Volquest answers your Tennessee football, basketball & recruiting questions in the weekly mailbag

Volquest answers your Tennessee football, basketball & recruiting questions in the weekly mailbag

00:35 ErnestPVolrell: What’s the 2 deep at the 5 DB spots? Who is the DIME back if that situation arises?

2:12 Footballfanatic09: What happened with Elijah Herring and how does this impact Caleb? Uncle Austin used to talk about how big a deal it was to have Caleb’s big brother around him and how Caleb really needed Elijah. What’s he do now that Elijah is gone?

3:41 Troble: Why are you guys so cautious with the Nico hype? We are talking about a true generational talent here. And it seems he’s got all the intangibles too. Most NFL scouts would probably take him on their roster over Hendon Hooker right now imo. After 1.5 years in the program what is it that makes you guys so conservative with your outlook next season with Nico?

7:54 DavyVol: If the staff doesn’t elect to take running back in the portal. Do you think the reasoning will be they believe they feel good about what they have or they don’t want to upset Sampson/Seldon?

13:16 Rocktopmojo: Would each of you give a “bold prediction” for UT football next year?

15:00 WHVOL: Who will wear the helmet with speakers on defense this season?

16:34 VoldayLong: Who are the PF’s and Centers on TN basketball’s transfer portal radar? Anyone else aside from Igor Milicic Jr. and possible discussions with Awaka?

20:05 Athrun: with all the fanfare around Nico and George. how Tennessee would it be for Merklinger to be the most productive QB of the 3?

21:25 Next position to jump in the boat?

21:58 Opinions on Coach Caldwell’s initial staff?

23:49 Heismanoku: Do you see a YoY increase in in-state talent?

25:01 YoriTheGolden1: During the spring game, an announcer said that Coach Heupel wasn’t calling in plays. Is that something he wants to for the upcoming season…allow the OC to call majority of plays?

28:13 Pillsbury_Vol: How many WR’s do we take this cycle? Including Dodson. Who are the highest ranked/ most realistic targets to fill the remaining spots?

30:24 Golfnutt1941: I’ve wondered if the baseball team has a machine to pitch to the players in batting practice and if you know if it’s capable of throwing curves and sliders? Maybe that’s a stupid question but I’ve seen times that the players are just baffled by especially sliders.

31:07 imissDenariusMoore: This spring has hammered.home the importance of position coach and player pairings for development (Telander with Inge, Eason and Jenkins with Garner, etc.). What are some of the best pairings of coach and player you’ve seen at UT?

33:34 And on the NIL side, Austin, if I misquote you here, I apologize, but you mentioned something about positional values for NIL deals in college football (QBs get larger deals than a OG). Bearing that in mind, does this neatly translate to positional value in the NFL or are there certain positions – running back for example – that are valued to a higher degree in college than in the NFL?

37:04 Mtvols: Who is expected to be the kicker for FG attempts this fall?

37:57 Jvols95: How would you rank our defensive tackles in terms of NFL potential and ceiling as players here? Not gonna hold any of you too this just curious to see where you think each of these guys can get to. Thomas, ONL, Eason, Simmons, Hobbs, Moi

39:21 Volunteered87: Likely the third straight year the winner of the CWS doesn’t make it to the post season the following season, what gives Cainer?

39:45 Does the feel of the locker room ever drastically change from one season to the next with the same head coach? Or does a CJH locker room always have a similar feel, and CTV locker room have the same feel, etc…?

43:07 Jasonvols22: By the end of June over and under 3 more commits in Football?

43:18 Boo Carter starting by 3/4 game of the year?

43:54 Could this be the best WR “athletically” we’ve had in 20 years? White, Brazzell, McCoy, Staley, Matthews, Nimrod, and Thornton. This has every opportunity to become a VERY powerful WR group if all stars align together- health, OL, qb, and a balance offense.

46:54 Kaden_Measles: What position does the staff target in the portal now that spring practice is over?

47:43 Pine: With Dalton Knecht’s UT career over. Who is UT’s best transfer. Knecht or Hooker? (Black Diamond Vol adds Chase Dollander to the question)

