All-SEC list, the conference announced Thursday.
Morris started 11 of 12 games for the Vols at left tackle this season and became the first Tennessee true freshman to start on the o-line in a season opener since Trey Smith did so in 2017. They are the only two Vol freshmen to start at left tackle in the last 30 years.
Wright was an anchor on the right side of the o-line for the Vols making seven starts and appearing in 10 games at right tackle. Morris and Wright were key in several notable performances by the Vols offensive line group, including Tennessee’s season-high 526 yards of total offense against Missouri, which entered the game with one of the nation’s top defensive lines and ranked 10th in the nation in total defense and had the SEC’s top pass defense.
Defensively, To’o To’o made an immediate impact for the Vols after tying for a team-high seven tackles in the season opener, becoming the first Vol freshman since 1996 to lead the team in tackles in a season opener. The Sacramento, Calif., native went on to start 11 of 12 games for the Orange and White and finished the 2019 regular season with 64 tackles, the third most on the team. He also added 5.0 tackles for loss, three quarterback hurries, a pass breakup and fumble recovery.
The trio’s selection marks the most freshmen honorees for the Vols since 2014 when they also had three representatives on the list.
The Tennessee football team finished 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the SEC during the 2019 regular season, tying for its best mark in conference play since 2007. Led by head coach Jeremy Pruitt and a 13-member senior class, the Vols rebounded from a 1-4 start to win six of their final seven games and will take a five-game win streak into the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on Jan. 2 against Indiana. Tennessee is undoubtedly one of the hottest teams in the nation and collected nine SEC weekly honors during the season, the most since 2004. In addition to the Freshmen All-SEC honors, To’o To’o and Morris were named True Freshman All-Americans by 247Sports, while fellow first-year standouts running back Eric Gray and safety Jaylen McCollough collected National All-Freshmen honorable mention accolades from PFF College.
Knoxville, Tenn. – Freshman linebacker Henry To’o To’o was named to The Athletic’s Freshman All-America team on Thursday.
To’o To’o was a day-one starter at linebacker for the Big Orange and finished third on the team with 64 tackles. He also added five tackles for loss, three quarterback hurries, one pass breakup, one fumble recovery and a half a sack.
The Sacramento, Calif., native was named to the 247 True Freshman All-America list on Monday and earned Freshman All-SEC honors on Thursday. To’o To’o was also on the FWAA Freshman All-America Midseason Watch List and The Athletic Midseason Freshman All-America Team. He was named to the PFF College National Team of the Week and PFF College SEC Team of the Week for his performance in a 30-7 win over UAB on Nov. 2.
In his collegiate debut, To’o To’o led the Vols with seven tackles to become the first UT freshman since 1996 to lead the team in tackles in a season opener. He played in all 12 games while making 11 starts and became the first Tennessee true freshman since 2011 to start at linebacker in a season opener.
The Tennessee football team finished 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the SEC during the 2019 regular season, tying for its best mark in conference play since 2007. Led by head coach Jeremy Pruitt and a 13-member senior class, the Vols rebounded from a 1-4 start to win six of their final seven games and will take a five-game win streak into the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl on Jan. 2 against Indiana. Tennessee is undoubtedly one of the hottest teams in the nation and collected nine SEC weekly honors during the season, the most since 2004.
Vols newcomer Wanya Morris was also named to the 247 Sports True Freshman All-America and Freshman All-SEC teams, while fellow first-year lineman Darnell Wright was also named to the conference freshman list. Additionally, freshman standouts running back Eric Gray and safety Jaylen McCollough collected National All-Freshmen honorable mention accolades from PFF College.
Luke Combs dropped a new 360-degree video for “Beer Never Broke My Heart.” The new clip, which was created by MelodyVR, was filmed during Luke’s recent tour stop in Tacoma, Wash.
Luke co-penned “Beer Never Broke My Heart,” which topped the charts in August, with Jonathan Singleton and Randy Montana while on the road for his Don’t Tempt Me With a Good Time Tour.
“We wrote ‘Beer Never Broke My Heart’ on the tour bus, actually, on my first headlining tour—the Don’t Tempt Me with a Good Time Tour,” says Luke. “I had my buddies Jonathan Singleton and Randy Montana out on the bus with me, and I had had this title on my phone for a long time and really wanted to save it for some guys that I thought would kind of understand and grasp what I was looking for out of the song. I went to soundcheck and I got back, and they had kind of been hammering away on this thing . . . we buttoned it up, and it’s just been a fan-favorite ever since then.”
Dustin Lynch created a buzz during CMA Awards week in November as he attended industry events with his new girlfriend, Kelli Seymour.
