SEC Media Days: Tennessee Football to podium; Vols roster changes

[Music] welcome into off the hook Sports everybody it is SEC media days day two that's right you are just looking at me as of right now Dave hooker is down in Dallas himself running around getting all the interviews he needs as you know today is the day that Tennessee football takes the podium Josh hyp Cooper Mays Omari Thomas and Kenan peely will all be there so Dave hooker is doing what he can to speak with all of them we're going to have interviews throughout the week we obviously got a lot to talk about today with the BS at the podium we spoke a little bit about it yesterday and the questions that should be asked of them but they're not the only team at the podium today the Georgia Bulldogs are there as a matter of fact they should be underway very soon the Oklahoma Sooners are at the podium and the Missouri Tigers so we're going to recap day one we're g to look a little bit at what questions should be asked of teams at the podium for day two I'm going to reveal to you guys a couple of interviews that uh Dave hooker did on Monday including one with Chris plink of the sooner radio network about Oklahoma in the SEC and about Josh hyper that should be very interesting he did another one he did another one with our friend Josh Ward who they who they called up with each other in Dallas yesterday and then we're going to show you some of the interviews we can of Tennessee players in the Suites behind the scenes before they go on the podium if we can we'll try to talk Josh hyle at the podium when he's there and by the way we also have some other news to cover most notably the roster changes and the jersey number changes for Tennessee which was revealed yesterday so a lot lined up great to see you all Smoky Mountain red first commenter says wait you are not playing NCAA Football on the show today lol ha well played Smoky about red interesting story for you I was so addicted to the NCAA football game before it they stopped making it 10 years ago I actually had a moment where I had to quit cold turkey it was bogging down my life on so many other things I can tell you right now dating back to my high school days I wasn't doing well in middle school or high school because I was so addicted to that game not just play PlayStation PS2 PS3 games in general not even bad just that game caused me way too many problems trust me I would be too inefficient of a human being particularly with a kid if I got that game I had to quit at Cold Turkey I know my limitations I know my addictions that's one of them but I hope everybody else is enjoying it I will still cover it so let's go ahead and dive in and again we hope to have Dave hooker on the show a little bit later for those who are joining in he's out making his rounds doing his interviews in Dallas uh having a lot of fun down there I'm sure we're going to start though with the first day of SEC media days we're going to recap some things that still took place on Monday for those who aren't there and for those who didn't pay attention the new look SEC officially went into play on Monday with SEC media days in Dallas Greg sinki took the podium first and LSU Old Miss Vanderbilt and South Carolina all took the Podium after that lots of things to get to I don't have the board guys I can't do Cooper May setting us up for first down second down just in your mind Envision this as a as a four down scenario because that's pretty much what we're doing here so we want to start with what Greg sinki said at the podium and he said a few things I wrote about it for those who want to see it online yesterday but a couple of things one is the new and we actually did speak about this yesterday so I'm not going to dwell too much on but one is the new iPads on the sidelines um just for those who are interested I don't think this helps tennessy this actually hurts tennessy the iPads are going to give defenses a chance to adjust to offenses a much more real time which benefits defenses struggling to keep up with the tempo and Josh hypo staff doesn't do much adjustments anyways in games and this is to help for in-game adjustments so it's not that much of a help and it actually neutralizes the helmet communication advantage that you have with the offense because now the defense can communicate to linebackers even if they can't huddle because of the tempo based offense so that actually hurts um it actually does hurt Tennessee specifically he said all the political speak possible about expansion he said we're 16 teams today 16 teams tomorrow that doesn't mean anything that doesn't mean they couldn't be 32 teams by Thursday so we're going to play that by year but nothing really to read from that the big thing for me for Greg sinki and this will be our first down is that there's still no tiebreaker format for the SEC guys we're in July okay we are in the part uh we're less than two months away from kickoff the SEC has a 16 team conference with no divisions and an eight game schedule for every team and just the two teams with the best record are going to go play for the SEC Championship at the end of the year how do you not have a tiebreaker to determine that do you think it's likely or unlikely that there won't be for third and second very very quickly I mean I I don't understand why he's taking so long and why the conference is taking so long to work this out but they haven't been able to work out their scheduling I still think they signed a bad contract with ESPN I think this is just more evidence of bad administrative leadership in the conference and I say that as Dave's down there right now trying to work with administrators to get interviews I'm fully aware of that but there's just no way to look around that the SEC has major issues when it comes to administrative leadership and it only looks worse and worse and you can't even say Nick sain is strong arming them anymore Nick Sabin who is down there right now and who by the way gives superb analysis he doesn't care anymore he's not going to try to strong arm the league to do things he wants he's out of it he's retired people just can't agree on stuff an eight game schedule with no tiebreaker no divisions is not sustainable long term look you might have three undefeated teams this year in the conference bold prediction down the line we'll get there but I can't believe that Greg sinki still hasn't addressed this issue second out Brian Kelly is making the same mistakes he made last year LSU for those who don't know I thought they were going to easily be a dynasty under Brian Kelly and the reason I said that is because LSU since the turn of the century when Mark gammer took over and decided to bring their facilities into roughly the 19th century because they were basically straight out of the med medieval times they have focused heavily well they've been the easiest job in America but because now that your facilities are up to Snuff you can just keep kids in Louisiana and that's the best football Talent state in the country they don't leave you can wake up and win a National Championship this is how edor Ron was able to win with the best team ever this is how Les Miles was able to win a National Championship those two coaches could never win a National Championship anywhere else particularly Les Miles at least Ed oron was a recruiter they both won one at LSU so I thought with Brian Kelly a coach with brain cells they were going to have a dynasty underway and the offense did show that it should be last year with Jaden Daniels the problem was the defense Harold Perkins had moved over to middle linebacker he's a true Edge rusher this is just like when Tennessee moved Leonard little over to middle linebacker in 1997 when little was a true Edge rusher it was stupid for Brian Kelly to do that and the defense was historically bad as a result which is why they were a three loss team and not a national title team last year well Brian Kelly said on Monday that the focus in the offseason was Harold Perkins getting bigger to be able to get off blocks and retooling the defensive staff news flash I think Harold Perkins struggled at middle linebacker because he was already too big he belongs on the edge if you're going to get him bigger that could be to move him inside or just keep him on the edge and keep him much more effective if he's still fast I think this is LSU saying we're gonna make the same mistake as last year their offense should still be great they expect loads of touchdowns as Brian Kelly said with Garrett nesm replacing Jane Daniels but once again it may not matter because the middle linebacker issue is real and they're putting the wrong player at middle linebacker so I am still wrong about LSU and the dynasty I thought they would have because Brian Kelly is making a key mistake on the other hand somebody who's maximizing possibilities at a school om Miss expectations are Sky High Jackson Dart and Lane kein took the stage on Monday and they both seem to be very high on their program Jackson Dart said that Old Miss is at its peak for the record that's not true they were at their Peak pre-integration with Johnny Vault when they were winning multiple national titles in the early 60s of course integration hurt them significantly because they were so hostile to it more than any other school in the SEC and it kept them from being able to recruit nationally for 50 years that's why they got rid of Colonel R the mascot for those who don't know it was killing them in recruiting and ever since they've gotten rid of it they've actually had top 10 programs since then with Hugh FES and Lane kein Jackson Dart says old the quarterback says old is at its peak I would say maybe in the modern era Miss is at its peak it's possible if you want to say specifically the modern era Miss is at its peak I might go with that Lane kein obviously a lot of the talk was Moni kein and his father passing away our thoughts are with him but Lane kin said he's dealing with rat poison the old Nick Savin phrase so L kein is walking around saying oh we're a Powerhouse program and we are absolutely dominating and everybody's expecting us to win and we just got to learn how to be humble that's what the whole thing of rap poison is dude Old Miss yes you made the two new year six Bulls in three years you're not a Powerhouse perennial Dynasty at this point though this is hilarious that Lan kein says that I think there's a little bit of trolling going on with that with Lane kein because again why would they have rat poison that's like the reverse side of when you know an elite five-star quarterback goes and wins an as and he says well they said I couldn't do it yes they did everybody said you could Berlin K say you're dealing with rat poison because of all the positive media press and all the expectations nobody's expecting Miss to be a dynasty or win the national title we think they will be good through the transer portal but there are just some questions about it if anything the questions should keep them humble more than the rap didn't keep them arrogant that just makes no sense so Lane kein is out there just I think saying stuff that was third down Cooper May is with us in spirit to say third down before we get to fourth down the show brought to you by rayar Ford 44 STX 45985 24 Ford escap 30962 24 Ford Maverick XLT 32720 rayar Ford your East Tennessee Ford dealership all right fourth down with Cooper maze again in spirit the truth of the matter is Shane Beamer and Clark Le really put on display how irrelevant Vanderbilt and South Carolina are in the SEC right now Clark showed that Vanderbilt is Vanderbilt because he bragged about retooling things and all the changes he to make sure the program was better guys remember Clark Lee had a finish to 2022 went five and seven and the idea was that oh Vanderbilt is going to come back and they're going to be a very solid academic program that wins in football and Clark Le's building something new and he's different than everything about Vander throughout history and then they went two and 10 last year and they were horrible so now he's changing things up it doesn't matter Vanderbilt's just not good Shane Beamer on the other hand he came out and he said that we're South Carolina we have no ceiling that's just delusional and no one even covered it because South Carolina had again Strong finish to 2022 by beating Tennessee and Clemson spoiler alert may have been because because of the Connor stallions Michigan Scandal and then last year they went five and seven they're losing Spencer Rattler there's no reason to believe in this program nobody even paid attention to what Shane Beamer had to say so truth be told neither of these programs are relevant at this point it's over I think that SEC order has been restored and with Texas and Oklahoma in the leag I just don't see South Carolina and Vander can go anywhere I I I do think it's possible that South Carolina does not have a ceiling now St sper did almost reach a ceiling I think a few more years if he hadn't been so impatient he may have actually gone further but they were a fluke loss to Tennessee in 2013 away from playing for the SEC title and that game would have determined who played for the national title between South Carolina and Auburn as it did between Missouri and Auburn so South Carolina ceiling is as we know so far is coming very close to competing for a national title but that's not Shane Beamer ceiling so even in South Carolina doesn't have a ceiling they have one under shame Beamer and so it was laughable when he said that South Carolina has no ceiling um so that's just how that goes that's pretty funny uh we're going to um be back in 30 seconds the show represented by Banks and Jones well it's because they're Tennessee's trial attorney you can play to win with banks and Jones because they'll go to trial you've heard of other lawyers they say they'll go to trial and fight for you they won't they just want to settle that's the easiest way out well that's not Banks and Jones led by T Scott Jones they won't settle they'll go to trial for you Tennessee's trial attorney they play to win truly Tennessee's trial attorney when it comes to criminal defense or personal injury why settle it's Banks and Jones T Scott Jones Banks and jones.com no Dave here no rules we're going to play four downs twice because the Georgia Bulldogs are now underway at SEC media day speak as we go here and four teams take the stage at SEC media days on Tuesday by the way there's now four teams taking the stage every day because they're 16 teams in the conference and the conference in the media days last four days so the George Bulldogs the Tennessee Vs the Oklahoma Sooners and the Missouri Tigers are all taking center stage at SEC media days day two and we are going to talk about the biggest questions facing those teams for this four downs starting with Georgia I think Kirby Smart and