Mike Matthews to portal? [He’s staying]

[508mikey]

Didn't they once employ Martinez? Ray Goff? Anyone can make a hiring mistake.

Beldar

 

[SGMVols]

If Nico stays in 2026, won't that mean Merk will have sat 2 to play, at most 3? And behind him McIntyre and Faizon knocking at the door or sitting themselves?

QB room starts to feel a little heavy.

I highly doubt Nico is here in ‘26

If he’s not good enough to go pro then he’ll most likely lose the job to GMac or Faizon

 

[volbound1700]

This is promising imo….

Thanks for sharing, feeling better as well.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

I sadly believe that Merk is going to be the one who screwed himself by staying here once GMac signed with us.

Maybe he's betting on Nico breaking out next year and declaring, which is okay with me but a definite gamble. Even then, GMac will have had that RS-FR (assumed) year under his belt and he'd be competing for QB1 with Merk.

Given that we've seen QBs seemingly struggle with "getting it" and executing Heupel's tempo offense at a very high level, having a fat QB room increases the chance of finding "that guy" for the system.

 

[Truth is honor]

Didn’t UGA offer Pope their WR coaching job a few years back ?

Yep

 

[butchna]

I sadly believe that Merk is going to be the one who screwed himself by staying here once GMac signed with us.

Think that was what happened with Brock Vandagriff? Couldn’t beat out a walk-on. Then couldn’t beat out a four star. Then couldn’t PLAY worth a crap after he transferred. Every situation is different and he’s far from “screwed”. He’s top backup as a redshirt freshman, one wrong play from taking the snaps. Nothing’s off the table as far as competition…complete blank slate. Worst case, he falls behind GMac in the pecking order? Portal will be there with three to four seasons to spare.

 

[Boston Vol]

This is promising imo….

That’s not Branch’s Twitter account. It’s just some random Tennessee fan.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

Didn't they once employ Martinez? Ray Goff? Anyone can make a hiring mistake.

It was a question that I was asking confirmation for.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

How did you quantify that? His most meaningful playing time was in vandy. He had a good block in that game and caught some passes and had a td. Our offensive line also looked like nfl players in that game. The talent gap was evident. The reality is that he's largely unproven. The better argument for playing freshmen is that there's no loyalty and everything is pay for play. I'd personally get everything I could from the players these days, you never know how long they'll be part of your team. I wouldn't worry about burning a red shirt as much.

I quantified it by watching the three things I listed: his routes, his blocks and his catches. He and Thornton are the only two receivers who regularly broke from coverage, and none of our other receivers block well except pre-injury Bru.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

This is promising imo….

Branch is currently visiting Miami.

 

[carolinaviking]

Yes, I thank Him every day that He guided me down the right path.
I also thank Him that my Dad was a DI in the US Army and there’s no way he would have allowed this kind of stupidity.
Thanks for the encouragement

So, your 19-year-old son, playing SEC football, which is notoriously violent, and filled with career-ending injuries every year, has the opportunity to make millions on the talents he has spent years developing, according to the rules, and you'd advise him to not be so stupid? Got it.

 

[CNCVol88]

Complete failure by this staff in losing Matthews. Our WR room is completely decimated. I laughed at someone for saying we could have an FSU type of tumble. I don’t know if that’s not possible. Can’t get a visit from the Branch brothers. This sucks.

It was me you laughed at. While it's unlikely it's never impossible.

 

[DaddyChad]

Branch is currently visiting Miami.

Yep. Has he actually set up a visit here?

 

[m1al]

And all you have to do is listen to him speak and you'll know how dumb that boy is

This comment tells me how ignorant you are.

You know NOTHING!

 

[m1al]

How about prove he is lazy and stupid. You act like you know it all. Let’s see your proof.

His proof is because he says so. The guy is the worst kind of stupid.

 

[vavolfan6]

If Heupel thought he could "stash" a legit 5 star in the portal era, it makes me question his awareness/sanity.

That is essentially what has also happened to Jordan Ross. But at least there is some more rotation along the DLine and more NFL talent ahead of Ross.

