Tennessee WR coach Kevin Beard visited with the media after UT spring practice 11 on Thursday.

Tennessee WR coach Kevin Beard visited with the media after UT spring practice 11 on Thursday.
Vols LB Austin Smith spoke with the media after UT spring practice 11 Thursday.
Vols offensive lineman Marcus Tatum talked with the media after spring practice 11 on Thursday.
Freshman early enroll DE Deandre Johnson met with the media after UT spring practice 11 on Thursday.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — More than 150 members of local law enforcement teams took in practice at Haslam Field on Thursday afternoon as the Vols hosted Law Enforcement Day as part of their 11th of 15 scheduled spring practices.
Following practice, head coach Butch Jones presented a personalized jersey to officers from the Maryville Police Department as a salute to fallen officer Kenny Moats, who was killed while responding to a domestic disturbance on Alcoa Trail last summer.
Captain Sharon Moore of the MPD briefly addressed the team before accepting the jersey from linebacker Cortez McDowell.
Only four more practices remain in the Vols’ spring season, which concludes with the Orange & White Game on April 22 at Neyland Stadium (4 p.m. ET). The Orange & White Game will be televised on SEC Network for the second consecutive year with Clay Matvik and Clint Stoerner calling the action and Dr. Jerry Punch reporting from the sidelines.
Admission and parking are free to the public and a Fan Day event will precede kickoff.
Like all Tennessee athletic events, UT’s clear-bag policy will be enforced the Orange & White Game. For more information on the clear-bag and other safety policies, click here.
The Vols head to Neyland Stadium on Saturday for their final practice of the week.
Wide receivers coach Kevin Beard
(On if he told the players before spring that he would be out at practice in cleats)
“I did. They kind of saw it in the workouts before and it was almost funny because (they would say), ‘Yeah, you’ve got cleats on, but show me that route, Coach. Show me what you’re asking us to do,’ like they’re going to put me to the test. Being able to get out there and do it for them and demonstrate it, it gave me a little more credibility. It’s almost like, ‘If he did it, then I have to do it. I’m not going to let him show me up.’ That’s what it has been. It has been very competitive. They don’t want me to out-do them because I’m too old for that. It’s just been healthy, good competition.”
RS sophomore LB Austin Smith
(On if he prefers playing linebacker or defensive end)
“I don’t really prefer one over the other. I consider myself an athlete, but wherever the team needs me, I don’t really care. I’m just doing it for my team. I love my team a whole lot and I’ll always believe in family. We have this thing called FAMILY: Forget About Me, I Love You. So if the teams needs me to play safety, defensive tackle, I really don’t care. I’m just doing it for the team. Last year I sat out and I really just missed the team. I’d do anything for these boys and I love them a whole lot.”
Sophomore OL Marcus Tatum
(On why people say he is mature beyond his years)
“It’s been going pretty well. I am never satisfied, though. I can get a lot better in a lot of things, especially technique-wise. I feel comfortable in my weight, but my technique needs to get a lot better.”
Freshman DL Deandre Johnson
(On feeling more comfortable during Practice 11 as opposed to Practice One)
“I feel way more comfortable. Mentally, the game was really fast. I’ve been slowing it down in meetings, coming out here working, getting coached up and taking criticism when I mess up. That has been the biggest part so far, just trying to slow the game down mentally.”
-UT Athletics
Josh Ward has a report from Thursday’s 11th spring football practice for the University of Tennessee.
Twenty-two top prospects, who are expected to be selected on Thursday or Friday night (April 27-28), are confirmed to attend the 2017 NFL Draft in Philadelphia, the NFL announced today.
Louisiana State leads all colleges with three players in attendance, while the Pac-12 leads all conferences with seven prospects confirmed to attend the event.
Thirteen NCAA head coaches will join their players in the green room as they await their selections.
The draft begins with the first round on Thursday night, April 27 and continues Friday, April 28, with Rounds 2-3. The draft will conclude on Saturday, April 29 with Rounds 4-7.
The NFL Draft, which had been held in Chicago in each of the past two years, returns to Philadelphia for the first time since 1961. Philadelphia’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel served as the location of the first NFL Draft in 1936. The city also hosted the event in 1949-50, 1953-54, 1956 (Rounds 1-3) and 1957-61.