Georgia's biggest question this year is just the criminal issues facing the team and the traffic issues look there's no question about their talent there's no question about Carson Beck the player a generational quarterback may be the best in the SEC and as high as I am on Nico as an NFL draft scout I would probably draft Carson Beck first over anybody and I mean maybe anybody in college football at this point but georg's had 19 traffic incidents since the Jaylen Carter tragedy in January of 2023 after they won their second straight national championship Georgia has had a thousand different incidents of players just randomly getting involved in reckless driving things like that the truth of the matter is all of these incidents almost every one of them post Jaylen Carter are things that you can see college kids doing as Josh P said last week it's one of those you ever been at a movie theater or something or in a parking lot you see a car doing something stupid you're like well that guy was dumb that's all you really saw them doing and yeah you don't kick players off the team for that but if it keeps happening and it's not the same player doing it but if it keeps happening do you have to change your punishment It's Tricky I don't know the answer but Kirby Smart's going into SEC media days and came into SEC media days a within a week of two more Georgia arrests for reckless driving including star linebacker smil Mund Jr so they got to address this I don't know how I don't know what they'll do but they there's just no way they can address it and that's a big problem as for Tennessee football and obviously that's unique to us but you can see our article online now on offthe hookspace on the major questions facing the vs overall we spoke a little bit about them on Monday but part of that is Josh Hy taking the stage the same day as Oklahoma and Missouri another one is why are Nico eam malava and James Pierce not there because those are the two biggest stars for Tennessee we have broken that down at length um is Tennessee football Allin for 2024 they made a lot of moves with nil and returning veterans it seems they are super committed to trying to win big in 2024 specifically even if it sacrifices the future how special leaders are Keenan peely and Amari Thomas I mean Keenan has played one game for Tennessee and was invited to SEC media days Amari Thomas on the other hand is going to SEC media days as a defensive lineman for his second straight year very few people go to SEC media days twice in general defensive lineman are not supposed to be leaders in general but Amari Thomas has a defensive lineman going twice that's a real big question and then there is an on the field question of the defensive back rotation the left guard and the running back for the vs who will step in for all of those roles because Tennessee football can't do what it wants to do unless all of those voids are filled they have voids for different reasons Tennessee didn't really have a left guard last year they lost Jaylen Wright at running back and Jabari small and they over overhauled their secondary just pretty much forced everybody into the transfer portal so those are the major questions facing the program I think the biggest one facing Tennessee though if I were to pick one I would honestly say that the real question is how much does Josh hyp will believe in nicoo yamal a star power he didn't bring him to SEC media days which was weird the story is that Joe Milton ER caused a drop off at quarterback last year which is why the offense couldn't do what it usually does which is why Tennessee went from 11-2 to 9 and four the other story is that Niko yam malava is going to restore Tennessee football's offense to what it's supposed to be I happen to think that Niko yam malava was a quarterback created and allowed to run Josh iel system and is transcendently great so if all that is true how much does he believe in IM alava star power and does he agree with me and is that why I believe he's all in on 2024 but again if that's all true why would Nico go to SEC media days I mean again 11 of 16 SEC schools brought quarterbacks it's the year of the quarterback in the SEC there's a lot of star quarterbacks everywhere it's weird that a guy like Nico who could end up being the best of all of them doesn't end up going to SEC media day so that's a question I would truly Ask Josh hypo so Georgia's criminal issues is first down Tennessee's expectations for Nico emla Ava is second down third down Josh Hy former school is Oklahoma prepared for SEC media days League Play I mean or for SEC leag play excuse me that's the question they need to ask at media days is the same one you ask for Texas nothing's really going to change for them I mean Oklahoma is coming into the league with the new quarterback in Jackson Arnold who is his own Nico in a certain way because people believe in him as a potential Superstar they have a coach in Bren vbl who just got a gigantic contract extension because of one 10 and three season that was 10 and three in the Big 12 there were a lot of questions about the Big 12 so will be able to maintain that in the SEC honestly I don't know I don't know and and a key game funny enough will be Tennessee Oklahoma at the end of September that'll be a telling sign of where Josh hpel and Bren vinal stand as head coaches um I think Josh hpel does have to win that game and obviously there's a storyline of Josh hpel getting fired by Oklahoma in 2014 because Bob Stoops wanted to scapegoat him for the issues they had that year the truth of the matter was it goes was even deeper it wasn't just protecting his brother mikee stops as defensive coordinator Bob stops tried to force the Johnny Manzel RPO offense onto Josh Hy with Trevor Knight hyp insisted that Knight couldn't run it it created a catastrophe it didn't work and as a result you had what happened in 2014 Josh Hy being scapegoated he's never forgiven Oklahoma and people will say they've been vinus I don't believe they have but that's kind of a really interesting point and that's definitely something worth looking into but again in general Oklahoma's question is the same as Texas are they ready for SEC play can they handle the lead we honestly don't know and we probably won't know for a while so I I gotta be again I don't know for sure but it's a little bit odd where Oklahoma is standing on this before we get to fourth down the show brought to you by Newber collision center it's 45th year the second and third Generations continue Joe nubert's commitment his vision of what this business needed to be we still try to live up to that Joe Newbert Collision Center all right fourth down Missouri taking the podium on Tuesday their ability to maintain success Eli drinkwitz shocked Everybody by just going five and five his first year at Missouri because that seemed like a total disaster of a program then postco he goes six and seven and back toback years and it doesn't seem like he can do anything better and then 2023 comes and he shocks the World by going 11- two the real story was week three when they beat Kansas State 30 to 27 with Chris kman as Kansas State's head coach Colin Klein as their offensive coordinator that was a big win for Missouri they also had a pretty solid win against Memphis a solid Memphis program their losses were LSU who they put up a fight against and number two Georgia no shame in that they beat Kentucky on the road they obviously beat South Carolina at home and then to Pro Pro they were legit and it wasn't a fluke they blew out Tennessee in November where Eli drits changed his whole game plan to get that win I don't care about the Cotton Bowl against Ohio State those new year six bowls mean nothing last or meant nothing last year Well mean that's not a word those new year six blls meant nothing last year because Ohio State didn't care to be there however the Tennessee win was legit the Kentucky win was legit the Kansas State win was legit but he did change up everything for his game plan to beat Tennessee and his other wins were South Dakota Middle Tennessee Vanderbilt South Carolina Florida and Arkansas that six wins against teams that had losing records last year and then you can add a seventh in Memphis because even though Memphis did go 10 and three with Ryan silverfield and did very well they are a group of five schools so that's seven wins they should have had Ohio State didn't have anybody in the cotton bow that's actually eight wins they should have had should have had so Kansas State and Tennessee are their only impressive wins KY is not a bad win since it was on the road but Kentucky did go six and six so that's the big question facing Missouri are they legit some people uh are are talking about why SEC uh media days that's a great question by Barry Allen it's an old part of it's an old part of tradition just for the league it started back in I think with players coming goes back to 1989 it's just kind of an unofficial way to kick off the college football preseason now I think I don't know how this is going to go in the future because so many teams are joining conferences and you're going to have super conferences and I do think you're going to have more of a need to um spread things out in the calendar years but the truth of the matter is SEC media days is a just kind the same with all the other conference media days is an unofficial way to be able to kick off the season Derek says I gave absolutely no credit to Missouri and Eli no I think Eli's actually a very good offensive coach Derek um but he did change up his entire game plan for Hy now that is an indictment against Hy for not adjusting on the fly in the middle of the game but by that point Tennessee was loaded with injuries riddled with injuries they were limited at quarterback so there's questions over what he could have done in that moment when we come back in two minutes we are going to talk a little bit about some of the interviews Dave did on Monday at SEC media days he spoke with Josh Ward and he spoke with Chris flank we'll cover both of those and then we'll give our own thoughts on what comes out of those interviews stick with us we will be back in exactly two minutes C 44 STX 45985 24 Ford Escape 3,962 24 Ford Maverick XLT 32720 rayar Ford your East Tennessee Ford dealership sports treasures in North Knoxville is one of the South's largest sports cards and memorabilia dealers featuring over 10 million sports cards from vintage to modern sports treasures carries a full line of hobby boxes singles autographed member abilia tennis Evol Collectibles Fan Cave Decorations and so much more see a museum full of Collectibles at Sports Treasures 4819 North Broadway in Fountain City and sports treasures on Facebook Sports Treasures where the real sports fan goes to shop have you seen the latest TriStar hats Co product TriStar hats Co what's that you you know those really cool hats shirts 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Newbert Collision Center welcome back to Off the Hook Sports there was a connection ISS please guys on the message board if there's anything wrong let me know um I did reconnect but it happened in the moment so sometimes these things happen when you're the only one hosting the show but yes just please there if the con connection issue was gone again which is an issue which is a problem all right guys bear with me here trying to get this figured out [Music] okay uh what about now how was the connection okay guys sorry um had some issues I will try as can to fix this I apologize for these connection issues that just happened um these things do happen every now and then but we will do our best to fix them as of right now um I want to bring up to you the fact that the show has brought to you by work trucks we're all about trucks trucks that are actually available trucks that help you maximize your profits by having the right to the right work vehicle now time is money the perfect work vehicle doesn't break down and has all the space to carry what you need that's what work trucks is intent on offering while other dealerships just can't do it Contracting is about time work trucks saves you time with less back and forth trips and trucks that pass the highest standards to be put to work the process is also quick and easy when choosing a vehicle for work trucks cargo vans utility body trucks with the with the uh with with the work bodies installed pickup trucks of all sizes and anything special like cranes or dump trucks War truck supplies vehicles to people just like you and get you back on the road tomorrow no dealership runaround if you're a contractor you need to know work trucks and that's a fact service industry remember work trucks work trucks carries the trucks that your business has to have you need work trucks Clinton Highway in Knoxville and in downtown Birmingham for the entire inventory go online to work trucks.com with that work trucks excuse me work trucks llc.com that's work trucks llc.com with an X why risk chancing your future and business on the wrong piece of equipment that burns your time work trucks LLC .c work trucks will also work to make sure you have the perfect vehicle you have to have they'll even find a perfect truck outfit it and make sure it fits your need to a te work trucks with an x. llc.com proud supporters of the Tennessee Vs all right guys um we are back on we're back going again I'm going to try to pull up the interview that Dave hooker did with Josh Ward um on on um sorry on Monday Dave hooker did interview with Josh Ward Tennessee and the things going on in let me just share the scre real quick and see if I can get that in um just give me one guys we're still working on this and here we go all right screen has popped up this was Dave hooker with Josh Ward on Monday discussing Tennessee's appearance at SEC media days let's dive in with that real quick so Josh I do think it's it's going to be the well look at Texas also wonder if they have to take a a little bit of a step back they thought was more than their at times they're one of the crew now at least they will they think like that no guys still bad internet connection I am so so sorry for this I really really apologize I think I'm going to do I'm going to pull it up offline which I've been able to do recently so just bear with me here again this is just today we're going to have this happen we're only going to have this issue today this should be fixed tomorrow but there are some problems right now with our connection issue and it's been causing um a few blackouts so again this is Josh Ward Dave hooker spoke with Josh Ward on um Monday about Tennessee and SEC media days and everything going so we're going to try to share the screen with you here um got live quick time player oh I able to share the screen okay guys we are having many issues on this I I would like to really apologize um just give me a second but we're still trying