Them Vols offseason thread

Coach Butch Jones and his staff welcomed another guest speaker to Knoxville as NFL defensive back Adam “Pacman” Jones spoke to Team 118. Jones also spoke at the NFL Rookie Symposium in July 2012, asking young athletes to learn from his mistakes and learn to "pump the brakes." The West Virginia product and Atlanta native is known in the Volunteer State for off-the-field issues with spending (over $1 million in one weekend) while playing for the Tennessee Titans and later an incident at a gentlemen’s club in Las Vegas. However, Jones is more than confident he’s turned his life around and his story is foretold in attempt to keep others from winding down his once-disruptive path.

As you may have seen in Monday’s edition of Insider Report, demolition of the Stokely Athletics Center continues. Gibbs Hall is nothing more than a oil of rubble. Johnny Majors Drive, as has been the case for several weeks, is inaccessible with a chain-link fence surrounding the construction area.

Circle July 15 on the calendar. That’s the date that Jones and select players will grace the halls and rooms of The Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala., for SEC Media Days.

Congratulations to former Tennessee kicker Michael Palardy on his recent signing with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders.
 
Any updates from your manager buddy from this weekend Scottie? I gotta get Wickman's e-cred up as an insider in a hurry :)
 
Is he a cornerback? A nickelback? A safety?

What*Justin Coleman*winds up playing on the back end or in the box of the*Tennesseedefense could be quite telling in 2014.

If the rising senior is able to rotate inside to nickelback versus Spread offenses or roll to safety against Pro-Style sets, that both means the Volunteers found a cornerback opposite*Cameron Sutton*that’s at least serviceable and that Coleman can finally play a position that better suits his skill set.

If Tennessee was 4-5 years into the Butch Jones era, given how he and the staff are recruiting presently, it makes sense to assume SEC level talent would exist throughout the secondary. Hypothetically, if that type of two-deep existed in 2014, where would defensive coordinator John Jancek line up Coleman?

“Really, Justin is pretty versatile,” Jancek told InsideTennessee. “He can play corner and then also we feel he could be a good nickel, which we’ve tried to move him in there (in early 2013). Some health never materialized with certain players so we were never able to make that move. That’s something we’re going to look at when we get some other players in here.”

“Other players” includes freshmen such asRaShaan Gaulden,*Emmanuel Moseley*and D’Andre Payne could directly impact where Coleman plays if each or any is able to step up.

The time Coleman’s spent outside the numbers wasn’t wasteful. Jones suggest those reps lend themselves to learning the nickel spot.

“There’s a lot of similarities because you know a lot of times some teams’ receivers are on the inside,” Jones told IT. “So, they have to be able to play man coverage. Probably the level of physicality is a little bit more because they’re a lot of times setting the edge.

“There’s a lot of carryover but it’s also different because you can be covering a tight end, you could be covering a wideout.”

At a sculpted 5 feet 10, 190 pounds, Coleman possesses plenty of stature to bring down ball carriers, tight ends and large quarterbacks in space. After 36 games played in three seasons on The Hill, he should be well-equipped from the neck-up as well to handle the workload.

PAYNE

Blanketing wide receivers hasn’t been Coleman’s strong suit to date. The former Scout three-star has just one interception in spite of having 25 starts at cornerback. However, he doesn’t have a quarterback sack to date. Providing a pass rush as a blitzing nickelback will require some adjusting.

The head man suggests transitioning to a new position will take time.

“The big thing is a learning curve,” Jones said. “As much carryover as there is, it’s still a different position. There’s a different skill set involved but also from an assignment standpoint.”

While Jancek and Jones will have ample say in how Coleman is used with Team 118, the task with teaching him whichever position it may be falls on defensive backs coach Willie Martinez, who wants a high football I.Q. and the ability to blanket the slot out of his nickelback.

”It is very similar to the safety position,” Martinez said, “because you are tied into everything, calls and checks and you are playing a position where you are lined up on the slot so you are seeing him run as much as you are seeing paths, you have to be able to play them all and make quick decisions. Usually the slot receiver is the best receiver on the team, on the offense, so you are matched up with a really good player."

One position or the other, Coleman clearly has ability to help Tennessee this fall. The only question that needs answering is whichnew*role that will be.
 
Where's everybody sitting for this Utah state game bros?
 
LotteryPick said:
I'm looking at tickets, currently. Kinda pricey.
Click to expand...

I think it'll be a pretty awesome atmosphere considering the opponent.

This might be my last chance to make it to neyland for a whileeeee so I want to take advantage.
 
005 said:
I think it'll be a pretty awesome atmosphere considering the opponent.

This might be my last chance to make it to neyland for a whileeeee so I want to take advantage.
Click to expand...

What website are you looking on?
 
I can get section Q row 29 but they're more expensive than I wanted to get.
 
Q is a pretty good spot. Corner of the field, view of the jumbotron. It was as much as I wanted to spend on season tickets...moving any closer to midfield skyrockets the price.
 
In an exclusive interview with InsideTennessee, Don Ferguson, the father of now-former Tennessee quarterback Riley Ferguson, gave insight as to why the right-hander is no longer a Volunteer. At the top of the list was homesickness as Riley badly missed being in Charlotte and is not a fan of being in the public eye. In fact, his likely destination is the newly-formed Charlotte program. Another factor was the depth chart as Ferguson expected to be named the starter following spring practice but that never came to fruition.

Nearly every member of Ferguson’s family pleaded with Riley to stay at Tennessee and stressed patience. From rising senior running back to former players like Rajion Neal, Cordarrelle Patterson and Antonio “Tiny” Richardson, he was advised to say. In fact, Don says, a close friend of Riley’s back in Charlotte nearly got in a fight with Riley over his decision to leave Tennessee.

All ties are severed at this point but Don passed along this message to IT:

“I love the fan base. It comes down to you want the best for your kid, and I was a Tennessee fan since I was born pretty much. Back in ’98 when they did the black and orange, I’ve got his room painted. Two walls are black and two are orange. It’s just tough. It’s tough as a parent to see how it’s gone down, but you have to live with it and move on.”
 
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