Tennessee Football: Success for Nico Iamaleava, Vols vs. Chattanooga | Recruiting Notes

outside of the final score what is success for the University of Tennessee against UTC this weekend what needs to happen for the vs to have a whole lot of momentum heading into NC State week that and more some big time guests will join us here on a Thursday locktown balls you are locked on balls your daily podcast on the Tennessee Volunteers part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hey what is up everybody welcome into your Thursday edition of lockdown vs I am your host Eric Kane appreciate you guys for making us your first listen your first watch uh here today and hopefully every day big shout out to 5H Hour Energy for being a part of the show today put in that promo code locked on CFB at 5H hour energy.com to receive $20 20% off your order over at 5our energy.com a couple of guests are going to join us today I had a two-part conversation with uh Bren hubs volquest.com my cooworker my boss over at volquest.com we kind of discuss what success looks like what needs to happen for Tennessee against UTC this weekend in a game where the volunteers are favored over FanDuel by 38 and a half points with the over under sitting the total sitting at 56 and A2 what needs to happen for Tennessee to consider it a successful day if you will here in the season opener a little bit of recruiting talk as well uh segments one and two coming up with Bren hubs and I'm a pulling part of a conversation that Bren and I both actually held with on three personality Andy Staples uh one of the biggest media Personalities in college football and he kind of breaks down what his views are with Tennessee uh looking and Tennessee fans what do expect in the college football playoff and how Tennessee can get to the 12 team college football playoff uh breaking down the schedule with Andy Staples in segment number three so a big show coming up tomorrow we will give you some last minute notes on UTC we'll get in with h Boogie Bentley as uh lock on talking ball is what we like to call it on Fridays here in football season so we are just just getting closer and closer to kickoff 12:45 eastern time uh Saturday on the SEC network and of course we'll have a postcast show right here on lockdown balls as well so uh without further Ado let's get into my conversation with Brent hubs a little bit about Tennessee versus Chad noua and uh a whole lot more here is my chat with Bren hubs obviously a lot of talk about Nico a lot of about a lot of talk about this defense a lot of talk about expectations entering your I believe 31st year covering the volunte what's your expectations and excitement level for Saturday oh I mean I think it's High I mean I think that you know when you think you have a franchise type quarterback that that creates a lot of Buzz and creates a lot of excitement uh I think this team has got a chance to be elite in the defensive front um you know so I think when you go through the years of irrelevancy that that you went through it's a nice thought that you're heading into the end of August and you look at the schedule and you go you know what I think they could win every game on the schedule now it would be an upset to go to Georgia to win for sure and there would be some others that would be viewed as an upset but it wouldn't I guess other than beating Georgia I don't think anybody would be shocked by anything with where this program is and that's a credit to Josh hyp that's a credit to the team he surrounded himself with in the locker room and the coaches locker room the administrative people around him um it's been a heck of a flip to get to this point that you've created this kind of excitement and this kind of expectation for your program um now a lot of it centers around the quarterback and we're all going to be curious to see how Nico plays I don't think you make a great evaluation in the Chattanooga game I think for the coaches you do but as fans you're just GNA go of see some stats and there you go but um we'll start to learn a lot more about Nico and and what he can do and where that's at when you when you talk about going to Charlotte in week two speaking of Charlotte and week two um we're not that locker room so we don't have to like not look over the opponent um you know we can we can look past UTC and onto Charlotte a little bit here for NC State we asked earlier in the week you not talked about what a successful outside the score what a successful game would look like for Tennessee what do you need to see against UTC maybe from certain players to give you better thoughts about Tennessee for week two against Charlotte like what who needs to do what um you know heading into the Wolfpack game in week two because that's that's a massive game well I think it's about your efficiency okay and so let's look at let's look at the scoreboard of this deal all right are you are you in control of the game because offensively you've played really well or are you in control of the game because defensively you forced a turnover two or you got a special teams touchdown and you've kind of just been sort of sputtering offensively so I think it's the offensive efficiency you know a year ago against Virginia Tennessee comes out and does what Tennessee does on the opening drive they score a touchdown they're they they March