KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Fresh off of its first bye week of the season, Tennessee prepares for its SEC home opener with a sizeable challenge ahead as the Vols welcome the No. 3/3 Georgia Bulldogs to Neyland Stadium on Saturday night.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. (ET), but Vols fans will have a chance to get the day going earlier as SEC Networks’ SEC Nation pays a visit to Rocky Top with pregame coverage provided by Marty Smith, Marcus Spears, Tim Tebow and Paul Finebaum beginning at 10 a.m.
The week off from competition proved to be beneficial at head coach Jeremy Pruitt saw continued improvement across the board.
“We have worked really hard this past week,” Pruitt said at his press conference on Monday afternoon. “We have guys that are becoming more familiar with the positions that they are playing. It is good for us. It is not just our young guys, it is our older guys too.
“There’s a lot to learn about being a good football player,” Pruitt added. “First of all, you’ve got to learn what you need to do to have success, but the other thing, and probably the most important thing is figuring out what the other team is trying to do to you. So, it’s a lot to learn, and these guys have worked hard to do that, and you’ll see guys’ roles increase as the season goes.”
Fortunately, Pruitt and his staff are closely acquainted with the Bulldogs.
Tennessee – Georgia Ties
Several of Tennessee’s coaches have previous ties to Georgia, most notably head coach Jeremy Pruitt, who served as the Bulldogs’ defensive coordinator from 2014 to 2015. Vols’ offensive coordinator Jim Chaney served as current Georgia head coach Kirby Smart’s offensive play-caller from 2016 to 2018, while inside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Kevin Sherrer (OLBs, 2014-17), defensive line coach Tracy Rocker (DL, 2014-16) and tight ends coach Brian Niedermeyer (defensive GA, 2015) were all recently on the Georgia staff.
Georgia assistants Sam Pittman and Charlton Warren previously coached at Tennessee, as well. Pittman coached UT’s offensive line in 2012, while Warren coached the Vols’ defensive backs and was the special teams coordinator in 2017. Tennessee wide receiver Deangelo Gibbs is redshirting this season after transferring from Georgia following two years as a reserve defensive back for the Bulldogs. Former UT tight end Eli Wolf is a graduate transfer for Georgia this season. He started his career as a walk-on for the Vols before earning a scholarship in 2017. He finished with nine receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown during his career on Rocky Top.
With so much familiarity Pruitt believes the outcome will be determined by the minutia.
“We’ve all coached together over the years, so whether its offensively or defensively, we probably know some of the checks that each team’s accustomed to,” Pruitt said. “At the end of the day it comes down to blocking, tackling, executing, and taking care of the football. We’re familiar with them, they’re familiar with us, so it’ll be about the details and tangibles of the plays.”
An Emotional Engine Guides Pruitt
While the wins and losses are ultimately what define a coach’s success, Pruitt’s purpose for getting into coaching was much larger than the results on the ledger.
“One thing about me is that I am an emotional guy,” Pruitt said when asked about his reaction to last season’s hard-fought loss to the Bulldogs. “I got into this business to be a positive influence on our players. It is something that I have always loved doing.”
The Vols scored a pair of second-half touchdowns to come within 12 points of the second-ranked Bulldogs, after going scoreless in the first half. That fight impressed Pruitt.
“It was the first time that I felt like we had competed like you are supposed to,” Pruitt said. “When guys train and compete, it is what you want them to do. We have got to do that this week. To me, they are much improved on where they were last year. They are older and you can see that.”
Opening Statement:
“When you look at Georgia, it’s probably the best Georgia team that I can ever remember at this point in time in the season. Very complete on both sides of the ball and in the kicking (game). Offensively, it starts with Jake Fromm. To me, he does as good of a job as anybody in the country, and maybe as anybody I’ve ever coached against as far as keeping their offense in a positive situation. He takes care of the football, gets the ball out of his hand, controls protection, keeps them in positive run plays. If you look at their guys up front – they’ve got six or seven guys that play up front – very talented, big men. Their running back, D’Andre Swift, is as good as anybody in the country. The guy can make you miss, catch a ball out of the back field, has home run ability; he’s another guy that’s played a lot of football there. Probably tight end, Charlie Warner, he’s played the last three years, and he’s a really good football player. At wide receiver, they’ve had to replace a lot of guys, but they’ve replaced them with a couple of transfers and some guys that they’ve grown in their program that are big, tall, athletic and can create explosive plays. They run the football very efficiently, they’re balanced, so we’ve got to be able to stop the run, get off the field on third down, and find a way to create some turnovers. They’ve done an excellent job protecting the quarterback. Defensively, to me, they’ve added several pass rushers in this past signing class that you see out there, but they’ve got lots of depth up front, they’re big and physical. They’ve done a nice job stopping the run and haven’t allowed a rushing touchdown this season, and they’re creating many more negative plays probably than they have in the past. They’ve had a few injuries in the secondary, but they have depth back there and have done a really nice job. If you look at them in the kicking game, Rodrigo (Blankenship) seems like he’s been playing there for 10 years. They’ve got good returners, good speed on coverage teams, so it’ll be a challenge for our football team.”
