KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – After unexpected delays in getting her student visa renewed and her travel to the United States approved, Tennessee women’s basketball graduate transfer Louise “Lou” Brown has finally made the long journey from Down Under to Rocky Top.
Brown, who transferred to UT from Washington State, arrived in Knoxville on Thursday evening and was greeted by her teammates at McGhee-Tyson Airport. She had shared her good news with the Lady Vol coaching staff last Friday morning that her visa had been approved. Brown was subsequently enrolled in classes for the fall semester and made arrangements for a flight to the U.S. once she had the document in hand.
“After some lengthy delays in the process of getting her student visa renewed, we are thrilled that Lou Brown cleared all international hurdles and finally has arrived at the University of Tennessee,” UT head coach Holly Warlick said. “We appreciate the efforts of everyone involved in resolving this issue and are pleased that we ultimately reached a positive outcome. Lou has created a buzz among the Lady Vol faithful since her commitment, and we are eager for her to showcase her abilities with our program during the upcoming season.”
A native of Melbourne, Australia, the 6-foot-3 forward started 71 of 95 career games at Washington State from 2014-18. Brown averaged 5.6 points and 5.6 rebounds while knocking down 80 three-pointers during her time in Pullman. She graduated from WSU in May with a degree in sport management.
After her 2016-17 season ended prematurely due to a foot injury while she was averaging 10.4 points and 6.9 rebounds through seven games, Brown returned to the court in 2017-18 as a redshirt junior. She started 23 of 28 contests and averaged 6.4 points and 6.0 rebounds for WSU. She was the team’s leading rebounder and fifth-leading point-producer, scoring in double figures nine times and tallying six games with double digits in rebounds. She had four double-doubles to lead the squad.
Brown connected on a single-season career-most 29 threes in 87 attempts (.333) last year. She tallied her most field goals and attempts, hitting 62 of 171 (.363), and shot a team-best 78.1 percent from the free throw line (25-32). She also posted a career high for assists in a season with 49.
Tennessee Director of Athletics Phillip Fulmer announced Thursday that reigning SEC Men’s Basketball Coach of the Year Rick Barnes has received a contract extension through the 2023-24 season.
“Rick has done an exceptional job of reestablishing our men’s basketball program into a championship-level program,” Fulmer said. “He stepped into what was a difficult situation as our program was struggling to find stability, and he’s very quickly instilled a winning culture during a time when Southeastern Conference basketball is becoming increasingly competitive. He runs his program the right way, surrounds himself with an incredible staff and he loves his players and pours himself into their development both on and off the court.
“Our run to an SEC Championship last season energized the entire Tennessee fan base in a very special way, and I believe that energy and excitement will continue to flourish with Rick leading our program forward.”
Barnes led the Volunteers to the 2018 regular-season SEC Championship in just his third year on Rocky Top. Tennessee was picked to finish 13th in the 14-team league prior to the 2017-18 campaign, but Barnes and his staff not only guided the Big Orange to the conference championship, but also to the title game of the SEC Tournament, a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a 26-9 record (fourth-most wins in program history).
“Tennessee is a very special place, and I believe this program is capable of accomplishing very special things,” Barnes said. “I particularly appreciate the commitment that Phillip Fulmer and Chancellor Davis have made to my staff. I truly believe I’m surrounded by the best staff in college basketball. I also appreciate the way Tennessee fans have embraced the program and supported our players.
“Candy and I are blessed to have made many wonderful friends here in Knoxville, and we’re looking forward to continuing to play a role in some of the remarkable things happening throughout the community.”
Barnes was named the 2018 SEC Coach of the Year and was runner-up for Naismith National Coach of the Year after Tennessee became one of only eight “Power Five” teams to increase its overall wins total by 10 or more games from 2016-17. The Vols also were one of only eight “Power Five” programs to win at least 13 games away from home in 2017-18, leading to a year-end RPI of No. 10 while playing the 11th-toughest schedule in the country.
Several of Barnes’ players also collected hardware following UT’s championship season. Sophomore forward Grant Williams earned honorable mention All-America honors and was voted the SEC Player of the Year, joining Hall of Famer Bernard King as the only Vols to win that honor as underclassmen. Fellow sophomore Lamonte Turner was named the SEC Co-Sixth Man of the Year, and junior wing Admiral Schofield garnered All-SEC acclaim.