it right down the field and you go okay this is going to be one of those days right and then they just went in into a tank offensively it was just not pretty for about three Series so what you would like to see is you would like to see them have a decision to make late in the first half going into the halftime about IO when do we pull everybody because you've been so efficient offensively that you feel good about where you are you're gonna play those guys longer if you got three punts in the first half and you sort of sputtered around even though you're up 28 nothing or whatever at the into of the first half if you just kind of sputtered through um you're going to feel different about it so for me it's just the offensive efficiency with Nico at the quarterback position um you know defensively I think you're probably gonna be pretty generic in what you do um don't give up a big play you know limit those things but play aggressive take some chances in the secondary don't you know don't don't be a team that doesn't give up a big play because you're giving everybody a 15 yard cushion or a 10 yard cushion so just some little things like that that you know you're your your communication with each other how organized you are on the sideline which I don't think is going to be any kind of issue it's never been an issue they practiced that more than anybody in the country I mean this is one of the few coaching staffs in the country they were headsets during the game and or during practice and when they go 11 on 11 you know the offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator go up go up in the tower and call the game that way I mean they try to simulate it scrimmage likee as much as they can every day on the practice field so I don't anticipate any kind of organ organizational issues so I think it's more about efficiency Dell Sims Cy's D running backs coach met with the media a couple days ago and said hey feel good about the room right now healthy ready to go they're going to turn cam selton loose see what he does if your Sims knowing who your opponent is but knowing that you know Samson and Seldon they need to get a little work as well but Bishop should get a lot of work and then you got pton Lewis kifa Keith how would you manage those snap counts or maybe series counts for your group against UTC yeah again I think it depends on what kind of starts you get off to but if if you get off to the Good Start I think I think the workload for Samson small uh I think you want to get sell in enough Pops to make sure that he's comfortable getting hit and ball Security's good you like the way that that looks you know if the ball looks loose then you might play him a little longer and clean some things up but um you know I I I think you go into it with the idea that you're going to play you know three to four backs in the first half and then in the second half you're G to you're going to play you know a bunch you know you give Lewis more carries early and Seldon car or not seld them but Bishop carries early and then you go into Keith and whoever after that so um if you're efficient and you do what you need to do offensively in your first two or three drives then I I think you got a chance where you can be you can be at running back three pretty quickly in the first half and I think that would be that would be a goal that that would be where you would like to be if you can be there now I mean Seldon not only needs some contact but but he needs the cardio part of it too right I mean you need to get going a little bit like that and I go back to last year and that Virginia game I mean they're they're moving it down the field and they're they're fast paac and all a sudden they've got to slow it down because running back Taps out you know he's tired so that that's a part of this that with that Tempo you can practice it all day long it's different when you get out and you get in a game and so you want to get enough that cardio work for all that offense that you you're in good enough game you're in the game shape you need to be in week two to really use Tempo to your advantage against NC State I mean I've said it all week and I know it doesn't look like now but I mean you know when I played you you kill yourself you train all summer I mean running and like you know testing the limits and you have never been in better shape as a football player than you are in June and July I mean you are top of your game and then you go you put the pads on you start practicing and you think you're in shape but that first game and that doesn't matter if it's high school college whatever it smacks you in the face you can be in great shape but until you're doing a 10-play drive and especially you add in that Tempo that you brought out I mean that's just kind of a first game fill anyway so yeah I think it's huge for Seldon as you mentioned for Lance herd John Campbell a lot of these guys to kind of okay go in there get smacked in the face realize what it is season's here and kind of get going and then of course you get you get used to that feeling tired after lunch you're not alone in research shows that more than 70% of us hit that wall after launch let a 5H Hour Energy Shot help you leap over that wall instead of crashing right through it grab a 5 out energy hot to stay alert to watch all of your favorite games this