Recruiting Forum Football Talk VI

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#87,003
#87,003
Per Eric Cain on Luke Holman:

Visits are all wrapped up and Luke is continuing to get away from the situation to make his decision this week. As of now, a decision will likely come by Thursday at the latest. He and the family want to wrap this thing up and have put Thursday as a deadline for themselves. Luke has seen everything, heard everything - so there's really not much more the programs can do. Tennessee (again) knocked it out of the park last week with an all-day Monday visit. They entered the week as the leader and held that title after the visit. It was all about surviving the week as more visits were to come. Tennessee survived it as Holman did not commit on the spot anywhere, but at this point, Vols and LSU are neck-and-neck with Mississippi State running third.

As mentioned, they've heard all the pitches, met all the coaches, seen all the resources, etc. - I believe a large portion of this will come down to player relationships. Holman knows no one at Mississippi State. His best friend at Alabama [Kade Woods] has transferred to LSU. That's obviously something, however, do not discount what Drew Beam has done this summer. Beam has never shied away from his recruiting pitch, essentially being 'come here and let's go be great together - let's make each other better in the rotation.' Beam has been huge in this and could be what makes the difference if he chooses Tennessee.

Again, Holman really likes Tennessee and TV and Frank Anderson's approach. He loves Q, as adding weight is really important for him over the next year before the draft. Tennessee has the advantage there, imo. We are right where we were when this thing started: Tennessee or LSU. And a decision will come this week imo
 
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#87,004
#87,004
TheRain said:
Outkick: Coach Heupel do you think more about the Alabama win or the South Carolina loss?

Coach Heupel: Ahhh... um.. definitely the South Carolina loss... absolutely.
Click to expand...
I want to see the Vols manhandle South Carolina this season. I'm not greedy usually and am happy to take a win whether it's by 1 or 40, but this one I want by 40.
 
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#87,005
#87,005
TheRain said:
Outkick: Coach Heupel do you think more about the Alabama win or the South Carolina loss?

Coach Heupel: Ahhh... um.. definitely the South Carolina loss... absolutely.
Click to expand...
Did anyone who watched the interview notice that Heupel looked pissed for a split second when they asked this question?
 
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#87,008
#87,008
TrippieRedd said:
Random, but I legitimately don’t recognize a single Gator player on their depth chart…other than Kamar Wilson and the LB Mitchell.

Are they about to be worse than last year, like legit question
Click to expand...
They're projected to be worse than last year.... they were bad last year with an all-world athlete at QB, and they don't have another one waiting in the wings. Still doesn't guarantee we beat them in the swamp though
 
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#87,010
#87,010
TrippieRedd said:
Random, but I legitimately don’t recognize a single Gator player on their depth chart…other than Kamar Wilson and the LB Mitchell.

Are they about to be worse than last year, like legit question
Click to expand...

I hope they get waffle stomped by Utah in week 1 and it breaks their spirit for the entire season.
 
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#87,019
#87,019
TrippieRedd said:
Agreed. And waffle slapped
Click to expand...
waffle-slap.gif
 
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#87,022
#87,022
At SEC media days all of our representatives, coach and players, voiced one major theme over and over, our goal this year is to win the East division.

I’ve said this before but I think our issue with Georgia last year was, in the words of Troy Fleming on the postgame radio show, we weren’t mentally prepared. Troy also said he didn’t think we made adjustments during the game. My sense was that we just shot ourselves in the foot too many times on offense. Maybe the guys had a big head perched up there at No. 1 is the CFP poll. Hyatt said they weren’t prepared for the environment.

I used a formula when I posted my unit and game grades maybe a couple weeks or so ago and while there are some who think Georgia could have done more I don’t see it that way. Based on points allowed per possession our defense graded out at a B+. The defense, well our run defense, was maybe the best that Georgia saw all year. We held them to 3.51 yards per attempt and 1 rushing TD. That was the best anyone did against them all year in terms of YPA and on the year they scored 44 rushing TDs so it’s not like rushing is not a main feature of their offensive identity. jmo.

I think our defense, specifically our run defense, kept us in the game. Our pass defense which was pretty depleted last year gave up some plays and a couple TDs. Sometimes it seems like people forget we had a walk-on DB covering Alabama’s best receiver on their final drive of that game. We just didn’t have anybody else but the real problem against Georgia, unlike against Alabama, was our offense just got shut down by the Dawgs, mostly by our own mistakes, and that’s what we have to fix. jmo.