The 2018 Volunteers spent 14 straight weeks in national top-25 and finished the season ranked 13th in the Associated Press poll and 16th in the coaches’ poll. The team finished the season rated sixth nationally in defensive efficiency while leading the SEC in scoring defense (65.7 ppg) and assists per game (15.7).
During his three seasons in Knoxville, Barnes has made a deliberate effort to ensure that Tennessee plays a challenging, national schedule that consistently ranks among the toughest in Division I. According to college basketball statistical analyst Ken Pomeroy, the Vols’ strength of schedule was rated 16th nationally in 2016-17 and 11th nationally in 2017-18.
Under Barnes, Tennessee has executed non-conference game contracts with Georgia Tech, Gonzaga, North Carolina and Wake Forest. In addition, the Vols have participated in the Maui Invitational, the Battle 4 Atlantis and the SEC/Big 12 Challenge, facing the likes of Iowa State, Kansas State, NC State, Oregon, Purdue, TCU and Wisconsin.
The Vols under Barnes also have enjoyed success in the increasingly competitive Southeastern Conference. This past season, UT swept its three “permanent” league opponents during the regular season, going a combined 6-0 against Kentucky, South Carolina and Vanderbilt. And since Barnes’ hiring, the Vols are a perfect 3-0 against rival Kentucky at Thompson-Boling Arena.
Barnes has earned the following honors during his time on Rocky Top: 2018 SEC Coach of the Year (AP and Coaches), 2018 Athletes in Action Coach Wooden “Keys to Life” Award. 2018 NABC All-District 21 Coach, 2018 USBWA District IV Coach of the Year, 2018 TSWA Coach of the Year.
Entering the 2018-19 campaign, Tennessee returns its top six scorers, all five starters and 90 percent of its offensive production from last year’s championship squad. The Vols are listed in the top five nationally in multiple early preseason projections (No. 5 by ESPN.com and No. 3 by CBSsports.com).
New season tickets and the popular Vol Pass package go on sale on Sept. 11 at AllVols.com.
Emmylou Harris will be the featured subject of an upcoming exhibit—Emmylou Harris: Songbird’s Flight—at the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Opening on Oct. 5 and running through Aug. 4, 2019, Songbird’s Flight will explore the musical and personal journey of the 13-time Grammy winner and Country Music Hall of Fame member.
“From my first album in 1975, the country music world has embraced me with open arms,” Emmylou said. “This exhibit at the Hall of Fame makes me realize once more how grateful and honored I am to be part of such a remarkable musical family.”
The exhibit includes many unique items, including:
Emmylou’s first guitar, a Kay 1160 Deco Note
Jacket designed by Manuel Cuevas that Emmylou wore on the cover of the album Trio
Military decorations awarded to Emmylou’s Marine fighter pilot father, Walter “Bucky” Harris
Handwritten letter from 18-year-old Emmylou to the editor of Sing Out!, a quarterly journal of folk music
Gibson J-200N acoustic guitar with blonde finish, which was given to Emmylou by Gram Parsons
Tunic, blue jeans and leather boots worn by Emmylou on the cover of her 1975 album, Elite Hotel
Handwritten lyrics by Paul Kennerley to “Diamond in My Crown” and “White Line,” which Emmylou co-wrote and included on her 1985 album, The Ballad of Sally Rose
Emmylou will participate in a special program in the museum’s CMA Theater on Nov. 3.
The nominees for the 2018 People’s Choice Awards—voted on by we the people—have been announced.
In addition to the Country Artist of 2018 category, a number of artists picked up all-genre nominations, including:
Thomas Rhett (Male Arist of 2018)
Carrie Underwood (Female Artist of 2018)
Dan + Shay (Group of 2018)
Sugarland (Group of 2018)
Little Big Town (Group of 2018)
Kenny Chesney, Trip Around the Sun Tour (Concert Tour of 2018)
Shania Twain, Now Tour (Concert Tour of 2018)
Nomination voting for the 43 categories across movies, television, music, and pop culture runs through Sept. 14 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Fans can either vote online or through Facebook and Twitter with the opportunity to submit write-in nominees when voting online. After the voting window closes, the top five nominees based on fan votes in each category will become the official finalists. The finalist voting window will begin on Sept. 24 and run through Oct. 19.
