War Room: Football, hoops and recruiting on a big weekend
We begin this edition of the War Room as we always do. The War Room is a collective effort of Tennessee notes and news gathered throughout the week by the Volquest staff that is located only on the General’s Quarters. And now, it’s on with the news.
It’s obviously a big game Saturday night with South Carolina coming to town. Starting 0-2 in the SEC is not something anyone had remotely considered a possibility this off-season. South Carolina comes in trying avoid their 3rd loss in a challenging early season schedule and it’s safe to say the intensity is going to be there for this game. And head coach Josh Heupel expects Neyland Stadium to not only be rocking but a real advantage for his team.
“For our fans, yeah, I hope they bring that experience (last year’s loss) with them into the stadium and I say that meaning we need to be loud. We need to make it – I’m going to use the word – ‘hostile’ environment, man. I expect it to be at a fever pitch. You can start to feel it a little bit tonight. We need to make it really hard for them to communicate when they’re on offense. We’ve got to create an advantage for our defensive line getting off of the football, applying pressure to (Spencer) Rattler.
“It should be as loud as it’s ever been inside of that stadium on Saturday night. This football team needs that. We need that at this point in this season from our fans. They need to be a huge part of us playing our best football on Saturday night.”
It does feel like fans will get to see a team pretty much at full strength based on who all has practiced this week and Heupel’s comments on Thursday.
“All the guys that you didn’t see at the end of last week had a really good week,” Heupel said. “As always it’s game time decisions, but I feel really good about all of them.”
That said, there will be plenty of eyes on some guys in warm up’s Saturday night.
Cooper Mays has practiced every day this week putting himself in a position to play for the first time this season.
“He has practiced really well like those other guys I spoke about,” Heupel said. “We will be sure through tomorrow and obviously gameday that they are ready to go compete at the level that you need to in this one. South Carolina is big, strong, physical and explosive up front. Hopefully we will have him locked, loaded and ready to roll.”
Offensively, it would make a difference in communication and effectiveness with Mays back, but the reality is the entire offense needs to find another gear. The protection has to be better, the receivers have to be better and Joe Milton has to be better. Heupel likes a lot of what Milton is doing as his quarterback, but notes he and the receivers are definitely leaving plays out on the field.
“I thought he did a good job in the run game. Was super-efficient early in the football game, short and medium passes. There’s still a couple of big plays out there on some deep balls that we’ve got guys running free that at the end of the day we have to connect. Bru was out early in the football game. Ramel relatively early. Had some of the young guys that stepped up. I thought they did some really good things. End of the day, we’ve got to connect on those. That will be important in this football game to create some of the big plays that we need.”
Milton surprised UTSA and the Neyland Stadium crowd last week when he opened the game with an 81 yard touchdown run. The need for mobility out of the quarterback position is significant. The question is how comfortable is Milton running this week after the tweak he had to his knee last week?
Defensively it’s all about trying to make Spencer Rattler uncomfortable and getting off the field on third down. Last year, Tennessee was down just 35-31 with 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, but the game got away from them as they were outscored 28-7 in the final 25 minutes thanks in large part to the Gamecocks efficiency on third and fourth down. On conversion downs, South Carolina was 10-of-13.
Tennessee has to get off the field when the opportunity presents itself.
Defensive lineman Elijah Simmons has been on the practice field this week. He continues to work his way back from a knee injury suffered in August. His timeline was originally October but it’s gotten bumped up and we believe closer and closer to getting back on the field.
The Vols’ athletic administration will pull out all the stops Saturday night. With sunset at 7:21, the pre-game light show will be effective which will include spotlighting the “T” and plenty of fireworks.
A reminder, to try and help with the bottle neck at the bottom of Peyton Manning Pass before kickoff, the administration is encouraging fans trying to access the west side of the seating bowl to enter via Gate 10, Truly’s Tailgate and Gate 21, additional gates are available for fan entry but Gate 10, Truly’s and Gate 21 are the largest gates & allow for the fastest entry into the stadium.
Nothing new on the construction front, with an open date next week crews will be able to work in the south end zone for two weeks without having to move equipment out, giving them a chance to get more of the prep and infrastructure work done to the expansion of the concourse.
At Lindsey Nelson Stadium they are moving piping and cabling that’s underground in preparations for the permanent seating that will be done along the right and left field lines. Again the focal point this off-season is the left field line.
Recruiting
An already important visit weekend on Rocky Top got even bigger when elite offensive tackle Jordan Seaton cancelled his trip to Oklahoma and decided to head to Knoxville instead. This is an important opportunity for Tennessee as Seaton will be in town on an unofficial visit.
