Tennessee Football Recruiting: Onis Konanbanny Commits to Vols, Josh Heupel | GAME WEEK

game week is officially here but it was another recruiting win that kicks off this 2024 season on a high note that and so much more we made it everybody it's your Monday lock on BS you are locked on balls your daily podcast on the Tennessee Volunteers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hey good Monday morning everybody welcome into lock on vs I am your host Eric Kane and this show is brought to you in part by ultimate GM ultimate college football HC is a brand new mobile game that's completely free has no ads 100% playable offline put in that promo code locked on CFB all caps inside the game store to receive a free boost for your program begin your coaching Legacy today with ultimate GM we have got a fun show coming up today onus con and bny committed to the University of Tennessee on Friday the kicked off kind of game week we're sprinting two game week and now we're officially here so we'll recap that where is Tennessee currently ranked and the national rankings for the class of 2025 and so much more we're going to get into actual game prep we're going to scout the opponent for UT Chad Nan segment number two what Tennessee should expect from the mock and then Tony vatello got paid on Friday uh whenever vquest broke the news that Tony vatello um threeyear well really a 5-year deal it's a 5-year extension and through 2029 3 million annually more on that contract coming up in segment number three uh you can watch us listen to us subscribe to us all that for free wherever you get your podcast and of course lockon balls the YouTube channel over 12,000 subscribers can't thank you every day or enough for making that possible and we'll answer your questions on tomorrow's mailback edition of the show so get in those questions atore caner and at locked onvs okay so before we get into onus and his commitment to Tennessee I just want to say congratulations everybody we have made it it was a long off season we are officially in game week Tennessee football plays a contest this week we had college football that kicked off what a great opening act there in in Ireland uh for Georgia Tech winning on the walk-off field goal over Florida State all the crying all offseason long from Florida State couldn't even win the opener and there's been some people high on Georgia Tech this offseason I didn't quite understand it but hey when you dominate the line of scrimmage for four quarters like that and you make uh you know a team that should have been in the college football playoff everybody said last year very pedestrian well good for you and again that was last year and we're on to this year and this is a Tennessee podcast but what a great start to the college football season Tennessee is going to get going 12:45 Saturday at neand Stadium against the mocks can't wait to get into that um so congratulations and um I hate the offseason more than anything I love college football season but it goes by so fast so let's Savor these next couple of months Everybody Let's Get It Go in here today we'll start with recruiting all right Onis Conan bny committed to the University of Tennessee on Friday around lunchtime he's been a longtime priority recruit for Tennessee he is a six foot and a half six foot one cornerback defensive back got some versatility to his game he's from Columbia South Carolina weighing 175 PBS he is a fourstar rated Prospect according to the on3 industry rankings he's a three star rated Prospect from on3 specifically 247 a four-star from ESPN and a fourstar from rivals on three according to the industry ranking has him as the 340th overall Prospect in the class the 33rd ranked cornerback and the fourth ranked player from South Carolina so I'm kind of reading those notes out there for you and you're probably just sitting there thinking like this is not this highly touted recruit this is not one of the recruits Tennesse has been you know getting in this class but you know I look at it this way who does Tennessee make priorities early in the cycle um there's a couple I mean you go up and look up and down this this you know the class for Tennessee and and sure there's some you know highly rated Prospect Tennessee's gotten such as George McIntyre David Sanders um Ethan DAV not Ethan Davis excuse me Ethan Utley um you know Travis Smith but there's also some guys who are not highly as ranked but Tennessee put the clamps on and Tennessee wanted to be a part of this class Joe Kim Dodson comes to mind Justin Baker early on comes to mind Tyler Redmond comes to mind and specifically the defensive backfield there might not be as highly rated if you will Shady hayward's rated pretty high but you know Tyler Redmond's only a three- star Prospect um let's see here Dylan Lewis is a three star rated Prospect Trey pti's a three star rated Prospect but this coaching staff put a priority on these guys they like these guys they came in Camp they worked out um kind of kind of dissecting their game on film and all that and they like these guys and they wanted them be a part of the class and so they