Tennessee Vols morning report: Kevin Sherrer leaves, Eric Berry plans comeback
A Tennessee Vols football assistant coach leaving and Eric Berry plotting a comeback lead our Volunteers news for Monday, Jan. 27, 2020.
It’s a very sad Monday in the world of sports. The news surrounding the passing of Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven other people has struck everybody, including the Tennessee Vols, whose women’s basketball team was playing when the story first broke Sunday. With that in the back of our mind, we have lots to get to related to UT on this sad day.
Our morning update on Rocky Top leads with a few football stories. One includes the departure of an assistant coach, another involves a former Vol plotting his return to the NFL after taking a year off, and a final one involves the play of a recent graduate.
In addition to football news, though, we build on our recaps of men’s and women’s basketball games that happened over the weekend, and we also have tennis recaps to bring you. So as we try to move forward after what happened, let’s start with the football news.
Kevin Sherrer leaving for NFL job – Dan Harralson, VolsWire.com
Inside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Kevin Sherrer is leaving the Tennessee Vols football program. He will join the New York Giants staff under new head coach Joe Judge.
Former Vol Eric Berry planning comeback – Tyler Sullivan, CBSSports
After being released by the Kansas City Chiefs, it turns out that former Tennessee football safety Eric Berry sat out the 2019 NFL season on purpose. However, in a story initially reported by NFL Network, the All-Pro defensive back is planning a comeback in 2020.
Jauan Jennings catches touchdown in Senior Bowl – Louis Fernandez, WBIR
Despite the South losing to the North 31-17 in the Senior Bowl, Tennessee football wide receiver Jauan Jennings stood out. He caught a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter of the game.
Rick Barnes recaps loss to Kansas – UTSports
In Saturday’s SEC/Big 12 challenge, the Tennessee Vols men’s basketball team lost on the road to the No. 3 ranked Kansas Jayhawks 74-68. With the loss, they fell to 12-7 on the year while Kansas improved to 16-3. Rick Barnes, Jordan Bowden and John Fulkerson all spoke in the postgame. Here’s a bit of what Barnes said about the loss.
"“In a lot of ways I’m really proud of our team and what we’ve had to go through. We felt like, now with this group, we’re heading in the right direction.”"
Kellie Harper recaps LSU win – Maria M. Cornelius, GoVols247
On the heels of a 15-point loss at the No. 3 ranked UConn Huskies, the No. 23 ranked Tennessee Lady Vols rebounded Sunday afternoon with a critical SEC win over the LSU Tigers. UT improved to 16-4 overall and 6-1 in the SEC thanks to 30 points from Rennia Davis, and LSU fell to 14-5 and 4-3 in the SEC. Here’s a bit of what Harper said after the game.
"“Any time you can get a conference win, it’s a big deal. But then you go in the locker room, and you get the news about Kobe Bryant and our team, our staff, we were just gut wrenched. It was really tough for me to even address our team.”"
Men’s, women’s tennis lose in ITA finals – wearecollegetennis.com
Both the men’s and women’s Tennessee tennis teams lost in the finals round of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff Weekend. Women’s tennis, 1-1 and ranked No. 22, beat the No. 19 Kansas Jayhawks but lost to the No. 20 Virginia Cavaliers. Men’s tennis, 6-1 and ranked No. 16, beat the No. 25 Arizona State Sun Devils but lost to the No. 18 Columbia Lions.