football season as well if you have to stay up late to see an intense overtime game take a 5H Hour Energy Shot in the morning so you can start your day the right way with zero sugar a convenient portable size is the perfect pickme up for getting your stuff done the 5-Hour Energy website has flavors Galore like watermelon tropical burst grap Berry and a few more there's a flavor for everybody you can try them all on the site you can even have an option to build your own 12pack your 24 pack a briefcase like we used to call it you choose the flavors and it's delivered right to your door if you go to 5our energy.com that is the number five hour energy.com uh you can try some of the 5 Hour Energy Products today put in the promo code locked on CFB locked on CFB to receive 20% off off your order this offer is only valid through September 30th and one order cannot be used with promotions the code is not good on subscription orders as well but go ahead and get started today promo code locked on CFB over at 5our energy.com we're going to jump back into our conversation with Brent hubs getting a little bit into some recruiting talk a uh unique uh lawsuit going down in the state of North Carolina with uh some Tennessee ties of course with 2026 quarterback commit fison Brandon his mother suing the states over um you know the inability to profit off name image of likeness where um others other student athletes in the state can but but Faison can't a really interesting conversation part of the conversation on that coming up with Bren hubs as well I do want to appreciate you guys for being here making lockon Vols your first listen your first watch check out lockon SEC lock on college football make that your second and your third listen and watch here when we're done with lock on vs but without further do back to my convo with Bren hubs you and I talked about the backup center a lot but I want to talk about the backup quarterback here you know obviously you hope you don't ever see the backup quarterback unless it's a game like this but if you do Gaston Moore what what what does Gaston Moore bring to the table um you what are his strengths outside of just knowing the offense probably be better than anybody outside of the coaches what what what's Gast and Moore's game and then and then how is Jake merklinger progressing I think Gaston Moore's biggest strength is Gaston Moore understands who Gaston Moore is and and I'm not trying to be flipping and you know talk you know third person crap and all that stuff but I I think he realizes what what limitations he has what his strengths are and I think he plays to those strengths um you know there there's some things that he probably can't do in terms of just ripping the ball into some throws but I think he throws a nice deep ball and I think he understands who he is and I think this coaching staff has an understanding of who he is and would call a game tailored to what he does pretty well um is there going to be would there be a real drop off there yeah I think there would be a real drop off no no doubt about that um but but I I do think that he can manage a game and I think it was it was probably a blessing in some ways that Nico had the stomach bug because if you're if you're Joey hallsley you scripted out that scrimmage all right we need to get to this we need to get to that this is what we're going to do and then you wake up that morning and you're go into scrimmage you go wait a minute I don't have Nico we're going to play Gaston so we're going to get into this series of stuff as opposed to what we were going to try to get done with Nico that day it's probably not a bad thing for your coaching standpoint of just adjusting on the fly as for merklinger I I think you know he's added good weight I think he's physically developing he's clearly the number three quarterback he's not the number two um if if Nico were out for an extended period of time I've said this I think they would play both those young quarter they would play Mo and they would play merklinger but if it's just for a spot series here and there there you're you're going to play Gaston more and um I I think I think what's interesting in this game is out what point if you're Josh hyle taking stats out of it score out of it at what point and what do you need to see to go I'm really comfortable where Nico is right now so he can shut down for the day and then you go to Gaston and you go well how many reps does he really need to be not the mop-up duty quarterback but to be the true backup quarterback which he's not been at Tennessee he's been the mop-up guy how much work does he need and and does that limit maybe some opportunities for merklinger in this first game because you feel like you've got to get Gaston Moore truly being the backup quarterback and he needs some real reps not handing it off but he needs to play the game do you play him a little longer does Nico do enough to where you feel like you can get him out pretty quick you say you know what he's young he needs more reps we're not getting him hit we're going to stay in there with him and let him get as as much exposure as you get he's not going to play the whole game but do you play him a little longer than some of us anticipate I think you make those decisions based on how they're playing not on stats and not on the scoreboard um but but