It’s actually pretty easy. Move the game to Neyland. I think that’ll probably mostly fix the core of our offensive issues from that game. jmo.

One other thing, yeah, Darnell Wright was elite last year but I’m not sure we’ll miss Carvin. I could be wrong and I don’t dislike him; I just don’t think he’s going to be that difficult to replace, on the field. Off the field he was reportedly a tremendous leader and that might be harder to replace. Elarbee said people don’t realize what Carvin had to play through last year and I assumed he was suggesting Jerome wasn’t entirely healthy. Obviously he didn’t get invited to the combine or drafted and before the season I thought he would. I mean he had some preseason hype. I was always high on Carvin and maybe he'll end up with a good career in the NFL. I hope so because he's one of us. Anyway the nail in the coffin for him last year imo was the Orange Bowl. He had two holding calls and he gave up at least two of the four sacks we allowed and look awful in the process. jmo.

Joe said we could have score more points against Clemson if he himself would have played better. Maybe that’s true. I sort of think we may have scored more points against Clemson if Jerome Carvin would have played better. jmo.

The whole point of this is if we’re going to compete for the East championship this year we’re going to have to fix our weakest links, particularly on offense. I think Joe under the tutelage of Heupel and Halzle can probably do his part but we’re going to need all the other guys on that side of the ball to do their part as well, week in and week out. jmo.

At SEC media days Joe was asked about Hendon’s performance against Georgia last year. He paused and said he didn’t really know how to answer that question but he knew that Hendon had played his heart out in that game and that was what he (Joe) was going to do this year, every game. He said he would be giving his all for Tennessee.

I don’t think the coaches and players would be advertising a goal of winning the East this year if they didn’t expect to get that accomplished. I think that’s a pretty encouraging sign as we get ready to head into fall camp. jmo.

Inside Joe Milton’s day with SEC media — arm obsession, Vols talk and “Pawwwlll”

(by Joe Rexrode)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee quarterback Joe Milton fielded more questions about how far he can throw things than about anything else during five straight hours of interacting with reporters and other content creators Thursday.

The second-most asked question during Milton’s nonstop stretch at the Grand Hyatt, on the final day of SEC media days, may have been this from radio producers to UT associate communications director Sean Barows: “Any chance we can get Joe on for a few minutes?”

As SEC Network’s Peter Burns interviewed Milton at 11:04 a.m. on the second floor, near radio row, Barows was a few feet away telling such a producer asking such a question that it might be tough. Milton had already received more requests than Tennessee coach Josh Heupel, Barows explained.

“Wow,” the producer replied. “No kidding.”

Tennessee granted The Athletic full access to Milton — most of the time spent by SEC players and coaches is in areas restricted to all but the league’s network and other broadcast partners — for a glimpse at what this is like for a player. Milton is one of the league’s most interesting, a 23-year-old sixth-year senior taking over Heupel’s surging program in his last chance to put together a successful starting season and show he’s an NFL prospect, not just the biggest arm known to football.

Those five hours for the magnetic Milton included laughs, jokes, autographs for fans, photos, videos, Milton impersonations of Heupel and Paul Finebaum, clear themes about his journey to this point, three bathroom breaks and no food. Milton encountered some off-the-wall questions, some fishing for spicy quotes, and a lot of the same things over and over. Especially about the arm.

Burns stumped him on something else, though, and Milton had to find the answer as he got on an escalator to the third floor and the meeting room that served as UT’s makeshift headquarters. Burns asked Milton if he knew what Heupel listened to before games to get hyped up.

“I really don’t know,” Milton said as he got on the escalator. “It’s got to be old-school hip hop, right? Some DMX? Maybe some 2-Pac in there?”

Milton found Heupel walking in the hallway near UT’s meeting room toward his next interview and walked with him to ask. He turned around laughing. Jay Z made sense. But … Mumford and Sons? Milton started tapping on his phone to see if he could find the band’s most popular song.

“You’ll know it,” UT photographer Andrew Ferguson told him. “You won’t like it.”

The day had started at 5:30 a.m. (4:30 Nashville time) for Milton at his Knoxville apartment. He had breakfast at the UT team facility and then joined eight others — Heupel, teammates Omari Thomas and Jacob Warren, Barows, Ferguson, football videographer Luke Poorman and spokesmen Jason Baum and Bill Martin — on a private UT plane. The nine-seat plane, each seat featuring a stitched orange power “T,” had a quick and bumpy flight to Nashville.

