Volquest answers your Tennessee baseball, football & recruiting questions in the June 27 mailbag

Volquest answers your Tennessee baseball, football & recruiting questions in the June 27 mailbag

00:34 Nike_Vol: Favorite storyline/memory of the 2024 national championship team?

8:03 SamSmith2233: Cain, while we were winning the national championship, Jay Johnson was big game hunting. Where do we stand in the portal? Have to replace a starting rotation and maybe 7 guys in the lineup, and that’s not to mention the barn.

9:28 With Texas hiring Schlossnagle, is Josh in play at A&M, or if Bakich gets the A&M job, could Josh be in play at Clemson. Also, Frank got another year in him?

10:33 Rtrain98: How good was Jerry Colquitt pre-injury? I can remember hearing that he was just about as good as Shuler. Would Peyton have played at all if Colquitt had stayed healthy? I have a feeling he still would’ve played some because he’s Peyton, but would he have played as much?

14:03 Gaterdawg: Now that Tennessee won the World Series and Venables got an extension. What should I be worried about now as a Tennessee fan?

15:17 Eric, what was the experience like covering the World Series. Is it all work or can you balance enjoying the moment and work?

16:24 Athrun: With all the fun on the commits, Where do we go next on commit watch?

17:22 Does Utu project as a potential RT in the future? His build appears like he could handle it.

17:54 Of the recruits left we are going after, are there any parents the staff still needs to win over?

19:49 Since all the DBs we are recruiting have been said that they can play multiple spots in the secondary, can you project what position they will actually play for the Vols?

24:30 RunThroughtheT: What is it going to take to beat Georgia? It seems Kirby has figured out the offense and has too much talent on top of that. Top classes every year and run a NFL style of football on both sides. That seems to be what will truly be standing in our way of getting where we want to be. How do we do it and when do we expect to?

25:50 Recruiting wise. What were they doing that we aren’t? I don’t mean now after they have won 2 nattys to sell. But before their two natty’s where top classes helped them reach that?

29:09 Lfvol: The recent assumptions were we are essentially out for original priority WR targets Cunningham and Ffrench. We are cautiously optimistic for Smith. But prior assumptions were that Cunningham was staying instate and Bama has emerged similar to Wingo and TX last year. Do we keep swinging for those two in case Smith falls thru over the next month?

31:42 Brandon_SV: Cain, what hotel chain did you gain super platinum status with from Brent paying 3 weeks of hotels in Omaha?

33:42 Just_Bass: What do you think about DB recruiting in this class? Every DB commit is rated very low. Staffs evals need to be on point.

35:09 CMBVol1985: Do we have a 51% or better chance or 49% or worse chance to land the following recruits.

Shady Hayward
David Sanders
Marion Dye
Damian Shanklin
Da’Shaan Brahme
Onis Konanbanny
Jadon Perlotte
Bryce Donovan Jenkins
Christian Gass

39:55 Steve113434: Convinced Charles House is going to be a dude just from his name alone. Who all is on your All Tennessee Name team?

42:29 Mazer_Rackham: Eric, I know your job is to be objective and you’re not technically a fan. At the same time, so many sports reporters never get to cover a championship team. What does this mean to you personally?

43:39 Rheltney 4 Life: I don’t want to be too Greedy! But, both Peyton Manning and Danny White said this is just the beginning of winning Natty’s in all sports. With that said, who wins the next one?

46:49 Eric- Chances of getting drafted for Ensley, Causey and Combs?

47:44 Action0212: Could Tears and Dreiling come back next year or as draft eligible sophs are they definitely gone?

48:14 Swagger12: IYO, Who is the leader for Dye as of today?
Is Jayden Woods a take at this point?
Vols chances of landing Perlotte and/or Gass?
% chances of getting B. Jenkins? (I know you like %)

49:48 Groverlevy: Given the clause in Coach Caldwell’s contract regarding her salary if she wins a National Championship, and given that Tennessee just won a baseball Natty, do you expect Coach Vitello to be the highest paid coach in the country next season?