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hey good Thursday morning everybody Welcome to the VA Quest mailback podcast I’m Eric Kane alongside awesome price PR hubs and Grant Ramy big thanks as always to our friends the presenting sponsor of this V Quest podcast that is exterior Home Solutions if you need roofing siding Windows a garage contact exterior Home Solutions today they’ve been local they’ve been trusted since 1999 that phone number is 8655243074 solutions.com we got a lot of questions to get into so we’ll jump right into it we’ll go to Ernest P volel what’s the two deep at the five defensive back spots and who is the dime back if that situation were to arise Brent let’s go too deep at the at the five DB spots first to the best of our knowledge right now I mean if if if they were playing today I think their starters would be McCoy and Gibson at the corners Jordan Thomas at the at the nickel or the star with Andre turntine and I think jacobe Thomas at the other safety spot that was where I would be with my first five my second five will Brooks would be one of the safeties I I guess John Slaughter is the other safety AP Blue Carter is the nickel yep Jordan Matthews is Corner Christian no no it would be the kid from MC M yeah and then Christian Conor or Jordan Matthews I would go Conor okay there I think honestly that’s kind of a flip the coin down I got you so if you’re going to go to Dime which is six defensive backs where depending on the team you take out a defensive lineman or a linebacker whatever have they played have they played a possession of dime and Tim Banks’s tenure I I don’t think so completely honest I want to say they did that first or second year if if they did I probably would put Blue Carter in there somewhere just to be six guys no if he’s not starting by that point but it’s all honesty probably be the guy from Temple I guess who name I would say I would his name before the season starts J Jaylen McMurray all right let’s go to football fanatic 9 what happened with Elijah Herring and does this impact Caleb Uncle Austin used to talk about how big of a deal it was to have Caleb’s big brother around him and how Caleb really needed Elijah what’s he do now with Elijah gone Austin I would say at least part of that is hey Caleb’s been here for a year he’s grown up he’s good right I mean I that was big when when they were in high school um here it’s a little different I mean don’t get me wrong like they are still attached to the hip in a lot of ways but I think Caleb would manage just fine if if Elijah ends up in the portal right as of this taping he’s not in the portal um you know and we’ll see what happens there right he’s announced his intentions to go in um and I guess he would probably have to go in sometime today because they have so long but there’s still a chance he could come back um so we’ll kind of see where it goes either way I don’t think it affects Tennessee or in with Caleb this year you know after that you know I think that’s all you can do is kind of take it one year at a time because you know if you’re trying to project you know two years from now I mean like like you could be way better in two years way worse in two years on your roster just based off you know kind of decisions that everybody makes individually so um I think you just have to take it one year at a time and I don’t think Caleb is affected for the fall and Elijah just want to play in time period it’s kind of like a toe Bay let’s go next to trouble why are you guys so cautious with the Nico hype we’re talking about a generational Talent here and it seems that all he he has all the intangible twos most NFL Scouts would probably take him on their roster over hinden hooker right now in my opinion after a year and a half in the program what is it that makes you guys so conservative with your outlook next season with Nico Grant why don’t you step up to the plate and take this one uh because we carried so much water for Joe Milton last season according to according to that one I can’t even remember who that was it wasn’t trouble but yeah yeah we’re just uh regressing to the mean here we go to we got to even I didn’t realize we had such con take some Nico I thought he’s pretty good football player yeah I mean I mean listen I got to see somebody start more in one game before I label them generational okay I’ve not seen many generational guys come through in 30 years um that’s not to say he can’t play I don’t think Iowa I don’t think their defense was the you know the Steel Curtain of the Steelers in the 70s you know or the purple people same colors though same colors they weren’t the Purple People leaders of the Vikings um you know they they’re not the Ravens and Ray Lewis um 86 Bears you know he played well and and and I think he has a ton of talent and has a chance to be a really really good player um that’s not and that’s not knocking him in any way I think we’ve talked about it AP how different this offense can be this year compared to last year with the ability to use the entire field his legs his pocket presence I mean I don’t know that I don’t know that we’ve said a negative word about him I just haven’t put a gold jacket on him yet yeah I mean there’s a difference between downplaying him and then just kind of waiting on it to happen right I don’t think anybody said well we’ll see not sure like all the all the chatter is Nico is going to be exactly who they thought he was going to be but there’s been enough guys over the years ran Darden OJ Owens Harrison Bailey now I mean Harrison wasn’t in the sameas niik but at the same time he had a fifth star for the for a lot of the fans there was this o you got to get Harrison Bailey in the game you got to kind of just let it play out like Nico’s got a ton of ability his ability to read process make quick decisions takes me back to 22 he’s got better athletes around him than Joe ever had a year ago I agree with so with that said they’re gonna win them all 120 well okay so in that answer AP just compared Nico to Harrison Bailey and just declared a national championship and you get both sides of the both sides of the coin they’ll be there’ll be 12 threads on the GQ about that one you know what I’m saying though like I mean I know exactly what you’re you know I mean like let’s get to end of September and let him play Four gam absolutely 100% listen if he goes on the road they they beat you know uh Oklahoma if they win the neutral sight game which is a sneaky game I don’t mean against NC State and they’re sitting there undefeated going into that first bye you’re feeling pretty good because you’re playing at Arkansas saw which you know who knows where they are you play home against Florida who knows where they are as a program and then it all kind of starts to snowball so you know in a good way I don’t know I just I rule a thumb I guess you know the last time that college football is a whole you know self-appointed a hosman trophy winner before taking snap one of the Season that quarterback transfer from Oklahoma to South Carolina didn’t it didn’t end too well that year remember so like let’s just let him play a couple of games and that in my opinion but I like you guys Eric it’s the 85 Bears 86 didn’t go so good I know I looked it up obviously 85 was the best year but 86 was also a good year Grant so I wasn’t yeah well it wasn’t that great it wasn’t 85 there’s only one Bears defense 85 the Bears um I think Nico is going to be awesome and so um I’m just excited to watch him play but let’s let’s see him play a few games in my opinion um dve V says that the staff doesn’t elect to take a running back in the portal do you think the reasoning will be because they believe they feel good about what they have and they