that part will be interesting to see what that rotation looks like at that position I want to shift gears here of course we're all looking forward to the season opener on Saturday but I do want to ask you a couple of questions about recruiting before we call it quits I want to start off with an interesting story out of North Carolina 2026 quarterback Bon Brandon Tennessee commits good player excited about that um his mother suing the state of North Carolina um as you know because of his situation I I forget if he's public or private but public can benefit from Nam him and likess at the high school realm private cannot or maybe that's vice versa vice versa it's vice versa vice versa so what do you see kind of what's next for that family in this process and and I would imagine there's a lot of other parents in that state that are kind of probably joining that charge with Brandon yeah I mean I think that I mean I think there will be a number of people that would go with that lawsuit we'll see what the this state board of education comes back with and and what decisions they make there because you know you you obviously have David Sanders who's at private at a private school Providence day he's got his own logo he's got his own merchandise out um he's doing things now to make money or to try to make money and so you know people look at that why can't they do it and and the school across the street can't do it because it's a public institution and I think that is that is her point and why why she's filing the suit and leading the charge I would imagine a lot of people will join in with her and um again I don't I don't know how you tell people that they can't make money um once once this thing gets started you know we'll see where it ends up being now how much money is there out there for for a high school guy and all those things but I mean whose right is it to tell uh Faison Brandon he can't create his own merchandise and his own brand you know because here's the thing I mean if you're them and you're looking at you're like well I don't necessarily want to be two years into the college career trying to create the brand let's go ahead and start the brand now to where when we arrive in college it's seamless and moves forward that's sort of what David Sanders is doing I'm not I'm not saying I'm in love with it because I mean there we're at the point there is no amateurism like when does it where does it stop I mean does the eighth grader get his own merch you know and and all those I mean where's the I think the I think the the the the line or the cuto line is when there's no value nobody's buying your stuff H how much stuff is being bought at the high school level for an individual you know and that type of thing how many spots how many commercials how many things are they you know being a part of we'll see but I understand the lawsuit because if one can do it in that state why can't everybody do it in that state I was GNA say I mean regardless at the basis of this if some are allowed why why not all are allowed that that's the silliest part about this is well especially a guy like him who's going to be super marketable one of the top players in the entire country a quarterback position um Wanted as you put it wanted to get the ball rolling a little bit before you get into college and and I heard you say this on the radio and I I couldn't agree more you know the simple question be like well if it's all about money then just transfer schools well I think this shows you that number one it's not all about the money but number two you don't want to right I mean this is this is your home school you have friends you like you like your situation here um so I think it kind of shows where the priorities are for for that family right now on this so um looking at the big picture stuff out the door here Tennessee's class of 2025 it's a really really good one uh top I think number six in the country right now top five in the SEC of course David Sanders Jr Five Star Plus offensive tackles the big headliner um running back potentially maybe a defensive lineman but you know Josh Hoppa does a really really good job of kind of getting all the hay in the barn there before kickoff for the 24 season he's done that just yet again here with a big month of August yeah they've had a great summer I mean they Clos it out with a great August but you go back to their July I mean I don't have the numbers in front of me but what they brought in the last two weeks of June on official visits that turned into commits is a pretty pretty significant number I mean they they they closed with with a fury I mean that their targets that they wanted they they landed those guys and um impress impressive finish um with just kind of stacking visits late in the month of June those guys they weathered the storm of some early visits to other schools and then they closed it out that way and have a great looking class going into this season you mentioned running back they'll continue to to be in the waters there and and and see what's out there um if a high school defensive lineman kind of pops on the radar screen I think they would look there if it looks like there's a perceived coaching change somewhere or a guy reaches out and might be interested in a flip type deal don't have any names not saying there is that but that always flirts around