Dustin recently sat down with the titular host of The Blair Garner Show to reveal a handful of details about his one-year relationship with Kelli, including how they met, their first date, going public with the relationship and more.
Southern Girl
“She models for a living [in California]. She’s from Mississippi. She’s a south Mississippi girl. I can’t wait to get back down there. She’s from the Biloxi [area], around the big city there.”
Instagram Connection
“I hit her up in the DMs on Instagram. I slid in. We had great chemistry just going back and forth, texting and FaceTime, like, ‘Man, we’ve got to meet,’ but I was on tour with Cole [Swindell] and Lauren Alaina [in 2018], and I just couldn’t find the time to fly out to meet her, you know?”
First Date
“We met at [one of my] shows in November of 2018. For a month or two we’d been talking, and then I was like, ‘Man, what if you come to a show?’ So it was a pretty easy playing field for me—I’m going to be onstage rocking out, hopefully impressing her. So it tricked her. It won her over. We ended up hitting it off. We had a great time. It was a great test for me too because I was really busy that night with different industry things and she had to be on her own and kind of just fend for herself amongst the band and the crew and different radio people that were there and she did great. I’m like, ‘Man, this girl’s got it going on.’”
Going Public
“Like you said, I’ve always been super private. I’m just to a point where I’m very comfortable with Kelli, and it’s like, ‘How do we roll this out [during CMA Awards week].’ I don’t know, it was just bizarre that it’s in the public eye. So yeah, we had to be as a team, just figure out what the best way to do that was, personally for me, as well as professionally.”
Special Girl
“Gosh, I mean, instantly for me it was like, ‘Wow, this is a special girl.’ I mean it was kind of just from day one.”
Dustin will release his upcoming fourth studio album, Tullahoma, on Jan. 17. The new project takes its name from Dustin’s Tennessee hometown, which is about 80 miles southeast of Nashville. The 11-song set will feature seven brand-new songs, including a collaboration with Lauren Alaina on “Thinking ’Bout You.” The new album also features three tunes—“Ridin’ Roads,” “Little Town Livin’” and “Red Dirt, Blue Eyes”—from his 2019 EP, Ridin’ Roads, and his 2018 standalone single, “Good Girl.”
Longtime friend and frequent co-writer Zach Crowell co-produced the album with Dustin. Songwriters include Rhett Akins, Matt Ramsey, Dallas Davidson, Luke Laird, busbee and more. Dustin co-wrote six songs on the new album.
Since dropping his debut studio album in 1990, Alan Jackson has been keeping it country—selling nearly 60 million albums worldwide and ranking as one of the 10 best-selling country artists of all-time. As you probably imagined, Alan will be keeping it country in 2020 during his 30th year in the biz with a new tour.
Kicking off on Jan. 10 in Cincinnati, the tour will make additional stops in Atlanta, Denver, Nashville, Detroit and more.
Alan announced that Tenille Townes will be joining him at more than a dozen shows next year, as well as Carolina Pine, Steel Blossoms and Cory Farley on select dates.
Alan Jackson 2020 Tour
Jan.10 | Cincinnati, OH | Heritage Bank Center ++
Jan. 11 | Columbia, SC | Colonial Life Arena ++
Feb. 14 | Atlanta, GA | State Farm Arena ^^
Feb.15 | New Orleans, LA | Smoothie King Center ^^
Feb. 21 | El Paso, TX | UTEP Don Haskins Center **
Feb. 22 | Fort Worth, TX | Dickies Arena **
March 26 | Tulsa, OK | BOK Center **
March 27 | Springfield, MO | JQH Arena **
April 25 | Glendale, AZ | Gila River Arena ##^^
April 26 | Indio, CA | Stagecoach Festival <>
July 9 | Ft. Loramie, OH | Country Concert <>
Aug. 7 | Nashville, TN | Bridgestone Arena
Aug. 14 | Cleveland, OH | Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse ##^^
Aug. 15 | Detroit, MI | Little Caesars Arena ##^^
Sept. 11 | Des Moines, IA | Wells Fargo Arena ##**
Sept. 12 | Milwaukee, WI | Fiserv Forum ##**
Oct. 2 | Salt Lake City, UT | Vivint Smart Home Arena ##++
Oct. 3 | Denver, CO | Pepsi Center ##++
Tenille Townes on all dates except April 25, Sept. 11 and Sept. 12
## Tickets on sale Dec. 13
++ featuring Steel Blossoms
^^ featuring Carolina Pine
** featuring Cory Farley
<>Festival event
Thomas Rhett will be staying busy this spring and summer on his headlining Center Point Road Tour, which takes its name from TR’s 2019 album.