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hey good Thursday morning everybody Welcome to the VA Quest mailbag podcast presented by our friends over at exterior Home Solutions they’ve been local and trusted since 1999 these summer storms uh there nothing to be uh played with and if you have a need for a little uh renovation if you have the need for some home repair give them a con give them a call today for a free estimate that’s at a865 524-5888 or visit them online at exterior homes solutions.com awesome pric is here with us Rob Lewis BR hubs I am Eric Kane we got a lot of questions to get into and we’ll start with Nike forv favorite storyline memory of the 2024 National Championship team AP me and Bren have kind of gone back and forth and we’ve we’ve said there’s so many different storylines um for this team but how would you answer that question I we I talked about this the other night I think it’s just it’s everything like I I don’t think you can just pinpoint one thing I mean it’s this team’s you know they lose Chase Burns all of a sudden you know AJ Russell misses most of the Season here comes out of nowhere Xander secrist who looked like I mean they talked about you know him being a big fan of Tom glavin he looked like Tom glavin or Steve Avery 1991 either one um you know uh Eric do you know who Steve Avery is yes he was the fourth I didn’t know he pitched against Kirby Pucket he pitched to Kirby Pucket so mean we don’t know you have to question he was the Forgotten man he was the Forgotten man after the big three welcome back home Eric Kane welcome back buddy you’ve been missed that’s right we let you have yesterday relax now the punching bag relaxing was yesterday yes plus hey man after all the love the GQ gave you with all those threads about Eric Lov the coverage Eric Eric’s great we all agreed we gotta knock you back down this that’s I was gonna wait to bring this up but I mean I don’t hub’s probably gonna mention it I mean he’s er’s been married with 18 months Carissa already asked if if hubs could send it back to Nebraska what would it what she had to do I mean that was a best 12 days she’s had in a long time but you know to answer the question just lots of of different storylines um you know for me it’s secret I think you know what he did down the stretch was fantastic now favorite moment was Kirby coming in from the bullpen the other night it as cool as the drying home run and his his all his uh play in Omaha knowing what Kirby’s meant to the community knowing what Kirby’s meant to the team doing all the little things not pertaining to between the white lines um I I thought the the Drone shot falling him in from the bullpen the the hair kind of waving in the wind just kind of just how he just kind of you know takes takes the mound from the bullpen that was a cool moment for me just because you knew it was the last time he knew it was the last time and then the strikeout with just that nasty cutter he and and just kind of the fire he showed the emotion from him who’s just Mr cool calm and I’ve got this m you know he just Let It Go part two of the favorite moment would be the smile after the B call with Aaron comes I thought that was fantastic and and and I’ve loved the way that kid’s pitched all year like I think he’s got nasty stuff I just kind of love his look and just kind of how he you know presents himself and so there there’s going to be some there’s going to be some characters on this team that will be missed Tennessee is going to have to replace a ton especially um you know in the field not as much in the pitching staff um but in the field um because they do have some nice arms coming back but it be a totally different looking group when they take to the field this fall for uh that scrimmage that you’ll be out out in Jackson Rob what you got what was one of your favorite memories man I mean this it’s recency biased I’m sure but the favorite memories just got to be you know opening night in Omaha you know against Florida state but I mean that’s that’s the favorite memory for me but that’s also to me just kind of a microcosm of what this team was about like even I mean I know I mean I I know you know late in that game against farest state hubber was probably thinking you know they’ve got it they’ve got it they’ve got it but everybody else is like there’s no chance there’s no chance and they just come through but but it wasn’t it wasn’t incredible for them to come through I mean it was incredible you know for most teams to come through but for this team it was it wasn’t out of character and for me that’s that’s what that’s the biggest takeway they just did stuff like that all you know all the time the you know that that’s an extreme example but it it was to me again that’s just it wasn’t out of character for them to do something crazy like that late when it just even that was you know this team but even for the past couple years that’s been the emo for this program that the Clemson game a few ago or the you know the drama at Southern Miss You know to to get out get out of that Regional I mean so it just wasn’t Unthinkable that they would do what they did against Florida State but to me that’s that’s you know the the the emo of this team they would just Never say die and and something that come back like that you know in the 11th Hour was just not impossible I mean it was never too late I did think they miss one golden opportunity however I thought at the celebration they should have done a mic check and used Blake Burke and had him walk up there and go check check check swing and just walk off I thought people would have died I thought that was the one missed opportunity out of everything I mean for me for this team is it’s Xander Crest I mean you I don’t know about all the moments I mean there were a lot of moments along the way but for me the storyline is Xander SEC nobody had him on the bingo card being Tennessee’s Ace in the postseason and Drew Bean was Terri teric he was terrific in Omaha but the best pitcher uh for Tennessee from the start of the postseason through the entire postseason was Xander SEC and his teammates wanted him to have the ball um and he he delivered and he delivered on the biggest stage and the biggest moments and uh for for me you know a guy who’s considered a journeyman by a lot of people because he was a midweek guy I don’t know if he becomes the Sunday guy throughout the season if you know if Russell’s healthy I don’t know how they handle Sundays if Russell’s your Friday night starter uh but when SEC got the opportunity he took advantage of it they turned him loose let him be himself uh at as Frank Anderson said to to you Eric postgame and um he was he was really really good and his team had tons of confidence in him to me he’s the biggest storyline and to me he’s the reason Tennessee’s holding the trophy there’s a lot of parts to that but there’s no bigger part to Xander CR fitting that he ends his Tennessee Career the way that he did he’s signing babies in a in a parade I think that’s hilarious from Xander I I’ll be short and sweet because I know we’ve talked about a little bit we got more questions to get into so many great moments from Omaha and I had so much fun writing that five defining moments I hope you guys read it and enjoyed it because there were so many different moments in Omaha throughout their 13-day stretch in six games that you can point to so my favorite moment overall was Hunter endley running the wall I mean self-explanatory right I mean that was just incredible there wasn’t many moments in the season compared to last year like last year you knew Vanderbilts you had the the tears and the drying solo home runs at TI it you had Chase Burns coming out of the bullpen for really his his first time and being who he was that year uh you had Griffin Merritts walkoff and and and his Outfield assist I mean that was the game you pointed to last year and