to work through these issues but the truth of the matter is Dave hooker spoke with Josh Ward and they talked about everything from SEC media days to expectations for the league um they spoke about Texas in the league why Tennessee didn't bring anybody to SEC media days themselves um all of that is on display here so we're just bear with this for a second we're really really really trying to get this up you guys realize and again if you guys are having issues please let me know we we're really trying to get this resolved this is a this is not not an issue we foresaw today and um so we're trying again we're trying our best uh I apologize for the technical difficulties I really really do guys I did not mean for this to be the case um if you can just give me a second we'll have we should have this off and running in no time in one second but there are some issues uh while we're at this while we're trying to work on this uh the show brought to you by Medicare Misty that's right Medicare Misty we are going to play play that ad and then hopefully when we play it we'll be back in rolling e thanks guys for still being with us I promise we're getting this shoty and we beta tested this from SEC media days well while we're trying to get this figured out why don't we talk a little bit about and guys tell me how I look on the studio that's the one question I really have if I am looking okay on the studio that's all I care about right now um there is an issue uh we will get it fixed I would like to truly apologize for the technical difficulties I don't know what's causing them right now but yeah so we're going to try to get this show rolling still um with we're going to start talking about Tennessee's roster changes which is an intriguing story that we all want to pay attention for those had a few roster changes they were updated on Monday as SEC media days was underway um sorry again bear with me gotta love live TV right gotta love live TV and technical difficulties when you're trying to fix things but for those interested okay all right that was necessary um so um again I'm more teex sappy than this guys I know this is a little wild I shouldn't be struggling like this it's a problem for me um but we're going to talk a little bit bit about the v's roster changes um Tennessee had multiple roster changes the other day and I think was Emanuel Lacoy Emanuel Lacoy I thought was going to be an edge rusher for Tennessee that's where I had him for a long time if he was going to change positions I would have thought he would move over to defensive line well apparently that that is not the case Emanuel Lacoy I'm not sorry not defensive line I would have thought he would move over to tight end apparently that's not the case apparently he's moving over to defensive line okayy guys how are we connected now how's this is this better pulled on the 5G um I think the five I think the 5G might actually help a little better I'm right below it so we're going to see you guys let me know how it's doing on the I I'm so glad you guys are working with me on this because I didn't know I wasn't sure if this would actually um yes I do believe we're doing better now I think we're doing better um this is man you gota love you gota love you gotta love Wi-Fi sometimes right guys all right you know what we're gonna pull this back up again Dave hooker for those who weren't paying attention earlier was able to speak with Josh Ward um they spoke about SEC media days on um Monday and just Texas and Oklahoma being in the SEC they spoke a good deal about who was coming to SEC media days representing Tennessee all of that was an interesting interview I want to go aead and play that with Dave hooker and Josh Ward again I apologize for the issues I think we have it up and running now but so again Dave hooker spoke with Josh Ward who is a great friend of the show they were on for SEC media days in Dallas Monday Josh Ward talks about James Pierce he talks about uh Tennessee and nicoo IM alava and he talks a good bit about Texas and the newcomers to the SEC so let's give this a shot now this is Josh Ward with Dave hooker on SEC media days so Josh I do think it's it's playing week to week it's going to be the the biggest challenge but when I look at Texas I also wonder if they have to take a little bit of a step back they've promoted themselves more than their conference at times they're one of the crew now they're not the leader at least they will they think like that no uh this is different in that in the Big 12 they had a reason to think that because the other League members when you think about the pack 10 going after Texas and Oklahoma and it ended up not working out and said they get Colorado and they become the Pack 12 but at the time the Big 12 was like no no no no you can't leave us so they made concessions to Texas and Oklahoma the SEC is not that way Alabama and LSU and Tennessee and Georgia they don't need Texas they do to to grow the revenue I mean there are ways that it helps but without Texas in Oklahoma the SEC schools winning championships they look at Texas and just see them as a legitimate competitor and they do strengthen the league but those schools they don't take a a back seat to Texas at least in their own mind so Texas will probably come in and try to push others around it's just not going to work that way so what Texas needs to do is win right away and they they have some confidence in going to Tuscaloosa last year and winning and I think that gives them credibility if we're talking about can go play with the best they went to Tuscaloosa and beat Alabama and and were clearly the better team that night again week in week out is a little bit different conversation Texas has the players they have a head coach who understands what you have to be and that matters if you had a head coach at Texas coming in the league that didn't really know what it was going to take to win in the league that would be a huge disadvantage sarkeesian knows and he has players in place now he just has to keep building and he needs some wins and year one to back up so let's talk specifically about Tennessee they don't bring ni go or James Pierce down here in take Pierce I'm not surprised at all he's an all SEC player he might be the best defensive player in the country that is a realistic scenario he's not the best player on the team when it comes to the media I think they're still working with him on that I think they've spent some time behind the scenes preparing him for the attention he will receive if he continues to do what he's done but the media day session is not where they want to kind of test out the development there with Nico I think it's as simple as he has a right future they believe in him but they're going to let him go show what he can do before they put him in front of everybody it's a different approach from other schools um Oklahoma has said Jackson Arnold same class as Nico it's your time go say hello to everybody so they're introducing him to the media this week Tennessee doesn't want to I think Josh hyle takes a different approach and that is I'm going to take seniors veteran guys guys who have been here and Amar Thomas's case or Cooper ma who's done so much Media or Kean peely who is one of the oldest people in college coaches or players so I I think I think it's about guys that he knows will be comfortable maybe don't bring a ton of attention to outside Knoxville but will represent Tennessee the way that he was Josh Ward Sports Animal F him you Twitter again to make sure they don't follow the country music guy by the way aren't you playing NE Stadium September 22nd so or is that Morgan Wallace I'm hoping to open and I I have been invited via social media to many shows in the state of Texas so the country music singer John JH ward he is popular in Texas so everybody I'm home I'm ready to play my shows _ W to follow and I might have some new material coming out soon nice all right there is a Josh W country singer uh you know why you should make the move from Radio to he dominates me on Google too so if you search my name I'm page two Josh Ward's music gets G gets page one t he had a quarterback with that really messed with me in the last name um but with the you know the the one reason you should leave radio just get in the country music right what is that chicks just as simple as that he's Josh W I'm D Booker for do radio isn't what right your target demo is mint 2554 there's that's a rough group all right he's Josh Ward I'm Dave hooker live from SEC media brought to you by work trucks and our friends at ball Auto Group right there on Callahan stay tuned more after this yes was Josh Ward with Dave hooker on SEC media days talking about Nico IM malava and James Pierce and I do agree I understand the idea behind Nico imal and James Pierce attending SEC not attending SEC media days I just think the star power of nicoo Imam malava outweighs anything else when it comes to veteran leadership or anything like that on SEC media days there's just no way around that you can't ignore it and I think that truth be told Tennessee should have brought Nico im malava as far as Texas in the SEC not being the big dog on campus look this was a concession by Texas to join the SEC I've said that from the start they had always been hoping they would be the top dog wherever they went they strong armed the Southwest Conference breakup to get who they wanted in the Big 12 then strong armed the Big 12 which is why other teams were leaving and they didn't mind and they tried to strong on their Pack 12 when they went out there they couldn't stronger on the SEC they basically had to get rid of the level of power they were given in other conferences I don't know for sure how that's going to last with them long term but the truth of the matter is Texas that was always going to be an issue for Texas was that they were going to have to make a concession to join the SEC a concession that they haven't had to make for any conference or any League they've been a part of and honestly over I'd say five decades I would say since the days of Daryl Royal in the 60s Texas has been strong arming their way to get what they want out of whatever conference they're in which yes to a degree is just a Southwest Conference and um also the Big 12 but again Texas spearheaded the efforts to start the Big 12 and then their their moves almost spearheaded the efforts to break up the Big 12 the Big 12 now has moved up with the time so I think that's been a big benef I think that's made them a big beneficiary but they can't do that with the SEC now if they do it with Greg sanki who knows I mean Greg sinki did already give them the easiest schedule possible which was flat out embarrassing that they managed to do that um with the SEC I you know you it it was kind of pathetic quite honestly that Texas would that Greg zinki would give Texas such an easy schedule they were clearly trying to have the best possible um the easiest possible situation uh for Texas because I thought it'd be good for ratings and quite honestly I thought that was a pretty low move by Greg sinki but Greg sink's made a lot of things and a lot of decisions that I would criticize so I can't sit there and say too much I feel like Greg sinki has messed up with contracts he's given certain teams more beneficial um preference treatment on scheduling than others he did take Vengeance on Alabama with their schedule this year solely due to last year and Nick sa strong arming things and of course if you're going to be that if you're G to not be objective like that if you're not going to be neutral then yes you will end up going out of your way to benefit Texas so I do think that Greg sinki is caling to Texas a little bit but the ability to calow to Texas is going to be significantly less than it was in back in obviously 200 um back in the Big 12 back in the Big 12 that that wasn't going to happen because for obvious reasons um the Big 12 uh completely depended on Texas so I think that at the very least you can say that um the SEC won't let Texas just totally strong arm them to doing whatever they want I'll give them that much um even if it is true that Greg sinki gave them of a break as far as Tennessee again with SEC media days look the story lines with Nico and Pierce was just too much of a missed opportunity as much of but this is about Hyo running things his way and the respect he has for certain players who he feels like deserve to go Amari Thomas Keenan pey and um Cooper amazing chemistry outweighs everything with Josh H's team and a system that's why they were so good in 2002 2022 and I think he wants to stick with that and I think that's a big reason why Nico but why they think the offense will be able to take off but the storyline I mean James Pierce could be the number one pick in next year's draft Nico could be the number one pick in the 2026 NFL draft both are top 10 picks I mean I honestly I don't understand why they wouldn't have both of them there because that's a storyline on and it's huge for recruiting and it is a missed opportunity um but those are some interesting takes from Josh Ward on Texas in the SEC and who tennessy brought to SEC media days this next guy that Dave hooker was able to interview Chris plank of the sooner radio network plink talks about Oklahoma joining the SEC and Josh hyul going to faces alma mater this year the school that fired him nobody gives a better perspective on something like this than Chris plank we are pulling him up now this is Dave hooker speaking with Chris plink of sooner radio network about Oklahoma in the SEC and Josh hypo in Dallas Texas that still sounds a little bit weird brought to you by our friends at work trucks and volunteer Automotive Group I'll tell you more about them a little bit later joined by Chris Plank with the Sooners radio network Chris you're now in the SEC what do you think this is a whole new world I mean it's um it's amazing we came here to be Roland the voice of the Sooners and I do a radio show well he does a show before mine and we got here at 5:00 a.m. this morning right just because the excitement level right and by 7 a.m. there was already a juice and energy um a buzz unlike anything I think I felt at at one of these events that can be mundane that can be a little bit coach speaky but there is um hey there's a buzz there's an excitement and you know as we're talking right here there's there's news breaking for Oklahoma they've changed their whole tailgating setup there's a new um walk of Champions if you will so it's it's it's a whole new world for Oklahoma and obviously it's uh it's exciting to be in the SEC this is big time yeah well it it is it significantly different than say the Big 12 uh media days that you've covered or any other maybe that you've covered yeah it's just it's bigger I mean that's I was I was talking you know I I'll name drop like crazy so I apologize but I was