are and so I think this is recruiting wins for you know Tennessee in regards to these players specifically in the secondary we get back to onus here Onis Conan Banning the latest has joined the group um it came down between Tennessee and Florida State tenness he W out for the services of Conan bany and you look over the impact analysis from Matt Ray over volquest.com he got a uh a quote from Charles power who is the director of recruiting and scouting over at on three and this is what he had to say on Tennessee's newest commit quote onas Conan bny is a prospect we've known for some time dating back to him emerging on the radar uh in high school I think for starters he is good feat and is just a well coordinated athlete he shows the ability to change directions well and stay in phase and coverage we like his phys as well he's an active and willing tackler I think he potentially has the versatility to play multiple spots in the secondary given his overall skill set you can see some of his athleticism on the soccer field he checks in around 6 foot around 170 to 175 I think moving forward he is going to need to improve his long speed he's definitely a quicker than fast athlete at this stage I think he has some versatility and physicality that could potentially play in the slot at nickel play on the outside and play at safety I think he brings some versatility to the secondary for the University of Tennessee end quote and that's kind of the theme for this secondary class outside of probably cydney Walton who I didn't even mention in that grouping cydney Walton is a three star rated Prospect and he's part of this group as well Sydney Walton projects the safety but all these other guys I think can have you know versatility to their games you know they can play out a corner move into safety or say okay your home base is safety but you're going to cross train with a star and that's kind of what you want right you don't want to slow the development of anybody but you want guys to be able to cross train and do some different things in the defensive secondary for different packages and or if there's injuries to get the best five back there and not just your okay let's look to the depth chart this guy this guy behind this guy okay let's put him in uh you kind of see that on the offensive line as well with a guy like Dane Davis so um I like this commit for Tennessee again this is a guy that Tennessee has been in on for quite some time we've known this name of onus you know for months now and um Tennessee proved to be the the team last last team standing if you will beat out Florida State that's a rough weekend for Florida State overall right losing on onus con and bny on Friday and then of course losing to Georgia Tech on Saturday but you look at Tennessee now in the class of 2025 the volunteers ranked sixth nationally and as I always say Don't Live and Die daily on the national recruiting rankings because every single time a team gets a you know a new commit that that can change and fluctuate the overall rankings because I mean the more you have obviously the better your rankings going to going to be but Tennessee is sixth in the country Tennessee is fifth in the SEC and um this is shaping up to be a really really talented class now 24 commits for the University of Tennessee so the sh the focus now is going to shift to the football season sure Tennessee might add another one or two depending on late EV vals fall EV vals from senior tape if Tennessee loses a commit currently in this class you might want to go out and try to replace them Tennessee would still like to bring in another running back so there's still some and still some movements on the table but Josh hyp and a lot of a lot of coaches around the country for that matter really want to put the hay in the barn when the season starts and tennesses there at 24 commits um who were in this class fifth in the SEC and sixth overall in the nation uh really really T talented class that just got even more talented Talent talented that's not a word even more talented there we go with the addition of fourstar cornerback onus kabany so good start to the weekend for the University of Tennessee it was also Al a great end to Friday with the Tony vatello contract extension news we'll get into that here in segment number three but let's dive down into Tennessee's actual opponent on Saturday the UTC mocks Chad nooga Tennessee mock we'll get into that who are the mock that is coming up next as we continue on here with a Monday Morning Edition of lockdown ball stay tuned hey lockon balls fans I want to take a moment to give you a heads up about a brand new mobile game that I think you're going to love as much as I do that is the ultimate college football HC it's an amazing game and simulation that get you set up to put you in the shoes of a head coach to lead your college football program to Glory can 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get your team off to a strong start download the game visit ultimate-fx Legacy today welcome back into your Monday edition of lockon vs make lock on SEC lockd on college football your second