The players confirmed to attend this year’s NFL Draft:
1) | Jamal Adams | S | Louisiana State | 12) | Marshon Lattimore | CB | Ohio State | |
2) | Jonathan Allen | DT | Alabama | 13) | Malik McDowell | DT | Michigan State | |
3) | Chidobe Awuzie | CB | Colorado | 14) | Takkarist McKinley | LB | UCLA | |
4) | Derek Barnett | DE | Tennessee | 15) | Ryan Ramczyk | T | Wisconsin | |
5) | Garett Bolles | T | Utah | 16) | Haason Reddick | LB | Temple | |
6) | Gareon Conley | CB | Ohio State | 17) | Cam Robinson | T | Alabama | |
7) | Corey Davis | WR | Western Michigan | 18) | John Ross | WR | Washington | |
8) | Leonard Fournette | RB | Louisiana State | 19) | Solomon Thomas | DE | Stanford | |
9) | Adoree’ Jackson | CB | Southern California | 20) | Mitchell Trubisky | QB | North Carolina | |
10) | Kevin King | CB | Washington | 21) | Deshaun Watson | QB | Clemson | |
11) | DeShone Kizer | QB | Notre Dame | 22) | Tre’Davious White | CB | Louisiana State |
The college head coaches confirmed to attend this year’s NFL Draft:
1) | Larry Fedora | North Carolina | 8) | Chris Petersen | Washington | |
2) | P.J. Fleck | Minnesota | 9) | Matt Rhule | Baylor | |
3) | Butch Jones | Tennessee | 10) | Nick Saban | Alabama | |
4) | Brian Kelly | Notre Dame | 11) | David Shaw | Stanford | |
5) | Urban Meyer | Ohio State | 12) | Dabo Swinney | Clemson | |
6) | Jim Mora | UCLA | 13) | Kyle Whittingham | Utah | |
7) | Ed Orgeron | Louisiana State |
WHAT: | 82nd Annual National Football League Player Selection Meeting. |
WHERE: | Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. |
WHEN: | 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, April 27 (Round 1). |
7:00 PM ET, Friday, April 28 (Rounds 2-3). | |
Noon ET, Saturday, April 29 (Rounds 4-7). | |
The first round will conclude on Thursday by approximately 11:30 PM ET. In 2016, the first round consumed three hours and 29 minutes. The second and third rounds will conclude on Friday by approximately 11:00 PM ET. The second and third rounds took four hours and one minute in 2016. The draft will conclude by approximately 6:30 PM ET on Saturday with the final four rounds. Rounds 4 through 7 took six hours and 35 minutes in 2016. | |
DRAFTING: | Representatives of the 32 NFL clubs by telephone communication with their general managers, coaches and scouts. |
ROUNDS: | Seven Rounds – Round 1 on Thursday, April 27; Rounds 2 and 3 on Friday, April 28; and Rounds 4 through 7 on Saturday, April 29. |
There will be 253 selections, including 32 compensatory choices that have been awarded to 16 teams that suffered a net loss of certain quality unrestricted free agents last year. | |
The following 32 compensatory choices will supplement the 221 regular choices in the seven rounds –
Round 3: Miami, 33; Carolina, 34; Baltimore, 35 (Traded to Philadelphia); Los Angeles Rams, 36 (Traded to Tennessee); Denver, 37; Seattle, 38; Cleveland, 39 (Traded to New Orleans via New England); Kansas City, 40; Pittsburgh, 41; Seattle, 42; New York Jets, 43. Round 4: Cincinnati, 32; Cleveland, 33 (Traded to Philadelphia); Los Angeles Rams, 35*; Cleveland, 36 (Traded to Houston); San Francisco, 37; Indianapolis, 38. Round 5: Cincinnati, 33; Denver, 34; Miami, 35; Arizona, 36; Kansas City, 37; Cleveland, 38; Green Bay, 39; New England, 40; Miami, 41. Round 6: Kansas City, 33; Cincinnati, 34; Kansas City, 35. Round 7: Cincinnati, 33; Denver, 34; Denver, 35. *As the result of League discipline, the New York Giants’ original selection in Round 4 (4-23-130) has been relegated to selection 4-34-140. Because that pick is a regular selection, it does not appear on the above list of compensatory draft selections. |
|
^Compensatory picks may be traded this year. A rule change approved by clubs in 2015 will permit compensatory draft picks to be traded beginning in 2017. | |