Credit: UT Athletics
On the quarterbacks, and if he’s determined a starter for this week:
“We’re not going to give Georgia a scout report of what we’re going to do this week, so we’re going to rep the guys that give us the best opportunities to have success.”
On having fresh knowledge of UGA from OC Jim Chaney and how the team will go about utilizing him as a resource this week:
“It probably works both ways. With our staffs, we’ve all coached together over the years, so whether its offensively or defensively, we probably know some of the checks that each team’s accustomed to. At the end of the day it comes down to blocking, tackling, executing and taking care of the football. We’re familiar with them, they’re familiar with us, so it’ll be about the details and tangibles of the plays.”
On what sets Tennessee and him apart from Georgia and Kirby Smart’s defense:
“I don’t think there is a whole lot of difference in what either one of us does. If you look at how we played the last couple years, it has probably changed a little bit. Kirby Smart has been probably more of a 3-4 (defense) guy and we have been probably more of a 4-2-5. I think a lot of that has to do with personnel. As a football coach, both of us, we have a lot of things we can do in our systems. You figure out what is best for your personnel and if you look at them this year, they have added a lot of different wrinkles that I have not seen them do in the past, which makes sense because this is his (Smart’s) fourth year in the program. He has guys that have a lot of experience. They are playing a lot of guys on defense and trying to create roles for the guys. So, you see that with different packages of people that come in there.”
On why he thinks Kirby Smart has been able to establish Georgia as an elite program:
“I think the program he took over won 20 games in its previous two years. That helped. He had a very young football team that he inherited. He has done a really nice job and has a really nice staff together. It is a place where you can have success. Those guys were used to winning and now he has been recruiting in his fourth year and all those guys that he has there he has recruited there. He has done a nice job of that – evaluating talent and going to get some of the best players in the country and coaching them up. In this day and time, you need to be good at the quarterback position and he has a really good player there. Last year, they had two really good players there. They have got playmakers on the outside and they are big up front. They have recruited to their philosophy and you can see it.”
On if the bye week has been helpful for the younger players to take a step back and evaluate how they have been playing:
“We have worked really hard this past week. We have guys that are becoming more familiar with the positions that they are playing. It is good for us. It is not just our young guys, it is our older guys too. We have a lot of guys that have not played a whole lot of football and have improved. They have tried to master their position and that is something we have worked hard on this week.”
On why he was emotional after the Georgia game last year:
“It was the first time that I felt like we had competed like you are supposed to. If you go back to that game, there was a point in the game that was 24-12 and we had an opportunity on a third down and four to go down the field, but we didn’t. I guess you had to know who to grab when we got here to take a football team that was one of the best in the country and compete with them until the fourth quarter.
“One thing about me is that I am an emotional guy. I got into this business to be a positive influence on our players. It is something that I have always loved doing. When guys train and compete, it is what you want them to do. We have got to do that this week. To me, they are much improved on where they were last year. They are older and you can see that.”
On UT’s depth at linebacker:
“Well, Jeremy Banks is continuing to get better. Unfortunately, the Thursday before we played Florida, he turned his ankle really bad and struggled on that Saturday with trying to be able to compete, so we didn’t play him in the game. You’ve got Daniel (Bituli), you’ve got Henry (To’o To’o), you’ve got Jeremy, you’ve got J.J. Peterson, and Aaron Beasley is working there. So, we’ve got guys that are competing really hard every day at practice.”
On if he saw anyone elevate their role during the bye week:
“It was good for Jerrod Means, a guy that started off as a defensive back. He worked the whole summer until maybe July playing wide receiver and then worked at defensive back. So, it was good for him to get back and catch some balls there. Ramel Keyton, and also Cedric Tillman. Princeton Fant is a guy that has kind of bounced around but we’ve kind of put him at tight end to leave him there. So, all of our young guys have continued to improve. There’s a lot to learn about being a good football player. First of all, you’ve got to learn what you need to do to have success, but the other thing, and probably the most important thing is figuring out what the other team is trying to do to you. So, it’s a lot to learn, and these guys have worked hard to do that, and you’ll see guys’ roles increase as the season goes.”
