Tennessee Football Camp Practice Highlights & Observations | Why 2024 is Different for Josh Heupel

Intro football season is here and though it was just day one of fall Camp it's evident why the expectations are so high for the University of Tennessee it's your Thursday lockdown Vault you are locked on balls your daily podcast on the Tennessee Volunteers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hey what is up everybody welcome into it your Thursday edition of locked on BS I'm your host K can't thank you enough for making us your first listen making us your first watch each and every single day we are part of the locked on podcast Network where it is your team every single day big shout out to game time where you can download the app create an account put in the promo code locked on College and you're going to get $20 off your first purchase terms apply got a fun show coming up today I Todays topics have observation observations to get into and some key takeaways from Tennessee football uh fall I keep I keep trying to say spring practice this is not spring practice we are we are here it is fall Camp practice number one observations key takeaways and what that means in terms of expectations for this football team uh had a chance to catch up with Matt Ray after practice out there on the uh uh the the indoor field yesterday and we're going to play that uh clip and get some of his thoughts from from day one of of fall camp and and of course we're going to get into an interesting article I found over to ESPN from Chris low about schedules across college football and some noteworthy things from the SEC and one specifically for Tennessee that's coming up next as we we continue on here with locked on vault you can watch us listen to us Biggest takeaways subscribe to us download us all that for free and wherever you get your podcast so my biggest takeaways from practice number one and again this is a little bit of what I said yesterday but you it's just so much different now than where it was from a scholarship standpoint this is the biggest team Josh Hy had in terms of scholarship players remember all those guys leaving via the transfer portal at the time the coaching change it took a little while to build this team back up and here you are Josh hyp and his coaches have said repeatedly throughout the offseason and it's not uh to be bragging or anything but it this is the deepest roster this is the most talented roster that they've had since being here and they haven't been here a long time but you're in in year four and you're playing with more in the Wheelhouse than you ever ever have and you can see that just from the eye test you know somebody you know asks hey after practice number one who's the first five off the bus and of course the first five off the bus is kind of that analogy to where if you're playing a big time old school football game and you're riding on the bus you're football team riding on the bus to that next opponent's venue the first Five Guys you want to get off the bus is the most daunting scary figures to you know really uh send some some some scare to your opposition and your opposition's fans and um Elijah Simmons is going to be on that list for me of course um Ethan Davis is going to be on that list for me because I think he's done a great job transforming his body over the offseason herd is going to be on that list for me I put jacobe Thomas on that list because I think that he's a big Presence at the safety position I'll tell you somebody at least I don't think he's he's G he's not going to play at all this year but somebody that passes the it test by a million is Jeremiah's herd goodness gracious um freshman for this 2024 class that's now on campus he was a June enrol um he's going to play offensive tackle he will not be a factor this year but the former basketball player 6 fo8 about 300ish pounds a little bit less than that Jeremiah's herds looked really really good um and I thought that he um you know probably looked from the eye test better than anybody but that that just goes on to further my point of this team looks different this team looks like an SEC football program this team looks like one of the best football programs in the country and it might just be something simple to say but again that hasn't been like that here at Tennessee for quite some time and it's kind of refreshing in my opinion and and so when you couple all that you see a little bit from day number one it just kind of goes and furthers the notion that hey the expectations are real for Tennessee you're returning three starters on the offensive line and you had Lance herd in there that might be better than any of them it's almost like returning four starters on the offensive line I know that he's not a starter um you have maybe the the biggest playmaker on the field now generational quarterback is here and he's going to start his 10 years Tennessee starting quarterback you've got potentially a top 10 pick on the other side of the football and James Pierce that's going to get after the football and get after the passer um you got so many explosive playmaking opportunities