Tennessee linebacker Daniel Bituli spoke to the media in the Radio Room on Tuesday at SEC Football Media Days.
He covered a lot of different topics including head coach Jeremy Pruitt’s high-level of intensity.
“It is, and we need that. These coaches come with the same intensity each and every day. It’s pretty crazy to see how they can keep up that same level of energy each and every day. It feeds in the locker room. It feeds on us. So, we’re really excited to have Coach Pruitt here. He knows what he’s doing, so we’re just following his lead.”
Get every interview from The Sports Animal covering the 2019 SEC Media Days in Hoover, Ala. here.
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Brandon Kennedy and Dominick Wood-Anderson UT LO & TE / Credit: UT Athletics
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Watch list season is in full swing as two more Tennessee players earned preseason recognition on Friday afternoon.
Senior tight end Dominick Wood-Anderson and redshirt senior center Brandon Kennedy were named to the preseason watch lists for the John Mackey Award and the Rimington Trophy, respectively.
Given annually to the most outstanding collegiate tight end, the Mackey Award recipient is selected by vote of the John Mackey Award Selection Committee. The 2019 Mackey Award recipient will be announced on Dec. 11 and then presented live on Dec. 12 at The Home Depot College Football Awards Red Carpet Show on ESPNU.
Wood-Anderson is entering his second season at Tennessee after starring for two years at junior college powerhouse Arizona Western. In his first season on Rocky Top, Wood-Anderson appeared in 11 games, starting 10 of them, and finished with 17 catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns. The San Diego, Calif., native scored the Vols’ first touchdown of the 2018 season on a 1-yard reception on fourth down against West Virginia in his collegiate debut. Wood-Anderson also had a career-high four catches and scored a touchdown in UT’s upset victory over No. 11 Kentucky.
Wood-Anderson is the first Vols’ tight end to be named to the Mackey preseason watch list since Ethan Wolf in 2017. VFLs Jason Witten (2002) and Luke Stocker (2010) are the only two Tennessee players to be named semifinalists for the award in program history.
The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the most outstanding center in NCAA Division I College Football and is celebrating its 20thanniversary this season. Since its inception, the award has raised over $4.2 million for the Boomer Esiason Foundation, which is committed to finding a cure for cystic fibrosis.
The Rimington Trophy Committee released a preseason watch list consisting of 80 centers representing every Division I FBS conference. Like Wood-Anderson, Kennedy is also entering his second season as a member of the Tennessee football team after spending his first three years at Alabama where he played in 10 games for the Crimson Tide.
Kennedy started UT’s season opener in the Belk College Kickoff game against West Virginia in Charlotte last season before sustaining a season-ending injury in practice the next week. The Wetumpka, Ala., native was named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll in the Fall of 2018 and is expected to anchor the Vols’ offensive line this season.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Tennessee senior Marquez Callaway was tabbed an All-SEC second team selection as a return specialist by the media in attendance at SEC Media Days.
Callaway has been one of the conference’s most dangerous return men during his time at Tennessee, racking up 389 punt return yards on 29 attempts while scoring a pair of touchdowns. His career punt return average of 13.4 is the highest among any active player in the FBS.
The Warner Robins, Ga., native averaged 11.9 yards per punt return last season, which ranked third in the SEC and No. 13 in the nation. Callaway’s 82-yard punt return against Charlotte was his first touchdown of the season and is tied for the 12th-longest punt return in Tennessee history. It was also UT’s longest punt return since 2015.
Callaway’s other punt return touchdown came as a freshman in 2016, when he took one back 62 yards in a win over Tennessee Tech for his first-career touchdown. That punt return touchdown was the first by a Vol freshman since Devaun Swafford brought a blocked punt back 15 yards in 2013.
Callaway enters the 2019 season as one of the Vols’ top receivers as well. The senior wide out ranks second on the team in career receptions (62), receiving yards (1,011) and receiving touchdowns (seven), trailing only redshirt senior Jauan Jennings in those categories.
The Tennessee football team will begin year two of the Jeremy Pruitt era next month with an experienced team that returns 18 starters, including quarterback Jarrett Guarantano, leading tackler Daniel Bituli and the SEC’s returning leader in sacks Darrell Taylor.
The Tennessee football Vol Pass, single-game tickets and season tickets are now on sale. To purchase tickets or find more information visit AllVols.com.
Alabama was forced to cancel two dates on their 50th Anniversary Tour as frontman Randy Owen deals with vertigo and migraines.
The Hall of Fame group of Randy Owen, Teddy Gentry and Jeff Cook cancelled their shows at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa, ON, on July 19 and at the Big Sky Music Festival in Oro-Medonte, ON, on July 20.
Alabama is celebrating a half-century of making music with their current 50th Anniversary Tour. The cross-country trek kicked off in January with an announced run of more than 50 shows through November, featuring an array of openers, including Charlie Daniels Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, The Beach Boys, John Anderson, Restless Heart, Exile, John Michael Montgomery, Scotty McCreery and more.