TIME LIMITS: | Round 1: 10 minutes per selection. Round 2: Seven minutes per selection. Rounds 3 through 6, including Compensatory Picks: Five minutes per selection. Round 7, including Compensatory Picks:Four minutes per selection. |
TELEVISION & RADIO: | The 2017 NFL Draft will be televised nationally by NFL Network and ESPN/ESPN 2 and can be heard nationwide on Westwood One Radio, SiriusXM NFL Radio and TuneIn Radio. |
INTERNET: | Starting at 8:00 PM ET on Thursday, April 27, NFL Now Live Presented by Courtyard provides comprehensive online coverage of the first round of the NFL Draft. Host Matt “Money” Smith anchors the coverage from NFL Network’s studios, alongside NFL Media draft analysts Bucky Brooks and Lance Zierlein. Brooks provides instant draft grades and analysis immediately following each selection, while Zierlein continually ranks the best players still available. Throughout NFL Now’s coverage, NFL Network analysts such as LaDainian Tomlinson, Kurt Warner, Willie McGinest and David Carr join to provide their analysis of the selections, while Marc Istook monitors social trends and fan reaction in real time. From Philadelphia, Dave Dameshek interviews first-round selections, current NFL players and legends, and Colleen Wolfe provides the sights and sounds from the NFL Draft Experience. Additionally, NFL Fantasy experts Michael Fabiano and Marcas Grant offer instant fantasy advice.
NFL Now Live continues Friday, April 28 at 7:00 PM ET and Saturday, April 29 at Noon ET, and is the only place to view the real-time announcement of every pick of the entire 2017 NFL Draft. NFL Now Live can be accessed at NFL.com/Now and through the official mobile app of the NFL, NFL Mobile from Verizon, as well as the NFL app on connected TV devices such as Xbox One, and on desktop and tablet devices such as the NFL app on Windows 10. |
MOBILE: | Exclusively for Verizon customers, NFL Mobile offers a live stream of the NFL Network’s 2017 NFL Draft coverage, where fans can watch in it’s entirely the excitement of every pick, from every round live from Philadelphia. Other features available through NFL Mobile are a live draft tracker, and all of the news and on-demand video featuring draft and team analysis. For more information, visit your app store or NFL.com/Mobile. Data usage applies for app download and use. Available on iOS, Android and Windows.
Live streaming of NFL Network is available via Watch NFL Network on tablet (NFL Mobile, Watch NFL Network and NFL on Windows 10 apps), PC (NFL.com/watch), Xbox One and Xbox 360 (NFL on Xbox app) and other connected TV devices (NFL app on Apple TV, PlayStation 4, Android TV and Amazon Fire TV). Watch NFL Network access is available for NFL Network subscribers of participating TV providers. For more information, go to NFL.com/nflnetwork. |
2017 FIRST ROUND DRAFT ORDER
# | Team |
1. | Cleveland Browns |
2. | San Francisco 49ers |
3. | Chicago Bears |
4. | Jacksonville Jaguars |
5. | Tennessee Titans (from Los Angeles Rams) |
6. | New York Jets |
7. | Los Angeles Chargers |
8. | Carolina Panthers |
9. | Cincinnati Bengals |
10. | Buffalo Bills |
11. | New Orleans Saints |
12. | Cleveland Browns (from Philadelphia Eagles) |
13. | Arizona Cardinals |
14. | Philadelphia Eagles (from Minnesota Vikings) |
15. | Indianapolis Colts |
16. | Baltimore Ravens |
17. | Washington Redskins |
18. | Tennessee Titans |
19. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
20. | Denver Broncos |
21. | Detroit Lions |
22. | Miami Dolphins |
23 | New York Giants |
24. | Oakland Raiders |
25. | Houston Texans |
26. | Seattle Seahawks |
27. | Kansas City Chiefs |
28. | Dallas Cowboys |
29. | Green Bay Packers |
30. | Pittsburgh Steelers |
31. | Atlanta Falcons |
32. | New Orleans Saints (from New England Patriots) |
# # # NFL Communications
Trisha Yearwood met her match Thursday night (April 13) when her look-a-like wax figure was unveiled during Madame Tussauds Nashville grand opening ceremony.
