GoVols247: A Tennessee Volunteers athletics podcast

GoVols247's Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey went into Fort Rucker Studio — or the Fort Rucker Sun Room, in this case — to break down Tennessee’s recent struggles in a loss at Kentucky and an ugly home win over Vanderbilt.

The Vols lost their first game in nearly three months and their No. 1 national ranking with their loss in Rupp Arena, and they responded with an ugly 58-46 win over Vandy at Thompson-Boling Arena.

What should we make of the Vols’ past two games? Is this team fading? Or is this just a small funk every team goes through every season? That’s one of the two main topics in this episode.

The other main topic is Tennessee’s game at LSU on Saturday.

LSU is long, athletic and aggressive, and it attacks the offensive glass with vigor, and that’s at least a small concern for a Tennessee team that has been exposed at times in that area. The Tigers also have a point guard (Tremont Waters) capable of giving Jordan Bone a fair fight, which could potentially nullify an advantage both of these teams have in most games.

Where can the Vols hurt the Tigers? Where can the Tigers hurt the Vols? And what does this game mean, aside from putting the winner in pole position for an SEC championship?

Those are the questions this episode tries to answer.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey went into Fort Rucker Studio — or the Fort Rucker Sun Room, in this case — to break down Tennessee’s as-expected win over South Carolina on Wednesday, the Vols’ upcoming showdown at Kentucky and the SEC championship race.

LSU threw a wrench into the SEC title race with a Tuesday win at Kentucky, so now only the Tigers — not the Wildcats — are one game behind the unbeaten Vols in the conference standings. So now Tennessee isn’t just playing Kentucky in Rupp Arena. It’s playing an angry Kentucky team in Rupp Arena.

The Wildcats rarely lose two consecutive games in Rupp, so Tennessee’s tough challenge now looks even tougher. But the Vols are ranked No. 1 nationally, have won 19 consecutive games and have won in several hostile environments this season, so they’re as up as anyone could be for the challenge.

What matchups look good for Tennessee? What matchups looks less than good for Tennessee? Where could Kentucky hurt the Vols? Is Tennessee’s perimeter defense a concern? And did LSU’s win at Kentucky make the Tigers favorites to win the SEC, since Tennessee still has to play Kentucky twice, at LSU and at Auburn? Those and several other topics are discussed on this episode — an episode recorded outside the studio while the studio is being renovated

GoVols247's Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down a week that featured double-digit wins over Missouri and Florida and the challenging stretch run coming in the next few weeks.

Saturday’s 73-61 win over Florida extended Tennessee’s program-record winning streak to 18 games, and the Vols controlled most of the game — as they did in Tuesday’s win over former Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin and his Missouri Tigers.

There’s plenty of Tennessee basketball to discuss at the moment, and this episode hits on several of those important topics: Yves Pons’ injury and the timetable for his return, the strong play of junior guards Jordan Bone and Jordan Bowden, Tennessee’s businesslike mentality, the Vols’ room for growth, Tennessee’s improving defense and the Vols’ tough four-week schedule to end the regular season.

As well as Tennessee has played so far this season, Kentucky and LSU are still only one game behind the Vols in the standings. And Tennessee still has three games against those two teams, with two coming on the road. The Vols also road trips to face Auburn and previously-ranked Ole Miss, and a previously-ranked Mississippi State visits Thompson-Boling Arena.

Tennessee’s best basketball is still ahead of it, according to coach Rick Barnes, and the Vols probably need to take things up a notch in order to secure a second consecutive SEC championships.

But how important is the SEC championship when you’re also firmly in the mix for an national title? That’s an interesting question, and it’s also tossed around in this episode

GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down a big National Signing Day and provide thoughts on Tennessee’s full class — a class that looks a lot better now than it did Tuesday night.

Tennessee had a decent class heading into National Signing Day, but the Vols closed with a bang, landing five-star West Virginia offensive lineman Darnell Wright and four-star California linebacker Henry To’oto’o, the nation’s top two uncommitted prospects heading into the day.

A big finish helped the Vols surge to the No. 12 spot in the 247Sports Team Recruiting Rankings, and they were mere percentage points from cracking the top 10.

Unfortunately for the Vols, though, having the nation’s No. 12 class meant having the No. 7 class in the recruiting-mad SEC, meaning Jeremy Pruitt and his staff still have plenty of coaching to do in order to bring Tennessee back toward its customary place in college football’s pecking order.

The 2019 cycle wasn’t unkind to the Vols, though. They signed some of their most coveted targets, and their class was much better than any other program that didn’t play in a bowl game last season.

A new recruiting star has emerged for Tennessee, too. Vols tight ends coach Brian Niedermeyer — who had never been a full-time assistant coach until leaving a quality-control position at Alabama and following Pruitt to Tennessee — had a huge year on the trail, and he was named 247Sports’ National Recruiter of the Year.

