The Tennessee Vols football offensive coordinator search and men’s basketball preparing for the Tigers lead our Volunteers news for Friday, Dec. 14, 2018.
Happy Friday! We’re almost halfway through the month of December, and as 2018 coming to an end, the Tennessee Vols still have hundreds of questions about the future of the football program. We have a couple of updates on that front for today.
Our morning news on Rocky Top is led by the offensive coordinator search. Another name popped up in a report, and it’s worth mentioning. However, men’s basketball is also huge news as they prepare for their Saturday game at the Memphis Tigers, the first game since they beat the No. 1 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs.
We also have some recognition stories of current and former football players we’ll get to, and softball recruiting is in the news. So today’s updates cover a variety of things. Let’s get started with the OC search.
Steve Sarkisian’s name comes up for Vols OC – Dan Harralson, Volswire.com
The Tennessee Vols football offensive coordinator search continues, and with the news that Jeremy Pruitt is now going to wait until after the Early Signing Period to announce his guy, more names are popping up. One of those names is now Steve Sarkisian, who has not been popular ever since he replaced Kyle Shanahan as the Atlanta Falcons OC in 2017.
"Sarkisian spent time at Alabama in 2016 as an offensive analyst and filled in as offensive coordinator for the national championship game against Clemson following Lane Kiffin’s early departure to FAU. Sarkisian’s brief stint in Tuscaloosa was during Jeremy Pruitt’s first season as Alabama’s defensive coordinator."
Tennessee basketball prepares for Memphis – Grant Ramey, GoVols247
The Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team continues its preparation for the Memphis Tigers, whom they’ll face Saturday at noon. This is their first true road game of the season.
"The Vols (7-1) aren’t No. 1 as they travel back to Memphis (5-4) for Saturday’s Noon Eastern Time tipoff (TV: ESPN2) inside a once-again sold-out FedExForum. But they are ranked No. 3, their highest spot in the Associated Press Top 25 since that 2008 season, when they moved to No. 1 after the win at Memphis only to lose at Vanderbilt days later."
Tennessee football graduates 11 players – UTSports
The Tennessee Vols football team will graduate 11 players Friday. One of the players, Jeff George, is actually a former Vols.
"Of the 10 current players graduating this semester, four will be eligible to return next season. That list includes Chance Hall, Zac Jancek, Ryan Johnson and Quart’e Sapp."
Heath Shuler a 2019 Silver Anniversary Award winner – Kelsey Boyd, NCAA.org
Former Vol quarterback Heath Shuler was announced as one of six winners of the 2019 NCAA Silver Anniversary Award. The award recognizes individuals on the 25th anniversary of the end of their college careers.
"Heath Shuler started at quarterback for Tennessee in 1992 and 1993. After passing for a Southeastern Conference-best 2,354 yards and 25 touchdowns, he was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1993. That season, he led the Volunteers to a 10-2 record and a spot in the Citrus Bowl. The same year, he was named the SEC Player of the Year and earned All-SEC first-team honors. Shuler ranks fifth in Tennessee history with 36 touchdown passes and 10th in all-time passing yards with 4,088."
Softball signs No. 1 recruiting class – UTSports
The Tennessee Lady Vols softball team announced their signing class for 2019 Thursday. They landed eight players overall.
"The Lady Vols have the top recruiting class in 2019 according to Extra Inning Softball and FloSoftball. Tennessee has seven players ranked in the FloSoftball Hot 100 and six players in the Extra Inning Softball Extra Elite 100 – including five players in the Top 50 of FloSoftball."