out there on the outside a wide receiver and with Dylan Sams in the backfield there's a lot to like about this team in my opinion so um that those are some of my thoughts you know leaving practice earlier on on on Wednesday and some of my observations of course that um I was able to you know take part in when I was out there couple of injury notes of note Lance heard had a had a left knee brace on and he was doing some things but he wasn't doing a lot of the stuff that went when you know the media was present out there and again all this is disclaimer that you know we get to see just a small portion of practice so any of these guys I talked about injury-wise they very well could be taking part in reps when we're not there but you know Lance her wasn't doing an awful lot when we were there yesterday and I haven't heard much about that um the fact that he's out there fully dressed like everybody else um and you know in terms of helmets and all that and you know was out there in cleats and everything that doesn't strike me as something bad um we'll keep an eye on him the next couple of days and see if he gets more work in there but Lance herb was a bit limited Mike Matthews was getting work off to the side he was not getting a full go participation on day one um cam Seldon had a red non-c contct jersey on that's expected but javante spragens was full go Cooper Mays was full go um Larry Johnson was full go so pretty much a healthy football team how outside of a couple here for practice number one I thought the routes on air quarterbacks are receivers I thought the you know higher up the depth chart had a better day than lower down the depth chart and let's be real I mean this is it was a little sloppy day number one but it is day number one you're supposed to get better and better and better and better as you go on you're just trying to get back in the rhythm of everything and there were some drops there were some rout routes that were you know run wrong um but I did think that Nico and Gasson Mo threw the ballett pretty well thought that Dante thoron made a nice catch squirrel White made a nice catch Chris brazzil made a nice catch Ethan Davis had one drop but he had several nice catches um you know I thought when you got lower down the dep chart however that it it wasn't as good again take this with the grain of salt this is practice number one but the three receivers who up first there in routes on air with quarterback Niko malava was Brew mcoy on one side Caleb Webb on the other side and squirrel white in the slot I don't think Caleb Webb's going to be a starting wide receiver but he was with the first group today um the second group was Chris brazell on the outside Dante thoron on the outside it's going to be one of those two guys that start in my opinion and then chaz's Nimrod in the middle in the slot I thought that was noteworthy showing some versatility to his game um he's gotten a lot of praise the first couple of days of Camp as well and then the third group was Nate smellman on one side Nathan Lok on the other side and brillan Staley in the slot um on the offensive line again grain of salt but this is the the quote unquote first group that was out there during inside run because Lance herd wasn't with the uh wasn't doing an awful lot on on Wednesday it was DNE Davis at left tackle Andre Krick who again left guard very much a question mark going to be a position battle but Andre KCK won that job last year and he was repping with the first team today or yesterday I should say at left guard Cooper Ma at Center Javon spragin at Right Guard John Campbell at right tackle behind those guys was Larry Johnson at left tackle Shamy marov at left guard vion Lang at Center Jackson Lampley at Right Guard and Jesse Perry at right tackle Jesse Perry is going to be a guy that I think can maybe slide inside and maybe get a look at some other positions I don't think he's going to play this year but they like Jesse Perry and Jesse Perry is going to be a guy that I think that's going to help this football team sooner rather than later might not be this year but I watch for Jesse Perry over fall Camp I think he's in store uh for for a nice little Camp uh a lot of circuits lot lot of uh you know Circle drills bag drills work under the cages back sing uh run recognition routes versus Air recognition for the defensive backs a lot of drilling for the Defenders while we were out there couple guys that looked notice noticeably bigger Tyree Weathersby has gotten bigger Joshua Joseph has put on some pounds Kaleb Herring has put on some pounds I think jacobe Thomas is a real physical safety and he looks like it for sure um you know not many notes on the defensive side of the football hopefully we'll get some more tomorrow but anyway um pretty standard pretty pretty decent practice number one um it wasn't going to win any awards by any stretch of the imagination it was not the crispest is that a word crispest I don't think that's a word um it wasn't the sloppiest by any stretch of the imagination it was day number one and um I'm intrigued to see how much better this team can get you know each and