Florida and Alabama are the two schools which seem to have the most momentum at this point, but to get Seaton to campus for an unofficial visit and keep the official visit for later in the process is the important part here. In talking to Seaton this week, he has related to Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel very well. The two talk frequently, and he values the Vols’ consistency in his recruiting process.
He is excited for the opportunity to take in a game day atmosphere, and it is one that should allow for the Vols to make a strong showing. However, Seaton is mostly intrigued to learn more about Tennessee’s offensive line and will pay close attention to how the offensive tackles play in space and what their pass protection sets look like during the game. If Tennessee can get Seaton back for an official visit, they will have a real shot, in our opinion.
On the official visitor front this weekend, Tennessee will host Kam Mikell and Daniel Hill. Mikell got into town on Thursday night and will begin his official visit on Friday morning.
Tennessee has been one of the favorites for Mikell, the four-star wide receiver for sometime, but his recruitment has continued to heat up. Texas A&M will get the chance to swing big next weekend, which makes this visit even more important for the Vols. Mikell will get to spend time around Jake Merklinger and Mike Matthews this weekend, as he has connected with both throughout the recruiting process.
His relationship with the entire Tennessee offensive staff is strong, and allows him to already feel a level of comfort coming into the weekend. He will most likely make a decision late next month or early in November. Texas A&M is a real threat and Georgia has started to communicate more about the potential of him as a receiver in Athens.
With Hill, the Mississippi back will get into town on Saturday morning, and the Vols are trying to swing to make a big move in this one. The longer it goes, the more of a chance Tennessee has, in our opinion. Alabama and South Carolina pace the way coming into the weekend, but Hill remains receptive to how Tennessee is recruiting him.
He has a strong bond with Jerry Mack, which has kept the Vols in this one to this point. We will see how much of a move they can make this weekend, then it will ultimately turn to when Hill looks to make a decision. His timeline has remained in flux.
Tennessee is working to get a trio of JuCo defensive linemen to campus in Sierra College’s Jamal Wallace, Blinn College’s Brien Taylor, and Iowa Western’s Kemari Copeland. Early conversations have been positive with all three to this point and right now Wallace has an official visit scheduled for November 18th. These three are evaluations Tennessee feels good about and are not just bodies to fill a spot. They have kept their eyes on each for some time and offered once the Junior College film lined up to start the season.
Tennessee continues to work on Utah TE Roger Saleapaga, and while he has started to take some more visits of late, it feels like this one will still go later into the cycle, which helps Tennessee’s chances as he will make his way back to Knoxville in mid-November for an official visit.
The Vols recently offered Rutgers commitment Korey Duff, and he is one that could potentially visit campus down the line. We also would not close the door on Ohio State commitment Max LeBlanc making the short trip to Knoxville for a game day at some point. He has recently had some conversation with the staff.
One tight end the Vols plan to go see next week is California tight end Cole Harrison. We wouldn’t be shocked to see the Vols offer once they see him in person next week.
Names who have indicated they plan to be in the General’s House:
Marcus Goree
Kaleb Beasley
Jackson Mathews
Timothy Merritt
Dylan Lewis
Trey McNutt
Onis Konanbanny
Alex Graham
Zyntreacs Otey
Khary Adams
Patrick Williams
Boo Carter
Faheem Delane
Chandler Jordan
Jontae Gilbert
Walker Bryson
Carson Gentle
Bryce Davis
Trajen Odom
Zach Groves
Alijah Carnell
Jeremias Heard
Amare Adams
Isaiah Campbell
Amir Leonard-Jean Charles
Jhrevious Hall
Edwin Spillman
Jordan Burns
Eric Winters
Jaedon Harmon
Kellen Lindstrom
Xavier Newsom
Tyler Wallace
Jesse Perry
Broderick Shull
Jacobe Ward
Bennett Warren
Takhyian Whitset
Brodie Smith
Jake Merklinger
Jared Curtis
Faizon Brandon
Daniel Hill
Ousmane Kromah
Donovan Johnson
Justin Baker
Jordan Seaton
Isaiah Groves
Jonaz Walton
Jacez Walton
Jack VanDorselaer
Bear Tenney
Marshall Pritchett
Carson Sneed
Kam Mikell
Braylon Staley
Jerel Bolder
Dillon Alfred
Carleton Preston
Mike Matthews
Isaiah Gibson
Corey Simms
Lamason Waller
Thomas Blackshear
Brody Keefe
Tyreek King
Baseball
Tony Vitello opened the fall practice slate yesterday with an early afternoon press conference ahead of the first practice later that afternoon. He was very complimentary on how his team has already come together throughout individual workouts and how this group is ahead of last year’s squad in that regard.