The People’s Choice Awards will have its inaugural telecast on E! on Nov. 11 at 9 p.m. ET/PT with red carpet coverage kicking off at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
Below are the country-centric nominations for the 2018 People’s Choice Awards.
Country Artist of 2018
Thomas Rhett
Luke Bryan
Jason Aldean
Kelsea Ballerini
Chris Stapleton
Carrie Underwood
Little Big Town
Sam Hunt
Blake Shelton
Florida Georgia Line
Keith Urban
Sugarland
Male Artist of 2018
Thomas Rhett Drake
Post Malone
The Weeknd
Kendrick Lamar
Keith Urban
Ed Sheeran
Logic
G-Eazy
Shawn Mendes
Jay-Z
Bruno Mars
Female Artist of 2018
Carrie Underwood Taylor Swift
Beyoncé
Cardi B
Ariana Grande
Camila Cabello
SZA
Nicki Minaj
Selena Gomez
Pink
Jennifer Lopez
Dua Lipa
Group of 2018
Dan + Shay Little Big Town Sugarland Migos
Twenty One Pilots Panic! At the Disco
Gorillaz
Imagine Dragons
5 Seconds of Summer
BTS
Fall Out Boy
Maroon 5
Concert Tour of 2018
Kenny Chesney, Trip Around the Sun Tour Shania Twain, Now Tour Beyoncé & Jay Z, On the Run II Tour
Justin Timberlake, Man of the Woods Tour
U2, Experience + Innocence Tour
Taylor Swift, Reputation Tour
Britney Spears, Piece of Me Tour
Foo Fighters, Concrete and Gold Tour
Katy Perry, Witness Tour
Imagine Dragons, Evolve Tour
Bruno Mars, 24k Magic Tour
Pink, Beautiful Trauma Tour
It can carry you to victory, destroy you in defeat.
It can be fun. It can be fleeting. It can be fickle.
I know what it’s like to have confidence in a sport, then lose it.
I’ve seen it at the highest level.
I’ve seen Tiger Woods lose confidence in his putter, Roger Federer lose confidence in his backhand, Shaquille O’Neal lose confidence in his free-throw shooting. (OK, maybe that last one is a bad example.)
The point is, most athlete lose confidence at some time or another.
Confidence is gained by success. It is lost by failure. Hit a few drives out of bounds, then tell me how sure you are that the next tee shot will split the fairway.
The key is regaining it when you’re in a slump – a prolonged slump.
Usually, something good has to happen for you to rekindle belief.
That brings us to Tennessee football.
If you’re coming off an 0-8 season in the SEC, a school-record 8-loss season, blowout losses to rivals Alabama and Georgia – even to Missouri and Vanderbilt – how can you be confident?
Saying doesn’t do it.
So if you hear Tennessee players say they’re confident in anything that has to do with football, beware.
Perhaps that’s why Vols co-defensive coordinator Chris Rumph told me that he saw players – when harshly corrected — shy away like a dog that’s been abused.
“They don’t want to look you in the eye,’’ Rumph said in my interview with him last month. “If you raise your voice a little bit, they sort of, I don’t want to say cower down, but sort of get in a submissive role. And that’s expected for what they’ve been through.’’
And perhaps that’s why first-year head coach Jeremy Pruitt keeps saying he likes UT’s offensive line.
I don’t know Pruitt well enough to know his methods for motivation.
He called out some players for flat-out quitting during the Tennessee spring game.
But he didn’t call them by name and he has rarely been critical of any individuals publicly.
Does he sense the psyche of his team is battered and bruised and doesn’t need any brow beating?
Or is that simply his M.O. as a head coach?
Tennessee’s offensive line has underachieved for years. But Pruitt keeps giving them a pat on the back.
Here’s what Pruitt had to say after the Vols rushed for only 129 yards and 3.4 yards per carry against West Virginia, which had one of the nation’s worst run defenses in 2017:
“I like our guys on the offensive line. I believe in them. I think the guys are hard-nosed. I think they fight. We have to execute a little better. I think as this season goes and those guys get to playing together and play the same positions over and over, I think they will do that. I really do.’’
So maybe the o-line is close to jelling, close to improving, close to being a competent unit by SEC standards.
Or maybe Pruitt is trying to boost their egos.
Whatever the case, the two best ways to gain confidence are to have someone show they believe in you and to have success.