said okay that’s when it all changed like that was the moment this year they just went about their business and won so many games um and that’s a hat tip to them but my favorite moment of the season was Hunter rley running on the wall one of my favorite story lines Xander and of course we can go on and on about it for sure we’ll go to Sam Smith 2233 back to business U while we were winning a national championship Jay Johnson was big game hunting where do we stand in the portal um have to replace uh a starting rotation and maybe seven guys in the lineup that’s not to mention the armbar um as far as the portal yeah I mean I’ve I’ve I’ve checked in throughout the time in Omaha and I mean they they’re still doing their due diligence but they were there to win a National Championship and you know sure there’s some other teams that are out there going harder at the right now but you know they’re they’re not winning a national championship but Tennessee is still very much in with Gavin killan the Louisville infielder that’s uh considered by many to be the number one overall player in the portal uh Tennessee’s very much in with him as we said from the beginning this one’s going to go a while um he’s he can go anywhere he wants to a lot of teams are involved he was going to go and visit A&M I would assume that’s probably not happening now will he shift to Texas now with sash going to Texas I don’t know we’ll have to see but um he was scheduled to go see A&M after the World Series and I’m sure that’s that’s off now um but Tennessee very much in that one Tommy leapor the right-handed from witw State um Tennessee likes where they are there um you know couple teams involved but those are the two main ones there’ll be more that pop up for sure and and ultimately once they get back parade is over we’ll see if they can have anybody on campus this weekend because that that’s that’s the downfall they haven’t been able to host anybody for you know two weeks as they’ve been in Omaha um last thing here from Sam Smith with Texas iring SLO is Josh in play at A&M um if the Clemson dude goes to A&M could Josh be in play in Clemson also does Frank going to get another year yeah we just got to see how all this plays out I would assume that Frank Anderson’s going to come back and play or come back and Coach um I I’ll I’ll not say that’s definite but that’s my assumption right now but we’ll see how it all plays out you did just win a National Championship so we’ll see if that changes some things as far as Josh elander I think people would be silly not to at least interview him um top assistant to the top team in the country arguably the best college baseball team ever I mean I’ve seen some of those tweets and everything the last couple of days uh nonetheless you know he’s in a good spot he doesn’t have to leave we’ll see what he wants to do but certainly with this ripple effect that’s going to be caused with slos leaving I would anticipate Josh getting some calls but he has an opportunity to uh to be picky and um he can be selective as far as he’s not joining slos at Texas okay he’s taken pretty much his whole staff there even though that you know he speaks glowingly of elander um let’s move on now let’s go to a football question rre 98 how good was Jerry CIT pre-injury I can remember hearing that he was uh just about as good as Schuler would pton have played at all if kwood had stayed healthy I have a feeling that he still would have played some because he’s Payton but would he have played as much Brent well the plan for pton and what Payton’s family wanted was for him to red shirt the plan was for Payton not to play in 94 at all um Jerry was a really good player and the competition between Jerry and Heath uh was close um and in a lot of ways Jerry felt like he beat Heath out Heath out on the practice field thought he was a better player uh Heath was a gamer Jerry was a really good practice player uh Jerry was a really good player it’s really unfortunate what happened with the torn ACL on play number seven against UCLA because he had waited his turn and and he had had a great fall camp and and Tennessee was very uh very optimistic on where they were going to be offensively and what they were going to be offensively now they went on as the year progressed and Payton became pton and and they became a really good offense down the stretch That season but they had all those running backs uh they had weapons that was going to be a very explosive offense with Jerry Co quit running the show uh in any mop-up Duty he had had Jerry had performed extremely well he was ready he knew that offense inside and out um so I don’t know how much you would have seen Payton and I don’t know how much of a drop off you would have seen from um uh it would have been different because Heath was such a runner and could do different things but Jerry Jerry was really an effective passer was really a good player how you know we always talk about you know the kind of like what if gameb but let’s say Jerry cookwood doesn’t get hurt pton doesn’t play any he red shirts then he becomes a starter in 95 I mean more than likely he still leaves after 97 but you don’t know that I mean he loved the college experience what would have happened you know the tri you know Jerry C getting injured 94 pushing pton into playing know is there a trickle down effect that leads all the way to 98 well you never know I mean you’re exactly right and I mean and if the portal had been a thing back then I’m not sure if T Martin stays when pton announces he’s coming back in 97 because think about this if you’re T Martin and you transfer after pton announces he’s coming back for the 97 season you have to set out 97 anyway so the first you’re going time you’re going to be able to play is 98 well you just stay where you’re at it see and play in 98 with all your friends and teammates in an offense that you already know right and so the if the portal were a thing it would have been fascinating to see what would have happened but yeah I mean would would T have come here with Payton being you know a year behind and having red shirt there I mean you never know when you play that wh if game what what I do know is that Tennessee would have won at UCLA with Jerry kit they would have beaten that UCLA team um I don’t think they would have beaten Florida at home would have been competitive uh they certainly would have had a chance to beat Alabama at home that year as well because because Jerry Jerry knew that offense so much better than where the Freshman was in pton and again Payton’s plan was to red shirt that was already discussed that he was going to red shirt in 94 because he was physically they didn’t think he was ready to play and his family was not in a hurry for him to play which is why the Mannings had no Pro problem with Arch setting you know at Texas and and learning and and and getting ready to go uh but obviously Payton was thrown in the fire and then we know what happened after that Gator dog now that Tennessee’s won a World Series or yeah he says World Series National Champion it’s okay though I caught it a World Series like four times the other night um and Brent Venable got an extension Rob Lewis what should I be worried about as a Tennessee fan right now that’s there’s always something so say the I’m not gonna say the biggest one I mean you know want to talk about injuries you know I don’t know I mean just I’m not gonna I’m not even GNA tget I’m not even I’m I’m I don’t not going down that road you know coaches leaving you know anything like not even G I’m not mentioning names no name not mention anybody’s name just enjoy it you shouldn’t worry about anything have a good summer again hubs and I had this discussion L kein scarred this fan base hard after leaving after one year and now they just literally wait on bad things to happen I’m a Rob enjoy everything about going on SC a certain age group in this fan