The 26-date tour will kick off with back-to-back shows in Gilford, N.H., on May 29 and 30, making additional stops in Cincinnati, Boise, St. Louis, Philadelphia and more. Cole Swindell and Hardy will serve as support.
Tickets go on sale on Jan. 24 for select cities.
Center Point Road Tour
May 29 | Bank of NH Pavilion | Gilford, NH*
May 30 | Bank of NH Pavilion | Gilford, NH*
June 5 | Ruoff Music Center | Indianapolis, IN
June 6 | Blossom Music Center | Cuyahoga Falls, OH
June 7 | Riverbend Music Center | Cincinnati, OH
June 11 | St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview | Syracuse, NY
June 12 | KeyBank Pavilion | Burgettstown, PA
June 19 | MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Amphitheatre | Tampa, FL
June 20 | Coral Sky Amphitheater | West Palm Beach, FL
July 9 | PNC Music Pavilion | Charlotte, NC
July 10 | Coastal Credit Union Music Park @ Walnut Creek | Raleigh, NC
July 11 | PNC Bank Arts Center | Holmdel, NJ
July 16 | Oak Mountain Amphitheatre | Birmingham, AL
July 17 | Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre | St. Louis, MO
July 23 | USANA Amphitheater | Salt Lake City, UT
July 24 | Idaho Center Amphitheater | Boise, ID
July 30 | Toyota Amphitheatre | Sacramento, CA
July 31 |Shoreline Amphitheatre | Mtn. View, CA
Aug. 7 | Ak|Chin Pavilion | Phoenix, AZ
Aug. 8 | Isleta Amphitheater | Albuquerque, NM
Aug. 21 | Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion | Bangor, ME
Aug. 22 | Xfinity Theatre | Hartford, CT
Aug. 23 | CMAC | Canandaigua, NY
Aug. 27 | Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater | Wantagh, NY
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – On behalf of the Tennessee football program, Vice Chancellor and Athletics Director Phillip Fulmer attended the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl coaches meeting to receive the Vols official invitation to play Indiana on Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. ET, from bowl committee members and city representatives, Wednesday evening.
To open the ceremony Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry gifted each team with a key to the city before Indiana head coach Tom Allen gave media an opening statement, followed by Fulmer. Tennessee was designated the home team for the bowl game, which will mark the 75th anniversary of the Gator Bowl.
“We’re very excited to have this opportunity and play here in the Gator Bowl and all of the committee have historically done a great job of making this one of the best destinations of all the bowl games,” Fulmer said before congratulating Coach Allen, who Fulmer knew from his recruiting days. “Being a part of this historical event in its 75th year is something we’ll take great pride in, having had a history here a number of times.”
The Tennessee football team finished 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the SEC during the 2019 regular season, tying for its best mark in conference play since 2007. Led by head coach Jeremy Pruitt and a 13-member senior class, the Vols rebounded from a 1-4 start to win six of their final seven games and will take a five-game win streak into the bowl game. Tennessee is undoubtedly one of the hottest teams in the nation and collected nine SEC weekly honors during the season, the most since 2004.
The Vols have also tabbed five Coaches All-SEC honors, two AP All-SEC first team and 247Sports True Freshman All-America selections.
UT’s surge in the second half of the season was largely due to a strong showing from its upperclassmen. The Vols became bowl eligible after a historical performance in Columbia, Mo., against the Missouri Tigers where three different receivers – Marquez Callaway (110), Jauan Jennings (115) and Josh Palmer (124) – surpassed the century mark, to become the first trio in Tennessee history to do so. Callaway recently picked up All-SEC honors as voted on by coaches as a consistent threat on special teams. Callaway also leads the league in yards per catch (21.24), which ranks fourth nationally. Jennings leads the Vols wideouts with 57 receptions, 942 receiving yards and eight touchdowns.
Touted offensive lineman Trey Smith has picked up first team honors on both the AP and Coaches All-SEC Teams and a pair of SEC Offensive Lineman of the Week nods during the regular season as the starting left guard for the Vols. He led the team with 46 knockdowns.
Seniors Daniel Bituli, Nigel Warrior and Darrell Taylor have spearheaded an astounding turnaround by the UT defense. Bituli led the team for the third straight season in tackles (82) putting him in the top 50 in the nation. Taylor added 7.0 sacks and ranks third in the SEC among active players with 18 career sacks, while Warrior co-led the conference with four interceptions in the regular season and picked up AP and Coaches All-SEC honors as well.