Pruitt is showing a belief in his offensive line, a belief in his team.
Now the team has to find success to find true confidence.
That won’t come with a wins over inferior opponents like East Tennessee State or UTEP, a team that went winless last year.
It can only come if you beat a team like Florida.
That’s why the game against the Gators in two weeks will define the direction of this season for a Tennessee team teetering on the brink.
Following the release of his self-titled debut album in December 2016, Kane Brown has announced he will drop his sophomore project, Experiment, on Nov. 9.
Kane made the announcement via Instagram, revealing the album’s cover art as well as the availability of a new track, “Homesick,” on Sept. 6. The album is also available for pre-order on Sept. 6.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee will welcome in-state foe ETSU to Neyland Stadium for its home opener on Saturday at 4 p.m. (SEC Network). UT head coach Jeremy Pruitt said he has seen many of his players show more intensity this week at practice as the Vols prepare to host the Buccaneers for the first time.
“I have seen guys with our whole team that have come out on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and you can see a little more giddy up in their step,” Pruitt said. “Guys have more intensity, which is a good thing.”
While the team continues to improve, the Big Orange received some unfortunate news on Wednesday evening when Pruitt announced that starting center Brandon Kennedy, a graduate transfer from Alabama, suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice this week.
Due to Kennedy’s injury, the Vols’ will have to move some pieces around on the offensive line for this week’s game. Redshirt sophomore Ryan Johnson, who started at center for UT during the final game of last season, and sophomore Riley Locklear are the two most likely candidates to fill the void at center for the Vols this week.
“We’ve repped four or five centers over the course of spring and summer and fall camp, you have to do that, so we’ll shuffle some guys around and see after today and tomorrow’s practice what’s the best combination,” Pruitt said.
Best Practice Players Will Play on Saturdays
Pruitt emphasized that the players that are the most productive in practice will be the ones seeing the majority of the snaps on game days.
“You play based on how you perform in practice,” Pruitt said. “Nobody is entitled to anything, and I think that is the best way. I think kids appreciate it. It makes them go to work and gets the best out of them. It makes them develop as football player and makes you have a better team.”
Eyes in the Sky
Pruitt was complimentary of the way his staff handled things from an “administrative standpoint” last Saturday when talking about which coaches would be on the field and which ones would coach from the booth.
“Defensively, Charles (Kelly) and Terry (Fair) and Chris Rumph all went in the booth,” Pruitt said. “Except for Terry, when you throw in Tracy (Rocker) and Kevin (Sherrer) on the field, we’ve all coached together at some point in time. So that part was easy defensively. From a special teams’ standpoint, Charles is the special teams’ coordinator, but he can do both, and he can see it from there.
“Offensively, some guys like to call it in the booth, some guys like to call in on the field. Tyson (Helton) would prefer to be in the booth, which is not unusual, lots of guys like to do that. To do that, you have to have men on the sidelines that can kind of control the unit, because it’s important to look them in the eye sometimes and say, ‘let’s go’, to get a feeling of what’s going on. And we have that with the guys on our sidelines.”
Manning Inducted into Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame
Legendary Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame as announced earlier today. Manning, a New Orleans native, joins his father, Archie, a 1988 inductee, in the state sports shrine. They are only the second father/son duo in the Hall, preceded by the Ruston combination of NFL stars Dub (1982) and Bert (1986) Jones.
Manning was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player five times and won two Super Bowls during his illustrious professional career while setting league records for career passing yards (71,940) and career passing touchdowns (539).
During his time at UT, Manning set 42 NCAA, SEC and Tennessee passing records and earned All-America status as a senior in 1997 while also winning the Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien Award and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.
Legend of the Game
Tennessee will honor the late Reggie White as its Legend of the Game on Saturday afternoon. His widow, Sara White will be accompanied by VFLs Phil Stewart and Bruce Wilkerson during a pregame presentation to honor the former UT All-American and Pro Football Hall of Famer.
Times to Know
12:30 p.m. – Vol Village Opens (Located at Humanities Plaza)
1:45 p.m. – Vol Walk
4:01 p.m. – Kickoff
The Jeremy Pruitt TV Show Airs on Sundays
Find out the head coach’s thoughts on each game during the hour-long television program, the “Jeremy Pruitt TV Show,” which will air throughout the state and the southeast region during the football season. It will also be available on UTSports.com.