Industry folks gathered at the new location, in Opry Mills Mall, to get a first look at the never-before-seen attraction the day before it opened to the public. In a surprise turn, Trisha took the stage to unveil her new wax figure.
“This is an outfit that I wore at an award show about for years ago. This is donated. It was an outfit I really loved,” Trisha said as she examined her wax twin. “When you’re getting ready for an award show you look at a bunch of different outfits. I loved everything about this. It was fun. So I thought, I’ll just wear this. When you get the call that Madame Tussauds wants to do a wax figure, that’s the ultimate compliment. So I was honored.”
When asked what the first thing that struck her about the wax figure was, Trisha joked, “She’s quieter than me.”
Trisha’s wax figure will reside in Madame Tussauds Nashville, which is the first U.S. location to focus solely on music artists. While you would think this particular venue would feature only country music figures, the attraction features all genres of music from Jazz and Rock to Country and Pop and beyond.
Hillary Williams, daughter of Hank Williams Jr., was on hand to take a tour of the attraction. Unaware that her grandfather would be featured with his own wax figure, Hillary had a special moment when she came face to face with Hank Williams Sr’s doppelganger.
Madame Tussauds Nashville houses nearly 50 artists representing all genres of music, including Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Loretta Lynn, Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Kenny Rogers, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, Waylon Jennings, Minnie Pearl, Patsy Cline, Kid Rock, Jimi Hendrix, Billie Holiday, Taylor Swift, Rhianna, George Strait, Little Jimmy Dickens, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Reba, Alan Jackson, Eric Church, Bruno Mars, Beyonce, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Ella Fitzgerald, Muddy Waters and more.
Visitors have the opportunity to get up close and personal and interact with their favorite musical icon. They will experience several interactive activities as they walk through attraction, including playing trivia games, getting their photo placed on the Jazz Wall of Fame, dressing up in costumes to experience the rock star lifestyle, recording their own song and standing on the Opry stage as an adoring crowd cheers you on.
The attraction is open to the public today (April 14) and you can purchase your tickets online or at the attraction. Prices range from $19 -$43 dollars, depending on your package selection. Hours are 10am – 9pm from Monday-Saturday and 11am-7pm on Sundays.
NCD has a sneak peek at a handful of the figures you will see at Madame Tussauds Nashville Attraction. Enjoy!
Photos by Lisa Konicki
TMZ is reporting that Sam Hunt and fiancee Hannah Lee Fowler will tie the knot on Saturday, April 15, in Sam’s Cedartown, Ga., hometown. According to the article, Nashville bridal designer Olia Zavozina customized Hannah’s wedding dress and Sam’s wardrobe.
Sam and Hannah got engaged during a trip to Israel in late December 2016.
“I’m excited about [marriage],” said Sam in January. “It’s something that in life, you know, we all think about [when] growing up, and you think ‘One day,’ and one day finally came and I couldn’t be happier.
“[The engagement] was exciting, I thought it was going to be a cinch when I got the ring, put it in my pocket the day I planned on asking her to marry me. Once you have the ring in your pocket and the clock is ticking, you know, you could do it at any moment, it becomes a bigger deal than you think. It worked out perfectly. We took a trip over to Israel, and we were traveling and visiting all these really cool places and learning about that part of the world. There were a lot of places we were visiting that were, I don’t know, really spiritual and it really connected us in a deeper spiritual way.
“It was either her or push on as a bachelor. I realized she was meant to be a part of my life and when I realized that, as fast as I could, I went to try to convince her that was the way it needed to be.
“Most of the things I do in life, you just kind of wait for the right moment, you just kind of feel it. I had the ring ready and we actually got into this little disagreement, just before I planned on asking her to marry me, the night before I planned to ask her. I think because I felt like this disagreement spoiled my big plan to ask her to marry me, it irritated me a little more, which contributed to making the little fight worse and it escalated to the point where it actually worked out. We got real for a minute, after this little riff that we had. In that moment, it just felt perfect. Everything—after I asked her to marry me—just fizzled away and we celebrated and got excited together.”
NEW YORK – Tennessee guard Jordan Reynolds and forward Schaquilla Nunn became the Lady Vol program’s 38th and 39th overall picks in the WNBA Draft, going in the second round to Atlanta and third round to San Antonio, respectively. They were the seventh and eighth players of the Holly Warlick era taken by the professional league.
