🏈 It's time for 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:

• Second-year players who will make an impact on Tennessee’s season

• What an NFL scout sees in Tennessee quarterback Nico Iamaleava

• Danny White: the nation’s highest-paid athletics director

• A legendary UT photo… and an unknown story with it

And the winners of our Tennessee hats giveaway from Rainbox are…

Tina R. and Robert W.!

Congrats to Tina and Robert and thank you to everyone who registered for a chance to win.

Two quick items of note:

1️⃣ If you’d like to check out Rainbox’s hats, here’s their website. They gave us a promo code to share for 20% off a full order: JOSHANDSWAIN20
2️⃣ Be on the lookout for one more free giveaway opportunity in the coming days…

➡️ OK, let’s get to the newsletter.

THE NEXT MEN UP FOR TENNESSEE

Finally!

Tennessee’s football season has arrived.

The Vols will open the season on Saturday against UT Chattanooga.

📍 Neyland Stadium
⏰ 12:45 p.m. ET
📺 SEC Network
📻 99.1 The Sports Animal/WIVK

This one shouldn’t be close as Tennessee is a 38.5-point favorite.

While Chattanooga is a top-10 team at the FCS level, Tennessee has too many athletes and should win easily.

So Saturday will create an opportunity for a lot of Vols to play.

And it’s the first chance for Tennessee’s second-year players to show what kind of growth they’ve made in the last year.

Which players from Tennessee’s 2023 signing class will be worth watching on Saturday and as the season plays out?

Here’s a list of five second-year Vols (other than quarterback Nico Iamaleava) who should make an impact on the season.

🟠 LB Arion Carter

Carter is my pick for breakout player of the year.

He’s an elite athlete who played as a reserve last year before suffering an injury that ended his season early.

Carter will start for Tennessee with a better understanding of his role in UT’s defense.

“I feel like it’s night and day compared to last year,” Carter said about his mental growth.

Linebackers coach William Inge told us how good Carter can be at the start of fall camp.

“You can see he’s going to be one of the elite linebackers that you all will be talking about in the days to come and years to come,” Inge said.

Watch out for Carter on Saturday.

⚫ RB Cameron Seldon

Seldon is one of the best athletes on Tennessee’s roster.

How much will we see him this Saturday?

Seldon suffered an injury during the spring that delayed his return to full contact in fall camp.

He’s back to full speed and expected to play this weekend.

Is Seldon ready to claim the RB2 role, which he held in Tennessee’s win over Iowa in the Citrus Bowl?

🟠 RB DeSean Bishop

Let’s stay right here at running back.

Seldon’s status is still a question.

And Tennessee plans on needing at least three running backs.

Think about the Vols’ trio of Jaylen Wright, Jabari Small and Dylan Sampson the last two years.

Freshman Peyton Lewis will be someone to watch as the season progresses.

But Bishop has impressed coaches with his development, including his pass protection.

He’s earned an opportunity to compete for playing time behind Sampson.

Watch for both Bishop and Seldon on Saturday… and beyond.

⚫ TE Ethan Davis

Davis looks like he’s ready to go.

He dealt with injury during his first year on campus and never factored into Tennessee’s offense.

But Davis and Iamaleava look like they’ve developed some chemistry since they arrived together in the spring of 2023.

Davis is a big-time athlete who creates matchup problems.

We talk a lot about Tennessee’s group of wide receivers.

We should really discuss UT’s pass catchers — and Davis belongs in that conversation.

🟠 CB Rickey Gibson

Gibson was slowed during fall camp because of a hamstring injury.

Let’s see what his status is this Saturday.

Tennessee has to replace several cornerbacks from last season.

But coaches are optimistic that Gibson will help the transition to a new-look secondary.

Remember: Georgia made a big push for Gibson during the recruiting process. He’s a legit SEC athlete.

Gibson’s performance (and availability) this season will play a big role in how Tennessee’s secondary performs.

SCOUTING NICO

Nico Iamaleava didn’t make the “second-year players to watch” list, but we’re not blocking him from the newsletter.

Iamaleava’s potential is a big reason members of the media — both local and national — have picked Tennessee to make the College Football Playoff.

Can Iamaleava live up to the hype?

ESPN’s Chris Low joined Josh and Swain on Thursday and relayed a recent conversation about Iamaleava that he had with an NFL scout.

Chris Low:

And that’s what Tennessee is hoping: that Nico looks like the five-star prospect he was rated coming out of high school.

Tennessee has to protect Iamaleava.

The staff likes Gaston Moore as a backup because of his experience in UT’s system.

He’s a good voice for Iamaleava on the sidelines.

But no one will have the same expectations for Tennessee’s offense if Iamaleava goes down with an injury.

How Lance Heard performs as a new starter at left tackle — and the offensive line’s ability to stay healthy — will be a critical factor in the Vols’ offense.

For the record: Iamaleava still has plenty to prove.

He had a great debut as a starter against Iowa.

But Iamaleava came out of the Citrus Bowl with plenty to work on.

Iamaleava AND Tennessee’s offense should be better than what we saw against Iowa.

He’s had a full offseason to prepare and he has more talent around him.

As Austin Price of Volquest said this week:

Every Tennessee fan is ready to see it.

SPORTS NUGGETS

🏈 The SEC approved injury reports for football, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball.

🏈 Tennessee says WiFi is “fully functional” at Neyland Stadium. Here’s a list of the fan experience enhancements for the upcoming season.

🏈 There’s pushback from a player advocacy group against the so-called House settlement. The group calls it an “unjust settlement.”

🏈 Dabo Swinney’s weekly radio show will no longer take calls from fans after last year’s on-air incident with caller Tyler. Fans can still text in their questions.

📺 Here’s the full schedule of CFB games this weekend with TV info for each game.

🏀 Tennessee senior Jahmai Mashack explained why he believes the Vols will have “a special, special team” this upcoming season.

⚾ Click here for the details on Tony Vitello’s new contract, which makes him the highest-paid coach in college baseball.

📙 Armen Keteyian and John Talty have a new book, “The Price: What It Takes to Win in College Football’s Era of Chaos.” Here’s our interview with Talty and here’s a link to the book.

RAISING EXPECTATIONS

Tennessee announced Thursday that Danny White has received a contract extension and raise that went into effect on Aug. 1.

White’s new salary: $2.75 million.

That makes him the highest-paid athletics director at a public university in the country.

It’s hard to argue considering the recent success of Tennessee sports, both competitively and financially.

Tennessee has raised big money and reinvested it into the Vols’ athletic programs.

UT just made Tony Vitello the highest-paid coach in college baseball, as an example.

Fans often (and understandably) want to know what they’re getting for the money they spend to support the athletic department.

Lately, the return has been pretty good for Tennessee fans.

There’s no reason to expect that to change any time soon.

1 DAY TO GO…

It’s one of the great college football photos:

Tennessee’s larger-than-life defender Leonard Little standing over an Auburn receiver in the 1997 SEC championship game.

But in this case: the picture does not tell the full story.

“What people don’t understand is I didn’t even hit anybody on that play,” Little told us on Josh and Swain.

Say what?

According to Little, it was actually a Tennessee safety who made the hit on Auburn receiver Tyrone Goodson… Little just stood over Goodson and “told him not to get up.”

It doesn’t make the photo any less intimidating.

But it comes with an unexpected tale.

Listen to Little tell the story HERE as the Vols have 1️⃣ day to go until kickoff.

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