Alabama 50th Anniversary Tour
July 26 | Columbus Civic Center | Columbus, GA (w/ John Michael Montgomery)
July 27 | Thunder Valley Amphitheatre | Bristol, TN (w/ John Michael Montgomery)
Aug. 16 | State Fair of West Virginia | Lewisburg, WV
Aug. 17 | PNG Bank Arts Center | Holmdel, NJ (w/ Scotty McCreery)
Aug. 23 | Van Andel Arena | Grand Rapids, MI (w/ Restless Heart)
Aug. 24 | The Country Fest’s Neon Nights | North Lawrence, OH
Aug. 29 | Mohegan Sun Arena | Wilkes|Barre, PA (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
Aug. 31 | Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion | Gilford, NH (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
Sept. 1 | Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion | Bangor, ME (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
Sept. 13 | Fox Theatre | Detroit, MI (w/ Exile)
Sept. 14 | Tailgates N’ Tallboys | Peoria, IL
Sept. 27 | Martin Luther King Jr. Arena | Savannah, GA
Sept. 28 | Hertz Arena | Estero, FL
Oct. 3 | Colonial Life Arena | Columbia, SC (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
Oct. 4 | Legacy Arena at the BJCC | Birmingham, AL (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
Oct. 10 | Donald L. Tucker Civic Center | Tallahassee, FL (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
Oct. 11 | Spectrum Center | Charlotte, NC (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
Nov. 1 | WinStar World Casino & Resort | Thackerville, OK
Nov. 8 | Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Alliant Energy Center | Madison, WI (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
Nov. 9 | Bankers Life Fieldhouse | Indianapolis, IN (w/ Restless Heart)
Nov. 20 | Bridgestone Arena | Nashville, TN (w/ The Charlie Daniels Band)
Billy Currington will return to country radio on Aug. 5 with the release of his new single, “Details.” The easygoing jam revolves around a man who is focused on the little “details” that make his girlfriend special.
Penned by Mark Trussell, Nicolle Galyon and Stephen Lee Olsen, “Details” will most likely be featured on Billy’s upcoming seventh studio album, although no official announcement has been made. The new single follows Billy’s most recent single, “Bring It On Over,” which was released in 2018 and cracked the Top 30 on the Billboard Country Airplay chart.
Billy’s most recent album, Summer Forever, which was released in 2015, spawned No. 1 hits “Don’t It,” “It Don’t Hurt Like It Used To” and “Do I Make You Wanna.”
Kane Brown joined forces with electronic music producer/DJ Marshmello for a new single, “One Thing Right.”
Penned by Kane, Marshmello, Jesse Frasure, Josh Hoge and Matthew McGinn, “One Thing Right” is Marshmello’s first collaboration with a country artist. The tune was initially slated for Kane’s 2018 sophomore album, Experiment, but Kane decided to send it to Marshmello after meeting him at the 2018 American Music Awards.
“Marshmello had reached out to say congratulations while I was at the AMAs,” says Kane. “I sent him the song and he ended up being really passionate about it, and said he wanted to even make it a single, so we ended up working on it together. I am a huge Marshmello fan and think he is an incredible artist in his space, so I am thrilled to be able to get to collaborate with him on this. It’s amazing seeing a song you wrote come to life like that.”
Kane and Marshmello dropped a high-speed new video for the tune, which you can watch below.
The Highwomen—Brandi Carlile, Amanda Shires, Maren Morris and Natalie Hemby—released their first single, “Redesigning Women,” from their upcoming self-titled album, which is slated to drop on Sept. 6.
The new track, which was penned by Natalie and Rodney Clawson, was produced by Dave Cobb.
“‘Redesigning Women’ is the life most women are living today,” says Natalie. “We juggle so much in 24 hours and I wanted to write a song that reflected the goodness, the madness and the hilarity of it all.”
The supergroup’s name is a play on The Highwaymen—a supergroup that featured Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings.
On their upcoming debut album, The Highwomen are joined by several guest musicians, vocalists and songwriters. The project features Sheryl Crow (background vocals, bass), Yola (vocals, background vocals), Cobb (acoustic/electric guitar), Jason Isbell (acoustic/electric guitar), Phil Hanseroth (bass, background vocals), Tim Hanseroth (guitar, background vocals), Chris Powell (drums) and Peter Levin (piano and keyboards) with songs written by Carlile, Hemby, Morris, Shires, Isbell, the Hanseroth twins, Rodney Clawson, Lori McKenna, Miranda Lambert and Ray LaMontagne among many others.
Watch the new video below, which features appearances from Lauren Alaina, Kassi Ashton, Cam, Lilly Hiatt, Wynonna Judd, Catie Offerman, Cassadee Pope, Erin Rae, Raelynn, Natalie Stovall, Tanya Tucker, Anna Vaus and Hailey Whitters.