Market | Channel | Day, Time Chattanooga
WTVC Ch. 9 | Sunday, Noon ET
Jackson
WJKT Ch. 16 |Sunday, 10:30 p.m. CT
Knoxville
WVLT Ch. 8 | Sunday, 11 a.m. ET
MyVLT Ch. 30 | Sunday, 9 a.m. & 9 p.m. ET
Opening Statement:
“We had a pretty lively practice out there today. I thought the guys had a little more juice. Two days in a row we had to go inside because the weather. Obviously, we’re shuffling some guys around. Unfortunately, yesterday we lost Brandon Kennedy for the season. He had a leg injury, just kind of standing on his feet there. Nobody really rolled up into him. It’s very unfortunate for him. It’s like I told him, he’s got another year. He’s been through this before. He gets an opportunity to get another degree, so he seems to be in good spirits. I know our staff and our players, everybody really has respected Brandon since he’s been here and how he’s worked and went about his business so it’s unfortunate for him. That happens to people all over the country and it’s tough on these young men that pour a lot into it throughout the year to get an opportunity to play and the thing about it – you’re never guaranteed anything. It’s unfortunate but it does happen. So, we’ve shuffled a few guys on the o-line but the fact that we’ve moved guys around during fall camp I think will help us and this is why you have to do it. It makes growing pains for your offensive line through fall camp because guys don’t play the same position. For instance, a guy like Jerome Carvin, the guy gets here at mid-year, he’s already played left guard, right guard, right tackle and now he’s going to be probably be the third-team center. We’ll get him some reps there but it’s what you have to do and our guys have been willing to do that. I think our guys are excited about playing this week. You only get so many opportunities and I can kind of see it at practice a little bit, these guys have a lot of respect for the team that we’re playing in ETSU. They know a lot of guys on the team, so I know they’re looking forward to playing.”
On Brandon Kennedy’s injury:
“Yes, it was an ACL.”
On trying to pursue a sixth year for Brandon Kennedy:
“Right now, the big thing is we are going to worry about getting him the proper medical care and getting fixed and rehabbed. We will worry about that when the time comes.”
On the offensive line’s continuity and players getting repetitions at other positions:
“We’ve always – you’ve always got to have guys that can move around a little bit. For instance, if you’ve got 10 offensive linemen, so there’s you’re two-deep, right, well maybe your backup center on the depth chart might be your 10th-best offensive lineman, so if you lose your center, should you play your sixth guy or your 10th guy? Makes sense to play your sixth-best guy, so to do things like that you’ve got to be able to move guys around. Some of the reason I talked about I have a lot of confidence in our offensive line moving forward because these guys have been doing this the whole time. Trey (Smith) practices on August 17, so we’re practicing like Trey’s not going to be there. Chance Hall has gradually worked his way in there. Jerome (Carvin) missed all summer. Brandon (Kennedy) wasn’t there in the spring so there’s lots of guys, lots of moving parts there. I think as these guys kind of start playing the same positions over and over and get used to playing beside the same guy, they’ll have a lot more confidence in who’s in there with them.”
On playing three true freshmen in the secondary and what he’s seen out of them in practice this week:
“I have seen guys with our whole team that have come out on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and you can see a little more giddy up in their step. Guys have more intensity, which is a good thing. When things don’t go your way, the first thing you want to do is point fingers in another direction instead of figuring out what you can do to make your part better. A lot of our guys are trying to do that. They are trying to figure out how they can improve as a football player. How can they help their unit. How can they help this team. That is what we have to do. It was one game. Was it the way we wanted it? Heck no, but we could have gone out and played our best, and we might not have won either. The key is to go play our best. That is what we are looking for.”
On evaluating the pass rushers from last game:
“There is a lot that goes into rushing the quarterback. The first thing is that you have to cover them as a unit. You have to cover them in the back end. You have to disguise, so the quarterback doesn’t know where the ball is going and it’s not out of his hand. If you’re playing against a good quarterback, you can bring as many people as you want, but he will understand what he has and the ball will be gone. You would be better off not rushing anybody because the ball comes out so fast. There is a combination with our guys. I think they have the ability on the edge, and I think they do a lot of things the right way. We have to be able to finish on the quarterback once we get back there. We have to do a better job in the back end and make the quarterback hold the ball to give those guys a chance.”