“Our group is probably about where we were at when we played in Memphis last year, which was near the end of the fall.”
The big news from the press conference was that Zane Denton will not be a part of the first few scrimmages of fall as he is ‘handling some things,’ according to Tony Vitello. Tennessee is not short on options at the hot-corner as transfers Billy Amick and Dalton Bargo can play the spot.
Vitello also noted that Christian Moore is working at shortstop right now and is trying to prove he can handle it if needed. The coach is pleased with his options at the position for now. Cal Stark is also out for right now after undergoing a procedure on the hamate bone. More work for transfer catchers Cannon Peebles, Dalton Bargo, freshman Stone Wallace and returner Charlie Taylor.
One note mentioned to Volquest last week was how Wyatt Evans has been looking sharp to begin fall. He was held out all of last year with soreness, but he could factor into the starting rotation this spring with a strong fall.
“He’s got a lot of spring in his step when he’s at the park and then the ball is jumping out of his hand pretty good. Reflecting back on his freshman year, if we could predict the future, we thought he’d get more in it as a sophomore and then be a strong candidate to be a starter on the weekend for us this year… If he were not able to capture one of those roles at any point in the year, I think he can pick back up where he left off in ‘22 and serve a major role for us.”
Tennessee took part in a intra-squad scrimmage on Thursday and will get back out on the diamond Friday afternoon.
Hoops
Tennessee got great news today when 2024 point guard Bishop Boswell from Myers Park High School in Charlotte. The four-star prospect has an on3 industry consensus ranking as the No. 64 overall prospect in the nation.
Boswell picked Tennessee over Xavier, Missouri, Wake Forest and Georgia.
Give associate head coach Justin Gainey a lot of credit here because Tennessee had tons of ground to make up exiting the summer. Tennessee didn’t even pull the trigger on an offer until July while Wake Forest—who most thought was the team to beat—offered when he was a sophomore.
Additionally, Missouri and Xavier were two teams in hot pursuit coming out of the spring and had gotten Boswell on campus in June for official visits.
Exiting July it wasn’t even clear that Tennessee was going to get a visit, and they may not have if not for a schedule change. Boswell was initially supposed to make his official visit to Wake Forest on the first weekend of August, and it’s a safe bet that the Demon Deacons would have put the screws on him to try and lock down a commitment.
Boswell ended up getting invited to Chris Paul’s camp in Los Angeles and had to re-schedule his Wake Forest visit until the first weekend of September. That gave Tennessee four more weeks to try and make up ground and the Vols took advantage.
This is yet another example of Gainey doing some heavy lifting on the recruiting trail in the Carolinas.
Elsewhere in the 2024 class it seems unlikely that there’s going to be anything going on with Pharaoh Compton after he rescheduled his official visit.
The Vols remain in the hunt for 2024 wing Chase McCarty at IMG Academy. There’s some buzz out there that Houston is in the driver’s seat there but McCarty himself hasn’t named any leaders.
This will be a big weekend for Tennessee as they try to position themselves as serious players for some high profile members of the 2025 class.
Scheduled to be in or unofficial visits are Atlanta area five-star Caleb Wilson who is a priority target. Rick Barnes has already been in to see Wilson a couple of times at his school in the past month.
Shooting guard Darius Adams from New Jersey, a top-25 prospect in ’25, is slated to be here.
Center Malachi Moreno from Georgetown, Ky. Is schedued to be in town.
Nigel Thomas, a 2025 wing from McDonough, Ga. Is scheduled to be here along with 2026 shooting guard Dakari Spear. Spear the younger brother of Lady Vol’s senior guard Jewel Spear.
The team has been working out with the staff three times, but pre-season practice ‘officially’ started this week. It’s not a huge shift in gears, but it signals that the season is creeping closer.
It’s going to be really interesting to see who ends up earning consistent minutes on what is starting to look like a crowded roster. After Tennessee got back from Europe many around the program thought that Cam Carr and Cade Phillips were both headed for redshirts after either arriving late or dealing with injury.
That wasn’t a knock on either kid, it was always a possibility for both. However, the buzz we’re getting lately is that it’s not a slam dunk that one or both will redshirt. Let’s be clear, we’re not saying that either is going to be a star as a freshman, but as of now they’ve put themselves in a position to compete for minutes.
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