don’t want to upset Samson and Seldon Bren I feel like there’s a number of factors there I mean that could be a factor but there’s the you know asking price Factor um and at the end of the day this is going to be a third string running back most likely yeah I mean I I think that I don’t think there’s a blanket answer to that question I think part of it is listen if you don’t feel like you can get through the first part of the Season then you got to go take a running back I mean that’s first and foremost because you got to do what’s best for the football team not for the position room if you feel like you have to have a running back then you go get a running back and and you deal with you deal with feelings in it if you if you you feel like you can get through the first part of the Season you know then you don’t go upset that Apple card I mean I think it just starts and stems with do you think you’re you’re good in the month of September with what you have on your roster knowing that pton Lewis is going to be cut loose AP the first week of fall Camp ready to go how how much can he get get going in three and a half weeks to learn and then Seldon be back sometime probably midt so can you get through the first two weeks three weeks do you feel okay with that or do you feel like you’ve got to go get somebody that’s the that’s the first and foremost decision that you have to make now you’re not going to spend a bunch of money to go get a guy who may end up being your four team tailb in in the middle of October okay you know and then if you go get a guy who expects to be running back one then what does that do with your current guys you know I mean there just a lot of variables in there it’s just not a blanket black and white situation come on hubs man you got to spend money man you you got you can’t be cheap you gota it’s just Monopoly money let’s just spend it 500,000 600,000 let’s go get a guy it doesn’t matter about Dylan Samson’s feelings doesn’t matter about the running back room I mean that you hit the nail on the head that’s exactly right that you have there’s a billion variables that you have to look at and that’s not just at running back that’s at every position um and it’s all the time and so I mean I guess for my liking you know you know if you’re not going to put a ton of money in nil up for a kid you’re best off just to roll with what you got because taking a body to take a body just doesn’t make any sense because it hurts your ability to recruit but I do get the people that are like and you know I mean what if Dylan Samson tweaks his ankle third week of fall Camp I get that too that’s a a legitimate concern I mean bubble wrap I mean yeah I mean watch sure I mean I fully get it I I understand it’s risky so’s rolling into the season with you know no really experienced quarterbacks behind Nico but it is what it is I mean like nobody with any kind of Eligibility that wants to play is rolling in here going yeah I’ll be the backup to Nico and just just be ready just in case like I mean it’s just not happening and here’s the thing too like in Fall Camp you know we can say bubble wrap all we want and I mean I’m with you but like in order for you to be pretty like you got to take contact you you got to you got to work a little bit right so I mean it’s not like you can just go yeah you got to get hit you know we saw wght had the fumbling issues to begin the 22 season right yeah and um it’s because he didn’t get hit in Fall Camp so like you still got to get work in Fall camp and it’s your one twisted angle away from being in a real bad situation so I mean I totally get as well if you’re derell Sims and Josh hyp and Joey H you have to hope that pton Lewis is who they hope he is right like you know they don’t know yet um but he’s doing everything perfect off the field but when once he gets on the field he’s got to be perfect as well and they need they need cam Seldon to be a quicker healer than this you know some kids come back from things faster so like let’s see where he’s at it’s too soon to know you know we get to Mid June they’re like okay he’s ahead of pace he’s too he was supposed to be ready third week of September now you know he looks like he’d be back the first of September well those are things we just don’t know yeah and I think the other thing too Grant is you have to be Smart in play calling and schematics the first part of the Season not to isolate you know a pton Lewis and pass protection against something if that means you’re leaving a tight end and you’re doing some things differently you kind of got to help them right you don’t want to put a pton Lewis in a situation like Dylan Samson was in as a freshman at LSU you know where where um henden hooker got lit up so so there’s again there’s a ton of things that you have to deal with and that’s why Josh hyp I’m going to continue to say it makes $200,000 a week to make that decision that’s right you know you’re going to roll with it or you’re not going to roll with it that’s that’s why he gets paid the big bucks of Grant Ramy that’s why it gets grant money yeah right you bet I mean yeah you better be smart with it just like I mean Nico like what Austin’s talking about with not much experience behind Nico I mean how many times did he run in the Citrus Bowl 15 16 it was a pretty big number right I mean you’re not going to be able to or you shouldn’t be running him that many times in September because of what you have behind him or what you don’t have behind him just like like you’re talking about not isolating a freshman uh in September in pass protection stuff you better be smart about it both ways in terms of injury scheme all that stuff because the depth is what it is and you’re trying to trying to figure it out as you go Grant let’s say with you we’ll go to Rocky Top Mojo or Rock top Mojo would each of you please give a bold prediction for you football next year just one bold prediction yeah or two or three you got a list I don’t know what qualifies as a bull prediction winning at Oklahoma in September and and beating Oklahoma on the road in Oklahoma’s first game in SEC play like my bold prediction when I thought when I read this would be like okay Tennessee’s offense is going to rebound and be a top five offense but is that a bold prediction or should that be the expectation under Josh hpel that’s kind of where I’m at right um I I think that would be my first bold thought would be they go to Oklahoma and win um I don’t know Nico’s a good football player that sounds like a bold prediction based on the question from earlier um pretty good really good I don’t know not bad I think that would be my I think going to Oklahoma and winning would be a really really good start uh it would make a statement for this team I think that would be pretty bold I don’t know anybody else Brent uh defense will record a 100 tackles for loss I like that AP bu Carter will return a pump for a touchdown there you go and I will go Dante Thorton will lead the team in no I will go Dante Thorton will have over 700 yards receiving that’s pretty bold considering what he did last year feels like 23 feels like 23 I’ll also throw out that they’re going to honor the basketball team at some point on the field and Tob aaka will be out there we go my there we go all right let’s go w whv says who will wear the helmet with the speakers on defense this season Brent You’ probably know better than anybody is it going to be a linebacker and Keenan peely is it going to be a safety and jacobe Thomas how does that work in terms of say peely gets banged up is there another do they just take the device out and put it in somebody else’s helmet to your knowledge how does all that work yeah they’ll have a c i mean they’ll they can have a couple of