talking to the guys like Andy Staples and Dennis dods who who who who've gone through it on the Big 12 in the SEC side and they've done it for years well this is my first time because it would always be SEC media days and to see I mean again it's just the massive amount of interest and people and excitement it's um it's unparalleled anything that I've seen the Big 12 always did a great job but it was on a you know a little bit of a different scale it's not a knock I love it you know it was it was it's a great league but for what Oklahoma is and where Oklahoma in Texas should be need to be and can be this is uh this is what it's all about I don't think there's any question that their positive additions to the conference it makes it in my opinion the best conference on the field of course the big 10 would have something to say about that but how would you judge the interest level of the fan bases of Oklahoma and Texas yeah they're they're very passionate you know it's kind of wild I've U I've done Sidelines for U football since 2011 and I've I moved to to to Oklahoma in 1993 I've never seen a football game at the University of Texas because the Red River rivalry is always right here in Dallas at a neutral site but the fans they show out they show up they're loud um oklah and and they're passionate Oklahoma's a very passionate fan base if there is one area for both of these teams Oklahoma and Texas where I'm like there's no question of their SEC Readiness it's in their fan base and and in the energy that they bring so it's to me it's a conference be fitting of the following of both of these teams you have Brit vinales year one struggles a little bit uh Tennessee fans worried that might call a guy like Josh eiel then year two it gets better for venables your thoughts on that relationship between H highpool and Oklahoma it seems sprayed from the people I've talked to well I mean Josh is a major part of Oklahoma CER football history you know he was the quarterback on the last National Championship team that Oklahoma had in 2000 um Josh hyp is part of the Oklahoma football story forever um unfortun Ely when when he was coaching they they had a couple rough seasons and you know he he got fired and I I I listen looking back you can debate whether or not he deserved another year but you know he had a really scratch and Claw to for his coaching career went to Utah State went to Missouri and then you know ends up doing great things at us UCF and I love to see what he's doing at Tennessee but you're right there always seemed to be somewhat of a fractured nature to the um relationship between one of the greatest quarterbacks in program history and the current relationship so it was to me incredibly reassuring that I I can't remember if it was Roy they might have been coach Stoops or Roy Williams when they went into the College Football Hall of Fame there was a picture of Josh hpel and Brent vinales standing with their arms around each other and for me you know that's listen Brent Josh Hy's a head coach at Tennessee and he's doing a great job and and I want to see him win every game but one this year um but he is worthy of all the shine and all the excitement from sooner fans because of what he did Oklahoma was in a bad spot right whenever he came on campus in 1999 and he and Bob Stoops turned this thing around and it's uh it was disappointing or I don't know if disappointing would be though we're just sad you know whenever there was the the fracture but he and Brent have a great relationship I think Bren Vin is going to do great things I think Josh hpel is doing and will do great things and I think it's really cool to see that bridge getting rebuilt between uh Josh and Oklahoma because he's a you can't tell the story of Oklahoma football without Josh hpel let me ask you this this is the billion dollar question that every Tennessee fan once answered other than Venable struggling one day and Josh hyp doing incredibly well what would it take maybe the polit political part of it for Oklahoma to be interested in Josh and vice versa or is that out of the realm of possibility you know it's it's interesting and it's it's a fair question especially whenever you think about Oklahoma did struggle in year one under Brent vinals one t games last year now a lot of people focus on the three frustrating losses two of those to Big 12 teams that Oklahoma just didn't typically lose to but Oklahoma gave a big time vote of confidence to Bren vinales they gave him a two-year extension onto his already you know four-year deal that was left on it and the culture he's building and the things that he's doing around the program really leads you to believe they're on the right path now if Oklahoma has a situation to where the bottom falls out and they've got to go in another Direction I mean I I I think that it would be you know a direction that they would look I I I mean now Tennessee can match anything they want right especially whenever you have him doing things as well as he is right now but for me um I think Brent vinal is going to be the head coach at Oklahoma for a long time and if something happens you know they're going to be hitting that Rocky Top area code but um I think both coaches are going to be in their spots for a really long time I think Tennessee should be Brit Venable's fans great great stuff Chris we appreciate it how do we follow your work at plank show on Twitter and listen we uh repun to be part of the SEC can't wait to welcome Tennessee for the first SEC game of the year to Norman you guys will love it you're very welcome uh into the SEC I think it's two fantastic editions so stay tuned more after this off the hook Sports SEC media day coverage live in Dallas Texas brought to you by work trucks llc.com and our friends at volunteer Automotive Group stay tuned Dave's interview there was brought to you as he mentioned by work trucks we are all about trucks trucks that 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honesty dependability and customer satisfaction have been the cornerstones of our business since 1961 City heat and [Applause] air 23 F-150 super c44 STX 45985 24 Ford Escape 3,962 24 Ford Maverick XLT 32720 rayon Ford here East Tennessee Ford dealership welcome back to Off the Hook Sports we're doing a longer show today because we have lots of interviews to get to um lots of fun ones lots of good ones um lots of players we had the SEC media days press conferences beforehand I'm going to give these interviews with you in the suite real quick um we're going to start with our very own Cooper maze who was able to speak with the media on before everybody went to the podium so I'm G to go ahead and share that with you guys now this is Cooper Maze Before They Took the podium at SEC media days going to go ahead and play that for you guys uh let me get it up and here we go this was Cooper ma earlier to [Music] yay um SEC media days this is something you said that you were interested in a year ago um what's the like being here a big blessing you know I think it's it's a good opportunity for me to represent the the school that I go to represent myself and and my family and just you know put my best foot forward you you've been out there a little bit more and you not talked about that but as as far as publicly maybe not the most comfortable but now you're you're doing it and you're doing it a lot can you just kind of talk about your approach to that yeah just just trying to be the best I can be every day you know I'm you know a lot of people aren't blessed with this opportunity to come down here and and and you know talk and and represent themselves so um just trying to do the best I can with it I I've been blessed so just you know got to take the opportunity as it comes super you've seen quite a few quarterbacks roll through in your time what makes Nico stand out and appear to be ready for the role um just just kind of how how young he's he's grown up and matured you know I think he kind of came in and was ready to kind of take on the role whatever that was but you know from the first day he he came in and was very humble very very eager to learn and you know he's done a great job in us it's been the difference biggest difference in him now that game lead of the off that kind of thing um just kind of the way he communicates and and and Carries himself a little bit you know he's always been a a confident guy and know knows who he is and everything but it it's a lot more comfortability when you know what you've done on a college level and you don't really know who you play you know he gotten any louder is he we heard these good one-on-one talking to you guys is he still sort of a team wide leader yet or that's still coming in a little bit yeah's he's he's a great leader for us because just how he how he acts you know um a guy that that has all the things that he had going on especially coming out of high school and you know I don't know if I would come in very humble and and you know ready to ready to learn and everything so he's done a great job just taking everything and tried and people respect that L is a big addition what do you see out of him and what do you think he's going to bring to the table just just a great a great platform for for growth you know got everything that stuff that you can't teach you know he's a great kid as well and he's he's coming you know a young kid but he's ready to learn and ready to play and you know he's done a really good job you know taking the offense and best you can C what about uh John sliding over to the right side how natural do you think that'll be for him oh man I I think it's it's looking natural for me and and what I see but it's a hard thing to do you know I I people don't really realize how just how hard it is I mean it's it's like bat and Lefty and then switching to righty you know so just kind of flipping everything around physically and then you add in the mental side of it it's a hard thing but I think John's done a really good job with it and he's continuing to get better and is it's process for sure how has javante handled his injury and being out and missing time and just all that rehab and everything oh I I think he's handled it great I think anybody that knows frags knows that he's got a lot of energy and and you know can can battle with the best of anybody so I think it's been really good for him you know I don't know if he's ever really been banged up until that he's played a lot of ball here and done really good so he uh he's he's had a really good time kind of having that aders adversity and then you know switching into a positive thing for him new faces in the back field uh what do you think of the weapons back there and how excited are you to work with some of the movies super excited I mean we got you know they're new weapons maybe but but if there's one thing I know about Coach hype and and his offense is that he knows how to dial it up and and use his Playmakers so um you know I don't know how it'll happen but I'm sure it'll happen a lot how much pressure do you put on yourself in that Center position when you with the Young quarterback and you get to call out blitzes and stuff like that a lot but I mean that's that's what I came back for I knew what my role was going to be I knew I knew what I had to do and and I've kind of found that spot here at Tennessee I feel like my my place is kind of helping everybody around me I think that's kind of what the center spot does in general but but especially what our offense and what we do so it's been it's been a process for us what else contributed to your that decision what what what have your what from your first four years of your career good bad or indiffer made you want to come back for another year um big thing is I I pray about it you know Finding finding my faith later in college and kind of just trusting trusting the Lord with with my decision making a little bit more and then I've got the whole family in Knoxville obviously kad's you know in Charlotte he's on to different things but you know the rest of my family is still in Knoxville or East Tennessee so it's been a really good good time for me just getting close to my family and you know doing doing the football thing a little bit more too you talked about Javon John a little bit how much how beneficial is that experience on the line with you especially with the Young quarterback oh it it's it's invaluable you know it helps a great deal you know I think the more experience and the more the more experience you have just in general on the offensive line the better you'll be because I mean you can be strong you'll be athletic whatever but until you play you you won't be that great at it coach hle talked about of course national titles being the ultimate goal what ownership do you take in getting this team to that place oh every day you know it's an everyday process for us coach talks about not wasting a day and and you know doing the best we can and putting our best foot forward so every day I try to come in you know it's hard everybody you know life you know every every day is something new but you know I think if you have the right mindset and you go in there and try to do the right thing every single second of the day and you know you'll be successful Cooper what about specifically the competition there that left guard spot for some of those guys uh specific what did you say the the competition that left guard for some of those guys competing for for that spot yeah it it it's you know the process is still unfolding fall Camp will give us a better better judge of that but we got a couple guys that we're confident in that that could play and you know there's a lot of guys that you know injury happens throughout the season you never know where you're going to play so um we're just getting a lot of guys ready and and you know I'm sure we'll find the spot I don't know how many reps you got during the Spring but obviously every lot of chance lot of chance for Von William to get a lot of work at Center what you see from those guys now you try to help them along of course this whole off season um just just growth you know I think you know I I talked about a little bit earlier just trying to help the young guys and everything those guys I think look up to me and and kind of L into me a little bit so I I try to do the best I can giving them any tips and everything but you know they're still young guys and they're they're trying to figure it out themselves so it's it's just the process and you know it takes time how much of a mental back and forth game is it when Keenan's back there I know he's been out and coming back but him being the quarterback of the defense when he's in there you seeing all the lines and everything that kind of mental back and forth that you guys could potentially have no yeah it's it's a great battle you know we we really just the whole defense in general has has