a little bit in the fall if it's not going well at a at a particular school where somebody's committed to um so you look at that and then obviously you you have the transfer portal available to you at the end of the year so you can be very select and and I think Tennessee will be very select moving forward with with any kind of recruiting in in the 25 class I I don't think they're going to take anybody just to take anybody to fill a to fill a number um I think they're going to be very select in their process and what they go about doing and might hold them for the portal but if the right guys there you know in a couple spots they might take somebody as well FanDuel sports book you heard us talk about it all the time it's America's number one sports book we've all I have a little bit uh we all have something a little different for you right now over at FanDuel sports book that is now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can get $5 can bet $5 get a three- week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV then with YouTube TV's base plan you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of Mark game all you need to take advantage of this deal of course after you bet the $5 is Google counts a current form of payment that you can cancel any time again that is $5 bet three week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket over at YouTube and YouTube TV and while you're on the app hey let's look at today's game Tennessee or let's look at this week's game Tennessee UTC Tennessee 38 and a half Point favorite the total at 56 A2 woo that's a lot of points but give me the over here 38 and half overs are always more fun give me the over the total of 56 and a half as well I think Tennessee just makes quick work and I think they score and score a lot you can do all this and more plus check out this awesome trial with NFL Sunday Ticket it's over at fanduel.com lockon fanduel.com lockon check it all out it's FanDuel it is America's number one sports book and do want to tell you about our friends over at Factor meals as well uh fuel UPA factors no prep No Mess meals meet your Wellness goals thanks to the menu of Chef crafted meals with options like calorie smart Protein Plus even keto factors fresh never frozen meals are dietition approved and ready in Just 2 minutes no matter how busy you are you'll always have time to enjoy nutritious great tasting meals 35 different meals more than 60 adoms to choose from every single week and new flavors to explore as well keep kitchen time to a minimum Factory meals are ready in 2 minutes no shopping no prepping no cooking no cleaning up enjoy the effortless support of your lifestyle you can choose up to six preferences to help manage your calories maximize your protein intake avoid meat or simply just a well balanced meal head on over to Factor mills.com locked on50 use the promo code locked on colge 50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next month that's code locked on50 at factory mills.com loock on50 to get 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next month while subscription is active head on over to factor meals.com to take advantage of this deal today one more second left here on this Thursday additional lock time Vols you can almost feel it game time it is right around the corner Tennessee and UTC 12:45 eastern time Saturday on the SEC network we'll get in some last minute notes on uh getting you prepped and ready to go for that game we'll talk with Boogie tomorrow for a little lock on talking Falls uh but to end Today's Show good chat with Bren hubs obviously um earlier in this show but I one of the pull a a little little segment from our Rocky Top rewind uh show on on you know we do live on the vqu YouTube channel from Sunday night we had on Andy Staples Big Time Onre personality longtime Rider formerly a sports illustrator you know Andy Staples um he's high on the BS he has Tennessee in his college football playoff and um he really really likes the make up of this Tennessee team and so I ask him like hey what are Tennesse fans saying to you um what's Tennessee's path to the college football playoff and he breaks it down simply to two games and you'll get into that in the back half of this clip it's about a a 5minute clip or whatever but the first sport says hey what he's heard his interaction with Tennessee fans what he expects from the opening weekend of college football and then Tennessee's path to the college football playoff here is part of my conversation with Andy Staples from Over the Rocky Top rewind at volquest.com check it out and it's amazing because with this 12 team playoff starting there's so many fan bases that seem really confident that their team's going to make this first 12 team bracket and they ain't all going to make it because there's more than 12 fan bases that that have that irrational level of confidence I don't get that sense from from the Tennessee Bunch because I think they would like to make it they think there there there's a good chance Tennessee is going to make it but they also understand that Nico is his first year as a starter you don't exactly know how things are going to go the schedule still pretty say Andy yeah well but the thing about it is I get from the the fans that communicate with me I I get more of a what what do you mean we're not going