On if freshman defensive back Tyus Fields has continued to progress:
“Tyus is a guy that is a runner, he’s a hitter, he’s got really good ball skills and he can play man to man. He’s a guy that was here during the spring, but he had injured his foot his senior year of high school, so he had foot surgery and he missed the entire spring. So, he gets here this summer and we put him at corner, and when we get to fall camp, we moved him to safety just to work him inside. So, that’s a lot to learn in a short period of time, but he’s a guy that has a bright future. He works really hard every day, so he’s just got to continue to go out there and compete and have a better understanding of what we’re trying to get done.”
On how he would evaluate the coaching staff so far this season:
“The biggest evaluation is your record and we’re 1-3. That’s what matters the most. We obviously as an entire coaching staff have to continue to improve and get our guys to play at a higher level. The big thing offensively is that we have to take care of the football. We’ve had nine turnovers in four games. Going into the season, we said that we needed to take care of the football, we need to be opportunistic on defense and we need to stay healthy. We’ve not been able to do any of those three things. Two of them we can control. So, we have to take care of the football and create some more turnovers. But as a coaching staff, we all need to do a better job.”
On teaching a program how to win:
“Creating the right habits every day. I had an opportunity just to watch some games on Saturday and to start with, the first thing I talked about is it’s just about the ball. It’s amazing, the team that doesn’t turn the ball over sees their percentages go up and have an opportunity to win. Teams that get a lot of turnovers, same thing. It’s just creating the right habits in the details and being able to do it over and over and over. Whether you’re playing at home, whether you’re playing away, whether you’re sore or tired or a little bit hurt. Creating depth and having a team that can do it, so that if one guy goes down, the next guy can come in and play winning football. To me that’s what you see, the guy that are playing the best football right now, that’s what they’re doing. If you look in the next 25 years, the teams that are doing it the best will be playing winning football too. I don’t think it’s changed. I think that’s what you have to do to have success.”
On Marquez Callaway’s impact this season:
“We have some really good wide receivers. It seems like Jauan (Jennings) has had more targets than some of the other ones, but we have to be able to get the ball to our playmakers. That’s something that we’ve really focused on here in the off week, not that we haven’t before, we’re just trying to make sure we can get some of these guys some touches.”
On Jarrett Guarantano’s confidence level:
“He had a really good practice last week, which isn’t unusual, he’s practiced really well in spring and fall camp. The big thing with Jarrett is taking it to the game and being consistent, creating the right habits. That’s something that he has to improve on in taking care of the football. That’s the number one goal.”
Chris Lane scored the second No. 1 single of his career as “I Don’t Know About You” ascended to the top of the Mediabase chart this week.
Penned by Ashley Gorley, Hardy, Hunter Phelps and Jameson Rogers, “I Don’t Know About You” is featured on Chris’ 2018 album, Laps Around the Sun. Chris notched his first No. 1 single in 2016 with “Fix.”
As Chris told Kix Brooks of American Country Countdown, “I Don’t Know About You” has become synonymous with a line from its chorus, instead of its title, which isn’t totally out of the norm. How many times have you heard someone refer to Tim McGraw’s “Something Like That” as the “Barbecue Stain” song or Chris Young’s “Gettin’ You Home” as the “Black Dress” song?
When it comes to “I Don’t Know About You,” Chris says fans have given it the alias of “Wrist Tattoo Bible Verse” song, which is actually the lyric from the chorus that initially grabbed him: “What’s your name, what’s your sign, what’s your birthday? / What’s your wrist tattoo bible verse say? / Tell me this, do you kiss on the first date? / Don’t hold anything back.”
“There were a lot of lines that stood out in this song, but the one line that stood out to me, honestly, is the same line that I think stands out to everybody else—the ‘wrist tattoo bible verse’ line, because people don’t call this song ‘I Don’t Know About You,’ which is the real name of it,” says Chris. “I don’t care if I’m in a grocery store or whatever, people will come up and say, ‘I love your “wrist tattoo bible verse” song’ [laughing]. So, people have associated that line as being the line of the song.”
Hit songwriter and producer Michael James Ryan—known professionally as busbee—died on Sept. 29 at the age of 43.