The players changed into suits at the airport, the group took a bus to the hotel and at 10:30 Heupel and the players took turns answering questions from local media in their meeting room. Milton went from there to Burns, and after discovering Heupel’s musical range, it was time for him to hit the “SEC Creative Room.”

For 15 minutes, Milton was shot in a variety of pictures and videos to use on the SEC’s social media platforms and in SEC Network programming. He twirled a football. He threw a football. He did the “Superman” gesture. He posed in front of a huge orange “T.” He hammed it up as requested.

Then it was three straight CBS rooms, 10 minutes a pop. Analyst Rick Neuheisel, a former college coach and NFL quarterback, was in the first room. He threw some “would you rather” hypotheticals at Milton, such as, would you rather be afflicted with permanent bad breath or body odor? Milton reluctantly went with the breath.

Neuheisel told Milton the story of watching in disbelief during warmups before last season’s UT home win over Missouri as Milton launched pass after pass of more than 80 yards. He was the first person Thursday to ask the question Milton got many times and answered the same way each time: How far can you throw a football?

“I honestly don’t even know,” Milton said, and as he also said repeatedly Thursday, he doesn’t want to find out because he doesn’t want to put a limit on himself.

Hendon Hooker, the Detroit Lions rookie who took the UT starting job from Milton in 2021 after Milton got hurt, who became one of the Vols’ greatest of all time and one of Milton’s best friends, was another popular topic. And when Neuheisel asked Milton what Hooker taught him, Milton said “how to be a pro,” admitting that earlier in his career he didn’t grasp the preparation required to excel.

“Complacency” is a word Milton used several times to describe his former self.

Neuheisel asked Milton to sing “Rocky Top” and got a little bit out of him.

“The ‘Woo!’ was perfect,” Neuheisel said.

“That’s my favorite part,” Milton said.

The next room involved a lot of cutting of promos for shows on CBS, which is entering its last season with SEC television rights. Milton smiled into a camera and said things such as, “This is ‘College Football Today,’” and “This is ‘Inside College Football,’ stay tuned, it’s worth the watch.”

He also answered some quick hitters, such as three things he wishes he knew more about (the moon, animals and the brain were his answers). Asked who he would most like to have over for Thanksgiving, dead or alive, he answered: “Harriet Tubman.”

Asked to say as many interesting things as he could about himself for 20 seconds, he mentioned his love for designer Louis Vuitton and pointed to his Louis Vuitton sneakers. That required a do-over — no brand names, please.

Nuts and bolts football talk got heavier in the next room with questioner Dennis Dodd, then on SiriusXM and SEC Radio hits. Milton seemed to enjoy talking about his teammates, including defensive players he has seen improve (Tyler Baron, Wesley Walker and Kamal Hadden were his first responses) and the speed of new receiver Dont’e Thornton Jr., a transfer from Oregon.

“It’s a different type of speed … it’s unheard of,” Milton said.

He shrugged off an opportunity to hype UT’s home revenge opportunity against two-time national champ Georgia this year. That happened a lot Thursday, too. He said when asked about leadership: “I always tell my guys, ‘Have fun. It’s a kids game. We’re just old.’”

At 12:17 p.m., it was time to head out of the restricted area on the second floor of the Grand Hyatt and walk over to the general media area. Milton had a 10-minute press conference coming up with “electronic media.” Barows leaned close to him as they walked and said: “This is one of the rooms where you kind of have to be aware.”

Seven TV cameras were rolling on Milton as he entered. This presser played the hits. Leadership. Confidence in the team. Hooker. The 80-yard bomb Milton threw at the Manning Passing Academy that went viral. How far can you throw a ball, anyway? When Milton got a question about the Georgia game and the way the Bulldogs routed Hooker and the Vols last season, Milton paused.

“I don’t know how to answer that question,” he said after a few seconds. “I feel like we prepared well enough. Was the experience what we wanted? Absolutely not. But at the same time, (Hooker) played his heart out. He gave it his all for Tennessee. That’s all that matters in that situation. That’s what I’m going to do for this year. Give my all for Tennessee.”

Barows gave Milton a fist bump when it was over. It was back to the restricted area to speak with a producer gathering content for ESPN “GameDay” and “SEC Nation.”

Milton was asked to impersonate Heupel. He started moving his arms around, made his voice higher and said: “Come on, guys. Like, what are we doing? Help me. Help me out, please.”