and third listen guys do a great job getting you set for the conference games around the SEC and of course around the national landscape that is locked on SEC locked on college football wherever you get your pod podcast and of course on YouTube as well make that your second and your third listen it is game week for the University of Tennessee Tennessee takes on UTC and as I'm saying this I'm looking in my camera if you're watching on YouTube you can see that I'm wearing a Columbia PFG little Long Sleeve Guy it is yellow I'm wearing Mock's colors how about that undercover mock right um didn't plan that but uh hey is what it is we'll we'll power through I don't think that's going to affect Tennessee's showcase on Saturday uh but nonetheless uh utc's coming in they had a really good year last year you know competing in the FCS Southern Conference all right um they won the uh or they they made it to the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2016 a season too they're coming off an 8 and5 record they were six and2 in Southern Conference play uh they almost won that conference and uh they're they're they're coached by six-year head coach Rusty Wright and they had a really really close call to winning the conference so that the mocks lost two games to Ferman and Western Carolina by a combined five points last season um they enter the playoffs they won their first game over Austin P and then they lost to Ferman in the second round in that rematch so Ferman got him twice but nonetheless a really really solid season for f for U for UT Chad noo in the Southern Conference bowing out in the second round of the playoffs the last time these two teams squared off was back in 2019 Tennessee won 45 to nothing but if you're keeping track of things that win technically doesn't count because that was Jeremy Pit's first win and that was vacated um following the incid BL investigation into PR's tenure here in Tennessee so interesting little side note these two teams did Square Off in 2019 Tennessee handle business 45 to nothing but that win doesn't officially count in the record books because it was vacated uh due to the in investigation into Jeremy pritz and his staff here nonetheless let's get down into the nitty-gritty here uh the mo going to bring back quarterback Chase arpus and his name looks funky and I know I Mis mispronounce names all the freaking time but I went to the pronunciation guide of UTC and it is exactly how it looks otopus Chase arpus um he had a really good year last year had a little bit of an injury there towards the end but finished with 20 touchdowns seven interceptions completed 63% of his passes threw for 2,672 yards um originally started his career at UNLV but transferred to UTC prior to last season and then took him to the playoffs he is back and he is going to be the starting quarterback for UTC this season you look at his weapons well he returns starter he returns starters at the wide receiver position in Jason wattley and Sam Phillips but they do lose their leading receiver from a year ago in jamaro Meyers who transferred up to Cincinnati after recording a thousand yard receiving season at 1,37 yards on 62 receptions so that that's kind of the um that's the downfall of the transfer portal for FCS programs right you can get a Sprinkle down effect for sure but like Elijah Herring going to Memphis um and I know that's not FCS that's group of five but you know what I'm saying it's a Sprinkle down effect but also if you if you got a baller a lot of these teams going come poach that baller right and that's kind of kind of kind of what Cincinnati a in a sense kind of did here with the leading receiver last year in so you bring back two wide receivers who started last year that's good you lose your leading wide receiver um they were really good passing attack last year second in the Southern Conference and passing a season ago you look at tight end not a whole lot of passing to the tight end last year but they do bring back a seventh year player and Jay Gibson at tight end John Campbell Tennessee's right tackle is also a seventh year collegia player so a little interesting there but Jay Gibson seventh year player comes back at tackle at run back you lost your two leading rushers so your top two options out of the backfield a season to go are gone you do return Reggie Davis who had 327 yards on the season and he had about 160 of those in the two playoff games so he was getting more work towards the end of the season in the playoffs ending the year on a high note and he's going to be the lead back for the mocks at least on paper is what it looks like on the offensive line they do return four players with starting experience and so it's going to be a good group up front experienced group up front front they're led by Center Reed Williams who was an all Southern Conference offensive lineman first team uh so that's what it looks like up front offensive line only allowed 18 sacks a season to go that's a really good stat let's see here average 139 yards on the ground which was okay it was fine but it's not great um but only 3.8 yards per carry not a lot