On JJ Peterson in practice and the receivers getting yards after the catch for explosive plays:
“First of all with JJ, I have been recruiting him for a long time, so I know a lot about him. Probably the biggest thing right now is that he is out of shape. He didn’t go through summer conditioning or fall camp, so he has a long way to go physically before he would be able to play. As far as wide receivers, lots of time schematically if you can hit wide receivers on the move you tend to get more yards after the catch than you do if you are coming back to the line of scrimmage or have outside breaking routes. Lots of times it depends on what coverage people are playing. You have to take advantage of what they are doing. But definitely hitting guys on the move or when guys are facing the line of scrimmage like backs when they catch the ball, it gives them a better opportunity to get yards after the catch.”
On players like Kingston Harris and Emmit Gooden starting to contribute more:
“You could throw John Mincey in there, Greg Emerson as well. We really have to improve and create some depth on the defensive line. The way we practice, we’ve been putting those guys on the scout team and then back up there with the defense, so they’ve been taking a ton of reps. The only way that you can get better as a football player and really understand how to play is to do it. There’s no other way around it. You can’t get it in drills, you can’t get it in one-on-one, you can work technique, you can work toughness and all that, but to play the game, you have to go play. We give our guys a lot of opportunities every day and they’re like all freshmen, they have some days where they practice extremely well, and then they have some days where they’re trying to figure out whether or not this is for them. But that’s everywhere, it’s called maturing.”
On how the administering of the game went as far as location of the coaches:
“Defensively, Charles (Kelly) and Terry (Fair) and Chris Rumph all went in the booth,” Pruitt said. “Except for Terry, when you throw in Tracy (Rocker) and Kevin (Sherrer) on the field, we’ve all coached together at some point in time. So that part was easy defensively. From a special teams’ standpoint, Charles is the special teams’ coordinator, but he can do both, and he can see it from there. Offensively, some guys like to call it in the booth, some guys like to call in on the field. Tyson (Helton) would prefer to be in the booth, which is not unusual, lots of guys like to do that. To do that, you have to have men on the sidelines that can kind of control the unit, because it’s important to look them in the eye sometimes and say, ‘let’s go’, to get a feeling of what’s going on. And we have that with the guys on our sidelines.”
On the improvement of a team from the first to second game:
“I believe there’s truth in that. You can go out here and practice and most of the time, what you see in the scrimmages is what you’re going to get on Saturday’s. But sometimes, you might get something a little different. Not a whole lot, but you may have a guy that plays really well in the scrimmages and for whatever reason — maybe it’s because he has anxiety, maybe lack of focus, whatever it is — he doesn’t play well on Saturday. And then sometimes — and again, very few times — you’ll get guys that don’t perform as well in scrimmages, but when you get to games, they kind of raise their level. It doesn’t happen much. One thing after playing a game is that you know what you have. You know who can do what, you have a baseline of what you have and what you have to improve on with each player, each unit and each side of the ball.”
Tennessee Volunteers head football coach Jeremy Pruitt spoke with the media in a press conference setting Wednesday ahead of this weekend’s game with ETSU.
Charlotte, NC – SEPTEMBER 01, 2018 – Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt of the Tennessee Volunteers during the Belk College Kickoff Game between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Tennessee Volunteers at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. Photo By Andrew Ferguson/Tennessee Athletics
Tennessee Head Coach Jeremy Pruitt Press Conference (Sept. 5, 2018)
Opening Statement:
“We had a pretty lively practice out there today. I thought the guys had a little more juice. Two days in a row we had to go inside because the weather. Obviously, we’re shuffling some guys around. Unfortunately, yesterday we lost Brandon Kennedy for the season. He had a leg injury, just kind of standing on his feet there. Nobody really rolled up into him. It’s very unfortunate for him. It’s like I told him, he’s got another year. He’s been through this before. He gets an opportunity to get another degree, so he seems to be in good spirits. I know our staff and our players, everybody really has respected Brandon since he’s been here and how he’s worked and went about his business so it’s unfortunate for him. That happens to people all over the country and it’s tough on these young men that pour a lot into it throughout the year to get an opportunity to play and the thing about it – you’re never guaranteed anything. It’s unfortunate but it does happen. So, we’ve shuffled a few guys on the o-line but the fact that we’ve moved guys around during fall camp I think will help us and this is why you have to do it. It makes growing pains for your offensive line through fall camp because guys don’t play the same position. For instance, a guy like Jerome Carvin, the guy gets here at mid-year, he’s already played left guard, right guard, right tackle and now he’s going to be probably be the third-team center. We’ll get him some reps there but it’s what you have to do and our guys have been willing to do that. I think our guys are excited about playing this week. You only get so many opportunities and I can kind of see it at practice a little bit, these guys have a lot of respect for the team that we’re playing in ETSU. They know a lot of guys on the team, so I know they’re looking forward to playing.”
