GoVols247: A Tennessee Volunteers athletics podcast

GoVols247's full staff — Wes Rucker, Ryan Callahan, Patrick Brown and Grant Ramey — went into Fort Rucker studio to break down the latest from another week of Tennessee athletics. It's been a busy summer week on The Hill, and a vast majority of coach Jeremy Pruitt's first Tennessee signing class is now enrolled in classes and participating in team workouts. We have the latest on who enrolled, who didn't enroll and when the rest will (or at least should) enroll. That's far from the only topic covered in this episode, though. The latest on current and (perhaps) future Tennessee baseball players in this week's MLB Draft is discussed, as well as the departure of a beloved, highly respected member of Tennessee football's support staff and the buyout of former UT-Knoxville Chancellor Beverly Davenport.

GoVols247's full staff — Wes Rucker, Ryan Callahan, Patrick Brown and Grant Ramey — went into Fort Rucker studio to break down Tennessee's latest influx of 2018 signees arriving on campus for the start of summer semester classes. Who's in? Who's not? Who might find a way to be in soon? This is a big topic every summer, and a couple of situations with a couple of players changed in between the Wednesday afternoon recording of this pod and this pod's Friday morning release. Regardless, here's a general outline of where things stand with Tennessee's 2018 class and its arrival in Knoxville.

GoVols247's full staff — Wes Rucker, Ryan Callahan, Patrick Brown and Grant Ramey — went into Fort Rucker studio to break down the curious case of star linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr., who in the span of five days decided to leave and then not leave the Tennessee football program. All's well that ends well, and the bottom line is Kirkland returned to the team, but his situation was the latest spotlight on a graduate-transfer policy that's causing changes throughout the college football landscape. Kirkland's situation and the future of graduate-transfer policy are the main topics in this episode.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Grant Ramey went into a waterlogged Fort Rucker Studio to break down anything and everything related to another week of University of Tennessee athletics — which, of course, wasn't a boring week, because those don't exist on this beat.

The main topic this week is a more expansive discussion on the latest palace intrigue at Tennessee — the demotion of UT-Knoxville Chancellor Beverly Davenport.

What does Davenport's exit from the chancellor's position mean for Tennessee from an athletics standpoint? Is it a good thing? A bad thing? A meh thing? That's the primary discussion in this episode, but it's far from the only discussion.

Fresh updates on Tennessee football star Trey Smith are discussed, as well as news and notes from football coach Jeremy Pruitt and basketball coach Rick Barnes from Thursday's Big Orange Caravan stop in Chattanooga. Barnes revealed the latest on Vols junior star Admiral Schofield's flirtations with the NBA Draft, and Pruitt provided plenty of notes, as well.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker went into Fort Rucker Studio to provide a quick recap from another ... well ... interesting week for the University of Tennessee and then pass along a recent speech from new Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt to The Rotary Club of Knoxville.

Before playing the Pruitt audio, though, there's a quick snapshot of another wild week in Knoxville.

University of Tennessee-Knoxville Chancellor Beverly Davenport was demoted to a teaching position, and she was formally demoted in an absolutely blistering letter from UT President Joe DiPietro that outlined seven areas in which Davenport struggled to perform adequately. The fallout from Davenport's demotion continues, and understandably so, given the mysterious nature of the situation and the confusion and anger from several people in and around the university.

It wasn't all bad this week for Tennessee, though, at least from an athletic standpoint. Several former Vols have new homes and bigger checking accounts after last week's NFL Draft, and there were big recruiting commitments in football (touted offensive lineman Wayna Morris) and basketball (graduate transfer guard Kwhan Fore from Richmond).

This week — as most weeks go at Tennessee — provided plenty to discuss. So let's discuss it.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to take an extensive look at the Tennessee football team's first spring camp under coach Jeremy Pruitt and his staff.

Everyone knows what kind of situation Pruitt and his staff walked into when they agreed to come to Knoxville, but the belief is that Pruitt — a well-respected, young protege of Nick Saban, Jimbo Fisher and Mark Richt — and his high-priced staff can take Tennessee to a better place at some point.