of explosiveness in the Run game from a season to go so let's flip over to the defensive side of the football and the defense has made three new coaching hires on that side of the football alone most notably linebacker coach well let me find out Mike joerger has been promoted to defensive coordinator so Mike joerger who still on staff gets a promotion to DC they make a new head coach they make a new defensive line coaching hire and a new secondary coaching hire I believe um so that's of note entering the season for the mocks up front Marlon Taylor a two-time all Southern Conference contributor a season ago he was third on the team with five sacks and 8 and a half tfls they do lose two all Southern Conference defensive lineman up front and J person and Ben brutin so those two guys are gone again moving on I I believe at least one of those guys via the transfer portal but they do move on they do bring back Taylor who's an all Southern conference allc conference performer at linebacker you bring back your leading tackler in Alex Mitchell who had 78 stops a season to go and then in the secondary you lose a couple holes but you do bring back a safety and and Jordan Wallace or Waller can't even remone riding he has a three-year starter he was second on the team with 73 stops a season ago so a pretty solid UTC bunch is returning and I think they're going to make some Headway in the Southern Conference this year for sure and try to go back and make it two straight appearances in the FCA playoffs um having make it made it for the first time since 2016 a season ago so I think this a solid ball Club I think it's a pretty good quarterback it's got experience up front the offensive line it's got um some experience in Weaponry you need to find some more weapons on offense you do bring back a key piece at every level of the defense on the defensive line you're leading tackle linebacker and a threee starter on the back in but uh again it's kind of what it is I know some of y'all make fun of me for saying it is what it is but it's a Payday you know T they're going to come up here they're going to make the short drive from Chattanooga up to Knoxville 12:45 they're going to get their brains beat in and going to get a check and go home that's kind of how these work typically and I know in years past sometimes it hasn't worked exactly like that it's why you love college football but it should work according to plan for the University of Tennessee on Saturday so that's looking into the Scout and I think it's important to to make note of here for UTC a lot of these players on roster man they're from the state of Tennessee they grew up Tennessee fans it's like when Tennessee plays Austin P A lot of these players grew up Tennessee fans so coming to nean Stadium it's really really cool for them I they want to play well and they'd love to have a win but they love to show you know hey Tennessee you didn't recruit me I'm G to come over here and beat you doesn't usually happen that way but it's a really cool experience for guys on this roster I know there's some guys from the Knoxville area that are playing for UTC so best of luck to them um and it's of course Tennessee staying in house if you will in the system of uh you know the University of Tennessee and um you know kind of kind of helping out a brother there if you will so uh looking forward to Saturday we we'll get into the betting lines from over at Fel as the week goes on but this should be walk but it's important for a number of players specifically you know players in the secondary the running back rotation what's Nico look like I it's a very important game don't get me wrong it just should be one of those where you see a heavy heavy rotation of volunteers against the UTC mock so that's a look at Tennessee chattanoga and we'll continue to look at Tennessee Chattanooga as the week goes on for Tennessee's first game coming up on Saturday 12:45 pm eastern time from nean Stadium all right when we come back we'll take a look at Tony vell's contract extension that was signed officially on on uh that was announced officially on Friday that is coming up next as we continue on here with the Monday edition of lockdown balls all right you tired after lunch you're not alone in fact research shows that more than 70% of us hit a wall after lunch let 5-hour Energy Shot help you leap over the wall instead of crashing into it all right and also if it's before your workout you want to you want to get in shape but having trouble staying motivated make 5-hour Energy Shots part of your lifestyle that get the energy boost that you need to get fit we all know 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go to 5 hour injy today and get ready to crush your goals hey guys welcome back in here to your Monday edition of log Tom Vols game week Edition here we go can't freaking wait for what's coming up on Saturday and for the rest of the football season and no better place to get you set for game day get you set for your work day at Tennessee football related as well and right here on lockon balls wherever you get your podcast 30 minutes every single weekday