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🏈 Tennessee's next big step for 2024

🏈 Tennessee's next big step for 2024

The Vols have momentum in fall camp

Josh Ward
August 09, 2024

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:

Players that Tennessee coaches will watch in Friday’s big scrimmage
One of Tennessee’s defenders is VERY confident in the D-line
The big question for Tennessee’s playoff hopes this fall
Just how high is Tennessee’s ceiling for the 2024 football season?

TENNESSEE’S FIRST FALL TEST

WR Chas Nimrod has emerged as a player to watch

Tennessee will take a big step toward the first regular season game on Friday night with a scrimmage at Neyland Stadium.

The scrimmage will be closed to the media and public — so we’ll see what kind of word travels out of the stadium after it ends.

The scrimmage will give Tennessee’s coaches a chance to put players in game-like situations.

Coaches will see how players respond while players use the scrimmage as a way to improve plus compete with teammates for starting positions or spots in a rotation.

(🎧 Jayson Swain explained the goal of a fall scrimmage to begin this hour here.)

Tennessee has elevated its overall depth and talent — a point we’ve repeated on the show since the start of camp.

But are players ready to step up and make plays to show the roster has improved?

Here are a few players to watch (or try to find out about) during Friday’s scrimmage.

🟠 RB Peyton Lewis

The freshman has impressed everyone since he arrived on campus.

He has playmaking ability that Tennessee needs to help replace Jaylen Wright, last year’s leading rusher who was drafted by the Miami Dolphins.

Charles Power, On3’s director of scouting and rankings, told us Thursday that Lewis was one of Tennessee’s 2024 signees he was most excited to see at UT.

“I think he fits Tennessee’s scheme really well. When you look at that offense and kind of dictating light boxes, he can get north-south extremely quickly. … He’s really physically imposing. He’s rocked up and he has elite speed at that size.”

Can Lewis earn the trust of UT’s coaches as they look for options behind starter Dylan Sampson?

DeSean Bishop and Khalifa Keith will also compete on Friday night as second-year running back Cam Seldon works his way back to full strength.

⚫ DB Boo Carter

Carter was already a player to watch entering fall camp because of his talent and big potential.

With the loss of Jourdan Thomas to a knee injury, Carter’s development at the STAR position is even more important.

Can Carter solidify a starting position before the season begins?

Tennessee’s coaches have pushed him in practice to see if he’s ready.

“He’s gotta continue to prove he can handle it mentally,” Austin Price of Volquest told us on Wednesday. “If he can handle it mentally, I’d be shocked if it wasn’t No. 23 running the STAR spot for Tennessee.”

🟠 WR Chas Nimrod

Swain, a former UT receiver himself, continues to rave about the improvement Nimrod made during the offseason.

So much so that Swain believes Nimrod is pushing Squirrel White for playing time in the slot.

Nimrod also has the ability to play on the outside, which his coaches love.

Tennessee has dealt with minor injuries at receiver during fall camp.

And veteran Bru McCoy will see little-to-no playing time during the scrimmage.

Friday will offer Nimrod another chance to show coaches he deserves more playing time this fall.

⚫ Left Guard

It’s the only starting position on the offensive line that’s up for grabs.

Will someone emerge coming out of the scrimmage?

It could be Andrej Karic, the former Texas transfer who was slowed by injuries during the last year.

It could be Jackson Lampley, a veteran who at worst offers a solid backup option.

The concern level about left guard seems low.

But finding a solution remains a priority.

We talked more about Lewis and other young players, as well as Tennessee’s big run of success on the recruiting trail, with Charles Power. Watch below or listen to our conversation anywhere you get your podcasts.

‘DAWGS EVERYWHERE’

Joshua Josephs wants to know who can stop UT’s D-line

Who’s going to stop Tennessee’s defensive line this season?

If you ask defensive end Joshua Josephs, the answer is… no one.

Here’s what Josephs said when he met the media on Wednesday:

“No team can really stop us. You can’t handle what we have. Even like the amount of rotations, we’re going to be so fresh off the field. We’ve got Big O, Big E, Jaxson Moi, we’ve got Bryson Eason, Omarr Norman-Lott, we’ve got Daevoin Hobbs. That’s just the interior right there.

Our edges, y’all see it. You see who we got. We’ve got James Pearce. Come on, dude. You can’t even plan for him. We’ve got James. We’ve got Caleb Herring. … Caleb is a dawg. We’ve got Jayson Jenkins. I’m telling you, he’s a sleeper. Dom Bailey for sure. Tyre (West). We’ve got dawgs everywhere. You can’t really plan for us.”

Josephs is quite the hype man for his teammates, huh?

This was the same day that veteran defensive line coach Rodney Garner was asked how his group has handled all the praise they’re receiving.

“Who’s praising them?” Garner asked. “I’m not.”

It was a humorous moment.

The answer to Garner’s question is a lot of people have praised the Vols’ defensive line.

Including defensive coordinator Tim Banks, who said this during the spring:

“I think we should really have the best defensive line in the country.”

But remember this about Garner: he will never heap praise on his players before they’ve proven what they can do in games.

Garner added this about his defensive line group:

“We just try to block out all the outside noise. The one thing about it when you look at that film, when you study it and you come in there every day and you really look at it and you’ve got to be your own biggest critic, it’s no different for me as a coach. Every day when I go out there on the field, I’m working to be a better coach today than I was yesterday. Same thing that they’re working for as players. We all have a lot of room that we need to improve in and in a lot of areas.

