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We answer your best questions about Tennessee athletics and anything else in our weekly mailbag, Insider Mailing.
“Do you think Jim Chaney is in the mix for the OC Search, or do you think he is off the table?” – Luke
Nathanael: Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if he was. But if he really was, I truly think you would’ve heard more about him by now. Georgia’s bowl game is done, and it doesn’t look like Chaney has signed an extension to his contract with UGA yet. If he’s a legit candidate, I’m surprised we haven’t heard more rumblings about him like we have with guys like Sarkisian.
Ben: No. I’m not willing to say there’s no chance, though. But that chance probably sits at a four percent chance of happening. Jeremy Pruitt hasn’t talked to him extensively, and his name isn’t one being heavily floated around behind the scenes.
“Can you name 3 good Offensive Coordinators still available?” – Pam
Nathanael: Absolutely. It depends on your definition of “good” or even “available,” but I definitely can. I think Sarkisian is one, and Jim Chaney would be one. Matt Canada is another (though UT has apparently moved on from him), and there are other guys out there who aren’t OCs right now but could become one, such as Alabama’s QB coach Dan Enos or Clemson’s QB coach Brandon Streeter.
Ben: There are plenty of good offensive coordinators available at the high school, college and NFL level. It’s Pruitt’s responsibility to identify which ones best fit what he wants in an offensive coordinator. I’m not super high on Sarkisian, but he’s available. Tee Martin is available. Freddie Kitchens and Jim Bob Cooter are technically available. But are Sarkisian, Cooter or Kitchens willing to leave the NFL for a college gig? It doesn’t appear Kitchens or Cooter want to whatsoever, and it looks like there’s a solid chance Sarkisian stays in the NFL.
As for Canada, he’s available and a great offensive mind, but Tennessee has moved on. There’s been a lot of talk that he’s hard to work with. When you look at his resume, he’s bounced around quite a bit, which would support that theory.
“Would you, right now, trade Pruitt for Mullen straight up? 4-7 last year (worse than us) and 10-3 this year. Six 40+ point games.” – Jeremy
Nathanael: I never hid the fact that I wanted Dan Mullen as UT’s head coach when they were looking for one in 2017. Yes, he’s a corny dude, but he can coach. I don’t think his personality would’ve fit in at UT after just having gone through five years of Butch Jones in hindsight, but as an actual coach, he was one of my top realistic choices. I have nothing against Pruitt, but if you’re asking me based purely on coaching, I would say “yes.” I don’t think Mullen would’ve had that type of success/turnaround at Tennessee, though. Florida was a very, very different situation than Tennessee from a talent, development, and schedule perspective. Time will tell if he can build off what he did in Year 1, but I liked Mullen from the start. I also think Pruitt will end up being a good coach, though.
Ben: In a heartbeat. But for one reason. With Mullen, you know for a fact that he’ll win 9-11 games each year. With Pruitt, while I think he’ll be no worse than Butch Jones – producing back-to-back nine win seasons – there’s no guarantee he’ll get Tennessee out of this hole.
Last offseason, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Tennessee bringing in Mullen. He’s hard to work for, he’s hard to play with, and he’s corny as all get out. His offensive brilliance makes up for those shortcomings, though. As far as his 10-win season in year one at Florida, I do believe it’s a tad deceiving. The Gators lost to Kentucky and were blown out by both Georgia and Missouri. In terms of their wins, Floria beat a terrible Tennessee team, a terrible Florida State team, a Michigan team that was missing a ton of key pieces, Vanderbilt blew a second half lead, skated by Mississippi State, and skated by South Carolina. The win over LSU was impressive, and I’m not trying to take anything away from what Mullen did in year one. I’m just saying let’s wait another year or two before we say Mullen is the next Urben Meyer at Florida. After all, Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain got off to hot starts during their Florida tenure. Mullen isn’t exactly knocking it out in recruiting right now either.
“Do you think Tennessee can become the leader for Henry (To’oto’o) with a visit?” – @v_fball
Nathanael: I wouldn’t get my hopes too high on that, but it’s certainly possible, yes. The Vols are his No. 2, but it’s going to be tough to overcome Alabama’s connection with him thanks to Tosh Lupoi. UT does have Kevin Simon and ace recruiter Brian Niedermeyer working on it, though, so I’m not counting them out at all.
Ben: Yes. He’s high on Tennessee and at one point during the season, the Vols were the leaders. But Alabama has regained the lead for his services thanks to Lupoi, and as a result, it appears to be an uphill climb for Tennessee.
“I project that Jack LB Deandre Johnson will be bulked up in the offseason and moved to WDE in 3 man fronts, do ya’ll agree or disagree?” – @VolsPix
Nathanael: Coming in to Tennessee, Johnson was recruited as a defensive end under Butch Jones, but he wasn’t big enough to play there and fit in better as a pure pass rushing outside linebacker in Pruitt’s scheme. Right now, he’s listed as 6-foot-3, 244 pounds as of this past season. If he’s going to fill the role that Kyle Phillips left behind, then he’d need to gain about 30 pounds potentially. I’m not sure he can gain that much in just 8 months, but I do like your thinking. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him play some with his hands in the dirt, but it will largely depend on who Tennessee adds at linebacker in the 2019 class. Darrell Taylor will have one outside linebacker spot nailed down, but it remains to be seen where Quavaris Crouch and J.J. Peterson end up (though Peterson practiced mostly with the inside linebackers last year). I would also add that signee Roman Harrison seems like a good fit at weak-side defensive end as well.
Ben: I think I agree. There’s no telling what Pruitt will decide to do, but I do believe that would be a good move for not only Tennessee, but Johnson as well. Mainly because at this moment, there’s nobody slated to start at the defensive end position. Nathanael lined it out perfectly. I agree with him that I believe Roman Harrison could have something to say about one of the defensive end spots or even the outside linebacker spot opposite of Taylor because J.J. Peterson and Quavaris Crouch will be on the inside. If Henry To’oto’o signs with Tennessee, I could definitely see Johnson move to defensive end.
“What’s the latest on Trey Smith?” – @tjvol49
Nathanael: Nothing new on that front right now, but in my honest opinion, I would be surprised if he can play in the 2019 season.
“What does Tennessee have to do or not do this year to get a 1 seed in March?” – Cody
Nathanael: To get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, I think the Vols at the very least have to do what they did last year and win the SEC regular season and get to the SEC Tournament Finals. Winning the SEC Tournament should secure that top seed for them. If the Vols manage to end the season prior to the NCAAT with just five losses, I think they have it locked down. Six times over the last seven years, at last one No. 1 seed has had at least six losses heading into the NCAA Tournament. The Vols were a No. 3 seed last year with a 25-8 record last year. If they can end up with something like a 25-6 or 26-5 record heading into SEC Tournament play, then they should be in a very good spot.
Ben: Win more games than everybody else. In all seriousness, Tennessee would have to win the SEC regular season title, the SEC Tournament, and finish 26-4 or so with no more than three SEC losses. That’s about where Duke, Kansas, Gonzaga, Virginia, and Michigan will finish – the teams the Vols will be directly competing for a No. 1 seed with.
