Tennessee Vols morning report: VFL Bill Johnson passes away
The death of a former Tennessee Vols star leads our Sept. 15, 2020 Volunteers news.
Opening day is getting closer and closer for the Tennessee Vols football team, and amidst all this drama, it continues to get more exciting for fans. That’s a big part of what we’re covering today, but it’s not all good news.
Our morning update on Rocky Top leads with the death of a football legend and a teammate of the late Johnny Majors’ in the mid-1950s. He’s one of the greatest players in UT history, and we have to recognize his accomplishments.
Beyond that, we also have multiple other interviews to cover, including one involving the head coach and another involving multiple seniors. We’ll close with a scheduling update from the SEC with another sport. Let’s start with the tragic news, though.
Former Vol Bill Johnson passes away – UTSports
On Sunday, former Tennessee Vols football offensive lineman Bill Johnson passed away at age 84. The news was revealed Monday. Johnson played for Rocky Top from 1955 to 1957, helping them to three straight winning seasons, including the SEC title while blocking for Johnny Majors in 1956.
"As a senior, Johnson garnered national notoriety himself when he earned All-America and Academic All-America honors in 1957, the first UT player to accomplish that feat and one of just three to do so in program history. Johnson was also named first-team All-SEC in 1957 after helping lead the Orange and White to an 8-3 season that was capped by a 3-0 victory over No. 9 Texas A&M in the Gator Bowl."
Jeremy Pruitt speaks at Knoxville QB club – 99.1 The Sports Animal YouTube
Monday night’s Knoxville Quarterback Club speaker was Tennessee football head coach Jeremy Pruitt. Here’s a bit of what he said about trying to get the team prepared for the season amidst the pandemic.
"“We continue to learn things every single day. Our kids have been very positive. Very motivated, have really kind of taken everything in stride and have really worked hard this offseason to prepare for this season that’s about to get started in a couple weeks here.”"
Seniors discuss 2020 season on podcast – Wes Rucker, GoVols247
Three Tennessee football seniors spoke on the recent GoVols247 Podcast about their outlook for the upcoming season. One of these players took a redshirt last year, the other is set to be a co-starter on offense, and the other is the star special teams player and may be the star player of the entire team given his production.
"GoVols247’s Wes Rucker (from Fort Rucker Studio) provides a brief news update before clearing the deck for a trio of interviews with Tennessee seniors — wide receiver Brandon Johnson, kicker Brent Cimaglia and running back Ty Chandler. All three players had plenty of interesting things to say on plenty of topics, but the bottom line is all three are confident about themselves and their teammates heading into the new season, which is scheduled to start with a Sept. 26 game at SEC Eastern Division rival South Carolina."
SEC reveals Swimming and Diving plans – SECSports.com
It looks like the Tennessee Vols men’s and women’s swimming and diving programs have a plan in place to prepare for the season amidst the pandemic. On Monday, the league revealed the timeframe within which the season would run.
"The 2020 SEC men’s and women’s swimming & diving season will begin no earlier than October 1, 2020 and conclude no later than January 25, 2021 with regionalized competition permitted upon the adherence of opponents to SEC Medical Guidance Task Force Requirements for COVID-19 Management. Contests will be limited to dual-meet format unless alternative strategies are identified to limit the overall number of participants to ensure appropriate distancing. The number of events is at the discretion of each institution."