On how the linemen responded to Brandon Kennedy’s injury and who will start Saturday:
“This has happened. It’s not the first time it’s happened to people at Tennessee and it won’t be the last unfortunately. It’s part of the sport and everybody understands that. The next guy will be Ryan Johnson. Ryan’s played there. Riley Locklear, Jerome [Carvin] can play center. We’ve repped four or five centers over the course of spring and summer so you have to do that, and fall camp, so we’ll shuffle some guys around and see after today and tomorrow’s practice what’s the best combination.”
On Brandon Kennedy’s injury:
“Yes, it was an ACL.”
On trying to pursue a sixth year for Brandon Kennedy:
“Right now, the big thing is we are going to worry about getting him the proper medical care and getting fixed and rehabbed. We will worry about that when the time comes.”
On the offensive line’s continuity and players getting repetitions at other positions:
“We’ve always – you’ve always got to have guys that can move around a little it. For instance, if you’ve got ten offensive linemen, so there’s you’re two-deep, right, well maybe your back-up center on the depth chart might be your 10th-best offensive lineman so if you lose your center, should you play your sixth guy or your 10th guy? Makes sense to play your sixth-best guy so to do things like that, you’ve got to be able to move guys around. Some of the reason I talked about I have a lot of confidence in our offensive line moving forward because these guys have been doing this the whole time. Trey [Smith] practices on August 17, so we’re practicing like Trey’s not going to be there. Chance Hall has gradually worked his way in there. Jerome [Carvin] missed all summer. Brandon [Kennedy] wasn’t there in the spring so there’s lots of guys, lots of moving parts there. I think as these guys kind of start playing the same positions over and over and get used to playing beside the same guy, they’ll have a lot more confidence in who’s in there with them.”
On the starters in the secondary not rotating out much vs. West Virginia and if anyone has earned more playing time:
“To me, we had starters going into the West Virginia game. Then you evaluate how that game went. There were a few guys who got to play in the game. Then you start practice the next week, and we will have starters for this game. That is the way it will be for as long as I am here. You play based on how you perform in practice. Nobody is entitled to anything, and I think that is the best way. I think kids appreciate it. It makes them go to work and gets the best out of them. It makes them develop as football player and makes you have a better team.”
On playing three true freshmen in the secondary and what he’s seen out of them in practice this week:
“I have seen guys with our whole team that have come out on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and you can see a little more giddy up in their step. Guys have more intensity, which is a good thing. When things don’t go your way, the first thing you want to do is point fingers in another direction instead of figuring out what you can do to make your part better. A lot of our guys are trying to do that. They are trying to figure out how they can improve as a football player. How can they help their unit. How can they help this team. That is what we have to do. It was one game. Was it the way we wanted it? Heck no, but we could have gone out and played our best, and we might not have won either. The key is to go play our best. That is what we are looking for.”
On evaluating the pass rushers from last game:
“There is a lot that goes into rushing the quarterback. The first thing is that you have to cover them as a unit. You have to cover them in the back end. You have to disguise, so the quarterback doesn’t know where the ball is going and it’s not out of his hand. If you’re playing against a good quarterback, you can bring as many people as you want, but he will understand what he has and the ball will be gone. You would be better off not rushing anybody because the ball comes out so fast. There is a combination with our guys. I think they have the ability on the edge, and I think they do a lot of things the right way. We have to be able to finish on the quarterback once we get back there. We have to do a better job in the back end and make the quarterback hold the ball to give those guys a chance.”