every single day but um overall decent day and we'll be excited to see what they look like on a Thursday and then of course on a Saturday and Sunday a couple more practices this week is is week number one of fall Camp kind of continues to roll on they were inside the entire time the haslin practice field was underwater on Wednesday morning because well it monsooned here in the Knoxville area um Tuesday evening but they were in the inside the indoor and they'll be back there tomorrow and of course hopefully they'll they'll they'll work outside as well hey when we come back had a chance to catch up with Matt Ray shortly after practice was over on Tuesday what were his thoughts on Tennessee's fall practice number one that is coming up next as we continue on here with a lock down balls want to say about our friends over GameTime at game time game time is the place where you can buy tickets to all the events in your area whether it's a sporting event at Thomson Bowling Arena at Food City Center maybe a football game at nand stadium maybe a baseball game at Lindsay NE Nelson softball game at Sherry Parker Lee whatever the case is sporting wise in your area but also could be concerts at TBA could be at the beu theater could be plays at the Tennessee theater whatever the case is you can buy tickets to your next entertainment event by using the game time app it's for the procrastinators like you and me as well and they're selling tickets up to the event and sometimes even an hour after the event is started and when you go to the game time app that you can download for free put in the promo code locked on College you're going to get $20 off your first purchase again put in the promo code locked on College get $20 off your your first purchase you can check out the all-in pricing lowest price guarantee that's the headliner there views from your seat Zone deals Flash Deals priority last minute deals as well all that on the game time app download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed day one of Tennessee football Day 1 Observations fall Camp about said spring practice but it's fall Camp it's here it's here I got Matt Ray over here that's turned into a regular contributor of lockdown Falls let's just kind of go through what we saw a little bit I mean it was day one they were in helmets no shoulder pads they were in t-shirts shorts not a lot of hitting or anything but it was day one we got to see guys run routes on air got to see some one-on ones overall takeaways from day one of Tennessee Camp well I think when you look at it first thing that jumps right away is you know you're talking about a program that's well established now under Josh HPP there was a certain level of intensity today you know guys expected to go full bore into this thing and that's where Tennessee was at with it Rodney Garner s the tempo right away very early in every in every practice session but T Tennessee was a full go today and I think you saw some guys um you know continue to step up I thought James Pierce was a guy that right away took more of an active leadership role in that defensive line grouping and I think that kind of speaks volumes to where Tennessee is heading moving forward you know it was amorey Thomas during media day that kind of said you know obviously being asked by James Pierce and you know what he's like on the field his finesse he talked about his strength that he noticed early on in his career even when he wasn't playing much as a freshman but he went on to say you know now he treats everything like a pro and not to say that he's a bad kid because he's not a bad kid but he's not um he doesn't like talking to the media as much you know he's kind of one of those guys and that's fine but I think now he kind of gets like okay this is going to be my last year I potentially can be a top 10 pick um want to go win games obviously it's more of it's a contract year for him basically and I think he's approaching it the right way and you saw that at practice today and of course that kind of reflects what Amari Thomas was saying yesterday yeah absolutely leading guys through drills coaching guys like Jordan Ross up on what they're looking for in the drill doing those types of things you're got moving Parts between each drill depending on what you're doing you're under you know you're over bags at times you're pushing a sled at times James Speer grabs a sled drags it out there so the drill can get going so you're maximizing that time those are the things that a pro that a pro does Eric and I think you saw some of that from James Pierce today and I think that's huge for Tennessee all right so let's shift over to the offensive side of football a little bit here let's everybody wants to know about Nico how Nico look again Nico in my opinion looked fine he made some throws he had a couple bad ones he had some great ones they're running routes on air again shorts just helmets is what it is I thought for the most part the first couple of groups like The Nico Gass andmore you know the first you know four five receivers look pretty good I thought as you went down the depth chart it was a little sloppy