If they’re going to heap this kind of stuff on you, then you’ve got to prepare for it. I told them, this is not going to be easy. To whom much is given, much is required. So we’ve got to prepare ourselves to go out there and be able to play at a championship level. And that is the challenge every single day.”

Garner is right about everything he said – and he’ll continue preaching that message to his players.

Tennessee’s defensive line could be the best in the country.

Or at least one of the best.

Garner’s job is to coach and develop his players to help them reach that potential.

He’ll leave the praise to everyone else.

SPORTS NUGGETS

🏈 Here is the USA Today Coaches Poll, which ranks Tennessee No. 15 in the country. (The AP poll will come out on Monday.)

🏈 Bill Connelly’s list of the most important players in college football includes James Pearce Jr., whose performance vs Iowa “was about as good as you’ll ever see.”

🏈 Two Tennessee players made Bruce Feldman’s Freaks List for the 2024 CFB season. Can you guess which two?

🏈 It looks like the SEC is moving toward adopting a mandatory injury report for the upcoming season.

🏀 The Howard University basketball coach wants to sell a one-third stake in his program for $100 million. But the idea hasn’t been vetted by the university.

🏀 Steph Curry had an epic performance as LeBron, Kevin Durant and Joel Embiid made clutch plays to help USA basketball rally past Serbia.

⚾ VFL Christian Moore has been on fire in the minor leagues, hitting two home runs on Thursday… including a walk-off HR to win the game.

💵 FIU Stadium? Try Pitbull Stadium. The musician bought the naming rights to FIU’s football stadium for the next five years.

TENNESSEE’S PLAYOFF HURDLE

Will Tennessee pass its first big road test on Sept. 21?

ESPN’s Heather Dinich analyzed teams trying to make the College Football Playoff for the first time this season.

The third team mentioned on the list: Tennessee.

The Vols are behind only Penn State and Missouri in terms of odds to make the playoff for the first time, according to ESPN’s analytics.

Dinich looked at how the 12-team playoff helps each team and what could derail each of them.

The biggest benefit was pretty obvious: the margin for error improves.

The Vols could lose to both Alabama and Georgia and still have a shot at the playoff.

That’s never been the case before.

But what could derail Tennessee?

Here’s what Dinich wrote:

“Conference expansion. Tennessee's trip to Oklahoma on Sept. 21 is now a conference game, and ESPN's FPI gives the Sooners a 59.9% chance to win. If the Vols lose three games (at Oklahoma, vs. Alabama and at Georgia), their playoff hopes will likely shatter. There's not enough on the rest of the schedule to compensate for that in the committee meeting room, where wins against ranked opponents are a major focus. Tennessee has a respectable nonconference game against NC State in Charlotte, but wins against Chattanooga, Kent State and UTEP won't separate the Vols from other contenders, and their other SEC opponents also might not be ranked.”

That Oklahoma matchup continues to look massive.

If the Vols can go on the road and win in Norman, it changes the trajectory of Tennessee’s season.

The Vols would have plenty of work to do beyond that game, but their playoff hopes would look real.

It also would help ease another concern that popped up from a few listeners this week: the Vols’ road woes in recent seasons.

The 2022 South Carolina game and last year’s performance at Missouri are tough to forget.

If Tennessee can win at Oklahoma (and beat NC State on a neutral field), that would offer a sign that Tennessee has risen to a higher level.

Tennessee’s schedule sets up favorably, at least by SEC standards.

• Florida at home in October
• Kentucky at home following a bye week
• Mississippi State at home in November

Can Tennessee win at Oklahoma?

Can the Vols make sure not to stumble two weeks later at Arkansas, where UT will play right before the Florida game?

Those are important questions.

We’ll get the answers early in the season.

TENNESSEE’S 2024 CEILING

Tennessee hopes to soar with Nico running the show

What is the ceiling for Tennessee’s football team this year?

Most everyone agrees that UT is a playoff contender entering the season.

But making the playoff doesn’t mean every team has a realistic shot at winning the national title.

If the Vols make the playoff, can they win it all?

ESPN college football analyst Greg McElroy shared his thoughts on Thursday as he’s running through each of his top 25 teams.

Last month, McElroy ranked Tennessee No. 10 in his preseason poll.

His commentary on Thursday focused on the Vols’ potential if Nico Iamaleava has a breakout season this fall.

“What if Nico Iamaleava is a Heisman finalist? We all know what went down last year. The transition in 2022 from Hendon Hooker to Joe Milton wasn't ideal, right? Nico Iamaleava coming in as the top recruit (in 2023) – very gifted, looked really comfortable in his first career start against Iowa. We know Iowa's a very sound, solid defense. I think if he’s a Heisman finalist, not only is Tennessee in the playoff but Tennessee is a legitimate national championship contender.

Because in this offense, and while they learned last year to get by – they did a great job in creating avenues in the run game and Nico I think is a pretty capable weapon with his own legs. So I think that if Nico, if he's capable of playing to the top of the sport at his position, Tennessee is going to be in a great position to win the national championship. It's going to be asking a lot for a guy that has only played (started) on game, but crazier things have happened, especially with a ceiling like that. It wouldn’t shock me if Nico is every bit as advertised.”

McElroy believes Tennessee is capable of contending for the national championship.

That doesn’t mean he’s picking UT to win it — or projecting Iamaleava to reach New York for the Heisman ceremony.

But according to McElroy, the ceiling for Tennessee — the very best-case scenario — is the Vols win the national title.

If you’re looking for a ticket to the Hype (Heup?) Train, grab one soon.

Prices are going up.

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