to make the playoff vibe from Missouri fans from LSU fans from Oklahoma fans like how dare you even insinuate that we might not be in this bracket and you know a couple of those may make it but a couple of them might not or all of them might not like we don't know and I think that's the that's the thing that that Florida State game should show you that no matter how good you think you are we don't know it until we see it because Georgia Tech whipped Florida State up front whipped them on both lines of scrimmage and you know this was supposed to be the best Florida State offensive line in a long time and now I think part of it was because Florida State didn't really take a lot of deep shots early doesn't seem like they're super confident in DJ throwing downfield but the offensive line and and well the blocking in general I don't want to blame the offensive lineman completely because sometimes they were s in more than five but they didn't they didn't look that great they weren't resetting the line of scrimmage in the Run game like we thought they would and then the dline like Georgia Tech's offensive line was great against that Florida State D line so I just think everybody calm down and get ready because like this week's gonna be wow guys think about this there's more FBS versus FCS this week than we've ever seen in a week one like if you look at the schedule you're like oh we got these big games Florida Miami LSU USC Texas s not but like there's one in each window and then everything else is what we think is a mismatch right there's G be some weird weird results this weekend there'll be some upsets we like what the hell just happened any of this kind of leads me into my next question this this question here from from Nolan about Tennessee schedule which one's more likely to lose B at home or Oklahoma on the road the two huge games for Tennessee this season that along with NC States and of course Georgia on the road Florida's at home probably those games I just mentioned what does Tennesse need to do over th over that road map in order to secure a spot in that college football playoff I think I think if they can beat NC State and split Alabama and Oklahoma I think they're in good shape now they obviously still have to beat they have to beat Florida they have to beat the teams that we're we thinking they're supposed to be beat but more than likely if you split Bama and OU if you beat NC State you can get away with losing to Georgia which until I see Tennessee beat Georgia I'm not not there yet because I think in the Styles make fights deal Tennessee style it's a bad matchup like with Georgia so I think you got to split those I think going U for their first sec game is going to be very tough um but I also I I think Alabama's I'm higher on Alabama than most people are I think Alabama could win the SEC this year but I actually think at Tennessee is one of their tougher games and I think you know we we'll see it's a new defense it's not it's not that same defense that that Alabama brought to nean Stadium two years ago it'll be Kane Wick's defense now so we don't know exactly how it's going to match up but you know they did lose maybe the best safety in the country in Caleb DS to Ohio State in the transfer portal they did a good job replacing they still have a lot of Talent on that team but you did see how Tennessee could take advantage of some mismatches and create some mismatches against Alabama a couple years ago it can be done again as long as Nico is what we think he is and you know I I've said this a bunch I I said this to Brenton Austin when I was up in Knoxville last time in the spring I think Nico is a lot closer to H and hooker than Joe Milton was and his ceiling may be higher than hen hookers I think that's the hope at Tennessee is that Nico ceiling is higher than hen hookers but even if you just get hen hooker again like that level of of quarterback that puts you in the playoff that would put Tennessee in the playoff and I think Nico's ability to improvise Nico's ability to understand the read option mesh which opens up a whole new world of of read option type plays of quarterback run game of RPO stuff if you want to do that reopens the middle of the field for the Tennessee offense I think they're going to be pretty good but they do like you you can't drop both those games because I think you if you drop both those that that makes Georgia must win and that like going to Athens needing to beat George is a pretty tough place to live good up there from Andy Staples on three on Tennessee's path through the college football playoff and what he expects from college football's opening weekend uh here coming up over the next couple of days all right man what a fun show a lot of good Intel a lot of good information while Boogie Bentley on tomor show we'll get you set for kickoff I'll give you some keys to the game we're going to have a bunch of social media Graphics up there all weekend long one more show to go until it is football time in Tennessee can you believe it oh man I love football season it is like nothing nothing else appreciate you guys as always for making lockdown balls your first listen your first watch every dayers thank you love you every dayers appreci appreciate you as always be back tomorrow and let's get your tailgate started off right here on lockdown vaults [Music]