GoVols247: A Tennessee Volunteers athletics podcast

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker (from the Fort Rucker Sun Room) and Grant Ramey (from GoVols247’s Blount County Satellite Office) convened via Al Gore’s Internets to break down a stunning turn of events that nearly concluded with Tennessee losing reigning national coach of the year Rick Barnes to UCLA.

News emerged Sunday night that UCLA’s search for a new head coach was focused on Barnes, and multiple sources close to the situation insisted that Barnes nearly accepted the job before getting brought back into the fold by Vols athletic director Phillip Fulmer. 

How did Tennessee nearly lose Barnes? Where was the disconnect between Barnes and Tennessee’s athletic administration, and just how bad was it? What ultimately brought the two sides back together? How lucrative with Barnes’ new contract be, and what kind of pressure will that put on him?

Tennessee retained Barnes, but the Vols did lose associate head coach Rob Lanier to the head-coaching position at Georgia State, and there’s still plenty of interest in other Tennessee staffers. Barnes already filled one vacancy, adding Colorado assistant coach (and former Missouri star) Kim English to his staff, but what other changes could occur in the coming days and weeks?

A unexpectedly wild week left plenty to discuss, and this episode breaks down all of it.

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker (from the Fort Rucker Sun Room) and Grant Ramey (from GoVols247’s Blount County Satellite Office) convened via Al Gore’s Internets to break down Tennessee junior point guard Jordan Bone’s recent decision to declare for the NBA Draft while leaving open the possibility of returning for his senior season, which NCAA rules allow.

Vols junior forward Grant Williams — the two-time reigning SEC Player of the Year — also has an NBA Draft decision to make in the near future, and there’s plenty of discussion on Williams’ situation, as well.

Putting players into the NBA is necessary in order to recruit the nation’s best players on an annual basis, and Tennessee adding to its alums-in-in-the-NBA list would be a good thing for the Vols in the long run.

But finding a way to keep Bone and/or Williams also would keep Tennessee’s current national-championship window open heading into next season, and losing either — but particularly Williams — could have a huge impact on that.

What are the chances Tennessee ultimately could return either player? What would the Vols look like with or without either or both of those players next season? How much impact will those decisions have not only on Tennessee’s quality, but also the style in which Tennessee will play? Would the Vols look to replace Bone and/or Williams with ready-made, plug-and-play graduate transfers, or with traditional high-school recruits? Could there be any other roster additions or subtractions?

Basketball season has ended for Tennessee, but it really hasn’t ended. There’s a ton to discuss now, in the near future and throughout the following weeks and months, so come join that conversation now.

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into the Fort Rucker Sun Room — hopefully Fort Rucker Studio is back up and running next week — to break down some recurring themes and some new developments from Tennessee’s second spring camp under head coach Jeremy Pruitt.

One major theme throughout spring camp has been the positive energy and optimistic vibes with new (old) offensive coordinator Jim Chaney. Several players — including junior quarterback Jarrett Guarantano — have praised Chaney’s system and personality throughout spring camp, and Chaney was made available to reporters last week, so there’s plenty to discuss on that front.

Tennessee’s first major scrimmage of the spring has come and gone, and Pruitt said enough about that scrimmage to generate some conversation points. The first-team offense seemed to have a good scrimmage, perhaps lacking explosiveness but also taking good care of the ball and putting together some good drives. Of course, that also means the first-team defense didn’t force turnovers, which also has been a recurring theme this spring.

Some of Tennessee’s experienced wide receivers have mentioned their leadership role on the team in the past week, too, and that and several other topics also were on the docket for this episode.

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey went into the GoVols247 Mobile Studio in Louisville to break down the good, bad, ugly and the pain of Tennessee’s 99-94 overtime loss to Purdue at KFC Yum Center.

There’s never a good way to end a season unless you win a national championship, but some ways hurt more than others. The Vols’ loss to the Boilermakers is one of the more painful ways for it to end, considering the magnitude of the game and the way it ended. 

Was there some good? Yes. Plenty of it.

Was there some controversy? Yes. Plenty of it.

But Tennessee’s mature team tends to look first in the mirror, and the Vols could and should have done several things better against Purdue. But they didn’t. And they lost.

There’s plenty of time to break down this full Tennessee season, and plenty of time to look at the now-departed senior class, and there’s plenty of time to discuss whether Vols junior stars Jordan Bone and Grant Williams should declare — at least without an agent — for the NBA Draft and go through the process before making a final decision. We’ll address all those things in future episodes.

For now, though, let’s just discuss Thursday’s loss and Tennessee’s overall performance in the NCAA Tournament.

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker and Ryan Callahan went into the Fort Rucker Sun Room — the Fort Rucker Studio is almost (but not quite) reconstructed — to break down the first five practices of Tennessee’s second spring camp under coach Jeremy Pruitt and the things we’ll be looking for out of the Vols when they return from spring break and get back on the field next week.

Both lines of scrimmage were concerns for this team heading into spring camp, and they remain questions going forward, but one of those groups has showed some at least some signs of promise early in camp, while one side is clearly working on things.

Of course, even the more promising side of Tennessee’s line of scrimmage has plenty of questions to answer at the moment. Those questions were never going to be answered in five practices, and they haven’t been, but there have been some promising developments so far in camp.

Both side of the line of scrimmage are discussed in detail on this episode, but other position groups — from the linebackers to the secondary (especially the safeties) to the wide receivers to the running backs — also were given plenty of discussion in this episode.

A recruiting update also wrapped up this football episode, as per usual, and there was even some basketball discussion. Callahan and coworker Patrick Brown no longer cover Tennessee basketball on a daily basis, but both still keep close tabs on the program and have covered more than enough hoops in their careers to offer interesting insights that are worth a listen.