BAS I mean there’s there’s some people that you know give a lot of money and traveled all over the world b a lot of games that kind of stuff that we’re talking about it doesn’t even show show up on their radar it just doesn’t show up on their radar at all I mean they don’t even think about that kind of stuff another question here from Gator dog Eric what was the experience like covering the World Series um is it all the College World Series I guess that makes sense sorry it’s I haven’t slept a lot the last couple days uh is it all work or can you balance and join the moment and work um it was freaking awesome I’m I’m super blessed to being able to do that um it’s going to be you know it’s one of the highlights in my career for sure um I tried to I mean I’m proud of the work that I did and I’m I’m thankful that Brent allowed me to go and everybody that you know back home that helped out for sure especially on on the championship winning night that was awesome um I tried to make sure that you know this week when I got home I wouldn’t look back and say I wish I would have done that or I wish I would have did this and so I tried to work really really hard so there was a lot of work that was there even on those off days but I did have some friends there and I walked around the the you know fan Village and and went to the shops and hung out at the team Hotel bar a couple times with some some good people so no there was some balance there but uh I mean it was a work trip and and um I think that uh we represented vquest and obviously Tennessee represented pretty well for sure aon’s got a couple um with all the fun on commits where do we get where do we go next on Commit watch AP well juston bra it would be the next to uh do something he’s coming up on Saturday um feel like Tennessee is is still got a ton of traction there it’s Tennessee or Oregon um he’s he’s out of C he’s out of town he’s not at the rivals thing in Jacksonville and then he’ll return back to Kansas um late this week and then supposed to if as long as he’s come to a decision announce for somebody coming up on Saturday so again as of right now still feel like Tennesseee is uh you know positioned well there um but you know lot can happen between now and Saturday so we’ll see what happens uh but Alec ain’s done a nice job there um the city of Knoxville showed really really well for he and his family and it again it feels like Tennessee is positioned well there as we said here on you know Thursday does utu project as a potential right tackle in the future his build appears like he could handle it no he’s guard um I mean could he play right tackle on a pinch yeah uh there’s several guys like that Gage gther you know but Gage gther Also may translate inside to guard eventually right I mean that’s kind of you know the natural progression there so like no I think Tennessee looks at right now they have three offensive linan committed Anthony ogoro and Douglas utu guards and then Nick Moore could play guard but more than likely will be a center at the next level of the recruits that Tennessee is still after are there any parents the staff still needs to win over um I mean I think at this point Tennessee’s kind of you know shot their shot with you know everybody and you know there’s tenness is in position with several players um that could close this class strong it’s just a matter of the kids getting in the boat and you know you you only do what you can do they’ve done as well as they could do with these ovs in June but you got to close them out and they got to figure out a way to close them out over the next uh between one and five or six weeks man run oh go ahead I was G to say I mean I’m sorry to interrupt out of curiosity and hubber I mean weigh in if you haven’t gotten a kid on campus at this point in time I know you got some aring Carters in every class but by and large AP if you haven’t gotten a kid on campus for for an official visit by the end of June is I mean are you really in it or are you looking at plan B’s after that well the only ones that I think that you would think in in those terms that you’re talking about are the kids that have been adamant I’m not doing anything till October I’m not doing anything till November I’m taking an official visit to those are few numbers right like as you pointed out like they’re they’re most kids are taking the ovs in June and then announcing in July or August um because they want to get it over with before their season starts but there are those few that don’t um and so when you have it that way you know you probably want to wait shooting your shot June 7th for a kid that isn’t committing to October 28th it’s hard to hold any momentum if you get momentum June 7th so I think you know those are the more the unicorns most everybody else as you said taking the ovs in June and then announcing shortly thereafter since all the DBS uh were recruiting have been said that they can play multiple SS spots in the secondary can you project what position they will actually play for the vaults AP right now it’s 43 Corners one safety with Walton being the safety right yeah but there are there’s versatility there um for for a bunch of those guys Trey potit has versatility could play some nickel could play some safety if needed to could play Corner um same thing with Dylan Lewis uh you know those you know those two kids from the Atlanta area you know have versatility in them hubs and and and that’s something that Tim Banks has always said he really likes when he’s evaluating a defensive back yeah I mean I think that you’re always looking at that um you never know what somebody’s going to be um in this day and age I mean all those kids want to play Corner um for the most part uh you’re going to go get the best athletes most of the time that’s going to be a corner but some of those guys size and and speed standpoint they project into being safeties long term I mean look at where Tennessee is at is at at a safety spot now I mean Christian Harris came in here as a corner right um not everybody’s a true safety when they come in but you’re also not not moving everybody from corner automatically to safety um you know it’s harder to go back the other way so you probably go get a bunch of athletic corners and then some safeties grow out of that is kind of the way that it’s been it’s harder to do that in this day and age though with the transfer portal it’s hard to go recruit a guy at a different position and you’re projecting to play him somewhere else because some of those guys don’t you know used to you didn’t go recruit an inside guy on the offensive line you just went recruit tackles and if they couldn’t play tackle you slid them inside when you do that to somebody now he may go into a transfer portal on you you know same thing if you take a you know you take a linebacker and move him to the defensive line right I mean those guys might not stay around I mean you think about all the guys through the years that they flip positions with you know it’s harder to do that now because kids want to play the position that they’ve played and they believe can play you have to be very it’s a different sales job right I mean it’s no it’s different than when you flip Fred we from defense to offense and cozy Coleman right or Spencer Riley um it’s different now than it used to be and that’s just something you have to adjust to so you’re you are recruiting a little more position specific but in the secondary you’re going to go stay as athletic as you can stay very very few uh players are like Jeremiah’s her Eric that are openly going I don’t I really care whever you want to play me I’m good I just want play very few kids are like that because very a lot of kids think I am this I am that like I was talking to Robert P the other day at at camp and you know his son JP was going through it Philip’s grandson and I said I think he’s gonna be a tight end he goes man don’t