devices over there um obviously you can’t have too active at one point but you can pop one out put another one in just like a quarterback if something goes were to go wrong there um you can do that I would imagine it’s going to be a linebacker I think it makes the most sense for Keenan peely to be the guy because he can communicate to the guys up front he can communicate to the guys in the back in the back end um and he can set you know a lot of alignments and shifts and those type of things so so I think it’ll be Keenan peely um not Jaylen M jaylen’s jaylen’s out of Eligibility I think it’ll be Keenan are you sure I can’t here’s here’s where um here’s what’s going to be interesting is I don’t know that offensively it’s going to be much it’s going to be a very big deal for Tennessee at all um and I said that back in December I think that Tennessee experimented with it in the spring I think they’ll have it but I still think it’s going to be um I call them The Wiggles y’all can call them whatever you want to the three shirty guys um the tight shirt guys and the and the black drapes behind them siging in signal I don’t think that’s going to change for Tennessee all right we’ll go to Val day long who were the power forwards and centers on Tennesse basketball’s transfer portal radar anyone else um possibly in the discussion with aaka as well kind of where where are they at with aaka and where are they at with power forwards and centers uh decision process for Tob aaka is still ongoing as far as I know I don’t know ap’s got a bold prediction about next football season so we’ll see where that goes um having e eigor milic is a 610 225 guy from Charlotte he’s he’s got Tennesse in his final three he was on campus Tuesday for his official visit um he’s kind of a stretch forward a little bit because he can step out and shoot it but he’s got more size and Kade Tyson at Belmont it’s another four stretch for who’s more I guess Wing oriented than a traditional power forward uh Center wise I don’t know that they’ve had a ton of actual you know true five cers out of the portal you know kind of on on their list there’s a kid out of Ruckers uh but he had a top 12 that didn’t have Tennessee and I think there might have been some interest there but it didn’t seem to go very far but uh I think your top priority right now is to get tobay back out of the portal and back on your team uh and then with eigor milic and and Kade Tyson see what happens there with those two and kind of go from there after that Grant is there a is there a point of no return with tobay I mean do do you I mean because the portal window closes at some point right now I know I mean I know kids can still commit to a school on you know whenever up until school starts in in August if you want to if you want to lay it around in the portal the window is to go into the portal I get that but most of these kids are going to make a decision before the start of summer school um you know in most cases in the early part of May at the latest is there a point of a threshold point there or is this one that that you think Rick and staff are just going to will be willing to wait him out for a considerable amount of time here I don’t think they’ll be super patient with it I think they’re going to want a decision I mean if you go back a year ago josi Jordan James I mean and and what tobay has working in his favor is they’ve got five open scholarship spots so they got a lot of work to do and they want tobay to be part of that but they’re not going to wait around forever if you go back to Josiah last year he was going through the NBA draft process it looked like he was gone for a month or more and there’s at one point where they took Chris Lam and I’m pretty sure josei Jordan James looked at it like well there goes my roster spot like they’re not going to sit around and wait on these guys for ever to make these decisions because they got to get ready for next season they got to have a roster that’s that’s going to be competitive and compete at a high level so they want toe back but I don’t think they’re going to wait forever but at the same time they got so much work to do that it works in tob’s favor that he’s got a lot more leverage maybe than josea I had a year ago we got plenty more questions to get into but first let’s get a word from our proud sponsors and that is exterior Home Solutions severe weather can strike at any time in East Tennessee and mother nature can do severe damage to the first and most important line of defense that you and your family have against mother nature and that is your root whenever she strikes make sure that you call the people that I call make sure you trust the people that I trust and that’s my friends at exterior Home Solutions because they’re more than friends they’re truly family that phone number is 865 524-5888 and you can visit exterior Home Solutions online at exterior homes solutions.com all right we’ll jump back into the questions Aon says with all the Fanfare around Nico and George how Tennessee would it be if merklinger is the most productive quarterback of the three AP I mean I mean I don’t think you can discount anything but I mean like um you know I mean Nico is going to get the next two years in theory and and we’ll kind of see where it goes again one year at a time I mean like look at the state of college football I mean Tyler Baron he’s went the portal 14 times I mean you know I mean seriously I mean in the last five months I mean you know it’s like he’s taking a college tour and he’s 17 years old getting ready to take the AC I mean I mean like seriously I I just don’t think you can project out past this fall and and I was I mean listen that’s not a I mean Jake Berkeley had a good spring I thought he did some nice things I thought looked pretty good in in the spring game but I mean ap’s right I mean you don’t have any idea what I mean think about that this guy’s talking about merklinger being the best guy and five questions earlier the guy was talking about how we were you know throwing cold water on Nico for being a generational quarterback so hey he had a 26 yard touchdown run in the orange and white game yeah don’t discount him G Mo don’t discount him either based on those orange and white stats it’s all about opportunity what do you do with your opportunity when it’s given to you um couple more here uh next question who is the next position to jump in the boat Austin as far as recruiting yeah no to our next fall Quest staff member well lady va’s coverage right we haven’t told you you’re out um no no shocker there yeah uh Matt’s gonna do everybody’s job and and still there the other thing he does um uh I’ll go DB so we’ll go DB um speaking of Lady balls basketball opinions on Coach Cal’s initial staff um Bren hubs your name Brent yeah well I think she did I think she did a smart thing and it’s what a lot of coaches don’t do when they get their first big job a lot of coaches when they get that first big job hire all their friends you know or they bring they bring their full staff from their smaller school stop with them we see this in the NFL too right you get a coordinator who gets a job and he hires all his buddies you know um and that’s just not the case here I I think she she brought two people with her for continuity to know style of play and understand what she’s looking for day in and day out uh and then she’s bringing in two that have sec experience both in recruiting scouting and understanding this league which I think is a smart move on her part I mean I I think that’s a I think that’s a really good move because Grant there’s a learning curve and there’s just there’s no way to avoid it there’s a learning curve in this league and learning curve in recruiting but you