it's day one and and that's okay but I did see Ethan Davis drop one I saw Ethan Davis make a great catch over the middle saw Chris brazell make an excellent catch on a post saw squirrel white make one I saw Dante Thor crash into one of these pillars and hang on to the football I thought the receivers did some nice things and I thought Nico looked about as fine for day one as he could yeah absolutely and I think you're gonna have drops every football practice so you're talking about fall you know fall Camp practice number one right here you're going to see that like you said you saw Ethan Davis make a drop you saw him make a great catch I saw him catch a a Crossing route and accelerate down the sideline and man you heard Josh H talk about a drastic change for him yesterday when he when he was speaking to the media I think you can see that Ethan Davis looks he he's filled out even more he looks healthier Holden stays made a couple of nice catches talking about filling out Holden stay is a big dude yeah Holden stays is a big dude you know those tight ends they can help Tennessee this year that's the way that a tight end room should look so there's a lot of I think positivity coming out of Alec A's room right now but overall Mike you I don't Nico looked fine I thought you know he looks po as in command of what Tennessee is expecting him to do they're moving through those routes on airs and those drills that we had you know some time to see very effectively and I'll just be intrigued again a month away from the season actually being here what's that rotation look like a wide receiver it's to be determined but I think there's a lot of Playmakers one playmaker that wasn't full go he was out here doing as much as he could uh not going to be a big deal probably going to be back here in the next couple of practices Mike Matthews a fivar wide receiver he'll also be pushing for some playing time let's go to running back another one obviously Camp Seldon was in a red non-c contct jersey was doing a lot of the drills that the running backs were doing um but you know his workload will increase as Camp goes on um I thought the offensive line um you had you know Lance herd that was in a a left knee brace and was doing some things but not everything that was very much of note uh you had danne Davis filling in his spot at left tackle and then you had Andre Krick at left guard Cooper Ms at Center spragin a Right Guard and then of course um John Campbell a right tackle you know we'll see about John Camp or we'll see about uh hurt as the days go on but not a whole lot of takeaways from the offensive line when you're not in pads right it's hard to have those takeaways and again you're doing things you're working hand position you're working your feet your steps whatever but it's still so hard to have those takeaways when you're on pads and not even just in not not in full pads not even in shells yeah yeah you know so I mean I think there some of those guys that you talked about for Tennessee day one it's a good indication they're out here Mike Matthews I would expect him back by the end of the week um if not at the very first of next week you know I think it's a very good sign for heard that he's out here right I mean again yes obviously there's some concern there when you're not moving around through everything but at the end of the day he's out here and then cam Seldon you know that's a guy continues to be possibly ahead of schedule you know so we'll see where it goes but o overall for Tennessee a pretty healthy football team right now heading into the fall yeah and there's an acclamation period they they'll have another workout today on Thursday and then they'll have an off day Friday and then uh slowly you'll start seeing these guys put the shells on put the shoulder pads on and they get into full pads next week scrimmage number one is I think next Friday right I think so yeah it's going to be a night scrimmage over at Neland stadium and of course we'll see how different this team looks from now until then but a good day one here out it was actually just in here in the indoor facility because outside has some fills underwater right now but uh a good day works in right here and of course check out more here on the podcast lockon Vols but always at volquest.com Sponsor passion Drive patience the formula for winning championships is what also keeps your ride or die alive eBay eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and leveled up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you're into speed power or style eBay Motors has got you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you'll always find exactly what you're looking for and with eBay's guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money is bad because of the eBay Motors you're burning rubber not cash with all the parts you need and the prices you want it's easy to make your car uh that mvp and bring home huge wins keep a ride or die live today at ebaymotors.com eligible boms only exclusion Supply eBay guaranteed fit only available to us customers talking a lot of Tennessee Schedule fall Camp here on a Thursday