say that to him he doesn’t want to hear that and he goes I’ve tried to tell him you know I got a good friend who didn’t want to play tight end want to play defensive line he ended up being pretty good at tight end of course he’s talking about Jason Whitten so like you know kid kids just get hung up on a certain position for whatever reason well I mean like going back to what Hubers was talking about AP about T Martin in 1997 you know if he wouldn’t wait imagine you know Jason Whitten in 2001 he you know when Philip you know moved him from you know Jason W to play defensive end I mean he could if that was today he might have he might have been you know the best defensive end in Virginia Tech History you know not Nam you know Bruce Smith I mean seriously you could I could totally see that happen you know 100% also Jeremiah’s heard like you know he he just started playing football too so like he he honestly probably doesn’t literally know because he just started playing football two years ago um we’ll continue on with your questions uh plenty more here on the vquest mailbag podcast but first let’s get a word from our friends over at exterior Home Solutions severe weather can strike at any time in East Tennessee and mother nature can do severe damage to the first and most important line of defense that you and your family have against mother nature and that is your rout whenever she strikes make sure that you call the people that I call make sure you trust the people that I trust and that’s my friends at exterior Home Solutions because they’re more than friends they’re truly family that phone number is 8655243074 the questions we’ll go to run through the T what is it going to take to beat Georgia seems like Kirby’s figured out the offense and has too much talent at the top top classes every year runs an NFL style of football on both sides that seems to be truly what is standing in the way of where we want to be how do we do it and when do we expect to do it um anybody well I mean they’re the best program in the country right now that’s the best job in the SEC and has long been the best job in the SEC because of the talent pool that they have the difference is their their sta their Administration is committed to winning at at an extremely high level how do you beat them well I mean you line up and keep playing with them and you got to get better in the line of scrimmage um Tennessee’s got to get better and More Physical at receiver um what’s interesting Rob is they moved the ball against Georgia they just haven’t finished in the Red Zone but guess what few teams have that’s why Georgia hasn’t lost they’ve been the best red zone defensive team in college football for like the last five years um just keep playing I mean I I don’t think that I don’t think that Tennessee’s Miles Away by any stretch of the imagination but you’re also chasing the best program in the country right now I don’t have a lot to add look at the NFL draft that’s let’s say you beat him recruiting wise uh what were they doing that we aren’t I didn’t mean now after they have won two national championships to sell but before they’re two natties um where top classes help them Reach that what what are they doing in recruiting Austin well they they live in a state that has more Talent than it knows what to do with yeah um and when you can pull in kids like that you start winning all of a sudden you start recruiting nationally then you can really cherry-pick your instate kids which means you’re getting you know I mean if you look you know they’ve missed out on several big- time guys in their state the last few years and doesn’t affect them because they recruit such um at such a high clip nationally and that that’s because of the work that they did when he first got there with a lot of instate kids like o jari and players like that so um you know they’ve done a nice job of recruiting nationally recruiting regionally like getting a kid kid like noobe Dean out of the state of Mississippi and then getting the best players in their state um you know it’s pretty simple like you know he’s taken that Nick Sav formula and and done it you know I think it place that it’s easier to trct kids to than Tuscaloosa um we’ll see if he ends up having the same success Nick does I know Tennessee fans hope that’s not the case because that means they’d have to endure another Nick sa type run in a different place but you they could easily be the three-time defending uh you know Champs because you know they were the best team last year they just picked the wrong week to lose kind of like Tennessee did in baseball two years ago when they lost to Notre Dame they’re the best team pick the wrong week to lose well and I think the other thing too is if you look back on on it and this is an indictment against the previous coaches there they’ve always had Talent yep I mean George has never laed for talent Matthew Stafford and we could run on and on with a bunch of players that have come through Georgia that were NFL players that didn’t win big at Georgia they’ve always been talented the difference is they’re better coached now they have an identity they have a culture um they have a killer instinct no offense to Mark Rick they they they’re just you know their Edge about them is very different but Kirby has recruited really well I don’t know that he’s dramatically changed how they recruit because George has never in my opinion lacked for talent they just haven’t been they just weren’t this type of team in terms of the style of play culture you know Edge that they play with they just didn’t play with that with with with you know when Mark Rick was there just a different brand that’s I mean that that’s 100% true and you guys have both mentioned it but I mean I just don’t know that people really appreciate how much talent is in that I mean think about everybody has won national championships in the past 20 years and Florida State Auburn Clemson I mean how I mean that’s I mean it’s not all about recruiting Georgia but how many of those rosters are stocked with Georgia kid I mean Tennessee 98 Al I mean how many Georgia kids Alabama had on the roster I mean that that state is loaded and and Kirby has you know finally out of all the coaches have been there he’s I mean he’s harnessed it I mean nobody’s ever get going to get anybody but he’s man he has done a great job about keeping Headliners own we’ll move on now to lfv the recent assumptions were we are essentially out of the original priority for wide receiver targets Cunningham and French we are cautiously cautiously optimistic for Smith but prior assumptions were that Cunningham was staying in state and Bama has emerged similar to Wingo at Texas last year do we keep swinging for those two in case Smith falls through over the next month yeah I mean they’re going to contact him but I just don’t see any traction there I mean the kids took visits there wasn’t much traction coming out of the visits Jamie French loves everywhere he goes he smiles everywhere he goes so he’s gonna appear he had a fantastic time because I think he does genuinely have a fantastic time but I don’t think Tennessee is you know when you’re coming out of the Tennessee visit hubs and you say they’re now back in my top three like you just shot your biggest shot on an official visit and you’ve now climbed back into I guess the three hole just doesn’t feel like there’s anything and it’s happened twice with Jamie French Jamie French was at 865 live and we talked to him two days later at the on three Elite event and they weren’t third right he had just come out of that visit maybe they were third maybe they were fourth right there he comes back to Tennessee for an official visit two weeks later and comes out of that and now they’re back they went from fourth to third after he was on campus twice in three weeks yeah I mean it just he’s going to go to Texas I mean I think that’s what everybody