Niedermeyer, an Alaska native, was the point man for several of Tennessee’s top signees, including Wright and To’oto’o. He’s the lowest-paid member of Pruitt’s staff at the moment, but that probably won’t be the case for long, especially considering the fact that he’s already turned down multiple opportunities to leave Tennessee for other major programs.

Tennessee’s 2019 recruiting class is the sole focus of this episode, and more than a hour was spent discussing the strengths, weaknesses and uncertainties in the Vols’ latest prospect haul.

Every member of GoVols247’s staff aside from Grant Ramey — who was in West Virginia on Wednesday to cover Wright’s commitment ceremony — selected a 2019 signee outside the Top247 who could have a big college career, and some special attention was given to a member of this class with world-class cult-hero potential.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down a Tennessee basketball team that suddenly looks more comfortable with the top spot in the polls and everything that comes with it.

After looking a bit uneasy at times in their past three games, the Vols went to South Carolina and controlled the Gamecocks — and a hostile, sellout crowd — in a 92-70 win that had just a few moments of shakiness early in the second half.

Junior guard Jordan Bowden missed Tuesday’s game with a sore knee that started bothering him during that morning’s shoot-around, but the Vols didn’t need the red-hot Knoxville native to take care of the Gamecocks. Bowden’s status — which doesn’t seem serious, but is nonetheless an issue — is discussed in this episode.

Several more topics — senior wing Admiral Schofield’s bounce-back performance, senior forward Kyle Alexander’s sudden foul-trouble issues, junior point guard Jordan Bone’s strong season, Saturday opponent Texas A&M and much more — also are discussed in this episode.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down all things Tennessee football heading into the final stages of the 2019 recruiting cycle.

There aren’t many spots left in Tennessee’s class, but there are several elite prospects still showing significant interest in the Vols, and this episode ends with a detailed discussion with Callahan on some of those prospects.

Actual team news hasn’t been tough to spot in the past week, either.

Tennessee safeties Charles Kelly accepted a position on Nick Saban’s Alabama staff, meaning the Vols are back to maximum capacity (they were overcapacity) in the full-time staff department. Kelly wasn’t someone Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt was happy to lose, but the fact is at least one person will go, and for now, that means the Vols are back to 10. They’ve lost two full-time staffers and hired two more so far in the offseason. More chances could come in the future, but as of now it looks like there’s at least a decent chance that Pruitt has his staff in place moving forward.

Which positions those coaches will coach, though, remains to be seen. Will the Vols use six full-time assistants on offense and use just four (plus Pruitt) on the defensive side of the ball? Or will they even things up a bit? We also discuss that in this episode.

Another Tennessee player — senior-to-be linebacker Austin Smith — has gone into the NCAA transfer portal. That doesn’t mean Smith is definitely joining the list of players who’ve opted to leave the program, but it means he’s definitely joined the list of those potentially leaving the program sometime before or after spring practice. Tennessee’s roster management moving forward also is discussed in this episode.

This is the week’s football podcast, but we had to discuss the top-ranked Tennessee basketball team’s overtime win at Vanderbilt on Wednesday night in Nashville, and the first 14-or-so minutes of this episode were spent breaking down the latest Vols-Dores thriller.

Our other coworker couldn’t make it to Fort Rucker to record this week’s football podcast. That coworker — we won’t mention his name, but his rhymes with Aunt Gramey — was ridiculed in absentia. Hint: He participates in a Bachelor fantasy league — or BachBracket, as it’s also called. So in lieu of this week’s Grant Gun Show Question of the Week, we decided to drop some knowledge that made everyone a winner.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down a historic week for the Tennessee basketball program.

The Vols overcame a dreadful second half to outlast rival Alabama over the weekend at Thompson-Boling Arena, and that coupled with losses by Duke and Michigan took Tennessee from the No. 3 spot to the No. 1 spot in both major polls for just the second time in program history.

A special group of players took their lumps early in the Rick Barnes era, and now they’re rolling under future Hall of Fame coach Rick Barnes — who became just the sixth coach in college basketball history to take multiple programs to a No. 1 ranking. He turned the trick at Texas, and now he’s done at Tennessee.

The Vols aren’t satisfied with a No. 1 ranking in January, though. Far from it. This Tennessee team has designs on hanging banners in Thompson-Boling, and it seems to have the tools to make that dream a reality. But Barnes said this team hasn’t come close to reaching its full potential despite a 16-1 record and a 5-0 start to SEC play.

In fairness to Barnes, Tennessee’s past two second halves has been far from the Vols’ best. Tennessee coasted to a 106-87 win over Arkansas last week despite being outscored in the second half, and the Vols turned a double-digit halftime lead over Alabama into a two-score deficit before rallying to turn back the Tide. Did last week’s performances show cracks in the facade, or were they simply a couple of bad second-halves at the office? Will they prove to be the start of a trend, or will they ultimately be dismissed as outliers?