 

[Willie Hutch]

So, your 19-year-old son, playing SEC football, which is notoriously violent, and filled with career-ending injuries every year, has the opportunity to make millions on the talents he has spent years developing, according to the rules, and you'd advise him to not be so stupid? Got it.

Oh yes, his father was a DI. He made no mistakes as a teenager

 

[tnmarktx]

I quantified it by watching the three things I listed: his routes, his blocks and his catches. He and Thornton are the only two receivers who regularly broke from coverage, and none of our other receivers block well except pre-injury Bru.

In the vandy game? He had 7 receptions and 90 yards in 2024. From that, you deemed him a top wr?

 

[GiveHim6InSC]

So, your 19-year-old son, playing SEC football, which is notoriously violent, and filled with career-ending injuries every year, has the opportunity to make millions on the talents he has spent years developing, according to the rules, and you'd advise him to not be so stupid? Got it.

No, my 19 year-old son, playing SEC football, which is notoriously violent, blah blah blah…, would still have the opportunity to make millions on the talents he has spent years developing, according to the rules, blah blah blah…, but would do so by honoring his commitment to the coaches and University that he committed to originally because, outside of some criminal act or other legitimate ethical transgression on the part of said coaches and University that would justify his breaching his commitment, he is not fully mature and will not be chasing greed in lieu of both furthering his education (which he will need should he be injured or otherwise no longer be able to play football) and of his integrity, which would be compromised by no longer honoring his written commitment.
In other words, he has equal or better opportunity at UT as he does elsewhere. Equal or better medical care, education, college experience, exposure, etc. and it is HIS responsibility to carry the water.
Unless his family lives in some mud hut with a dirt floor somewhere in some 3rd world country, they ain’t gonna miss it, and even then, the University would do right by them. See ZZ and his family situation, for example.
Hope that clears things

 

[freedom fighter]

My issue is that I don't see much going on with us in the portal at WR other than Zachariah Branch and that is still iffy as he is visiting other schools as well.

This is where Sprye needs to step it up. We are losing players to schools like Miami... Miami! Miami is in the ACC which is making a fraction of the SEC TV Money and cannot even fill their stadium. Sprye should be embarrassed about us losing players to them.

Sprye can do nothing till 1000's of Vols ante up. Even $10 a month would help.

 

[GiveHim6InSC]

you can’t say the same for your own

I 100% sure can.
I don’t know you, you don’t know me.
You decided to involve yourself in a conversation between myself and another poster, completely unsolicited.
I lend as much credence to your opinion as I do to your posts on this forum.
And that would be zero.
Have a day

 

[Willie Hutch]

Your responses say otherwise. Talk trash about a 19 year old off the strength of rumors. Pretend to have handled every situation you’ve ever been faced with poise and class. We all know this to be a lie because you’re a human. Then, make an assumption about someone’s parents before admitting not knowing them. You’re the things you apparently hate

Watch you respond for the probably the 5th time. That’ll show us how the DI would have you handle being trolled on the internet.

 

[Vol2B]

I 100% sure can.
I don’t know you, you don’t know me.
You decided to involve yourself in a conversation between myself and another poster, completely unsolicited.
I lend as much credence to your opinion as I do to your posts on this forum.
And that would be zero.
Have a day

To be fair, isn’t conversation what these forums is about?

Not so much it would seem. Mostly just a bunch of wild speculation, insider innuendo, and peepee wagging.

 

[Stoerner Fumbles]

In the vandy game? He had 7 receptions and 90 yards in 2024. From that, you deemed him a top wr?

Hey stat licker. I’m not deeming anything. Him getting separation and running good routes doesn’t mean they threw him the ball frequently. If you can’t see that he’s a different level of athlete, you aren’t going to find it in the box score.

 

[GrizzlyVol]

Nico was as much, if not more, a problem as anyone else.

I have been critical of him all season, he's made his share of mistakes and just a dumbass move running out of bounds with the game on the line he has issues hitting the long ball..but going back and watching...not all... but alot of the time the wrs and o line didn't help him at all and he had to rush alot of throws because he had no time, I know we have to replace most of our oline but other than Cooper I'm glad they're gone just hope we can replace them with upgrades...just my take