morning all right tomorrow's show is mailbag edition of the show so get in your questions your comments fill up the YouTube uh comment section or um send them to me Ator caner and it locked on vs and we will get you set and ready to go all right so it was announced around 4 o'clockish on Friday that the University of Tennessee has given Tony vatello a contract extension it was never a matter of if it was just a matter of when and when your agent is Jimmy Sexton who is widely considered in the industry to be the best agent in the field things are never going to be easy for say the University of Tennessee or whoever um Whoever has employed his representative if you know what I'm saying so um he's doing his job and it took a long long time just to finalize the nitty-gritty but the the bulk of the deal has been done for quite some time to be completely honest with you I mean we've been prepared at volquest.com for for like month right I mean we've been prepared and ready to roll it's just the the final details to make us say okay this is official it wasn't announced until you know late on on Friday afternoon but here's the basis of what Tony vatello is getting on his new year on his New Deal 3 million annually five years that runs through June 30th 2029 3 million annually that makes him the highest paid baseball coach in America just sit here and think about this okay 8 years ago 9 years ago 10 years ago even 5 years ago when Tony V was having some success here could you imagine the University of Tennessee paying a baseball coach 3 million a year that is incredible just incredible to put that in perspective these are according to reports from uh front office Sports the Tennessee and USA Today over the months uh in in BL around the 2024 coaching salary season okay Vanderbilt make Vanderbilt's Tim Corbin makes 2.4 45 million LSU's Jay Johnson makes 1.79 million North Carolina Scott Forbes earns 1.7 million again this is for the 2024 season okay Old Miss Skipper Mike Bianco makes a reported 1.62 million these are all reported from those reports reported from those reports right that's good phrasing that I told you earlier Texas A&M coach now Texas Skipper Jim schoenle of course he is going to make around 2.68 million once his buyou from Texas A&M is taken care of so he won't be making 2.68 this year to coach Texas but eventually he will and that would put him under Tony vatello but that's going to take a couple years because his buyout to leave Texas A&M to go to Texas was so big you got to kind of take care of that first so kind of putting things in perspective on on who makes what roundabout and and baseball coaching salaries are very very difficult to determine they're not like football they're not like basketball they're kind of hard to find uh but we can tell you that Tony vatello is the highest paid baseball coach in America and he's earned it man I mean good for him he's of course won the national championship this past June the first in program history for Tennessee outlasting Texas A&M six to5 just had enough juice just had enough gas left in the tank did Aaron combes there in that ninth inning it was the third Trek to Omaha for the College World Series in four years for vitella in Tennessee baseball after winning the national championship vatel earned National Coach of the Year honors from D1 baseball baseball America the American baseball coaches association it was the 24th Team National Championship across all sports of the University of Tennessee but the first since 2009 women's track and field it was the first championship game technically the national championship winner go home game that a Tennessee sporting team had played in since the ' 08 um women's final for with the lady vs uh Tennessee became the first program this past year to win 60 games the fourth team in league history uh to sweep the regular season title the conference title and the college world series title in the same season Tennessee was the number the first number one overall seed in the Ina tournament to actually win the national championship since 1999 when the field went to 64 um man I mean we can go on and on here I mean vello has Rewritten the Tennessee record books leading the country the last four seasons and wins 21 winning percentage at 773 instead of L tournament wins at 25 home runs at 566 um the all 60 wins this past year were the most of any program since Florida State in 2022 and the most of any national champion since Witchita State back in 1989 so again um Tony vatello is very deserving so back to the contract a little bit again 3 million annually 5 years that runs through June 30th 2029 vatello is going to receive some bonuses on the front end of this so $250,000 signing bonus for the new contract he's also receiving a $200,000 signing bonus that is retro for winning the 2024 National Championship that replaces the 140 that he was getting based on his previous contract so um B is getting some bonuses up front 3 million annually um this is an interesting one as well listen to this if Vella were to leave prior to the conclusion of his contract for another job the separation