done a really good job these last few years especially when we are in Fall camp or spring ball I mean that's who all all we go against so um just seeing those guys develop and get better each year and you know it it's been really cool be able to go to the game in Charlotte um I'm not really sure I haven't thought about that probably not going thanks coer that was Cooper Mays obviously one of the most mature players on Tennessee's football team an incredible leader you can't say enough about him I our own Jacob Warren went to SEC media days last year and they had to bring Joe Milton as the senior quarterback which was why Coop M wasn't able to go but you do have to give a ton of respect to him Cooper May is just one of the greatest people and just one of tenness favorite Suns on the offens on in football and I think that you know when you think of Cooper ma he's another Trey Smith just guys that you know love Tennessee those are going to be two of the favorite offensive lineman in Tennessee football history just a ton of respect for Cooper Ma and the type of leader he is and everything he has done for the program and a very valuable player I mean again the center is a huge part of this offense and if Cooper maze goes down we don't know what to expect and that was shown last year we love visiting with him every Sunday or every weekend and now having him at SEC media days is perfect all right so next we're bringing up a am Ari Thomas Amari Thomas is at his second SEC media days which is rare in general but it's especially rare for defensive line because defensive linemen are never considered leaders of their team anyway unless you're a John Henderson type so major props to Amari Thomas for also going to SEC media days for a second year in a row he was also in the suite doing a group interview we are going to bring up that now here is Amari Thomas Tennessee starting senior defensive line and coach or whoever say you got to come back just wanted to hear no it was my choice it was definitely my choice it was something that um I really just had to think about pray about and just um know that of course I want to get to that next level but being with my Peet right now being here in Tennesse is I feel like was the best decision for me where do you see this V Line this season uh entering another year what do you think this line is going look like um honestly I feel like we have have a chance to be really good as a defensive line but we just have to continue to grow and we can't get complacent with who we are but we just have to continue to come in every day and just get better how does the defense as a whole take a next step I feel like the defense as a whole take the next step is just continue to create chaos Mayhem T tackle for losses interceptions just everything just playing with our hair on fire having fun just enjoying the moment what about your experience your first four years made you want to have that extra year um I would say just the people the people at Tennessee like it's a good culture to be a part of it's a good program to be a part of and then like when you have a chance to have an extra year like that and just know that you're part of the change that and that was the reason why I came to tendency to be a part of change is is um a true blessing and you can't you can't te down opportunities like that to just be around those people again Mar how much have you been a part of Hosting with transfers and how different is that from high school um it's really not that different like it's just more so with transfers like they come in they're ready to get to work they kind of already know college like high school guys coming in trying to learn who they are but transfer they already know who they are so so but I'm always I'm a part of it recruitment like everything about it I'm a part of it so what those guys hear from you guys as host thinking back on what like you heard and other guys heard how different is the message now and what they're hearing heing versus what you heard um it's pretty a lot of the same a lot of different you know when you just have a different team it's a whole different team whole different culture so of course we're just preaching to the guys that we want them to come in and be ready to play and just actually like be a part of our team and not come in trying to find themselves like we want you to come here be a family like do what you do have fun while doing it what the ceiling for James CCE J and what have you seen from him kind of as he progresses towards training camp um sing's Offa James he's every day he's come in ready to work just trying to get better be a good teammate just continue to grow everything he's doing just to have a productive year and the feeling the highest for him so I'm proud of him did you know that he was going to like could you sense that breakout season coming last year and and do you have any other kind of you know intuitions about what's coming up this year um James is just a guy who comes in every day on the practice field he makes plays he's always energetic high energy very high motor so you see it all the time so you just knew it was bound to happen so it's good to see that happen on the field and he's just Contin to get better and it's going to happen this year is he's steering clear of the the hype and all the national attention he's getting draft and all that kind of stuff yeah he doesn't pay attention to nothing like that but coach iel system the offense has talked about a lot what kind of motivation do you have to assert the defense the top of the conversation um a lot of motivation you know when you have an offense like that who goes out there score fast put up points is good to be a part of and you know that you going to play a bunch of snaps you know you're going to have a bunch of opportunities so it's a it's a win-win I love it you said you expected James Pierce to make that jump is there anybody who you think would make that jump this season um it's uh a lot of guys that I've seen grow in just throughout this year from Spring offseason to the summer so I won't say any specific names but I know a lot of guys have really just been putting in a lot of work coach H talked about the goal being a national championship and that being a minute by minute approach how would you describe what that process is like uh uh it's really you just got to be where your feet are you can't look down the road you got to focus in every day come in every day not get complacent want to get better and want to work and I feel like we do that we got a team to be really good what was your specific off seon like like how much of it was football how much was mental physical things you're working on what was your summer like it was just um a lot of everything just get my body right mental right like physical play everything is just putting everything into it so that I could get the best out of it for the last year what does leadership look like to you leadership to me is someone who puts people before him someone who's willing to care for others while at the same time know that you're doing the right thing because if you're not doing the right thing how can you lead someone so that's what leadership like to mear um Cooper Ma you may know has had some good things to say about you I wonder how much you guys going against each other in practice has helped over the years cuz there's a lot of snaps there yeah it's um helped a lot me and C we came in we formed a great brother like as my brother K and my brother we actually we've been out the country together like so you experience people like this you practice every day it's easy to come in and like talk back and forth just learning what you doing what I see what you see and it only helps the team so it's good take a few more forari so much changing this year with new additions to the SEC college football playoff expanding does that really change much for you at all um no it's the same mindset come in we want to go one and0 every week and that's the mons that's the culture that we have at Tennessee and we expect to win so that's what we just have to do Mark how excited are you to have Keenan peely back playing where you guys I'm very excited to have Keenan he's great player great teammate smart look out for other people a great definition of leadership um it's it's amazing keny is a great teammate how does he affect what you do on the field keny he's uh he affects us a lot he makes calls different things like that but I also take pride in knowing calls so that way he doesn't have to tell me so that way he can play free as well so that if we all playing free and we all having fun so it's good you guys have always a lot of guys on the defensive line couple Seasons what's it like in in that room where you guys all probably want to never come off the field but you know that you know if you on the sideline the guy that's in there for you he going to probably standard I would say we definitely want to come off the field sometimes we we get a little tired but it's good to like you said have guys in the room whove grown we've all grown together we've all matured together it's like you have if you look at our team you have a lot of veterans and a lot of young guys so our room I would consider as a lot of Veteran guys on our team but like the dline those my brothers like for real it's fun just to get able to go to work with them every day and know that we all got the same common goal and we all trying to do one thing in this win Inter National Championship and be the best person that we can be and be the best player on the field we can be thanks Mar yep than Amari Thomas is one of the greatest leaders for Tennessee football um again it's very rare for defensive tackle to be this type of leader it's even more rare when you consider that Amari Thomas is not John Henderson Steve dong Reggie White no disrespect to him but I mean you know we're talking those are among the greatest defensive lineman in history marus Thomas has NFL potential NFL talent but his great story is his work ethic and his attitude and he's just one of the best people I interviewed him last year guys you can't say enough positive things about Amari Thomas I I'm such a fan of his and not just because we have a Memphis connection because yes he is from Memphis I am from Memphis but um just in general Amari Thomas he was part of the he was part of the crew that came in with Cooper ma he's one of the greatest um leaders he really and he does a lot of The Unsung work remember this Tennessee defense is built around pass rushers an elite Superstar pass rushers because they want to Unleash the Beast and obvious passing Downs that's where you get the James pierces to do that you got to have tackles do the think lless work in the middle to command the attention and that's exactly what Amari Thomas is a able to do want to change gears a little bit before Josh Hy is going to go live which will be in about 25 minutes um Tennessee released new jersey numbers on Monday and they released roster changes and a few things from those actually kind of stood out to me and I just kind of wanted to break those down because they were a little bit alarming if I'm going to be honest with you um let's start with the jersey number the most standout jersey number change was actually Brew McCoy he's gone from wearing number 15 the past two seasons to number five squirrel white has gone from wearing number 10 his first two seasons to number three um Andre tantine will wear jayen MC as old number number two Jordan Thomas has gone from number 25 to number four Christian Harrison from number 29 to number five John Slaughter from number 33 to number 12 Ricky Gibson has gone from number 18 to number one and germon McCoy will now we number three after weing number 13 in the spring that's Oregon State transfer Temple transfer Jayla McMurray is going to wear number six after we number 12 in the spring an MTSU transfer jacobe Thomas who wor number 30 in the spring is now going to wear number nine Chaz Nimrod is wearing number 11 after he wore number 81 the past two seasons Chris braz award number 11 in the spring the two lane transfer but he's now wearing number 17 Richard freshman Ethan Davis the tight end War number 86 is as did walk on defensive back William Wright who wor I'm sorry retro freshman Ethan Davis the tight end war war number 86 last year walk on defensive back William Wright War number 36 both are going to wear number zero now Stanford transfer defensive lineman Jackson boy Jackson Moy is now wearing number 51 even though he wore number 99 in the spring and [ __ ] freshman offensive lineman Vice and Lang is switching from number 51 to 54 defensive lineman Tyree Weatherby is now number 18 after wearing number 41 during his freshman season linebacker Caleb Perry is number eight after wearing number 40 the past two seasons among the Freshman Class Edwin spilman is wearing number 13 Caleb be weing number is wearing number 25 freshman safety Edris faroo is at number 15 all changing numbers from the spring and on the offensive line Messi reic went from number 68 to 59 and Trevor Duncan went to number 67 to 65 this doesn't seem like a big thing Jersey changed just happen all the time but when your big stars change your jersey numbers it kind of stands out and that is what Brew McCoy did and honestly it's weird to say but players that have changed their jersey numbers anecdotally it seems like in my experience have not had the same level of success they had had in the past the most notable one to me was Gerald Riggs he was a thousand yard rusher with Cedric Houston in 2004 rigs wor 31 Houston wor 21 rigs switched to 21 after Houston was gone in 2005 and the 2005 season was a disaster rigs went down with the season ending injury just anecdotally things like that seem to happen more often than not Jaylen McCulla himself seemed to be better with number 22 than he was with number with number two and it's his number that Andre tantine is taking so number jersey number changes are kind of intriguing to me um another interesting one is that Emanuel Lacoy in terms of position changes has moved over to the defensive line now this could be for a few reasons look Tennessee is loaded at Edge rusher and it doesn't even matter that they lost Shan Davy and Bradley to the transfer portal or to Hon Community College um they are absolutely loaded but Emanuel Lacoy was recruited as a tight end Sledge rusher at 65243 coming out of Nigeria rare athletic Talent athletic talent that is untouched that very few have enjoyed in the past yet he's wearing I mean he is now on the defensive line this is kind of a red flag A lot of people are excited about it but it just seems like he hasn't fine-tuned his skills because if he has that rare athletic talent and he's that size at 65243 there's nowhere else you'd rather put him than tight end or Edge rusher he's going