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey went into to GoVols247 Mobile Studio in Columbus to breakdown Tennessee’s path to a potential national championship, which starts with a Friday afternoon game against No. 15 seed Colgate in Downtown Columbus’ Nationwide Arena — home of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets.

There’s plenty to discuss heading into this tournament for Tennessee — which lost its spot as a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed when it lost to Auburn in Sunday’s SEC Tournament title game, but still heads into March Madness as a respectable No. 2 seed in the South Region and a trendy pick to advance to the Final Four for the first time in program history.

Of course, Tennessee’s most recent game was hardly memorable for the right reasons, and it’s fair to wonder what that 84-64 loss to Auburn did to the Vols psychologically. Discussion on that topic is included in this episode, and you — assuming you’re a Tennessee fan — probably will like what you hear in that regard.

There are plenty more topics to discuss, though, and we discuss some of those, as well. What do we know about Colgate? Is Colgate a legitimate threat to Tennessee. Where could the Raiders cause Tennessee problems? Assuming the Vols beat Colgate, what do we know about No. 7 seed Cincinnati and No. 10 seed Iowa and how they would match up with the Vols? What Tennessee players need to emerge in this tournament? Which trending story — or stories — would be poetic justice for the Vols after crashing out of last season’s tournament in a second-round shocker? What kind of tournament does this team need to cement its legacy as one of the program’s best all-time teams? Is this team ready for this moment and the pressure that comes with it? Is Rick Barnes ready to get over the hump and flip the script on the postseason struggles that have highlighted parts of his career?

See, we told y’all. There’s lots to discuss. So let’s do that.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to discuss all things Vols through the first four practices of spring camp.

Second-year Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt hasn’t made it a secret that his offense has essentially kicked the defense’s tail for much of camp to this point, which is something you don’t usually see early in a spring camp or preseason camp, especially when an offense has a new coordinator.

The Vols seem to have taken well to new offensive coordinator Jim Chaney, though, and their experience on that side of the ball certainly has helped smooth than transition process.

Has the past couple of weeks been cause for hype on offense, or has it been a cause for pause for a Tennessee defense that has a new coordinator (Derrick Ansley) but is running the same system it did last season? Or does it really matter? Is there any way to say for sure, especially when much of camp to this point hasn’t been played in full pads?

Discussing of Tennessee’s spring camp is the primary talking point in this episode, but there’s also discussion of Tennessee’s annual Pro Timing Day and which former Vols might have helped their cause during the Thursday morning workout for NFL scouts.

Looking for a recap of Tennessee’s first spring camp practice and a discussion for the road ahead?

There's a GoVols247 Podcast for that.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker and Patrick Brown went into Fort Rucker Studio — or the Fort Rucker Sun Room, again, in this case — to break down Tennessee’s first spring camp practice snd discuss the road ahead.

Pruitt and his team — at least the returning players — looked a bit bigger. Which players really changed their bodies in the offseason? Which players are lined up in new or surprising spots? Which players and position group need to step up this spring?

Also … can a dog be listed a as a co-host of the GoVol247 Podcast?

These and several other questions are tossed around in this hour-long discussion on all thing Vols football.

Vols basketball’s march into postseason play will be the topic of a podcast early next week.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey went into Fort Rucker Studio — or the Fort Rucker Sun Room, in this case — to break down seventh-ranked Tennessee’s 71-52 win over fourth-ranked Kentucky in a rocking Thompson-Boling, and what it means for the Vols moving forward.

Those suggesting Tennessee was in trouble following a rough loss to Kentucky two weeks ago and a tough-luck loss at LSU last weekend probably aren’t singing the same tune after the Vols avenged that 17-point loss in Lexington with a 19-point win in Knoxville and kept themselves tied atop the SEC standings heading into the final week of the regular season.

Beyond the SEC championship race, though, Saturday’s win had even bigger implications for the bigger prizes. Tennessee is virtually certain to climb back into the top-five of both major polls when they’re updated Monday afternoon, and several NCAA Tournament bracket experts  moved the Vols back into the No. 1 seed line — though a potential SEC Tournament semifinal game against Kentucky might settle that.

Tennessee’s defense has reemerged at a good time. The Vols held Kentucky to 14-of-44 shooting from the field, and Kentucky had never made so few field goals in any game in the Calipari era. What has changed so suddenly for the Vols on that side of the ball? And how have the Vols done that despite the suddenly unavoidable foul trouble for senior forward and defensive anchor Kyle Alexander? And why can’t Alexander seem to catch a break these days? Those questions are discussed in this episode.

Several more topics — especially Tennessee junior point guard Jordan Bone’s career-best offensive performance against Kentucky, and Vols junior Grant Williams arguably wrestling back the SEC Player of the Year award (which he won last season) from Wildcats star PJ Washington — also are discussed in this episode.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went (sort of) into Fort Rucker Studio to discuss another week full of Tennessee football news.

Jeremy Pruitt has now officially disclosed his staff heading into his second season with the program, and quite the staff it is.

You want big names? Check. You want big salaries? Check. You want SEC experience? Check. You want VFLs? Check. It’s tough to find holes in Pruitt’s staff, as it should be when you’re afforded the luxury of shelling out big-time money to restore a proud program to its customary place in college football’s food chain.

That was hardly the only interesting Tennessee football news to emerge in the past week, though.

One of the Vols’ biggest SEC Eastern Division rivalry games looks set for a new place on the schedule starting in 2020, and the Vols recently added a Top247 defensive lineman to their 2020 recruiting class.

Spring camp is right around the corner, but why wait until then? Come get the latest on Tennessee football now.