Busbee was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer over the summer, according to a friend.
Busbee’s songwriting credits include Maren Morris’ “My Church,” Florida Georgia Line’s “H.O.L.Y.,” Keith Urban’s “Fighter,” Garth Brooks’ “People Loving People,” Lady Antebellum’s “You Look Good,” Carly Pearce’s “Every Little Thing” and more.
Busbee also produced and co-produced albums for a number of artists, including Maren Morris, Keith Urban, Lauren Alaina, Lady Antebellum, Carly Pearce and more.
A host of stars reached out via social media to share their condolences.
This just doesn’t seem fair. I will always love you and the songs and albums I was lucky to make with you, Busbee. Rest well, my sweet friend. 💔 pic.twitter.com/9DKsU5G77a
I absolutely can’t accept the loss of mine and Gwen’s friend Michael (Busbee)..Too much to say for social media. Too much pain and unfairness period. I guess sometimes you gotta dig extra EXTRA deep for peace to continue to have faith. And I will because Michael ALWAYS had faith.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Former Lady Vol basketball standout Diamond DeShields played a key role, as the USA women finished the tournament 6-0 and claimed a FIBA AmeriCup gold medal on Sunday night in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
In the title contest, the USA defeated previously unbeaten Canada (5-1), 67-46, to end that nation’s back-to-back streak of AmeriCup crowns.
The USA, which outscored its six opponents by 38.7 points per game during the tournament, featured three players on the AmeriCup All-Star Five Team, including DeShields, Jordin Canada and tourney MVP Sylvia Fowles.
DeShields started all six games and was second on the squad at 9.8 points per contest. She also was second for the Americans in assists (20) and three-pointers (5), and third in steals (6). The LVFL shot 53 percent from the field (23-43), 41 percent from long range (5-12) and 88 percent from the free throw line (8-9).
In the gold medal game, the USA led 14-9 in a low scoring first quarter, and Canada scored the first seven points of the second quarter to pull ahead 16-14. A three from Canada’s Miranda Ayim pushed Canada in front 19-18 and with 3:21 remaining before intermission and following a three from Canada’s Aaliyah Edwards, the USA led by a point, 25-24.
Getting four points from (Jordin) Canada, three points from DeShields and two points from Tina Charles, the Americans closed out the first half with 9-0 run to create some breathing space and take a 34-24 lead to the locker room at halftime. A 23-14 third quarter by the USA put the game out of reach.
“It’s always an honor to be recognized as one of the top players in a tournament like this,” DeShields said. “There are so many great players, talented players, and I’m just honored.”
The USA has played in four previous FIBA Americas Championships, historically used as a qualifier for an Olympics or FIBA World Cup, in 1989, 1993, 1997 and 2007.
The top eight nations at the 2019 FIBA AmeriCup, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and the USA, qualified to compete in one of two 2019 FIBA Americas Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, Nov. 10-18.
Prior to the gold medal game, the eight qualified teams were drawn into two groups of four, and Canada will host in Edmonton Group A, which also includes Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Group B, which features Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and the USA, will compete in Bahia Blanca, Argentina. The top two teams from each of those groups will earn the right to play in one of the 2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (sites TBD), Feb. 2-10.
As was the case over the past three quadrenniums, the 2019-20 USA National Team roster, which currently lists 34 athletes, will be fluid. It is expected that the official, 12-member 2020 U.S. Olympic Team will be comprised of players from the 2019-20 USA National Team.
Blake Shelton will release a new album, Fully Loaded: God’s Country, on Dec. 13.
The 12-song offering will feature five new tunes—including “God’s Country” and current single, “Hell Right”—with seven previously recorded hits. The upcoming album aligns titularly with past compilations, Loaded (2010) and Reloaded (2015).
“Well, I knew the label would come up with some plan to release an album,” says Blake. “I’ve been vocal about how much I like this new way of releasing songs more frequently. It keeps me excited and gives me the opportunity to find the hot new song that I love and get it out to the fans quickly. I think they like it too. With five new songs on this album, you’ve got ‘God’s Country,’ ‘Hell Right’ and a few more that haven’t come out yet—maybe I wasn’t supposed to say that. But the fans will hear most of the music on Fully Loaded before it hits the streets in December.”
“God’s Country” is nominated for Video, Single and Song of the Year at the upcoming CMA Awards in November. Blake also earned a nomination for Musical Event of the year for his collaboration with Garth Brooks on “Dive Bar.”
