🏈 BIG weekend for Tennessee Football

Hello. This is the Josh and Swain Newsletter, a quick roundup of the week’s top stories and topics involving Tennessee and the sports world.

Here’s what we have for you today:

• Why this weekend is so important for Tennessee’s future success

• How Joe Milton has taken the next step as a leader

• A new (and familiar) offensive staff member for Josh Heupel

• The good and the questionable re: Tennessee Football in 2023

TENNESSEE IS READY TO IMPRESS

Tennessee is about to host its largest recruiting weekend of the offseason.

“It’s a massive weekend,” Austin Price of Volquest said on Thursday.

The Vols have invited as many recruits as possible to Knoxville for Memorial Day Weekend.

And A LOT of the prospects have four and five stars next to their names.

Tennessee’s success over the last two seasons has attracted more highly-touted players to campus.

Now the Vols’ staff will try to sell them on choosing Tennessee over schools like Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and other elite programs.

Tennessee won several of those battles in the 2023 class, landing linebacker Arion Carter over Alabama, Rickey Gibson over Georgia, and Jordan Matthews over LSU. Just to name a few.

Tennessee hopes to win more of those battles in 2024.

➜ Here’s one big battle to watch:

Four-star wide receiver Amari Jefferson from Baylor School in Chattanooga is a high priority for Tennessee’s staff.

Jefferson recently told BamaInsider that Tennessee is third on his list behind Alabama and Georgia.

“I think that changes this week,” Price said. “I think the quote coming out of this week is, ‘Tennessee’s now on par with the other two.’ I’ll be shocked if that’s not the quote coming out of Saturday.”

That’s an example of what Tennessee is trying to do this weekend.

We won’t go through the whole list of prospects visiting. It’s way too long.

But here’s a sample of players expected on UT’s campus:

• 5⭐ Linebacker Sammy Brown

• 4⭐ Edge Kameryn Fountain

• 4⭐ Running back Peyton Lewis

• 4⭐ Cornerback Kam Mikell

• 5⭐ Edge Dylan Stewart

How many commitments will Tennessee get this weekend?

No guesses on the total here, but Peyton Lewis is a player to watch.

A lot of this weekend will be about establishing/strengthening relationships with many of Tennessee’s top targets.

Some fans are die-hards about recruiting. Others casually follow or prefer the “let me know after they sign” approach.

Whatever your preference is fine.

But there’s no argument about the importance of recruiting.

Want to win titles? Better sign a bunch of great players.

That’s what Heupel and his staff are working on right now.

Learn more about the latest with Tennessee’s recruiting and the upcoming weekend from Austin Price below. ⬇️⬇️

BIG JOE ON THE GO

Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton III and wide receiver Ramel Keyton made the trip to New York City this week thanks to Spyre Sports Group.

The duo’s trip included visits with NASDAQ, Topps, Burberry, Good Morning Football with the NFL Network, and others.

But the offseason hasn’t been all about branding for Milton and his teammates.

It’s been about building.

Tennessee’s returning players know expectations have risen following the Vols’ successful 2022 season.

It’s up to the returning (and arriving) players to keep those expectations up.

That starts with Milton.

Is he ready to lead Tennessee’s football team and keep the Vols’ offense near the level of last year, when UT was No. 1 in the nation in scoring offense?

We’ll find out this fall. But Milton continues to show signs of leadership that back up his growth since arriving in Knoxville.

Former Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs joined Josh and Swain on Wednesday and shared his note about an offseason workout with Milton when Dobbs was in Knoxville:

This story from Dobbs doesn’t mean Milton will be an All-SEC quarterback this fall or that the Vols will easily replace guys like Hendon Hooker and Jalin Hyatt.

But it shows the new leaders picked up from the impression left behind by Hooker.

Accountability from Tennessee’s players and planning from the Vols’ coaches will create huge potential for the offense this fall.

Milton is shining off the field right now.

If he and his teammates keep working this offseason, it should carry over to the field when Tennessee opens the season against Virginia on Sept. 2.

Check out our full conversation with Dobbs, who will be in Knoxville this weekend for his sixth annual Joshua Dobbs Youth Football Camp.

SPORTS NUGGETS

🏈 Tennessee sold out its season tickets for the 2023 season. The success is paying off.

🏈 Ex-UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton joined Tennessee as an offensive analyst. Milton played for Josh Heupel at UCF from 2018-20.

🏈 See which ranking(s) you disagree with from Bill Connelly’s list of the top 75 college football quarterbacks during the 2000s.

🥎 Tennessee will play a best-of-three series against Texas for the right to go to the College World Series. Here is the Super Regional info.

🏀 Can the Boston Celtics make history? They need two more wins this weekend to pull off the NBA’s first-ever comeback from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs.

⚽Perhaps the biggest sporting event in the world this weekend: Coventry City vs Luton Town for the EFL Championship and promotion to the English Premier League.

STICK TO SPORTS!

This story is from a few years ago but came up on Josh and Swain during our “attaboy” segment.

It’s the story of kindergarten students from Hickerson Elementary School in Tullahoma, Tenn., singing happy birthday to custodian James Anthony on his 60th birthday.

A Coffee County employee for more than two decades, Anthony is hearing impaired but can read lips.

Watch the joy unfold below.

ONE LAST BYTE OUT THE DOOR

We had a fun list of guests this week. (Subscribe where you get your podcasts!)

The list included ESPN analyst Cole Cubelic, who hosts a daily radio show on WJOX as well as his Cube Show podcast.

Cubelic explained on our show why he believes Tennessee is capable of competing for the SEC East this fall — along with discussing questions he has about the personnel.

“If (receiver) Dont’e Thornton can run anything like Jalin Hyatt,” Cubelic said, “which I’ve heard from multiple people in and around that building that I trust that says he can. Then the biggest difference is going to be up front on that offensive line.”

Cole Cubelic is as good as it gets covering SEC football. Check out the full conversation below. ⬇️⬇️

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Newsletter Note: We’ll take a break next week and return with the next newsletter edition on Friday, June 9.

Thank you for reading and please share with anyone you think might enjoy doing so, too.