to be a little bit out of place moving on the defensive line now we heard he was raw and it's hard to be too raw to play Edge rusher but maybe you can be so raw that that's an issue so the question becomes well why is he changing to the defensive line is it just out of lack of depth are they going to force him into a role that he's not good for though because then they're gonna have to force him to put on weight will he maintain his athleticism when he puts on weight I don't know if I'm a fan of this but I think it actually has a lot to do with they may think he's a little too raw to ever develop a tight end and the truth of the matter is they are just loaded at add rusher but I mean loaded I mean loaded so truth of the matter is I think that might be the reason they're doing this it's a little odd it's a little interesting but um I do think that Emanuel Lacoy moving to defensive line could actually be more of a red flag than many of you might think I again I don't know fully what to make out of it um it's it's a little bit it's a little bit odd I'm just going to say that I don't know if it's good news for Tennessee the way people think they're still find it at dresser they have David Hobs they have Jordan Ross they have Caleb Herring obviously J those are guys who will all be there after James Pierce has gone this year Joshua Joseph is a solid Edge rusher Tennessee is going to be fine at Edge rusher they're absolutely loaded this is all based on the fact that they have such insane depth at the position that they honestly don't know what to do with themselves and I think they're trying to see if they can move ooy somewhere else and if he doesn't work out he doesn't work out sometimes that just happens but I will say that this isn't I don't think they're moving him there because how great he could be there I think they're moving him there because they have they have some genuine issues with um what he can do at edress and they're worried about his ability to play and then they're also focusing on their depth and I think they're just making a depth move with him not a potential move but we're gonna have to see how that goes um the uh truth of the matter is sometimes you take a lot of these guys uh ooy himself came from an international NFL organization you take these guys for potential and talent and sometimes they just don't um they just don't work out Travis says that dline philosophy is hit your Gap get to the ball easy peasy that's true but that's also Edge rusher philosophy and with Edge rusher you don't even have to worry about the Gap you just have to get around the guy get around the tackle so if he's too raw for that how what's he going to do with defensive line because there is actually understanding a little bit and Dave made up the term years ago and it's true and I use it now too which is Gap integrity and understanding gaps on the defensive line can be a lot trickier than you may think in certain spots in particular and aoy is not going to be a pure on defensive tackle he's going to be a hybrid defensive tackle who does three technique five technique think what they want Dominic mey to be think what Caleb Herring and jqu Blakeley were a couple years ago that's really what they're looking for aoy to be and so I look moving him this quickly that does somewhat stand out I I I mean we we do have to question that guys look so not everybody works out I think Tennesse will still be fine but that is something that we have to question the show is brought to you by Medicare missy we had some technical difficulties earlier getting this ad out let's try to do it again to see if it plays again the show brought to you by Medicare Misty 19 years this year I've been in the community since 1993 you're getting a lot of information unlike when you were working you basically they made the choice for you now you have to make the choice come to us and let us help you make it easy call Medicare Misty Medicare mti.com or 423- 777-5571 let us help film sleep at night and we P her Medicare welcome back in two minutes we are going to preview Josh hyle going to the podium for SEC media days we're going to yes we're going to live cover it here and have a little bit of fun doing it uh stick with us we'll be back in two minutes C for for STX 45985 24 Ford escap 30962 24 Ford Maverick XLT 32720 Ron Ford your East Tennessee Ford dealership sports treasures in North Knoxville is one of the South's largest sports cards and memorabilia dealers featuring over 10 million Sports cards from vintage to modern sports frasers carries a full line of hobby boxes singles autographed member ailia Tennessee B Collectibles Fan Cave Decorations and so much more see a museum full of Collectibles at Sports Treasures 4819 North Broadway and Fountain City and sports treasures on Facebook Sports Treasures where the real sports fan goes to shop have you seen the latest TriStar hats Co product 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this business needed to be we still try to live up to that Joe Newbert Collision Center y'all thought we were done no man we're St around we're going to stick on live uh until Josh hyle goes um I want to turn it over to the message board a bit though first um wanted to talk a little bit about um what you guys want to hear from Josh Hy what are you expecting to hear from him as he takes this podium in just he a few minutes um I kind of wanted him to talk about what he expects from niik IM alava and what he expects from the whole situation I actually I actually I do think he needs to be more asked why he didn't bring Nico or James pierce with him he did say national championship for those who don't know in the sweet room we don't have those interviews up yet we are trying to get them but from my understanding he talked about National Championships I've told you guys from the start I believe that Josh hyle is Allin on 2024 I think he's always been Allin on 2024 so it is kind of intriguing that he specifically said National Championship um we're gonna if you stick with us we're gonna keep the message board up and we are going to in live stream be talking about what hypo said um it's going to be a lot of fun we're going to have a lot of fun talking about it um but yeah what do you guys think uh what are some things you want to hear from hyper when he takes the podium which could be very very very uh soon um give me your thoughts again I'm Nico IM malava I am asking why he didn't bring James Pierce is he concerned about James Pierce um so okay cdb spiffy from the last segment says that LeBron James wors 23 and six um so uh yes that is true he wore 23 and he wore six um um his best days were when he was when he wore number six though okay he wore number six in during his Miami days and that's when he was at his best Travis says hypo's gonna duck the good questions like a politician Travis that is true but sometimes you can force people to have to respond in a way that will give away an answer perfect example of that was two years ago when hypo was asked specifically about jermy Banks if there was a fight that happened that kept him out of the South Carolina game because he wanted to keep that quiet and all they said after that was yeah you know we uh just try to keep team chemistry and y y and didn't answer and it became very very very very clear that Josh hyle dodged the Jeremy Banks question as much as possible it's actually hilarious go back and watch it it was actually um it was interesting um so I think that that's something that Josh Hy has it it is kind of funny I'm that serious go back and look at it it was it was a hilarious uh situation so yeah we're still waiting guys on Josh hyle to take the podium again as I told you don't go anywhere we will be live covering SEC media days covering Josh hyp at the podium we're here to have a little fun with that um I think Josh Hy is gonna say a lot of interesting things um if he gets the right questions and yeah the qu the issue is will he get the right questions you never know with this guy you never know with some of the media and some of the people there I mean it's a lot to have to I I will say it is a lot to deal with sometimes when you're trying to do this but again if you try to get the right questions in you can really get them to have to answer things that they may not want to answer Josh hpel is the king of not wanting to answer things he has mastered saying a lot without saying anything and sometimes he doesn't say anything so it's kind of very intriguing when that happens um but yeah Josh hpel will be going live very very very soon um we will be covering it here um Travis says I hope someone asked him about the Oklahoma game point blank do you have a point to prove yeah yeah that's a very good question do you have a point to prove with the Oklahoma game um that's where I would go quite honestly is I mean that that would be my that'd be my major pick um is uh the Oklahoma game we have no idea how he would go with that um so yeah it's it there's a lot there's a lot of plac he could go with um with him speaking so again we're getting this up very soon Josh Hy I'm going to go ahead and get the live stream set up as we're working on that um right now uh let's see I'm gonna make myself bigger don't worry um just give me a second here um Al [Music] righty and then let's see what we got here we're still going here guys give me a second here um there we go all right so I'm going to have it if you guys can see I have it in the bottom right corner when Josh Hy goes live um I think I'm G to move this over to the left actually um no I will not I I I I actually I should have done that that was a mistake on my end there we go um but yes we're going to have Josh Hy in the bottom right corner and we're just going to talk about uh and we're going to break down down what he says and see if it's um see how significant it is I'm turning the volume up um he should be live any moment now we are waiting for Josh hypo to take the podium we're going to recap what he says uh again you guys give me your thoughts on the message board what you guys think um Travis uh he's going to be diplomatic about Oklahoma I can just tell you that much he's gonna be very very diplomatic about Oklahoma not in a way that we want him to be but in a way that he likes to be that's going to be his big thing he's going to be extremely diplomatic about Oklahoma not so sure I want him to be good morning again let's see what he says Josh hypo was a national champion as a quarterback and he took the Reigns of Tennessee's football program in 2020 21 was named the SEC coach of the year in 2022 and has been a two-time finalist for National coach of the year he's one of only four active FBS head coaches to lead multiple programs to New Year's six bowl games during the college football playoff era and last I saw Josh we first said hello in a suite in Omaha as Tennessee and Texas A&M were playing in the college World Series final and I said congratulations to him as he was on the field post game celebrating with Danny White Rick Barnes pton Manning the Tennesse baseball program it's my privilege to introduce to you University of Tennessee H football coach Josh hpel [Music] kind of interesting that they're playing Rocky Top right now guess that makes [Music] sense great to see you everybody hope uh everybody enjoyed their extended long vacation here over the course of the uh the summer uh commissioner thanks for the the kind he mentioned last time I got a chance to see him we were in uh in Omaha and U as I was getting ready to to come here uh got a chance to see coach uh on the couple nights ago obviously our game uh was here or is here tonight and this is the first time I have had an opportunity to talk since got a chance to go to uh to Omaha and watch uh SEO and uh and Blake and and Coach byel bring home a championship to to Rocky Top unbelievable experience opportunity to watch the game with Coach Barnes um Danny uh our athletic director get a chance to be on the field and celebrate that moment uh really proud of uh of what they did bringing home a national championship to Rocky Top what coach vello has built there and have an opportunity to have my son uh with me and and really my entire family so uh great night uh you look at the success uh that our brand our logo has had recently with baseball but basketball during the course of the winter and you look at all the team sports across the board being in uh postseason play uh I think it really speaks to uh the trajectory of our University our athletic department where it's going but it also speaks to the leadership that we have there uh so fortunate to work with director and president boydd um their Visionaries they gave us all the tool to go compete and have created an unbelievable um experience for our student athletes there on the campus uh the brand is stronger than it's ever been to really excited about where we're at on the football side of it but where we're going uh as I sit here today it's hard to believe that this is the fourth year the fourth time that I've been here at SEC media days right out of back theno so proud of what our staff and our players have built uh the connection uh the committedness uh the care factor that they have for each other in in the program um you know 20 wins over the last couple years uh top three in the league uh the best that it's been uh in uh in 20 years little jonesing yourself right there you were nine and four last year I wouldn't celebrate that much extremely bright and uh we're in a race to get where we need to um extremely quickly uh proud of the the culture that we've built I mentioned that a second ago um we got unbelievable players that uh care about the people around them uh and uh attack every single day uh the right way and they do it right on the field uh they do it right in the meeting room but they do it right didn't bring James Pier who got legal trouble last year so us academically we've shattered every record uh over the last three years have reset that record full uh term GPA I think we had 53 individuals that were recognized by the conference uh at the end of the the regular season and we're fortunate enough to have uh some of those guys uh here with us today uh we got three really special individuals uh that U are with us today they represent all this good in college football they represent what it means to be Evol I take great pride and we could have had a lot of different players uh come with us here uh to to Dallas and and have an opportunity to speak with you but these three guys have unique stories and um are great Keenan peely started over 37 games in his career uh unfortunately had a season ending injury uh week one of last year decided to come back for another year of college football he loved his experience on Rocky Top and uh is a dynamic playmaker that's poised to have an unbelievable season preseason all-americans