He was asked the most famous contact in his phone. His cousin, former NFL receiver Anquan Boldin, Milton said. He was asked to FaceTime him. Milton did, Boldin didn’t answer, but then Boldin FaceTimed back. They had a brief talk as Milton turned the phone toward the producer.

Among the range of topics — yes, including the question of how far Milton can throw a football — he was given several pictures of items from the 1990s to see if he knew them (yes on “Good Burger,” no on “Seinfeld.”)

Then Milton cut a bunch of quick hitters to use for various segments, saying things such as, “Not so fast, my friend!” and “You had one job!” The last thing he was handed was a large picture of something that recently went wild on social media, all of the SEC head coaches with long hair photoshopped onto their heads.

“Oh my God,” Milton said. “No. No. That’s terrible. They did coach Heupel dirty.”

Milton still had more than two hours to go. And it was back to the main media area, this time for the writers in the massive ballroom where the head coaches do their press conferences. Barows again reminded Milton of the situation, that a lot of reporters covering other teams liked to put players on the spot with “gotcha” questions.

“Don’t take the bait,” Barows said, as Milton nodded and smiled.

About 30 writers were waiting for Milton and the crowd around him got close to 60 for parts of the 20-minute session. Florida joined Georgia as a team of interest in the discussion, a few weeks after Milton said “I don’t lose in Florida” on a podcast while at the Manning Passing Academy. That was in reference to a question about beating Clemson in the Orange Bowl, in his home state, but the Vols do travel to play the Gators this season.

Milton got through without dispensing any spice. His most interesting answer came in response to a question about how Heupel has helped him develop. “Flush” was the answer. On a day Milton decried his previous “complacency,” he also mentioned a previous tendency to dwell on bad plays, saying: “I couldn’t process the next play, thinking about the last one.”

Milton and Barows headed back to the other side for 15 minutes with ESPN.com’s Chris Low and Alex Scarborough. Then he got excited. It was time to sit on set with Finebaum.

“It’s time for Paul,” Milton said, then stretched it out in a popular reference to some of Finebaum’s callers: “Pawwwlll!”

Their conversation produced a lot of laughter and some heartfelt thoughts on Milton’s grandmother and her influence on him. And when it was over, Milton said to Barows as they walked out: “Man, I’ve been trying to get on that show for the longest!”

He was excited about “Marty and McGee” as well, having spent time with Marty Smith previously. Ryan McGee at least had fun with the obligatory arm strength question, saying the internet told him Milton could throw it four miles.

“Five,” Milton said.

Milton and Barows walked out of the studio just past 2 p.m. Watching Milton handle that many of the same questions for that long, with unwavering patience, was tiring. He hadn’t had a scrap of food since breakfast in Knoxville. And now the reps were about to get faster and more frantic.

Radio row was still popping this late in SEC media days because Tennessee was held for last. Everyone wanted Milton. Everyone didn’t get him, but in a little more than an hour he did eight interviews. Some of the conversation got back to granular team stuff, to his liking, and he talked about the 10 pounds or so he has dropped from his 6-5 frame to get to 235. He actually sought out an interview with a Jacksonville, Fla., station so he could clarify the “I don’t lose in Florida” remark.

“I got to fix that, be a little more detailed on what I meant,” he said afterward. “That wasn’t meant for bulletin boards, that was just about my confidence level in my coaches and my team.”

Finally, at 3:24 p.m., it was time to take the escalator back up to the third floor and the Tennessee meeting room. Heupel, Thomas and Warren were up there waiting for him. If Milton had media fatigue, he wasn’t admitting it, 44 days from returning to Nashville to open the season against Virginia at Nissan Stadium.

“I mean, it’s kind of a feeling like, whatever you ask for God is going to give you, right? I asked for these days,” Milton said. “I can’t be mad that I had so many interviews. It’s a blessing and an opportunity.”

Milton and Barows made some arm-strength jokes between interviews. But Milton never stopped answering the questions.

“I don’t get too fazed about any question,” he said. “I treat every question like I’ve never heard it before. Because I feel like once you give that, ‘Oh man, I’m tired of that question’ vibe, that kind of shows you’re not respectful of these peoples’ time. Why would I do that?”

Hooker helped Milton with this, too. To get an idea of what he was in for, Milton got on YouTube and found all the Hooker interview sessions he could find from this event a year ago. He watched for quite a while, he said, but then he fell asleep.

“I woke up,” Milton said, “and they were still going on.”

With that, he laughed, thanked his final interviewer of the day and entered a room where the Vols and bunch of pizza awaited him.
 
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