also don’t want to be you know teaching your enti staff your system and how you want to do things so I think it’s a pretty nice balance proof will be in the pudding but it feels like a decent balance yeah uh mix was the first thing that came to my mind a good mix I think if I’m not mistaken weren’t a couple of those SEC uh former associate head coaches if I’m not mistaken which is a I think it’s a big deal because you don’t don’t only have experience in this league you got quite a bit of experience like if you’re an associate head coach you’ve you’ve you’ve kind of climbed the ladder a little bit and you you’ve kind of you know paid your dues and you you’ve been around for a minute so I I I think the the mix that hubs is talking about is is kind of where my mind went to first because you have the people around you like Hub said that that can help you kind of implement what you want to do and and that’s a big deal because she’s won everywhere she’s been but you also need somebody around you that knows the league and and to have a couple former associate head coaches I think is a big deal let’s go to Heisman oku do you see a year-over-year increase and inate talents Austin yeah I mean the the state is better than it was 20 years ago was better than it was 15 it was better than it was 10 it better than it was five overall um now again there are more special years than others right I mean you know you look back and 2017 was a fantastic year in state you know um and one of the best ones um what was that year Pro brought like nine guys from in state that was 2020 yep that was the that was the een Jabari small bigo all basically all three kids from White Haven the two kids from um two kids from Briar Crest and then I think it was Cooper Tyler Baron and maybe one more either way like yeah I mean again it it it kind of runs and flows um but yeah I mean the individual Talent um you know has improved I I think you know in around Knoxville the individual talents kind of went down a little bit the last couple years I’m sure they’ll see kind of a boom back the other direction um but yeah I mean overall the state is still far better than it was several years ago we’ll go to Yori the golden one during the Spring Game the announcers said that Josh hyp wasn’t calling in plays is that something he wants to do for the upcoming season allow the offensive coordinator to call the majority of the plays as always bran I think this is a it’s kind of both of them but I would say more or less it was giving him the opportunity to get some reps just like his players in the spring game I’m pretty sure Josh hopp will call a whole lot of plays this fall right I don’t think he’s ever called a game a play in a spring game yeah I think he always lets his coordinators call a play and just stays out of the way because he’s observing you know he wants to see a operation not get involved in the operations see how everything flows I mean for for a head coach in that game it’s it’s so much more about taking notes about things you need to work on and things you’re looking at and it’s not just your players Grant it’s it’s procedure you know it’s it’s there’s there’s a laundry list of stuff that you think can come up during a game and you want to make sure you have all that button up and I think for for head coaches it’s more about observing in Spring games than it is participating in Spring games and no disrespect to ESPN or ESPN Plus or SEC network Plus or whatever it was but I don’t think there’s a ton of production you know uh I don’t know research um I don’t think there’s a ton of I think these guys just drop in and call basically what what amounts to a practice and I don’t know how much info they’re given beforehand I mean this is not like a regular season game where they’re sitting down with coaches and getting a ton of information so and based on I never went back and watched the pregame sideline guy interview hypo but based on what people were talking about it didn’t go so well and it felt like a very ill-informed interview uh process to begin with so I don’t know how much those guys even know to begin with about this team and about the situation especially in April when you’re trying to figure it out all I know is the radio sideline guy was was better that’s what I was gonna say the guy that did the radio interview with the head coach I have as hey I have as many reps doing that as Jayla McCulla had in his career at Tennessee the only the best part of Saturday was everybody that kept coming up to me going why hubs got on a PO it’s hot out here fleece for days AP fleece for days hubs can you give me some pointers because I’m sure Mark Packer’s gonna put me back down on the sideline because AP is gonna tell him to so you give me some pointers on doing sideline again dress dress warm number one even if it’s Flee for day fleece for days um you know that that game’s different I mean that that’s a different game it’s a fun game for me to do because you get to you get to hang out down there and and talk to a bunch of former players and a bunch of guys and it’s okay if you miss a play while you’re interviewing somebody whereas when you get into a real game it’s like you can’t miss something because you’re talking to somebody random on the side line so it’s it’s a total different vibe you get a lot of freedom when you get down there so it was like hey let’s talk to everybody today um you know and that’s that I enjoy it it’s fun let’s not forget you’re in the booth because I push for you to be in the booth on rivalry thst oh and I’m thankful I’m thankful man hey push for me to stay up there let’s hope Casey comes back he is she’ll be back um let’s go to uh Pillsbury forv how many wide receivers do we take this cycle including Dodson who are the highest ranked most realistic targets to fill those remaining spots oh man I could do this for days um they’re I think they’re going to take four now they have to take at least three but they’re in on so many guys I think it ends up being four um you’re looking you know right now I think you know rarus I know I said this on the Tuesday podcast I correct it on the board for those that aren’t a member of w West which is why you got to be a member of w West because there you go keep it up in real time and not wait till the next podcast there you go um raderius Jackson I thought earlier in the week was more in his infancy I think he’s much closer to doing something and so um you know let’s go rodarius Jackson so every got Dodson rodarius Jackson Thomas Black Shear Travis Smith Marcus Harris um Caleb Cunningham uh cam Sparks French Jamie French and you know so I mean you’ve got a bunch of guys and they would take you know probably any of those guys if they wanted to get in the boat Ten’s in a pretty good spot there I think you’re looking at you know probably having a couple of guys when calendar turns to May and then you know it’ll all be about official visits in June um Tennesse you know wants to be a heavy player for for Jamie French I think they are Ohio state is the team thought to be the team to beat there we’ll kind of see though um George has been working that one really really hard Travis Smith’s another one um that’s Uber talented Derek Meadows I forgot him there’s another one it was just in this past weekend I think Tennessee going into the last weekend was kind of Fringe in it and I think they’re firmly in it now after the visit this past weekend for the orange and white game for the big kid from Bishop Gman out in Las Vegas so you know Tennessee’s in on a lot of receivers I will really give credit to Glenn Elby and Kelsey Pope those two RS I thought didn’t recruit enough bodies the last few years and they are in on a ton of guys and and and have a