Center started for us for four straight years uh it's in his blood to be on Rocky toop his father played there his brother played there you also still haven't found a replacement vitally important to him B reason you need him back and uh he's a great U member of our Squad and uh he's got great understanding of who we are offensively the ability to communicate and has great leadership skills as well uh Omari Thomas is who was here for uh his second time uh is a four-year starter for us at at defensive tackle uh he's kind of the mayor inside of our our locker room that's a big stat uh our SEC representative the NCAA football oversight committee um but is vitally important to thas guys best four years there uh he's been a great leader uh every every single year uh this football team that we have when we embarked on our off season when we got back in in January it's a unique roster in that U we're really experienced at certain spots in particular on the line of scrimmage and we have some youth that that surrounds them the challenge has been that our young guys can't be young when we get to the fall lead we have from oured on the the youth has just improved coming in uh buying into the culture competing every single day uh this has been a great group a great team up until this uh part of the the offseason the first three quarters of our offseason they've been unbelievable in in their work habits their competitiveness how they've attacked every single rep every single day and uh I cannot wait to get to training camp uh I'm ready to go compete with these guys on the grass and I know all nation is excited uh about the season that uh we're ready to Embark upon as well uh it's hard to believe that training camps right around the corner less than two weeks we're ready to go compete we got great Renovations that are going on inside of of nean Stadium one of the great venues in all of sports let alone college football question D is if they can maintain the temp that's been the trick of finding quity we'll be ready to go kick off here in a little over a month so with that I'm going to open it up to questions thank you coach if you have a question please raise your hand we'll get Seth Diego and Nolan please again give your name and affiliation uh before your question so coach we'll start over here to our left on the second row hi to coach Nick Kelly al.com uh you've got another South Dakota native in the SEC with kayen deoro uh what's that like to have South Dakota na on other side of the third Saturday and October rivalry sure anybody pictur to South Dakota and been in the in the SEC a few few years ago uh Kaylin's somebody that I've known uh for a long time uh I was a little bit younger um watched him uh as an athlete and um then through our our coaching paths have uh have crossed and stayed in uh in contact different times um excited to have him in the league um great person great coach and um you know we'll be ready for couldn't say anything intriguing about South Dakota man I've never been to the state and I probably never will go coach Billy Jones George plaster show Nashville Tennessee last year you talked about as program progresses inches become harder to move Than Miles I'm curious how you thought your team did and moving those inches if not what can you do to do that better this season yeah um if I said miles I'm not sure that Miles might have been right uh certainly Maybe feet uh or yards um I'm really proud of of a lot of what we did uh last year uh you know uh us you know finishing uh New Year's Day a win um what he's saying is I'm proud of the fact that we were able to do that despite the fact that I got the wrong quarterback system last two decades at the same time that's obviously not the standard for uh for where we want to get to um but proud of the steps that we we took um we had some setbacks on some Saturdays but uh that's why you get up line up22 there was no step taken in this grou has been fantastic uh I'm really excited about the future of uh of who and what we're going to be when I took this job three years ago um everybody can go back and and kind of research um you know what we were embarked on uh as far as challenges and and how we had toate those no one denying that you've done a great job point now where we're almost free and clear of navigating all those things um our roster is um deest that it's been by far and uh inside of this league that's important as as you go through the season uh I couldn't be more excited about going lineing up with this group this uh this fall coach we'll go in the section just in front of you to the right coach Emily Grace mcarter from the next round you and Coach Holley are familiar with Oklahoma is there anything you're looking forward to particularly when you travel to Norman to set this is the question we want this first time that I will have been back uh it will be unique uh for myself to to be on the other sideline obviously there's been a lot of Saturdays where I was on the uh the home sideline um but uh there's so many you know great teammates friend that will be there tell us your ha you hate Bob STS great for for the university the program a lot of friends that are coaching on the opposing sideline that day former teammates that uh that will be coaching on that that opposing sideline too so uh it'll be unique to be back there but uh excited to be there okay we'll go back over here to our left-hand side for Rose at Travis Brown kbtx.com what have you liked and not liked about the helmet communicators in your this is a good one particularly with the iPad practice communication um being able to take that to to game day uh quickest most efficient effective way to communicate with somebody uh on the field uh gives you a chance to uh to solve some the problems does in an immediate way um I think the thing that uh the players would say is there's times where they want to turn the the the that off and and eliminate some of that communication too much as coaches you always got to be uh Smart in how much information you're actually giving them okay we'll go down that center aisle again in the section in front of me uh Brandon Ogden Tyler Morning Telegraph coach uh the secondaries area where youall had a lot of turnover brought in a lot of new guys just what is that you're expecting from him in that group this year yeah expecting those guys to to play at a championship level uh I love the uh the group as far as their length athleticism playmaking ability their willingness to be physical take on destruct blocks tackle in open space um their care Factor their knowledge and understanding of what we're doing cing them in a way that I didn't think you would I will say that you know their practice every single day um I'm really excited about it um I mentioned a little bit earlier but this is the deepest that uh that we've been within our roster and that affords you to have the opportunity to have great competition every single respon to question about the second big important as you go throughout the course of the Season as well and um I'm looking forward to to that group taking a real step here this fall for us she'll go here to the far left on the a first James S OKC sports radio in Oklahoma City Josh it's great to see you again James I figured I'd hear from you at some point man so good to see you right right uh you're a great quarterback at OU and you've always been good with quarterbacks tell us about your latest quarterback and he was such a highly recruited kid he's give this was highly recruited uh because of his athletic traits um you know he's got the ability to to throw the football sideline to sideline vertically down the football field extremely accurate um loose quick triggered arm um he's got the ability to extend and make plays with his feet that's his a a runner that's you know evading and and making a play down the field um the thing that I've Loved about Nico is you know when he came into the building uh he wanted to earn the respect of his teammates and you do that through your actions not your words everybody understands how hard he works to become the best that he can at his craft uh he takes great ownership in in his skill set and developing it understanding of our offense why didn't you bring just uh you know as as a young player um gets his first start in the bowl game one of the best compliments you can give to to a quarterback back is when it goes from the practice field to the game field it slows down for him during the course of the bowl game it slowed down for him for him thought he was in great command out there now there's a lot of things that he learned from that game uh he's had great preparation all I'm really excited to see his growth and development as a Young quarterback Max okay we go right in front of me second row Barry Barry traml with the TOs of the world hey Josh can you 25 years now since you came to Norman uh you're going back to Norman in September guy that came the head coach on the other side U's joined the league that you've established yourself in just the crazy the crazy nature of your journey as at weac to Oklahoma Barry I feel like only you could have predicted that all these things would have happened um 25 years ago you know I mean as a grand wizard of of Oklahoma media um gr wizard that's a weird thing to say just KKK Coach Lee recruits me uh Brent I got great respect for for Brent um you know playing while he was coaching but also being beside him uh in the staff room um you know I don't know that I ever forecasted they were coming into this league um Oklahoma um it's just uh those are two really good brands uh coming in uh obviously Oklahoma my experience there I think it's an exciting time to be in this league and um really unique that U I'll have an opportunity to go back to to Oklahoma it be complet 8% completion 40,000 passing yards 33 tou rushing it be unique for me got that still back there lot of friends teammates St D very ambitious coach cont they coach was there and obviously administration too so it'll be unique Saturday she'll go front of me over here on the left going to Oklahoma game honest Josh why did you ultimately not bring Nico yava here we man it's not about why I didn't bring Nico it's about why uh the three guys that I talked about earlier are here these are guys that are in sixe plus um that uh uh have unique stories and and are great ambassadors but great leaders inside of our program and um felt like you know our track record my track record of who we've brought here U we've brought veteran guys and and uhu it's not about Nico it's about you know these three guys why we made that choice I we stay in that same section on the right hey coach Chris Phillips sassc unfilter Chris Brazzle is a guy who's gotten a lot of hype this off season the two-lane transfer just talk about Mak excited about and the rest of that wide receiver group the luxury it is to help a Young quarterback with some of the talent youve got in that room it's always a luxury as a quarterback to have guys that have the ability to separate create bigger Windows they have length to go up and attack the football have the skill set to defeat press at the at the line of scrimmage let you get the ball out of your hands not sit back there and take a bunch of hits uh Chris is somebody that has got a lot of a lot of talk about because of what he's done on the field been a great teammate but been a dynamic playmaker uh up until this point as we went through uh Spring ball and um his best is still coming uh he's continued to grow and mature physically just his strength explosiveness I'm not from the Midwest I don't know the wizard of he got there in January really excited having a great training camp with him very very we'll go over to our right hand side about three qus of the way back yeah team lens news9 Oklahoma City um Josh back on Nico it sounds like the learning curve that you you're expecting that to him to hit the ground running and uh it's not going to be any wait till midseason to to gain your form is that accur I certainly hope not you know what I mean we want him to hit the ground running um he's a Young quarterback um played really well in the bowl game um he's going to continue to grow through all of his experiences here throughout the course of the Season he's only going to continue to get better from all of those but we expect him to play at a at a really high level um from the very beginning and we need that from him okay we'll go in the center aisle straight down the aisle right there in the center hey Josh Trey Wallace without kick uh relationship with Tony Vell and how you've been able to use the baseball program to kind of cross recruit with what has that been like for the last three years and how have you used Vell uh to maybe land a few players on the El roster uh you know at times there there's baseball football guys that uh that you're recruiting so having a a clear dialogue with I think it's really important him and his should go thatout but I think one of the great things when it's going good it's going good all year long as far as your logo being in front of of recruits and so what coach Vel has done on the baseball side of it our coach Barnes has done on the basketball side of it those are great experiences for recruits when they come to campus uh they get a small taste of what V nation is like and what game days are going to be like in front of 102,000 inside a NE Stadium 102,000 is not unique we'll go over to our right coach on the over to the right side hey coach uh Steve Molton wzn out of Huntsville Alabama uh I I did want to ask about building a program and you've done it at a couple of places was Central Florida and now at Tennessee he didn't build Central Florida he took over an undefeated team easier harder to build program how you'd like to well I think you know the portal um has positives and negatives within your own right you lose some you gain some uh the portal gives you the ability to go patch holes on your roster quicker than it could happen just through General High School recruiting uh it's a little bit like junior college recruiting used to be uh where you had immediate needs and had to patch your roster going to center aisle about 3/4 the way back right in front of the camera hey Coach Rick Butler with Rocky Top Insider can you just talk about the impact of your two new assistant coaches with in and Sims which is what they've been able to do in the spring and summer so far about that kind under storyline two guys that are Elite teachers um that are relationship driven their ability to gain Trust From The Players inside of their position rooms as quickly as they did um parlayed itself in to both of those position groups having great Springs and they've had great Summers too but just the on field experiences you know our linebackers I thought uh played with great eyes uh alignment assignment uh their communication