edition of lockon BS we'll talk even more Tennessee fall camp on a Friday edition of lockon BS and on a Monday edition of lockon vs it is that time of the year we have reached you know we're not into game week yet but we've we've made it through the off offseason we actually have stuff to talk about they're practicing they'll be scrimmaging at some point next week and that certainly is an exciting time we'll keep you all up to date right here on log Tom balls head on over to espn.com our friend Chris low um wrote an article college football's toughest and easiest schedules in 2024 who's got the toughest power four schedule who's got the weakest power for schedule who's got the toughest power for non-conference schedule so on and so forth no surprise here the toughest overall power for schedule is Florida and you know that's good news for Tennessee because Florida is a rival no doubt and how they end that season on that brutal five-game stretch Georgia Texas LSU and someone else is in there as well Florida State um man that is that is really really tough that is a um gosh man that that that is a and of course you got to play Tennessee as well and you got to open up and play a tough team you know right out of the gate too I mean Florida's got a challenging challenging schedule I don't have it in front of me but I do know it's a really really challenging schedule but Tennessee fans are not going to complain there in case you're wondering Chris low says the easiest power force schedule is SMU new member of course of the ACCC now the toughest overall non- power force schedule goes to Louisiana Monroe the easiest overall non- power force schedule or the Liberty flames and this is the topic of conversation last year in terms of of the college football playoff rankings for New Year six bowl games Liberty should it have been Liberty or SMU should it been Liberty or SMU well Liberty strength of schedule was not anything and turns out in 2024 it's not going to be anything either but if you win all your games they've got to take one group of five team to the playoffs and Liberty is going to be in good position to you know try and be that team the toughest power forward non-conference schedule is considered the USC Trojans the easiest power four non-conference schedule is Ohio State um you know fans of the college football playoff are not going to like that um no doubt about it toughest Road schedule Toughest Schedule team from the SEC it is Mississippi State Jeff leby first year head coach cross country Trek in week two to face Arizona State um in SEC play Mississippi state will visit three top 10 teams number three Texas number one Georgia number six Old Miss they've also got a trip to of course we know this number 15 Tennessee this is according to ESP rankings that's in November and Mississippi State also has to go and play at Missouri so Mississippi state is considered the toughest Road schedule and that team is from the SEC toughest open to a season Chris low says that is Clemson well they are playing Georgia so I would agree with them there toughest close to the season here's here's that thing I was looking for that would be the Florida Gators October 12th they play six of their final seven games against top 25 teams four of those games are away from home the end of the season they'll be playing five straight weeks all against top 15 teams goodness gracious that is just brutal for text for Florida but we're not we're not complaining the cushiest open to the season would be Old Miss and I like how he says this I like how he puts this right here rat poison alert Old Miss is scheduled to open the season is set up for what should be some serious partying in the Grove the rebels ranked in the top 10 in most preseason polls play four of their first five games at home against Ferman Middle Tennessee Georgia Southern and Kentucky ain't nobody in the universe have an easier opening slate to the season right there they're going to start off 5-0 easily no doubt about that the away game in that stretch is Wake Forest at Wake Forest sign me up for that schedule Old Miss um we continue to go on down down we continue to go on down the list here Chris Lo put out a lot of interesting stuff over here at espn.com uh this one's interesting power outages Ohio State and Syracuse are the only Power four power four schools not playing a non-conference game against another power for school didn't know that frequent flyer miles welcome to the Big 10 Cal the Bayers got a tough jet lag this season okay um September 7th they're playing at Auburn September 21st they're playing at Florida State October 12th they're playing at pit November 8th they're playing at wake for Forest November 30th they're playing at SMU that's a total of 12,136 mil for 5 away games that's interesting here's one interesting about the SEC between SEC newcomers Texas and Oklahoma the Sooners got the short end of the stick in terms of league play in year one six of the Sooners eight SEC games are against top 25 teams whereas only two of the LongHorn's 8 SEC games are against top 25 foes that's important to remember because a lot of people