Reynolds was the 19th overall pick, while Nunn went 25th in the 2017 edition of the draft, which was sponsored by State Farm and took place Thursday night at Samsung 837 in Manhattan.
The six other Lady Vols taken during Warlick’s five years include: Bashaara Graves (2nd Rd., 22nd pick, Minnesota) in 2016; the trio of Isabelle Harrison(1st Rd., 12th pick, Phoenix), Cierra Burdick (2nd Rd., 14th pick, Los Angeles) and Ariel Massengale (3rd Rd., 29th pick, Atlanta) in 2015; Meighan Simmons in 2014 (3rd Rd., 26th pick, New York); and Kamiko Williams in 2013 (2nd Rd. 15th pick, New York).
Two of Reynolds’ and Nunns’ teammates, 6-1 guard Diamond DeShields and 6-6 center Mercedes Russell, were draft-eligible redshirt juniors but announced during the past two weeks that they had chosen to stay in school and take advantage of their final season of college eligibility.
Reynolds, who will join Simmons in Atlanta, started all 31 games she played as a Lady Vol senior, averaging 7.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.5 assists per contest for the Lady Vols. She ranked first in the SEC and No. 16 nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio at 2.65 and was fourth in league play and 97th in the country in assists per game (4.5).
The 5-foot-11 Reynolds served as the team’s point guard, notching 13 games of double-figure scoring and 18 contests where she led the squad in assists. On Dec. 29, 2016, she recorded only the third triple-double in Lady Vol history, tallying a career-high 14 rebounds, 11 points and 10 assists vs. UNC Wilmington.
Eight days prior to that, Reynolds racked up a career-best 13 assists vs. Troy, marking a tie for the third-highest single-game total in UT women’s history and the second-best by a Lady Vol senior behind Dawn Marsh’s 18 in 1988. Reynolds’ 4.5 assists per game average rated third all-time by a UT senior, tying Lea Henry (4.5, 1982-83) and standing behind Dawn Marsh (7.1, 1987-88) and Holly Warlick (6.0, 1979-80).
For her career, Reynolds averaged 5.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, starting 85 of 135 contests. She helped Tennessee to a 101-38 overall record and 46-18 mark in SEC play. During that time, UT won SEC regular season and tournament titles, played in four NCAA Tournaments and posted two Elite Eight and one Sweet 16 finish.
Reynolds’ career accolades and activities included SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll in 2013-14, SEC All-Tournament in 2014-15, UT Student-Athlete Advisory Committee in 2016-17 and SEC Community Service Team in 2016-17 as well.
Nunn, who was a graduate transfer in 2016-17 after playing three standout seasons at Winthrop, accepted a role coming off the bench for the Lady Vols. She embraced that assignment and gave Tennessee valuable minutes in the paint, either in reserve for Russell or providing the Lady Vols with more height and rebounding capability in the paint.
The 6-3 forward, who will join former Lady Vols Vicki Baugh and Izzy Harrison in San Antonio, played in all 32 games in her lone year at UT, starting five. She put up averages of 4.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, shooting 54 percent from the field after redshirting a year ago due to a broken foot. She posted five games scoring in double figures to run her career total to 60 and had five double-doubles, bringing her career number to 46. She tallied season highs of 15 points at Alabama and 15 rebounds vs. Dayton in the NCAA First Round.
Nunn played in 88 games at Winthrop, starting 86 of them, averaging 11.2 points and 10.3 rebounds in her three seasons with the Eagles. She holds career records there with 910 rebounds and 279 blocked shots. She was named All-Big South First Team and Big South Defensive Player of the Year in 2014-15 for her efforts.
Reynolds and Nunn join seven other former Lady Vols currently on WNBA rosters, including Baugh (San Antonio), Burdick (New York), Harrison (San Antonio), Glory Johnson (Dallas), Candace Parker (Los Angeles), Simmons (Atlanta) and Shekinna Stricklen (Connecticut).
Under Warlick, UT has had one first-rounder (Harrison), four second-rounders (Williams, Burdick, Graves and Reynolds) and three third-rounders (Simmons, Massengale and Nunn). Teams drafting Lady Vols under Warlick include New York, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Minnesota and San Antonio.
-UT Athletics