legitimate shot at some really really good players in this class both offensive tackle and wide receiver let’s go to Golf Nut 1941 said I’ve wondered if the baseball team has a machine to pitch to players in batting practice and if you know if it’s capable of throwing curves and Sliders maybe it’s a stupid question um but I’ve seen that times players are just baffled by breaking balls especially Slaughters uh yeah to answer your question they do have a pitching machine that throws breaking balls and you know has a different you know pitch mix and all that and it’s been there for years so yeah they they they get some work in there um at the end of the day a lot of times good pitching and I know a lot of times it’s not great pitching that you’re referring to but a lot of times good pitching just makes hitting look dumb and that’s uh that’s support of baseball but they do have a machine that throws breaking balls and they take in BP let’s go to I Miss daus Moore the spring has hammered home the importance of position coach and player pairings for development Tander and in een and Jenkins with Gardner Etc what are some of the best pairings of a coach and player you’ve seen at UT Brent uh Robert mechum Trooper Taylor jumps out to me um you know mechum had really not done a whole lot in his career career Trooper Taylor goes from the running back’s coach to the receivers coach and uh made all that group better Jason Swain was included in that but I mean meum went to a thousand yard receiver now David cutliff was a part of that he fixed Eric a I mean all that was included but but I think I think Trooper Taylor getting Robert mum’s Focus dialed in as a position coach and holding them to a standard was was a big deal for Robert meum and gave him an NFL career instead of being a a a guy Austin would have been talking about as a five star who didn’t didn’t do a whole lot in his Tennessee career as he was mentioned some of those guys rightfully so earlier so that’s the first one I read that question that was the first one that jumped out to me um I think Dan Brooks and Shane Burton uh would be another one I’m going in the way back machine here for for that one but but Shane Burton was a a tight end who got flipped a defensive end and Shane was not very mature I think Dan Brooks helped Shane Burton along Shane Burton went on to play what eight years or something like that in the NFL uh so I think that was a pretty good marriage there to to maximize those guys those that’s a couple of guys that just jump off you know immediately for me but that’s going way back in time what about uh what about Crompton kippen yeah certainly would that would that be the right person to credit for his success success yeah and and again I think that that was probably a misguided deal by all of us because when Jim Cheney came in you know came back in a second time it was all he’s going to fix the quarterback he’s going to fix the quarterback cuz look what he did with Crompton but I think kein was the one who fixed Crompton and Crompton will tell you that he fixed him you can throw Nick Reves and Monte kein in there as well that system fit Nick Reves perfectly not sure Nick Reves would have been on the field if Monty kein hadn’t been the defensive coordinator here that’s two good ones in that era Crompton obviously is I mean he was he was a bust right I mean he was in no man’s land and and obviously from that Georgia game on was terrific for Tennessee another one here from I miss Denarius Moore saying on the NL nil side Austin if I misquote you here I apologize but you mentioned something about I like this one positional values for nil deals in college football quarterbacks get larger deals than offensive guards Etc bearing that in mind does this neatly translate to positional value of the NFL or are there certain positions running back for example that are valued at a higher degree in college than in the NFL I think there’s probably a little some some things that are different Case by case team by team AP but for the most part I mean the blueprints kind of there what it is quarterback’s going to get paid pass rushers is goingon to get paid and then like you’re not going to pay as much for a guard or maybe even a middle linebacker than you would for like a wide receiver or somebody yeah that that’s right and and you know I think that’s how Tennessee’s kind of looking at it you know it’s more like the NFL model um and let’s face it I mean the running back has been devalued in the NFL a little bit so from a money standpoint it’s not like you know the starter and running back at Tennessee makes jump change but I don’t think Tennessee’s overpaying excuse me for that position uh either so um I think you know each position is different and in each school like some schools value the running back and they’re willing to pay a kid you know near seven figures for a running back some aren’t because you know they rather spend it you know on offensive tackles and pass rushers so again each school is different each coach has to make that decision SL Collective well and here’s the other thing too Grant I mean you have you have an unknown salary cap in the college ranks because it’s not Monopoly bunny you you do have a salary cap in NFL ranks and in the NFL ranks you’re not doing a ton of onee deals right so your need that pops up in the NFL you probably know that need is coming right for example the Titans take the Spears kid from Tain as a tailback in part because know Derrick Henry’s final run is coming they’re going to make a change there before that contract is it’s a little bit different in the college deal guy up and leaves you in in December or January that that you were banking on suddenly you might overpay to fill that guy’s spot because you have to have something there the NFL is a little more planned out because of you know the fact that you’re under a contract for multi years and the fact that you’re drafting like an NFL franchise has X number of picks in seven rounds the NFL draft draft and you have free agency and you got whatever your roster looks like now you can try to find a running back in the fourth fifth round that you think can give you first second round value at a cheaper rate I mean with college with college guys you’re you’re obviously recruiting them you’re dra you’re not drafting you’re not picking them you’re trying to meet their demands as well and try they have a little bit more leverage in terms of well if I don’t like this offer I can go you know wherever and try to get x amount of dollars so I think that’s a big time difference too in terms of yeah they’re going to Value different positions at different you know um MoneyWise in the NFL but at the same time you’re not exactly just picking who you want and I’m drafting you right here and you’re signning with my team whether you like it or not because that’s where we picked you so I think there’s a little bit difference in the The Leverage wise and who has a little bit more leverage in terms of U player versus teams uh going back real quick to the um to the pitching machines that can throw breaking ball question for a little while ago it’s called a spinball machine and it can even match spin rate and everything which is quote pretty wild so there you go um got a couple more here let’s roll through them Mt BS wants to know who’s expected to be the field goal kicker and Pat kicker this year Brent is that going to be uh Tu turville yeah I think it’s gonna be Josh turbyville when it’s all said and done um I think I think it’s more of a the question is gonna be who’s going to be the kickoff guy can turbyville handle both or are they gonna try to be careful there with you know wear and tear on the leg uh where are they with the kickoff