their ability to destruct blocks uh they were playing their best football as a group U that that they had since we've been there and uh coach Sims has done an unbelievable job with the running back uh it's a young group uh outside of Dylan Samson have really grown in their really excited to see him continue to develop that group here as we get into training camp we go into the section in front of my table on the far left aisle three quarters of the way back yeah Michael Cobell WBZ TV and Baton Rouge uh you just mentioned Dylan Samson what kind of role do you expect for him to have this year maybe an increased opportunities for him yeah he will have increased opportunities um he's a guy from the moment that he got there had great f pace and vision uh he's done a great job with the ball in his hands and out out of his hands uh he's become a really good pass protector uh he's got the ability to help you in your return game as well um after his freshman year uh his ability to impact his teammates uh Dylan's one of the strongest leaders that we have inside of our our locker room just a a dynamic personality that is isn't afraid um to to call on his teammates and and make sure that they're meeting the standards he's uh running back pick up pass block is asking team meet a standard that's a really weird scenario quite honestly new Dylan Samson needs to me standard uh hey coach Bruce Marshall from whbq in Memphis a schedule question for you two years ago you had that game at pit that I really thought kickstarted you guys early in the season and and last year you didn't really have one of those away had the game in Nashville last year at the opener but this year you got that NC State game in Charlotte the second game how important is that for you to get a game like that game early do you think that can serve the same purpose as that pit game did two years ago yeah every season's different um I'm not sure you want to necessarily go into overtime uh to to kickart your season uh but it certainly helped uh NC States and really good program uh coach doran's done a done a a really really good job there they're a really good football team give Coach and say guys I feel like I'm wasting your time going through this Jos h's not going to say anything but we're trying to cover it we're doing our best have a question we have time for one or two more raise your hand we'll get a microphone to you all the way up at the front guys if we could get all the way up at the front get one right in the front row Dead Silence hey Josh Tom Murphy Arkansas Democratic is that it's been a few years since you've been to fa they're on the schedule this year just your thoughts about preparing for that game yeah uh always a great venue um fan base is extremely passionate and um you know early uh conference game on the road know that that'll be a big test when we get to that Saturday Cody says go right behind second it's not about Cody beond the Box SC a bad word for a lot of college football fans I think he can still pass I think he can pass put on weight but I don't think he's put on any weight so that's the problem he's got to get bigger he's just not that big yeah I wish I had it when I was back in Oklahoma playing you know what I mean hyp comment on it now y right there kind of agree I think I feel him on that you know for our players uh in their lives with their family it's afforded them uh opportunities and um um I think uh that's important I go I do truly go back to my playing days and and feel like you know you wanted to be a part of it and have an opportunity to uh to use the game in a positive way uh for your family as well and and so uh for our guys uh being able to increase their brand um their notoriety and um also be taking obviously going to is a real positive on that one we'll take one final question over to our right about 3quarter of the way back yeah coach Rob Brown with the SEC sideline Sports Network in Memphis the It's always darkest before Dawn we hear college football's ruin nil the portal and everything and here's Tennessee all of a sudden brought in 62 million in donations last year uh it's pretty much idiot proof college football uh SE why keep trying to kill the here first he's going to take this this is the greatest game to me this is the greatest game that there is um you look at um the experience that young people have from 18 to 22 23 years old uh their growth as a man um and the and the game affords that um you learn how to set goals you learn how to handle success you learn how to handle failure uh you learn how to lead um you learn how to get yourself ready to be the husband uh the father that you want to be when football ends and it ends for everybody someday um basic quot obstacles within the landscape of college football in today's world that we got to navigate but there's a lot of really smart people that can help us navigate it the right way and uh I'm excited about the future of football thank you coach hiel thank you for your time this morning appreciate it thank you all all right that was Josh hyp um my quick takeaway uh from Josh Hy's press conference at SEC media days is that he was typical Josh hyle he didn't really say anything but I read one thing into what he said and I want to talk about this for a minute Josh hyp very clearly believes in his secondary more than he ever has and it's because of what he said and when he said it despite how vague it was and here's what I mean by that Josh hyle said this is the deepest we've been since I've been here when asked directly about the secondary guys that's a huge underrated thing hypo very clearly without letting it out is very happy about the retooling of the secondary it's worked against Tennessee football in the analytics PFF SP plus and things like that because they lost everybody and lost of starters hurt you I've always said that loss of starters only hurts if um your starters are good or help with chemistry that secondary last year did help with chemistry but they weren't that good largely they were hurt so Tennessee has ADD they have Ricky Gibs in the third and getting more experience now but they brought in jayen McMurray Jordan Thomas excuse me jacobe Thomas Jaylen McMurray and drod McCoy out of MTSU Temple and Oregon State they went straight for veteran leadership they forced a lot of guys into the transfer portal most notably Wesley Walker um and it does seem like I said at the time they were getting better with it Josh Hull has said there this is the deepest team in the past he had he said all the coach speak and all the positive things but he was raving about the secondary in the coach speak and then he said this is the deepest scene we've got since I've been here specifically when asked about the secondary leading me to believe is he finally has options in the secondary options that he wants now you want to ask the question is it the same with the offensive line because that's a big question with left guard and nobody did ask about the offensive line which kind of is a bit of a red flag because to me that's the biggest question on the offensive side of the ball he was asked about running back and tout of Dylan Samson gave coach speak though I don't think Dylan Samson is going to be the feature back I don't um I don't know and I do think it stands out that uh Dylan Samson is being considered a leader but yes with those three transfers and as Shan blo notice notes he is very happy to have Buu you're right Buu Carter I think hypo realizes he's got better weapons and he's got more depth so I think the depth part is the addition of the three transfers Jamon McCoy jacobe Thomas Jayla McMurray McCoy and M are both cornerbacks Thomas is a safety Vu Carter is a transcendently great potentially transcendently great safety who could start as a freshman like Eric Barry and be a freshman All-American then you have Ricky Gibson I third who showed a lot of Promise down the stretch of last year who is probably going to be very good this year Jordan Matthews I still believe in there's other veterans Jordan Thomas and Christian Harrison there they understand the game very well I think they're very smart players and they could be used a little more they were young last year I think the combination of those guys and if Andre tantine has flipped to switch there should be a lot of excitement over what the secondary could be again with Josh hyle coach speak he's he's the king of saying nothing and typically you're not going to get anything from Josh hyle but he let that slip guys he let that slip that he loves the secondary and that wasn't by accident as a result I think I can safely say Josh hyp loves the secondary and I think that's a great sign for Tennessee going forward I think that adds to the Allure that maybe you should expect them to potentially win the national title they have been in the college playoff for the secondary was up to Snuff last year so that is very intriguing as far as the offensive line goes Derek says he Derrick Owen says he read an article on herd Lance herd and Brian Kelly I'm guess this is who you're referring to and um Kelly saying replaced Lance herd with a better player that he wasn't a scheme fit well Lance herd did transfer because LSU has I think the best left tackle in the country coming up this year and herd wanted to play specifically left tackle that's why he transferred to Tennessee doesn't mean her's not good doesn't mean Tennessee is hurting with her though they're they're still in great shape Shan BTO says Samson is a guy who will get a lot of reps but he expects a younger guy to blow up immediately and take it kind of like gred a few years ago Eric gray yes uh the puit money probably the poster boy for the Pu money in Chick-fil-A bags um I think Dylan Samson will be the playmaker but I do think they need a feature back and again as as of right now I think pton Lewis is the only guy that can do it Khalifa Keith can pick up blocking he's a physical will get back and be a short yardage guy but he's not a big play threat your feature back has to be a guy who's a big play threat can also pick up pass blocking and can also get you those typical four to five yard runs on handoffs Dylan Samson is not just a big play threat he's a big play guy and he can get those four to five yard runs but his pass blocking is atrocious that hurts the offense Khalifa Keith is a four to five yard guy picks up pass blocking can get you the one yards you need but it can't break off the big play that creates problems so the takeaway of Josh hypo's press conference having said nothing as we expected him to say nothing didn't give away anything he is the king of that I always say if you ask the right question you can still glean something from it and Josh hypo let slip indirectly that he's in love with the improvements made by the secondary that is the story of this for him to say this is the deepest team he's had since he's been here when asked a question directly about the secondary and R about the play of the secondary that means that you should be excited about the Improvement that has been made by the secondary I think that's a big deal for Tennessee going forward I think Josh hyp and Tim banks have finally got the roster they needed and hey maybe Willie Martinez is the guy look remember the secondary was where they took the biggest hit I want to point this out when Jeremy puit left the secondary was where they took the biggest hit so many guys left Josh Hyo really had a makeshift secondary unit and he's really been chasing his tail trying to get it back up to Snuff for the past three years I don't know if it's up to Snuff this year but I think it could be better than it has been and he's had some bad luck along the way I mean Trey flowers getting hurt in 2022 and playing with injuries jayen Mulla getting indicted because he punched a guy who broke into his own apartment and wouldn't leave I I still can't believe he got indicted for that one of the stupidest things ever done but the combination of those two things look I have to be honest that I think Josh hypo has been playing with the deck stacked against him with the secondary I think all he wanted to do was have the secondary be average you know you don't have to do the whole Derrik duy thing Derrik duy once said if you're going to win you gotta be good at everything in the SEC that's what a coach says when they don't know ball and they don't know what they're going to try to do for their team you don't have to be good at everything you just can't be bad at anything and I think Tennessee finally and hypo thinks they have the secondary finally to not be bad and they have a couple of good players Gibson and Carter Ricky Gibson and bu Carter are potential Stars McMurray and Tom Jaylen McMurray and Jamon McCoy are veterans and experienced players and again jacobe Thomas is also an experienced player at safety so I think that Tennessee has a rotation now of starters and they again they have depth of guys who should be able to play based on the recruiting that has been done so I am relatively high on the secondary I was cautiously optimistic about them going into the season I'm now much higher on them because of what was said so keep in mind uh what's said on that pay attention going forward that was a huge comment by Josh hyp right there quote the deepest since I've been here when asked directly about the secondary he may have said it about the team overall but he meant it about the defensive backs and all that means is that Josh typle is extremely high on how much better the defensive backs can be this year my prediction for the starting lineup is going to be Ricky Gibson at one quarterback and Jamal McCoy at the other quarterback bu Carter at strong safety jacobe Thomas at free safety Jayla McMurray at nickel I think that's where they're going to go and I also think that you're going to see Christian Harrison and Jordan Thomas get experience at safety Andre tantine be the backup at nickel and the third quarterback after those guys will be Jordan Matthews I think this is going to be a great combination of play and Tennessee should be excited that's it for us for Tennessee coverage on SEC media days we have a lot going forward I still got videos I'm going to release of Josh hyul and Keenan peely in the um sweet room with the group interviews Dave hooker our own Dave will have one-on-one interviews with all of them himself we also have interviews coming the rest of the week with Josh Pate Paul fine bomb I we got a lot going on Dave's running all over the place in Dallas I'm just trying to redirect things here which is why I had technical technical ulties at one point but we will be back tomorrow thanks for staying on us as this show went long we wanted to do it it's a lot of fun all of this has been a lot of fun and we're going to keep doing things like this as time goes on for Caleb Calhoun this has been a presentation of