believes that he’s going to go to Texas um and again with Cunningham it feels like Alabama’s got all the traction there it’s closer to home um and and I think that’s I think it may be close enough to home AP that he can get out of the state of Mississippi I don’t think he’s going to go from the state of Mississippi to to Knoxville Tennessee I don’t think that was ever going to realistically going to happen happen well you know we’ll see on French I mean LSU’s heavily in play there I’m not counting out Ohio State I mean like I ultimately it just doesn’t feel like that there’s any real traction here for either one period and and again people go why’s Alabama doing it because Alabama still got the script day and theyve still got tradition and when kids take those visits and they pull out all the rings that Nick won the kids don’t care if Nick ain’t still there like it’s still Alabama the name still carries weight like the people that thought they were just going to fall off the face of the Earth are wrong now again are they going to go three or four years without losing the conference game or only lose one in three or four years no I think those days are gone but they’re still GNA be really good Brandon unor SV wants to know um what hotel chain did you gain super Platinum Status from with Brent paying three weeks of hotels in Omaha that would be uh IHG the old Candlewood suits really really good place about a mile down the road it was technically in Iowa but it was a mile down the road from the stadium had a Perkins next door it’s a really good spot there to spend about 13 days in in Omaha Nebraska did so it wasn’t the Hojo H you didn’t say the Howard Johnson’s No I did not my first baseball my first baseball road trip covering the SEC tournament I stayed at the Shy’s in in Lexington Kentucky I I do want to say I do want to say for people that don’t know it’s out of business by the way go ahead most people don’t know Eric’s mother-in-law had open heart surgery a few days before the college Ro series and thankfully she came out and has been doing fabulous right Eric yes and that’s great news so Eric was tasked I want people to understand Eric for the for the coverage left his wife with his mother-in-law in the hospital and went out and crushed it out there so big kudos to Eric and we’re so happy she’s doing well yeah Eric did a great job all season along with baseball makes me look like a good ball sa thanks I put him on I told him he had to hey you you you were on standby hubs and part of us part of us were anxiously we we wanted Eric’s mother-in-law to do well so at the end day we didn’t really want you there but part of me would have liked to have just seen you there right I mean just to see you fish out of water yeah that would have been that would have been me for sure she’s doing great I appreciate it guys Brent told me so many different times not to go and I would not have left if she was not in a good spot she was great so um but Brent had a he had a seat next to me all week long we had two V vaa seats I have his credential you dud you should have taken a picture and put that out there fantastic I should have H all right uh let’s go to justor Bass what do you think about DB recruiting in this class every D commit every DB commit is rated pretty low staff EV valves need to be on point that’s good point there Austin what do you say well I I you know I don’t know how looking at it um I would tell you that like based off of their track record at defensive back you shouldn’t swing high for a bunch of Highly ready guys if you’re going to elect to go to the portal um you know and bring in guys that are going to be readymade starters so I think you need some pieces that are going to develop and and and bring them along I think if you bring in guys that are going to cost you a lot in niio money that uh expect to play right away if you’re not going to play them then it just sets a bad narrative in the room so I kind of like what they’ve done in the secondary I I get fans want the best of the best but you know if you’re going to go if if if your plan is one then you can’t go with the other and recruiting well yeah if you’re GNA go get the best of the best out of high school ranks you got to put them on the field immediately I mean you got you got to play them right if your if your investment is there with those guys you got to get them on the field and play them otherwise you do exactly what you’re talking about because what they’ve done is they’ve gone out and recruited some highly ranked guys and then they’ve gone out and taken transfer guys over top of them and played the transfer guys so we’ll see what happens with with their secondary development here over the next couple of Seasons all right AP CMB VA 1985 says do we have a 51% chance or better or 49% chance or Worse to land the following recruits oh here we go all right first one Shady Hayward 51 or better David Sanders I’m going 51 or better Mar and die I want up stain there I just don’t oh you can’t obstain a play we’re playing card sharks you don’t get to pass are you freezing there I’ll go 49 or lower but I do think it’s 49 like I think Tennessee’s there I think they’re right there but if you said you gotta pick I’m gonna go 49 Hub are you just not g to tell Eric what card sharks was he shouldn’t know what he shouldn’t know what card sharks I know not going to explain it’s no there’s about there’s a handful of people listening uh that got there’s more than a handful more than a handful there’s a bunch of people that didn’t get the reference to card sharks but I’m G to go higher and lower right I have a Rolodex here up or down is is that similar let’s keep it going Eric down Point uh Deshawn BR I’m going up above 51% um onas Conan Banny the DB I’m G to go over 1% because we all know what happened on the the OV but if the kids not come into August that thing gets a little more dicey in my op opinion keep going Jaden pady I don’t know man that one just feels weird to me how are you sending thumbs up this is fantastic he figured out the technology he can’t even figure out his phone uh you know what I don’t know I just don’t know a week ago I’m telling you above 51% a week later kids’s been more distant went to the Georgia visit I don’t know I it still could be I know Georgia’s still expecting him not to be in the class which to me is a good sign for the balls uh Bryce Donan Jenkins I’ll go above 51% then Christian gas as we said here on Thursday morning I would tell you above 51% but I think it’s really close I wouldn’t go more than 51% it sounds to me like Tennessee signning 35 I don’t know about the rest of in the country yeah as of right now I mean you know Christian gas is one that I think is in hard decision mode I think it’s Tennessee or Georgia and I think he had a blast last weekend the question is is does everything kind of cool down and you know the people just elect around him to stay in state very well could that’s why I said I wouldn’t go by 1% but I do think Tennesse came off last weekend with a ton of momentum with him see AP I don’t think what you know this in your heart but you’re not thinking about it like I know every time I every time you say above 51% 75% they got people are saying lock lock lock yeah yeah correct over AP just gave a 50 Cent gift for 12 guys Rob Lewis it’s exactly why with Pat I said I mean I would probably lean 49 just because the the kids been acting you know much more kind of reserved and all that over the last week now you know is that him just playing the game a little bit maybe but like there was so much momentum and so much talk from the national guys Regional guys local guys about Patti flipping poot flipping then he still would and took the trip right even though with George is saying hey you know we don’t expect him here he went I mean that one I just feel deep down I just don’t feel a lot of conviction about yeah before I