Contrasting two polar-opposite topics — Tennessee’s rise to the No. 1 ranking, and Tennessee playing arguably its worst game of the season — isn’t a simple thing, but both of those (and several more) topics are discussed in this episode.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down Tennessee’s wild, come-from-behind win at Florida over the weekend and the Vols’ 106-87 thumping or Arkansas on Tuesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.

A healthy Lamonte Turner has teamed up with fellow junior guard Jordan Bowden to give the Vols a heck of a powerful punch off the bench, and now a deep and dangerous Tennessee team is starting to look even deeper and more dangerous. The Vols are now ranked second nationally in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted offensive efficiency ranking, behind only Gonzaga — a team Tennessee beat on a neutral site earlier this season.

The Vols jumped all over Arkansas for much of Tuesday’s first half, but they dialed down their intensity on defense down the stretch and seemed to play the scoreboard more than the opponent, and that infuriated Coach Rick Barnes to the point that Thursday’s practice wasn’t a particularly enjoyable one.

Friday will be a lighter day for the Vols, though, as they put in the final pieces of their game plan heading into Saturday’s 2 p.m. Eastern showdown against longtime border-state rival Alabama at Thompson-Boling.

Barnes is just 1-3 against the Crimson Tide during his otherwise-successful time at Tennessee, and the Tide took it to the Vols last season in Tuscaloosa. Obviously Colin Sexton is gone, and the Vols will be heavy favorites heading into Saturday’s game, but they have a healthy respect for Avery Johnson and the program he’s built at Bama.

What’s working well for the Vols at the moment? What’s working really well? What’s not working well enough? What, if any, are the major concerns at the moment? Has sophomore wing Yves Pons put himself in position to lose his spot in the starting lineup? Which lineup combinations are working best for the Vols in certain situations against certain opponents? Those are just some of the many topics discussed in this episode.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down a newsy week for Tennessee football highlighted by the return of Tee Martin to Knoxville.

Martin, the starting quarterback on Tennessee’s 1998 national championship team, has flirted a few times with the idea of returning to his alma mater, but second-year Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt was the man who finally got him to pull the trigger and do it.

Known as one of the top recruiters in the college football world, Martin most recently served at USC’s offensive coordinator but became available on the market after a disappointing 2018 season led to large turnover for the Trojans. Martin was never going to stay on market for long, though, and several programs tried to bring him on board, so him choosing the Vols is another coup for Pruitt, who just last week convinced offensive coordinator Jim Chaney to leave Georgia for a second tenure at Tennessee.

Of course, now the Vols have one more full-time coach than allowed on their staff, so someone will have to go in order to make room for him. The departure candidates are discussed a bit in this episode.

Martin is the biggest topic of conversation on this episode, but he’s far from the only one.

Several Vols have now entered the NCAA’s transfer portal and seem likely to leave the program, and we discuss those players and their potential reasons for leaving. It was never a secret that Tennessee needed some players to leave the program in order to sign something resembling a full recruiting class but stay under the NCAA’s maximum allotment of 85 scholarships for next season, but now some more of those players have been identified, and we discuss their situations.

We know one player who’s definitely staying with the program for next season, though. Senior-to-be wide receiver Jauan Jennings flirted with declaring for the NFL Draft but announced this week that he plans to return for his final season of eligibility. The impact of Jennings’ return is discussed in detail in this episode.

It’s also been another busy week for Tennessee on the recruiting trail. The Vols are still major factors for some elite prospects, and some of those players are discussed in this episode.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker and Grant Ramey went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down third-ranked Tennessee’s torrid start to SEC play and talk about this weekend’s usually-tough test at Florida.

Virtually every team in virtually every sport virtually every season has to overcome adversity and play through some rough spells, but things at the moment are looking smooth for the Vols, who entered SEC play looking like the league favorites and have done nothing but enhance that status, winning at home against Georgia and then at Missouri by a combined 70 points.

Mizzou actually held a nine-point lead over the Vols through 14 minutes of Tuesday’s game in Columbia, and Tennessee stars Grant Williams and Admiral Schofield started the game sluggishly, but none of that mattered. The Vols — thanks to a couple of timely 3-pointers from newly-returned junior guard Lamonte Turner — turned around the game with a 24-4 run, and they did most of that with Williams and Schofield on the bench.

How has Tennessee reached this point? Why are things going so well for the Vols? What, if anything, could change that? How much does Turner’s return change things? What are the few things not going well at the moment? What, if anything, can rival Florida do this weekend in Gainesville to give Tennessee a tougher test? Those and several other topics are discussed in this episode.