deal I I I feel like it’s Josh turberville to be um to to to be the field goal guy he was a little bit banged up at times this spring I think they’re pretty cautious with his with his leg I don’t think they’re overly worried about it but um I I think he’s he’s done it in games before I think that’s where they go as a kickoff guy right now I mean as a field goal guy right now excuse me yeah and if AP if he can kick if he can still kick off if he can handle that I mean he’s he’s freaking weapon man he can boot those things through the end zone he he did a really good job last year yeah 100% I mean he was a weapon um how would you rank our defensive tackles in terms this is from jalls 95 in terms of NFL potential and the ceilings of players there um not going to hold any of you guys accountable for this just curious where you’re at evaluating these guys in terms of NFL Talent Thomas Omar Norman lot een Simmons Hobs Moy um just off the top of your head kind of order those guys in terms of who you think best projects to the NFL from first to worst right now I would put Omar Norman a lot at the top with Bryce and E second um but I think that that could flip-flop I mean Bryce and E had a fantastic spring I mean it feels like he has totally turned the corner if you go back last summer Jaylen Wright was getting similar Buzz for having turned the corner I think Bry and een on the defensive side at his position I know it’s two different things has a chance to be that guy that really turns the corner this fall so in the he could get past Omar Norman lot but if you said right now I’d go Omar Norman lot then Bryson e and then after that you know it’s kind of six1 half dozen the other in my opinion I mean I think Hobbs has the the most upside but again he’s a p backup as a freshman last year I gotta see more to project him me higher volunteered 87 says likely the third straight year the winner of the College World Series doesn’t make it to the postseason The Following season what gives Kaner couldn’t tell you yeah LSU sports gives yeah LSU uh Mississippi State and of course Old Miss sandwich in between them they lost a lot of good players obviously but um I don’t know man I honestly honestly couldn’t tell you does this does the feel of the locker room ever drastically change from one season to the next with the same head coach or does Coach Josh hyo’s locker room always have a similar feel and Coach uh Tony vel’s locker room always have a similar feel Brent how I how I would answer that would be the locker room takes on the Persona of the players if you have good leadership then it’s probably a similar locker room every single year if you have crap heads in there then it’s probably not a good locker room but it takes on the Persona of your veterans and those veterans watch the veterans when they are underclassman and so it can be a similar culture and a similar locker room sure but it’s still kind of different based on the personalities that you have in there would you want to add anything to that well I I would say this grant I mean coaches will tell you I really enjoyed coaching that team but that team two years earlier or two years later wasn’t my favorite team to coach for for exactly what what Eric is saying I mean everything can be in place but it it doesn’t take much to to mess things up in a locker room in a hurry and I think it’s harder now more now than ever because of the nil Factor yeah and I think you’re just relying on your culture as much as anything I think that’s the biggest part of it the biggest piece of it because you’re recruiting to fit a culture you’re recruiting guys based on what you think will fit in your locker room I mean obviously Talent is first and foremost but you also want to bring in somebody that you think is going to help your football team off the field just as much as they help them on the field so I think culture is the biggest thing you fall back on I mean hypo’s a players coach and I think we’ve seen that in his time here at Tennessee so far I think Rick Barnes is tough to play for but they have a pretty good culture and they they they recruit guys that they think are going to fit into that culture and and fit the basketball program I don’t know about Tony how he kind of how he would factor into that equation but I think it’s just culture more than anything that you fall back on and you hope it doesn’t change from year to year that much and I think baseball’s different baseball guys are different I mean there’s some immaturity there from time to time guys being silly but I think in baseball it’s okay to be a little sillier you know because you play around and and and I think I think in a lot of ways baseball guys are a little closer to being Pros when they come out of high school because you know some of them have been drafted to begin with they’ve played a gazillion games for their entire life I I think I think baseball players are a little different in their adjustment there and and feels like Tony lets them be dudes right just kind of lets them hey if you do your work you go be a dude I’m good with that yeah I mean he’ll talk to us in postgame all the time he’ll be like man I didn’t know it was going to go this well today because in pregame they were really really loose almost too loose but they they turned it on when the game came on or he’ll be like man they were they were super serious out there almost to a fault to where I wanted to go up there be like hey smile a little bit um he he lets them be them and and I’ll end on this with this question you if you want to see the health of a clubhouse at least for baseball last weekend Ethan Payne came in laid down a sack bun the only sack bun of the season for Tennessee mind you the dougout Goes Wild Charlie Taylor hits a three-run bomb on Tuesday against bman I mean they almost got a celebration penalty if you will because they were out there past first base celebrating those veterans who have been here for a decade you know doing things that can tribute in ways and and the whole team’s going nuts that just goes to show you how healthy your Clubhouse and your Dugout is um I will go next to Jason vs 22 by the end of June over under three more commits in football it’s got to be over right AP yeah better be bu Carter starting three fourths of the games next year I would say under right now Brent but he’ll still play a lot right yeah I don’t know where I’m at with with that one 12 you’re talking about almost the entire season him starting yeah okay we’ll see I mean what is how does Jordan Thomas play the first three weeks of the Season you know where’s bu Carter at um I I don’t think that one’s as much of a given um as as you would think so we’ll see if Buu comes on Brent could they slide Jordan Thomas if he’s healthy back to sa safety if needed yeah they could okay possibility there um and could this be the best wide receiver athletically we’ve had in 20 years white Brazzle McCoy Staley Matthews Nimrod thoron this all has this has every opportunity to become a very powerful wide receiver group if it all comes together Health offensive line quarterback balance and offense this group of wide receivers collectively is as good as the last group from when guys here at Tennessee well deeper it’s a deeper unit yeah I agree with that the Deep unit of athletes yeah you go back 20 years and you got you’ve got three pretty good ones in ‘ 04 and meechum Swain and Brett Smith who became good players that year they were they were highly productive but you didn’t go six deep you know you didn’t go I think Chris Hannon was a backup then who was just a really young player I mean they weren’t very deep in in’ 04 um so I you know I I don’t I don’t know I mean the question is I mean we going to see the