left Omaha I thought Pat was I thought that was close to being done but but again it’s AP is what we talked about I think on the Tuesday podcast in recruiting you have a run where you’re getting nobody and and and the fans are you know nashing of the teeth and then then you have a stretch then there where you think you’re going to get everybody and then it comes back to the middle somewhere and the question is going to be what’s the middle because I think Tennessee’s had their run of early June can’t recruit anybody Auburn’s getting this this school’s getting that everybody’s getting can’t recruit then you had a stretch where you had two big visit weekends and Tennessee had momentum with 412 prospects who were on town in town now you’re coming off those two visit high and it’s generally somewhere in the middle the question is what does that Middle look like and that’s going to be the fascinating part of the next six weeks this is a really good question for all three of you guys uh Steve 1113 43478 9 whatever convinced Charles house is going to be a dude just by his name alone who was on your all Tennessee name team that that’s in this recruiting class or just just all time just name team good good names W I mean I I I I I tell you I tell you a good a guy who was a good name that I thought was GNA be had a chance to be a good player that turned out to be good in another sport ENT St PR that was one that was kind of like they found him a wrestler and and you know you thought you had there’s a diamond in the rough there and he was you know just as a football player didn’t didn’t do much now he’s obviously gone on and had success in in the MMA world but um you know that that’s that’s a name he would go on my name team as a guy who you know sounded like he was going to be a dude right Rob it’s a million years ago but uh Vegas Davis pretty pretty good one hubs loves Vegas Davis moving on hey hey hey hey uh Rob who uh who is the U who is the the Nigerian kid number five um for for basketball EMG had a had a heart issue great kid great great kid really a great kid I think I I hate that that happened I think it would have been ‘s Alexander HS uiss Alexander nephew of H nephew of nephew of your boy Luther Campbell Luther Campbell Uncle Luke Uncle Luke you talk to him driving down the road Uncle Luke back in the day right there’s been a bunch there’s been a bunch of names come through bunch of names some of them were good players some of them turned out not to be good players who’s the who’s who’s the running back that Paul followed back up 75 oh who would say kid he went went up going to Florida State right I wonder why he got the he got the 10 and said left Paul just kept driving go he lost Paul in the I4 Corridor Paul Paul’s Paul Paul loved the DMV in the I4 Corridor baby you guys will be thinking of more names as the afternoon goes on uh we’ll move on this is from merer rakman um Eric I know your job is to I know your job is to be objective risk a what and then they and to not be a fan at the same time so many Sports reporters never get a chance to cover a championship team what does this mean personally for you yeah I mean this is awesome like I’ll never forget this H out of my career so far um it’s just fun because this team was good obviously has all those story lines we talked about earlier had to get some breaks go your way like check swing right um just see incredible plays along the way um the the team itself and the staff being so willing to um help you out and help you do your job I mean yeah it’s it’s awesome I’m happy for those guys I’m happy for that staff and I’m I’m happy for for Tennessee to win a National Championship because I will I can forever say that I was the beat reporter for a team that won in natti and um I’ll have those experiences I can talk about spending 13 days in Omaha and the 100° heat for the rest of my life and so so I mean it means a lot to me I’m again I’m blessed to be able to do it and um it was a freaking blast and uh hopefully I get to do that again but that’s never that’s never guaranteed so um I’ll carry this with me forever for sure Rel me for life um I don’t want to be greedy but both pton Manning and Danny White said this is just the beginning of winning natties in all sports with that said who wins the next one I don’t know I mean I mean how how good is Chaz ler and this team that Rick Barnes has put together Rob Lewis man I would I would never predict that nobody would no I mean you don’t predict anything I mean you know but the the the point is basketball’s in the arena in the scope of things I me that was a final four game that they lost this past year in the elite eight those were those were two of the four best teams in the country playing in an elite eight game they’re there football is appearing to move be moving in that direction and a lot of people are projecting Tennessee to be a playoff team but they haven’t played in that space they’ve got some big wins in the regular season right you wi in Baton Rouge you beat Alabama they won a New Year’s six bowl but they haven’t been in the arena of winning one yet basketball has obviously baseball’s been there three the last four years and did win it that’s why just based on that one would think basketball is closer but but again there’s so much that goes into it I mean you think about it I mean Tennessee had a chance to go to the final four the but but Kyle Alexander gets hurt right Rob and and that messes everything up in a bracket that open wide open for you you just had I mean he had a chance and zakai Ziggler tears his ACL you never know what happens I mean you have to have so many fortunate things go for you to win one of those you can’t project when somebody’s going to win my point is just basketball is in the tournament regularly which gives you a chance you got to say that to me you say basketball until football shows themselves in the playoffs I know I know ap’s not afraid to jump in the hot balloon with me I’ll say football just because of Nico right now just because right the next two the next two years football’s got the best chance because of Nico I’m gon go Bren I’m gonna go Bren web and the golf te and if they if he does the next years Danny White’s got what you do you how much more how many more shirts can they give you just Brandon I me come onen Brandon’s not got me on C Point yet so I’m calling oh shots fired shots fired on the V podcast all right we’ll get to a couple more here I know play I love him I tell you what there’ll be a real real opportunity if he can land blades Brown blades Brown goes to college and doesn’t try to go pro as an 18y old which I think which I personally think would just would stun him a little bit I just think go play college for a couple years and then and do like Caleb did um I think it helps you um I I think if he if he goes to college I think Ten’s got an excellent shot if they land him that should be around the time that this current group of sophomores with Bruce Murphy and Edwin Evan Wooley Reed and some of those guys were seniors they would have a legit shot in in golf all right we got a couple more left and I know we’re getting on on up towards 50 minutes here but one more from welney for life um Eric chances of getting drafted for eny Cy and comes um yeah I mean I think I think comes and Cy will get draft and I think they’ll go they can technically come back but I think they’ve done enough over the course of the season and eny as well the way he’s played the last you know month and a half you know six weeks of the Season we will see about that I mean for all three of them but I would say kind of my if I had to rank them here um you know comes one Cy 2 Ensley three but um I could certainly see Ensley drafted go the thing you got to remember too is you lose your leverage if you get drafted and come back you know to for your senior year so it’s kind of like that that Junior that