“Redesigning Women”
Full time livin’ on a half-time schedule
Always tryin’ to make everybody feel special
Learning when to brake and when to hit the pedal
Working hard to look good ’til we die
A critical reason there’s a population
Raising our brows in a new generation
Rosie the Riveter with renovations
And always gets better with wine
Redesigning women
Running the world while we’re cleaning up the kitchen
Making bank, shaking hands, driving 80
Trying to get home just to feed the baby
Skipping the bread for the butter
Changing our minds like we change our hair color
Ever since the beginnin’ we been redesigning women
Pullin’ up the floors and changing out the curtains
Some of us are saints and some of us are surgeons
Made in God’s image, just a better version
And breaking every Jell-O mold
And when we love someone we take ’em to heaven
And if the shoe fits we’re gonna buy 11
How we get it done we like to keep ’em guessing
But secretly we all know
Redesigning women
Running the world while we’re cleaning up the kitchen
Making bank, shaking hands, driving 80
Trying to get home just to feed the baby
Skipping the bread for the butter
Changing our minds like we change our hair color
Ever since the beginnin’ we been redesigning women
How do we do it?
How do we do it?
Making it up as we go along
How do we do it?
How do we do it?
Half way right and half way wrong
Redesigning women
Running the world while we’re cleaning up the kitchen
Making bank, shaking hands, driving 80
Trying to get home just to feed the baby
Skipping the bread for the butter
Changing our minds like we change our hair color
Ever since the beginnin’ we been redesigning women
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee football quarterbacks coach Chris Weinke added another honor to his legendary career this week when he was announced as one of 11 inductees for the 2019 Florida Sports Hall of Fame class.
Weinke, who won a national championship in 1999 and a Heisman Trophy in 2000 as a player at Florida State, is entering his second year on the Volunteers’ staff after coaching running backs in 2018.
The 2019 Florida Sports HOF enshrinement ceremony will take place on Nov. 12 at the Amway Center in Orlando.
Before coming to Rocky Top in 2018, Weinke was the quarterbacks coach for the Los Angeles Rams for two seasons and spent five years as the program director at IMG Academy, where he worked with some of the nation’s top high school football recruits and trained several NFL players.
He also worked as an offensive analyst at Alabama in 2017, helping lead the Crimson Tide to the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Weinke enjoyed a seven-year NFL career from 2001-07, playing with the Carolina Panthers (2001-06) and the San Francisco 49ers (2007). The Panthers drafted Weinke in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft with the 106th overall pick.
The St. Paul, Minnesota, native is perhaps best known for his remarkable career at Florida State, playing for the legendary Bobby Bowden from 1997-2000. Weinke owns the Seminoles’ career records for passing yards (9,839), completions (650) and touchdown passes (79) and his 14 games with 300 or more passing yards are tied for the most in FSU history. He played in 36 games and his 32 wins as a starting quarterback are the most in Florida State history. He was inducted into the FSU Hall of Fame in 2011 and has his jersey retired by the school.
As a senior in 2000, Weinke won the Heisman Trophy, Johnny Unitas Award and the Davey O’Brien Award after leading Florida State to the ACC title and an 11-2 record. He threw for an FSU record 4,167 yards and a then-record 33 touchdowns, while completing 61.7 percent of his passes in 2000. At 28, Weinke became the oldest player ever to win the Heisman Trophy.
As a junior in 1999, Weinke led Florida State to a perfect 12-0 record, capping the year with a 46-29 win over Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl to give the Seminoles the BCS National Championship. He threw for 3,103 yards and 25 touchdowns and completed 61.5 percent of his passes during Florida State’s championship run.
Weinke was a 1989 Parade magazine and USA Today first-team high school All-American at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul. He was also an all-state baseball player and in 1990 he was drafted in the second round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft (No. 62 overall) by the Toronto Blue Jays.
He signed a professional contract with Toronto and played in the minor leagues before leaving baseball in 1996.
The National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) summer trade show (July 18–20) kicked off in Nashville at the Wildhorse Saloon on July 18 with the Gibson Summer NAMM Jam.
The showcase featured a lineup of legends, stars and emerging acts—all strumming Gibson guitars—including Jason Isbell, Nathaniel Rateliff, Chris Isaak, Lee Roy Parnell, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Parmalee, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Cassadee Pope, Travis Denning, Temecula Road, Honey County, Alanis Sophia and Jayden Tatatiscore.
![Kane Brown & Marshmello Drop Runaway Video for “One Thing Right” [Watch]](https://cdn.socast.io/6616/sites/602/2019/07/19123604/Kane-Brown-Marshmello.jpg#aqua_resizer_image_not_local)
![The Highwomen Release Debut Single & Video for “Redesigning Women” [Watch]](https://cdn.socast.io/6616/sites/602/2019/07/19101817/Highwomen-Getty.jpg#aqua_resizer_image_not_local)
![Gibson Guitar Jam with Jason Isbell, Lee Roy Parnell, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Cassadee Pope, Chris Isaak, Parmalee & More [Photo Gallery]](https://cdn.socast.io/6616/sites/602/2019/07/19092802/Jason-Isbell-Ray-Wylie-Hubbard-Cassadee-Pope-TA.jpg#aqua_resizer_image_not_local)