depth are they going to play six five six seven guys at receiver are you going to play three or four and you don’t really see all the depth that’s out there you know and um and listen I think Chaz Nimrod and Caleb Webb did some good things I’m not I’m not sure I’m ready to categorize them in a grouping of you know some of the all-time great position group ride receivers yet I mean I still think they have plenty to prove um you know out there at this point but I mean it’s a it’s a solid group in assist that showcases the wide receivers Grant I mean you can go back to some other years where they I mean you played three and 04 because you also ran the ball out of the eye formation a good bit I mean this is a this is a system that showcases the receivers in different ways yeah and I can’t remember if I can’t remember the context of highpool saying this after the orange and white game but he said it’s the deepest wide receiver group he’s had was he talking about Tennessee or as a as a coach I would think Tennessee I mean yeah I would have to go back and see that I mean that the Missouri wide receiver groups and with Drew lock yeah but but but him saying that I think tells you what you need to know because obviously he’s no dummy on the offens side of the ball he knows how to get Talent at wide receiver and and and take advantage and execute with that Talent so for him to say that I think kind of gives you the context you need for this group and how good they could be and how deep it is yeah probably it probably answers your question HBS in what year did Chris hanon score three touchdowns and who did he score them against Grant Ramy with the win I I don’t have the year was it a Mississippi State home game that’s correct in November that’s correct like a 59 point game or something like that why I remember 5921 2003 from case back when they when they weren’t scoring 59 points every three weeks from the great casy Claus and everybody Grant Remy historian ladies and gentlemen two more Kaden measles wants to know what position does the staff Target in the portal now that spring practice is over we’ve talked at nauseum potentially about a running back AP what are some other positions potentially that you could see Tennessee maybe evaluating I think it depends if they lose anybody yeah like if they lost a safety I think they’ try to go bring in a safety you know do I think they’ll go a left guard lean no um kind of feels one for one right AP yep see who see we’ll see who who they lose they’ve lost to this point Elijah herring yeah maybe that’s right so again but you are past the point of just taking somebody to take somebody right yes okay we’re gonna end on this one Pine this is a good one and shout out to Black Diamond VA for adding to it as well with Dalton connect’s UT career over who is UT’s best transfer Dalton connect henden hooker and black diamond of all threw in Chase dander as well for me it’s easy as much as I love Dalton connect football hadn’t been longing for a season like 2022 for so long it’s henden hooker period like I mean again I love Don connect and and you know he his his impact is unbelievable but Tennessee football had been stuck in the wilderness for 40 years and 2022 uh took him out of the Wilderness yeah if you were kind of ranking these in my opinion for reason you just mentioned it’ be one would be henden two would be Dalton uh three would be Chase who was fantastic Chase would be three because Tennessee went to the World Series the year before he got here and his last year here he wasn’t as dominant as his first year still a top 10 overall pick but that’s kind of how I would order those all right here’s my question to you grant Remy is when you look at one and two I think we all agree do Lander would be would be third is hinden hooker number one because he’s hinden hooker or is it because hooker um joined in matrimony on the college football field with Josh Hy whereas Dalton connect comes in and plays for a veteran coach and Rick Barnes who has established himself um and has had success here and he single-handedly won you a half dozen basketball games does that change the perspective of it at all because when henden hooker came in zero Fanfare because he came in to play for Jeremy perut and Jim Cheney so how much of the hinden hooker is the Josh hyp effect now some would argue you had Joe Milton here and that didn’t work in year two so that makes hinden hooker more valuable I asked these questions to you grant Ramy I mean it it was a perfect marriage it was lightning in a bottle it was everything you needed to be it was magic in 2022 and I I give the nod to hinden as well because football’s football and there’s a reason it has a 100,000 seat stadium and basketball has a 20,000 seat Arena I mean because that’s what football is in this part of the country uh what it means this fan base um they needed that win over Alabama I mean that was just such a huge night at nean Stadium a huge moment for the Tennessee football program they needed that win at LSU the way they won it they needed that you know what was an N no start the only thing that that hurts with hinden is how it ended and the injury and that’s not fair to him and obviously that night at South Carolina was a disaster and all that stuff but the fact that you could make an argument out of this I think speaks to Dalton connect and how special he was to get Tennessee back to the Elite 8 for only the second time in program history for him to score it the way he did consistently and hubs is right I mean he’s playing for a defensive-minded head coach who you know he had to kind of drag that offense out of the mud that’s been in for you know most of the Rick Barnes a because that’s just what they do they play defense first and offense second and Dalton was that special but I think it’s kind of split in hairs but football’s football at your quarterback the Way That season went so much fun and part of it is because it’s a perfect marriage with Josh Hy um but but it was fun to watch and it happen it’s hard to it’s hard to argue against it we’ll end on that one couldn’t put it better myself there Grant Ry and uh we thank everybody for sending in some questions a lot of questions a lot of questions from different people who don’t normally send in questions so we thank you couldn’t even get to half of them we had so many this week but as always we appreciate you guys for joining us here on the bwest melb podcast big thank to our friends exterior home solutions for being the presenting sponsor you can give them a call today for a free estimate that’s a day 5 524-5888 and online at exterior homes solutions.com they’re local and trusted since 1999 that is exterior home solutions for Grant Ramy Bren hubs awesome price I am Eric Kane thank you guys so much if you’re listening to us or watching us on YouTube there’s a promo code on the screen right now if you want to join and become a member of the journal’s quarters over at vest.com so you don’t miss a thing put in that promo code right now and uh you’re going to get a special deal over at volquest.com and so much going on right now Brent hubs it’s it’s a perfect time to link up with us no doubt and plenty of Port portal coverage that’ll continue baseball coverage obviously U plenty of things coming out spring practice as well getting ready for what will be a crazy month of obviously in June in recruiting but there’ll be a lot to happen between now and then so you want to stay locked in as Austin said earlier don’t wait to get your news three or four days late on the podcast get in real time on the general quarters he’s Bren hubs again I’m Eric Kane Grant Ramy awesome prize this has been the V Quest mbag podcast here on YouTube and the journal’s quarters