first year draft eligibility you go right it’s not the case for everybody but um if you get an opportunity you likely go at this point and I think eny’s you know played himself into that conversation for sure so I can see all three of these guys going are at least the top two of coms and Cy uh two more asking about this is from action 0212 could tears and drying come back next year um as draft eligible sophomores are they definitely gone yeah those two are definitely gone cavar TI is gone Dylan drying College World Series MVP 100% gone those two guys are gone and another story about cavar tier is going from a guy who had no position to a guy who was all SEC Defensive team this year um you know Tennessee was fortunate to have him let’s go to um Swagger 12 in your opinion who is the leader for d as of today AP it’s a great question I don’t think there is a leader uh I think it’s it’s Tennessee or Ohio State unless he just besides uh he wants to stay home at Purdue because Purdue is throwing their whole nil Collective at him so um I think it’s Tennessee or Ohio State if you ask me from a fa football standpoint is Jaden Woods a take at this point yeah I mean I think you would be I don’t think tenness is bringing guys in that you know they’re not going to take not again are they guy are they players that they would much rather have more probably you know I I would say that you know Tennesse would there’s a couple guys that they’ wait to hear from before before that so I think it all depends on timing I guess is the best way to put it vault’s chances of landing prolat and ore gas yeah you saying both or none or just it says and or so at least one um yeah I mean I think I’d be shocked if at least one of them doesn’t end up here um but you know again you’re trying to flip Pat from Georgia and you’re competing against Georgia for Christian gas in the last one year from Swagger 12 you you mentioned this earlier with the 5149 percent chances of getting uh Bryce HOV and Jenkins um would you want to throw an exact percentage uh 53 53 all right Bren hubs let’s end on this one all right that way if something happens it’s easy to chop it off the recording at the end Grover Levy given the clause in coach Kim cell’s contract regarding her salary if she wins a national championship and given that Tennessee just won a baseball National Championship ship do you expect Tony vatello to be the highest pay coach in the country next season I think this is interesting Brent because yes there’s a contract extension that’s that’s going to be announced at some point you just want a national championship and all that’s gravy but if slos gets the reported figure of like what at least three that’s kind of been talked about right now from Texas I don’t know if it I don’t know if TV would be the highest paid but I think end of the day he’s going to be over two top three top three four whatever ever that is and and his assistant pool is going to be much larger well if I’m his agent the first thing I’m doing is I’m reminding Danny White of the contract that he wrote for Kim cwell yeah hey that that’s a sport that doesn’t make money so don’t come back to me and say you know baseball doesn’t make money you know and you can’t do that you got a clause in there that says highest pay coach you win a National Championship Danny White or Tony vatello did it in what I think is the hardest sport to do it in because of the grind that it is that’s absolutely the card I’m playing if I’m if I’m his agent Jimmy Saxton I I’m saying you better make him the highest paid coach because you just want a national title now you know the question is where where’s Tony gonna go if you don’t do that I mean what’s your leverage point you know um so I don’t know that it’ll be the highest pay coach depending on what that contract looks like in Texas because Texas A&M’s not g to pay that kind of money um and I don’t think Tony’s going anywhere but um yeah I mean that that’s the card I’m playing if I’m Tony’s agent in my opinion what they had agreed upon um prior to Omaha is ripped up and they’re going to have a better number and it’s going to be a more lucrative contract yeah I agree with that as it should Championship yes I think they’ve absolutely they’re they’re what again it was done now it’s like okay let’s take care the guy just won national title because I mean like Danny wants to look good in this still too I mean right I mean he doesn’t would be sitting there going like four the highest paid I mean come on you know like he wants the fans to feel good about the direction of the baseball program under coach vello he gave him a glowing endorsement yesterday called him the best coach in the country in front of the entire fan base at the celebration so with that said expect that to be uh kind of torn up they’ll redo it it’ll be even better for TV once it’s announced I tried guys I tried to get Danny to to you know say something about it when I was interviewing him on the field I said yeah man you want to keep Tony Vella around forever right he he he didn’t buy it it’s almost like he he knew what I was doing uh but we we’ll see what happens this week for sure uh ton Tony’s going to get paid a lot of money and I think his assistant pull is going to be taken care of and that and that Brent is something that he cares about for sure because he knows as well as anybody he did not just win a National Championship without seven years with the elander and Frank Anderson without the Chad zerchers without the Luke Bon Fields without um Stovall I mean all these Woody I mean you know Q it takes a village and that Village is stuck together primarily for better part of seven years and now Tennessee went from worst to First and it’s national champions yep and you and listen Tony vatello will take less money to make sure his assistants are taken care of but I think they’re all going to get taken care of uh in a proper fashion because Danny White likes to win and Danny White wants to keep winning and Tennessee is going to do everything they can um to ensure that they’re going to continue to win in baseball particularly with the investment they’re giving to lindsy Nelson Stadium of 100 million uh renovate that thing you don’t want to lose any momentum in baseball so and and listen there there’s I mean his agent Jimmy seon’s fully aware of all these things they know they’ve got plenty of Leverage there and they’re going to do what I mean he’s going to do what he should do he should leverage Tennessee for as much money as he can get right that’s that’s America that’s how it works yep and while you’re had to give Shawn barrows a big old a big big old race too because he was phenomenal this season always is so while you’re throwing money around throw some to Sean did my two cents uh appreciate you guys for being here and making the VA Quest mailback podcast must listen audio and video here to start your Thursday um big thanks to our friends over at exterior Home Solutions 8655243074 football to get ready for throughout the month of July position previews opponent previews all that and more a great place happening right now over the general quarters and v.com that’s right we gota just can gotta keep working at behind the scenes we’ll see if Tennessee can get some of these guys across the Finish Line they’re in position but being in position doesn’t do you much outside of just put you in position gota get them across the Finish Line over the next uh you know one two three four weeks if you’re watching on YouTube right now we got a promo up on the screen so you can use that promo and get exclusive content over the generalist quarters and volquest.com joining our family right now by looking at the promo on the screen right now if you are watching on YouTube for Brent hubs Rob Lewis awesome price I am Eric Kane as always thank you guys so much for sending in your questions for us you’re on the vquest mailbag podcast