When will that point be, though? That's a fair question. Whether this spring did anything to change the Make-Tennessee-Tennessee-Again timeline also is a fair question. This episode has educated guesses on that front, but the abridged version is this: It won't happen in the nearest of near futures.

GoVols247's staff witnessed every media-allowed period of Tennessee spring camp and watched the Orange & White Game at the same time as the public, so what's a logical way to see where thing stand heading into a huge summer for the Vols.

Discussion on those things and more — including the fallout from Jeremy Pruitt's post-spring camp comments about fan attendance — is included in this episode.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into Fort Rucker Studio to preview the NFL Draft through a University of Tennessee lens.

This season's Tennessee draft class isn't a huge one, at least by the standards of a program that's traditionally one of the NFL's richest pipelines, but at least a couple of Vols should hear their name called by the end of the annual seven-round, three-day spectacle.

Multiple Tennessee players elected to forego their final seasons of eligibility under a new coach and declared for the draft, and two of those players — defensive back Rashaan Gaulden and running back John Kelly — are widely expected to be drafted at some point.

Aside from that, though, it might be a quiet few days for the Vols. Some mock drafts feature other Tennessee players — defensive tackle Kahlil McKenzie, cornerback Emmanuel Moseley, and/or tight end Ethan Wolf — and it wouldn't be shocking to see any of them come off the board. Several other Vols will at least be signed to free-agent contracts after the draft.

This episode features anything and everything related to the Vols heading into an event that always shoves itself into the center of the sports universe.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker and Patrick Brown went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down Saturday's annual Orange & White Game for the Tennessee football team.

The Orange team (first-team offense, second-team defense) boat-raced the White team (first-team defense, second-team offense) in a 34-7 thumping, but what does that really mean? Is Tennessee's first-team offense really that far ahead of the first-team defense? Not necessarily, according to first-year Vols head coach Jeremy Pruitt.

Pruitt had more than a few interesting comments after the game. He said some of his players "just flat-out quit" during the game, and while he said his first Vol Walk was "spectacular," he made an interesting remark that hinted at his desire to see more than 65,000 people at the game itself.

Discussion of all that and much more is included in this episode.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Ryan Callahan and Patrick Brown went into Fort Rucker Studio to preview Saturday's annual Orange & White Game — the Vols' first spring game under new coach Jeremy Pruitt.

Pruitt has kept things mostly quiet this spring, but Saturday's game — and it'll actually be formatted like a game this year — should provide at least a sneak peek at what the Vols might look like under a new head coach, a new offensive coordinator, a new defensive coordinator and an entirely different staff.

Just how much the Vols will show remains to be seen, but there are still plenty of intriguing story lines heading into the game, and this episode focuses on several of those topics. Want to know which players and which positions to focus on? We've got you covered. Want to know what kind of atmosphere to expect in the first spring game in recent memory that won't be preceded by fan day autograph sessions? Well ... we don't have those answers yet. But we do have some guesses. Want to know what (if any) spring awards will be presented? Well ... we don't know that either, but we do have a Sarah McLachlan-themed tribute to the silly Butch Jones awards that surely have been put out to pasture.

A couple of other pressing topics — a recruiting preview for the weekend, and the latest on new athletic director Phillip Fulmer's four-year contract — are discussed in this episode, as well, but most of the conversation sticks to the spring-game script.

GoVols247's Wes Rucker, Ryan Callahan and Patrick Brown went into Fort Rucker Studio to break down the latest as the third week of Tennessee football's first spring camp under coach Jeremy Pruitt approaches its conclusion.

The Vols have practiced eight times this spring, and Practice No. 9 — Saturday's practice — will be their first scrimmage of the Pruitt era.

What do Pruitt and his staff need to see from their team Saturday? What would be a good day? What are the basics, and what would be added bonuses? That's one of just many topics covered in an episode that also delves into the keep-it-in-house philosophy of Tennessee's new staff, a recent ESPN Football Power Index projection for the 2018 season, one position change on Tennessee's defense and a big week for the Vols on the recruiting trail.