think Texas is one of the best teams in the SEC this year um Alabama's SEC five pack Alabama's the only SEC team that that faces conference opponents in five consecutive weeks September 28th against Georgia October 5th against Vanderbilt October 12th against South Carolina October 19th against Tennessee third Saturday in October and then October 26th at Missouri so Alabama is the only SEC team that faces conference opponents in five consecutive weeks I wouldn't I would have known that um that doesn't sound right but I guess I'll take his word for it here's one that I think is pretty interesting conference chaos looking for that one weekend that can shake things up to to provide some clarity for the conference races week seven has the definite possibilities in the SEC you've got Old Miss at LSU that week you have Florida at Tennessee that week you have Texas and Oklahoma in Dallas that week so of course Florida and Tennessee that's always a big game it's a monster game for Tennessee because well Tennessee's been on the losing end of that rivalry for quite some time so week seven is going to be a really really good week across the SEC and in the Big 10 as well Penn State travels to USC that week Kansas State takes on Colorado that week um as well so I just thought that that that article was really really interesting I read off a lot of it in terms of what categories Chris low puts these teams but we kind of knew coming into this year the Florida's got the toughest schedule we knew that Old Miss has got an easy schedule we knew that Georgia's Georgia schedule is actually tougher a lot tougher this year than it's ever been to be completely honest we knew that Missouri's got an easy schedule we knew that Tennessee for all intents and purposes I don't know how you call it an easy schedule playing in the Southeastern Conference but it's got one of the easier Southeastern Conference schedules and you know that that narrative kind of is backed up over at CBS Sports as well earlier this week they put out the ranking of the toughest schedules in all the SEC and CBS Sports has of course Flor at number one having the toughest schedule Mississippi State having the next toughest schedule at number two Oklahoma's at number three um they have games against Houston and T lane two pretty stout non-conference games before you even start an SEC play Georgia's actually got the fourth toughest schedule in the SEC this year according to CBS Sports um you got to play Clemson in the opener got to play Georgia Tech and a lot of people are saying Georgia Tech is going to be a little bit better than people realize I will believe that when I see it and then of course you have all those games in the Southeastern Conference schedule South Carolina comes in at number five Arkansas at six vanderbild at 7 Kentucky at 8 Alabama at 9 LSU at 10 Texas A&M at 11 Auburn at 12 Tennessee at 13 interesting this is what they say about Tennessee schedule which CBS Sports says is the 13th toughest schedule in the league or if we rephrase that it is the fourth easiest schedule in the League this year quote Tennessee has college football playoff hopes and the schedule to get there NC State is going to give the volunteers all they can handle in Charlotte and it doesn't get much more difficult than going to face Oklahoma and Norman to open SEC play especially since UT hasn't been great away from nean Stadium under Coach Josh hple but Tennessee also plays Arkansas and Vanderbilt on the road so that balances the difficulty scales a bit there's also the standard trappings of Alabama and Georgia Tennessee will have to go at least one in one in those games to reach its goals um you got to go two- one in those games against if you throw Florida in there you got to go in my opinion three and one in those games if you throw Oklahoma in that realm behind Tennessee in this list is Texas at 14 Miss at 15 and Missouri at 16 no surprise there those four are those three schedules those three slates are are pretty easy compared to most SEC teams Tennessee included entering the 2024 season so I found a lot of that interesting talking about schedule talk and I wanted to throw some of that in here as as we concluded our show uh here on a Thursday plenty more to come we'll be back on the practice field early uh Thursday morning I'll be out there reporting and what I see some of the big notes that I've gathered who's making plays um injury situations all that and more I'll take notes on all that and we'll tell you all about it on Friday's edition of lockdown Falls can't thank you enough for being here thanks so much for making lockdown Falls your first listen your first watch each and every single day if you're watching us you like it tell a friend let's build this show up subscribe on the YouTube YouTube channel subscribe and download these episodes on Apple podcast on Spotify wherever you get your podcast we got to grow this show as we get closer and closer to football season uh can't thank you guys enough for making lock down balls your first Liston I'm Eric Kane appreciate you as always have a great rest of your Thursday everybody [Music]