The Academy of Country Music recently announced the addition of seven new ACM Decade Awards: Song of the Decade, Album of the Decade, Artist-Songwriter of the Decade, Breakout Artist of the Decade, Single of the Decade, Songwriter of the Decade and Music Event of the Decade.
Three of the aforementioned awards—Breakout Artist of the Decade, Single of the Decade and Musical Event of the Decade—have been presented to Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley of Florida Georgia Line.
The ACM Breakout Artist of the Decade Award acknowledges an artist that first impacted country music in the decade and has contributed to the country music format in a meaningful way. Factors considered include success at radio, commercial media, sales and streaming, creative integrity, touring statistics, artistic merit and ACM Award recognition.
FGL’s 2012 No. 1 hit, “Cruise, was recognized as the ACM Single of the Decade Award, which recognizes a single that has impacted country music over the decade. The factors considered include success at radio, commercial media, sales and streaming, artistic merit and ACM Award recognition.
Florida Georgia Line received the ACM Music Event of the Decade Award for their 2017 No. 1 hit, “Meant to Be,” with Bebe Rexha. The award recognizes a recording performed by artists who do not regularly perform together that has impacted country music over the decade. The factors considered include success at radio, commercial media, sales and streaming, artistic merit and ACM Award recognition.
Previously announce recipients of the ACM Decade Awards include:
ACM Song of the Decade: Miranda Lambert and songwriters Tom Douglas and Allen Shamblin for “The House That Built Me”
ACM Songwriter of the Decade: Rhett Akins
ACM Artist-Songwriter of the Decade: Chris Stapleton
ACM Artist of the Decade: Jason Aldean
The ACM Album of the Decade will be announced next.
Tennessee Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer recently promoted longtime senior staffer Angie Boyd Keck to Senior Associate Athletics Director. In addition, Keck has also assumed the role of Senior Woman Administrator.
Keck served as an associate AD since 2008. Her ascension to SWA comes after the departure of Donna Thomas, who retired in July. Keck retains her responsibilities as the sport administrator for women’s basketball, men’s and women’s golf, rowing and volleyball.
“Angie is a natural fit for our SWA role,” Fulmer said. “She’s one of the sharpest administrators I’ve been around, and she has a deep love and sense of loyalty to the University of Tennessee. In everything she does, Angie is always thinking about our student-athletes. She has a real passion for making sure we’re supporting them as best we can and making sure they’re equipped to succeed in all their endeavors.”
This fall, Keck began a four-year term on the NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee. She also has served on UT’s exempt staff council, the Work Culture Improvement Team and is a member of Women’s Leaders in College Sports.
A two-time Tennessee graduate, Keck was a captain on the Lady Vols golf team and is a member of the University of Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame. She began her career in intercollegiate administration when she was hired in UT’s women’s athletics department in 1994.
In addition to Keck’s promotion, four other Tennessee Athletics staffers were promoted to the AD ranks. Those individuals are Assistant Athletics Director for Player Relations and Development Dr. Mikki Allen, Assistant Athletics Director for Business and Finance Brad Briggs, Assistant Athletics Director for Administration Tara Brooks and Assistant Athletics Director for Development Blake Johnson.
Additional administrative duties previously held by Thomas have been distributed among multiple senior staff members, including Brooks (deputy Title IX coordinator for athletics), Senior Associate Athletics Director for Regulatory Affairs Andrew Donovan (track & field/cross country administrator) and Senior Associate Athletics Director Dara Worrell (University of Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame administrator).
Tennessee Athletics is debuting its first official podcast series next week, with the first episode of “A Host of Volunteers” available on Friday, Oct. 4.
Hosted by Barry Rice of VFL Films and Ben Bates of The Vol Network, “A Host of Volunteers” features interviews with football VFLs along with Vol Network archive material. There’s plenty of John Ward play-by-play mixed in with memories enthusiastically shared by the players, coaches and administrators who made history, played in the games or symbolize the memorable moments orange-blooded diehards associate with Tennessee football.
The first of 10 episodes in the podcast’s debut season is titled “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” and spotlights the first year of the Johnny Majors era, Tennessee’s 1977 campaign. Guests in the first episode include Pat Ryan, Pert Jenkins, Eddy Powers and Larry Seivers along with former UT coaches Majors and Bill Battle.
“A Host of Volunteers” provides an audio deep dive into the Tennessee gridiron history books.
Fans can subscribe at Apple Podcast, iHeart Radio or wherever they get their podcasts.