Newcomers Henry To’o To’o and Wanya Morris had impressive starts in their freshman campaigns both starting 11 games for the Vols, picking up All-America nods from 247Sports.
Indiana, coached by Tom Allen, finished 8-4 overall in the regular season and 5-3 in the Big Ten. Led by quarterback Peyton Ramsey (2,227 yards and 13 touchdowns) and wide receiver Whop Philyor (69 receptions for 1,001 yards and five touchdowns), Indiana averaged 32.6 points per game and had the nation’s 13th-ranked passing offense (308.7 yards per game).
The high-powered Indiana passing attack will match up against a Vols’ pass defense that ranks No. 16 in the nation (191.3 pass yards allowed per game) and has been even better over the last month, allowing only 137.3 passing yards per game in November – the third-best mark in the nation over that span.
Running back Stevie Scott finished fifth in the Big Ten in rushing (845 yards) and third in touchdowns (11), while Philyor finished fourth in the conference in receiving yards and second in receptions per game (6.3).
The 2020 TaxSlayer Gator Bowl will mark the 53rd bowl appearance all-time for the Vols, which ranks tied for fifth in the nation. The Vols will play in the Gator Bowl for the seventh-time, tying with the Sugar Bowl for the most appearances in a bowl for Tennessee.
Fulmer will actually be a part of his fourth TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, becoming one of the only people to play, coach and be an administrator in the tradition-rich bowl game. Fulmer played on the 1969 SEC Championship team that fell to Florida, 14-13, in Doug Dickey’s last game as the Vols’ head coach and was a student coach in 1973 in a loss to Texas Tech. As head coach, he guided Tennessee to a 45-23 win over Virginia Tech in a Gator Bowl that was moved to Gainesville due to stadium renovations. The 1994 victory served as Peyton Manning’s first bowl game and a featured an MVP performance from running back James Stewart, who rushed for 85 yards and three touchdowns and also tossed a touchdown pass.
“I remember my first experience as a sophomore in high school,” Fulmer said. “I was watching the Syracuse-Tennessee game. Since I was a kid this bowl game has meant a lot to me and we’re glad to bring our team here. Obviously a very passionate fanbase will be here to support Coach Pruitt and his Volunteers. As we look toward the future, this is one of the next opportunities to show our wares and our team is taking that approach.
“We’re thrilled to be here. Each time that I’ve been here as a player, as an assistant coach and head coach and now as an athletics director, its been one of the best experiences we’ve had.”
From the mountains of Iceland to the surf of Costa Rica to the beaches of Australia, Kip Moore has spanned the globe. Take a quick scan through Kip’s Instagram, and you might end up with his viewpoint from Northern Ireland or Hawaii.
The native of south Georgia attributes his globetrotting with opening his mind. As Kip recently told the titular host of The Blair Garner Show, “travel” could be the cure to the world’s divisiveness.
“I think about how divisiveness this world is right now in every sense of the word, from being open to how you live your life, whether it be religions, politics, who you want to date, sexuality, everything,” says Kip. “Once you get out and you start to really travel, you realize how the same we all are, no matter our different preferences in life, and how most people just want to have joy and take care of each other. The people that are negative are the loud ones, so we hear their voices a lot, but for the most part, we’re all so similar. I’ll go and travel places where I can’t even speak the same language, but we can have a conversation without even speaking the same language and we’re having laughter . . . If we all got out and experienced the world for what it was, we’d all be so much more accepting of each other, and I think we’d be a lot less divisive.”
Kip recently gave fans their first taste of new music from his upcoming fourth studio album with the release of lead single “She’s Mine.” Kip produced the new single, which he co-penned with Dan Couch and Scott Stepakoff.
The Ty Bentli Show successfully complete its 3rd annual “100,000 Thank Yous” campaign this week, with a goal of collecting at least 100,000 thank-you cards for deployed members of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Jason Aldean signs his personalize card for U.S. troops.
On Dec. 9, the titular host of the show—along with co-hosts Chuck Wicks and Tricia Jenkins—announced that that they had received 153,422 thank-you cards, exceeding their goal by more than 53,000 cards. The 153,422 well-wishes will be sent to U.S. troops via Operation Gratitude, a nonprofit that sends care packages to deployed troops.
This year, a number of country stars stopped by The Ty Bentli Show to compose personal cards for the troops, including Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert, Justin Moore, Jason Aldean, Kane Brown, Old Dominion, Brad Paisley, Mitchell Tenpenny and more.
Since 2017, The Ty Bentli Show has collected more than 450,000 thank-you cards for deployed troops.