On JJ Peterson in practice and the receivers getting yards after the catch for explosive plays:
“First of all with JJ, I have been recruiting him for a long time, so I know a lot about him. Probably the biggest thing right now is that he is out of shape. He didn’t go through summer conditioning or fall camp, so he has a long way to go physically before he would be able to play. As far as wide receivers, lots of time schematically if you can hit wide receivers on the move you tend to get more yards after the catch than you do if you are coming back to the line of scrimmage or have outside breaking routes. Lots of times it depends on what coverage people are playing. You have to take advantage of what they are doing. But definitely hitting guys on the move or when guys are facing the line of scrimmage like backs when they catch the ball, it give them a better opportunity to get yards after the catch.”
On players like Kingston Harris and Emmit Gooden starting to contribute more:
“You could throw John Mincey in there, Greg Emerson as well. We really have to improve and create some depth on the defensive line. The way we practice, we’ve been putting those guys on the scout team and then back up there with the defense, so they’ve been taking a ton of reps. The only way that you can get better as a football player and really understand how to play is to do it. There’s no other way around it. You can’t get it in drills, you can’t get it in one-on-one, you can work technique, you can work toughness and all that, but to play the game, you have to go play. We give our guys a lot of opportunities every day and they’re like all freshmen, they have some days where they practice extremely well, and then they have some days where they’re trying to figure out whether or not this is for them. But that’s everywhere, it’s called maturing.”
On how the administering of the game went as far as location of the coaches:
“Defensively, Charles and Terry and Chris Rumph all went in the booth. Except for Terry, when you throw in Tracy and Kevin on the field, we’ve all coached together at some point in time. So that part was easy defensively. From a special team standpoint, Charles is the special teams coordinator but he can do both, and he can see it from there. Offensively, some guys like to call it in the booth, some guys like to call in on the field. Tyson would prefer to be in the booth, which is not unusual, lots of guys like to do that. To do that, you have to have men on the sidelines that can kind of control the unit. Because it’s important to look them in the eye sometimes and say ‘let’s go’ to get a feeling of what’s going on. And we have that with the guys on our sidelines. So I think from an administration standpoint, I thought our staff did a good job. What we have to do, is we have to get our guys from Monday until Saturday to execute the right way and to learn exactly what they’re supposed to do so that when they get to Saturday, it’s easy.”
On the improvement of a team from the first to second game:
“I believe there’s truth in that. You can go out here and practice and most of the time, what you see in the scrimmages is what you’re going to get on Saturday’s. But sometimes, you might get something a little different. Not a whole lot, but you may have a guy that plays really well in the scrimmages and for whatever reason — maybe it’s because he has anxiety, maybe lack of focus, whatever it is — he doesn’t play well on Saturday. And then sometimes — and again, very few times — you’ll get guys that don’t perform as well in scrimmages, but when you get to games, they kind of raise their level. It doesn’t happen much. One thing after playing a game is that you know what you have. You know who can do what, you have a baseline of what you have and what you have to improve on with each player, each unit and each side of the ball.”
After six studio albums and one Christmas album with Capitol Records Nashville, Lady Antebellum signed a new record contract with Big Machine Label Group, which is home to Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line, Thomas Rhett, Reba McEntire, Sugarland, Midland and more.
Under Capitol’s guidance, Lady A scored nine No. 1 singles and five No. 1 albums, while earning seven Grammy Awards, six CMA Awards and seven ACM Awards.
As Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley told Joshua “Bru” Brubaker of Nash FM 931 in Detroit, one of the reasons the trio made the label switch was the “new, excited energy from Big Machine.”
“I think we did six or seven records with [Capitol], so you know it was just time for our contract to be up,” said Charles. “We just felt some really new, excited energy from Big Machine. They had heard some of the songs we’d been writing and [we] just really felt like they had a fresh energy that would be fun. They’ve got some new ideas of where they think they can take this thing. So we felt just kinda re-inspired to work with them.”
With the new record deal, Charles says the trio is also looking to take their music in a new direction.
“Yeah, I mean we’re definitely wanting to be a little bit more honest with our music and our lyrics and probably show a different side again, just musically,” says Charles. “It will probably sound a lot different than ‘You Look Good’ and ‘Bartender’ and a lot of that too—we’re probably gonna dig a little deeper on this project this time. I’m just excited for everybody to hear. We’ve been writing a ton. We’ve been going through a lot as a group and even in our personal lives, just growing in our families and growing as a band and we’re ready to kinda really throw it all out on a record.”