pay would be cut in half if Danny White is no longer the Athletics director at Tennessee meaning say Tennessee moves on from Danny White say Danny White moves on from Tennessee or whatever and there's a new ad here and say five years I'm not saying this will happen at all but say in four or five years or whatever um or three you know whatever the case is through the duration of this contract between now and 2029 vatel wants to leave and go to the majors or wants to I mean I don't see this happening but you know what I'm saying wants to leave whatever the and I'll tell you kind of what the separation PR breaks down to whatever that total is you cut it in half because Danny watt's no longer here at Tennessee I mean that shows alignment and that that shows man everybody is so trusted in investment in Tennessee as a whole from from Randy Boyd to Dante Plowman to Danny White um I thought that was a pretty big statement let's go to that separation pay if vatello were relieved of his duties without cause which means Tennessee just fires him the university would owe him the full amount of the remaining contract Jimmy seon works again right if I tell were to leave the separation payout breaks down like this so if I tell were to leave for another job before June 30th 2025 he would have to owe Tennessee $4 million before the buy this is the buyout essentially okay before June 30th 2026 $3 million before June 30th 2027 $2 million before June 30th 2028 $ 800,000 before June 30th 2029 400,000 and again if all that were to happen and Danny White was not the Athletics director at Tennessee that number depending on when it is it cuts in half so again that's that's quite a testament to um the leadership in the lineman at Tennessee here's how his bonus structure breaks down per his new agreement okay this is important so under his previous contract Tony vatel was making was getting $28,000 um for making an NCAA Regional appearance under his new contract that goes up to $440,000 this is in bonuses uh Tony vatel was getting $42,000 in bonuses for hosting an NC Regional his new contract now that would make it 60,000 uh vatel was getting $556,000 in bonuses for winning the SEC regular season or tournament that now bumps up to $80,000 um under his previous contract Tony Vell was getting $70,000 in bonuses for making an NBL Super Regional that now is a $100,000 he goes from $84,000 in bonuses for hosting a super that goes up to $120,000 making a College World Series appearance it was $98,000 now it's $140,000 uh to make the College World Series Finals it was $112,000 now it is $160,000 and to win the whole dag gun thing the College World Series champions it was $140,000 now it's $200,000 so that is the bonus structure for uh the University of Tennessee and again this last little line here is kind of reflective it was 140 for winning the whole thing now it's 200 and and that's one of the bonuses up front here on the top of this deal the $200,000 bonus he's getting for sign this new deal is taking place of the 140,000 bonus he was set to win uh for winning the National Championship in his previous contract so again this is a really really really great great contract for Tony vatello um Tennessee gets it done Tennessee says hey we mean business in baseball we have a100 million renovation going in a Lindsey Nelson stadium and that is only climbing right now because of all the issues they're going on with utilities in and around of Lindsey Nelson Stadium they are investing a 100 million plus in the renovations of Lindsey Nelson Stadium they just made Tony vatello the highest paid coach in the history of college baseball and the it's not reported or it's not mentioned in Tony vell's contract at all but I've been told that the coaching salary poll the assistant coach of salary poll is going to be one of the healthiest if not the healthiest in the nation to take care of guys like Josh Eland or Frank Anderson support staff and all that so there's not a program in the country that is more invested in baseball right now than the University of Tennessee can you believe that can you believe that I mean go back five years ago go back 10 years ago go back 15 years ago could you imagine that Tennessee would be the most invested program in the country in college baseball well believe it or not it is right now congratulations to Tony vatello congratulations to Tennessee fans he is here to stay it was never in Dow don't get me wrong it was never in doubt but he is here to stay for sure hey on tomorrow's show we'll answer your questions your comments your concerns on the mailbag edition of the show so get in those get in everything that you want to know atore Kaner at lockon BS comment on the YouTube channel um you can send send me some DMS on whatever social platform you can I'll find them I will do my best uh to answer your questions if I don't get them to the time of the recording I do apologize but uh hopefully I'll get it to them at some point this week and uh it's game week guys congratulations let's have a great week and let's kick off this football season the right way this is lock on balls [Music]