From the Erik Ainge show today:
Erik and Brian talked at length and had very positive things to say about AJ Johnson and how admirably (with humility and grace) he has handled himself throughout his recent adversity.
Brian said the reason UT is trying to buy out the deal with UConn is because we’re trying to set up another game at Bristol.
Ainge goes on a rant about us not having our best players on the field in recent years and it being attributed to those players not knowing what to do. How the heck does he not know what to do? You are getting paid millions of dollars to teach him.
Caller asks how much the “Fire Butch” movement that began after the Georgia game lead to the cratering of our season, especially down the stretch.
Brian says after Florida the increasing negativity affected the mentality of the team. The team as a whole no longer had any confidence in the staff. Ainge said not everyone checked out but enough players did that it made a huge difference. Brian said everything is water under the bridge now. Everyone agrees we’re not as bad as we looked last year.
Caller asks about the depth chart and when it may settle out a bit.
Brian says based on what Jeremy has said its more important to be the best you can be than to aspire to be the starter. Ainge says if you are brand new you have no equity. You have to earn it by proving that you are reliable and can do what is asked of you, maybe even exceed those expectations. He thinks the biggest thing college football coaches are looking for is consistency. Obviously they want you to be big, strong, and fast. It’s their job to recruit you and make you bigger, stronger, and faster and they want you to be a good football player, but consistency is the biggest thing they are looking for.
Caller asks how Tennessee lines up with West Virginia in terms of plusses.
Ainge says on offense we are just as athletic as any of the teams WVU plays in the B12 that put up a bunch of points. He says we’re not too deep at all of the positions but Ty Chandler is going to be harder to tackle than any running back WVU will play this year. Callaway, Jennings, and the receiving corps will be in the 2nd to 4th best group they will have to cover this year. The offensive line if it is healthy should be better than anyone they play against. Ainge said he’s not sure yet on the TE position but overall the reason he is so optimistic about the game is we’re one of the best teams WVU will face this year. Ainge says he knows we’ve got some young guys in our defensive backfield and WVU likes to throw the ball but we are veterans up front now with our front 7 so if they cannot run the football and they’re one-dimensional god forbid if we have a little pass rush or have a plan because they don’t know what we’re going to do. Ainge says he doesn’t think it is farfetched to think we will create some 3rd and long opportunities early in the game and then can our offense capitalize. He thinks probably the WVU defense has another thing coming to try and stop us with everything we do. Too many people were talking at once then but I think Brian said Vols by 20
They talk about our defensive alignment and Ainge said if he knew he wouldn’t be talking but he figures we’ll be in a lot of 4 man fronts and in nickel and dime packages a lot. He said this game has to be drop everybody and force WVU to keep calling the run play.
Caller asks who is our field goal kicker; who is our punter?
Brian says competition is ongoing but Paxton Brooks is one of the punting candidates, and Brent Cimaglia returns as a kicker and has some competition.
Back to Bristol. Rumor mill is spinning and the word is Bristol wanted to have an announcement ready to go this weekend. That’s probably going to slide. The thinking right now is the game will be scheduled for the 2021 season. Brian said the potential opponent has to buy out someone already on their schedule and that is the reason for delay.
Caller calls in saying his choice for the Bristol opponent is Clemson.
Brian says Clemson checks a very important box because their fans can drive there in one day. There’s not enough housing, hospitality, or logistics support in the greater area to accommodate two fanbases overnight so proximity of the two teams is very important.
Caller calls suggesting Ohio State or Wisconsin but Brian points out each fanbase is going to have to sell 60,000 tickets so proximity is a big concern.
Caller calls in to second the nomination of Clemson as our Bristol opponent.
Everybody devolves into how amazing it would be to set up a clash for Pruitt in his 4th year against Clemson in a battle at Bristol. Brian points out that all of this is managed at the top by Bristol and not by the schools but his understanding is that Clemson is the target.
Everybody is saying it’s got to be non-conference after someone suggests Georgia. A number of people on twitter are suggesting Penn State. Another caller suggests Michigan. Big 10 opponents are popular since it’s assumed we can take anyone in the Big 10.
Caller calls in to nix Clemson due to the purple in their uniform and suggests Notre Dame. Ainge and Brian jump on the Notre Dame. We have a history with Notre Dame so the thinking now is either Clemson or Notre Dame would likely be big draws for both sides.
Clemson vs Tennessee at the 2021 Battle of Bristol II ??
