Tennessee Vols morning report: Tim Priest retiring, Super Regional schedule

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 09: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the first half of the game against the Indiana State Sycamores at Neyland Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 09: Tennessee Volunteers fans cheer during the first half of the game against the Indiana State Sycamores at Neyland Stadium on September 9, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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As we are into the second week of June, the Tennessee Vols still have multiple postseason sports going on right now. After no sports from last March onward, this academic year has more than made up for that.

However, our morning update on Rocky Top actually  leans heavily on a couple of changes happening within the athletics department. One of them involves a Vol Network radio broadcaster, and the other involves a new head coach in a sport.

Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of postseason news to cover, including a scheduling update for one and the start of another. Simply put, plenty of things are happening with UT right now. Let’s start with the big radio news.

Tim Priest retiring, replacement selected – Patrick Brown, GoVols247

After 22 years as a color commentator with the Vol Network for Tennessee Vols football games, Tim Priest is stepping down. Priest played defensive back during the Doug Dickey and Bill Battle days for three years, earning All-SEC in 1970. He will be replaced by Pat Ryan, who played quarterback for UT from 1974 to 1977, mostly as a backup.

"Priest began his career at the Vol Network in 1993 when he filled in for predecessor and long-time Tennessee color analyst Bill Anderson. The legendary Vols radio duo of John Ward and Anderson retired after the 1998 national championship season, and they were replaced by Bob Kesling and Priest, who played for the Vols (1968-70) and was a starter on the 1969 SEC championship team."

Schedule set for Super Regional – Dan Harralson, VolsWire.com

This weekend, the No. 3 overall seed Tennessee Vols baseball team will host the LSU Tigers in the NCAA Super Regionals for a best-of-three series with a trip to the College World Series on the line. The two will square off Saturday at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2, Sunday at noon or 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2 or ESPNU and Monday at 4 or 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2 or ESPNU if necessary.

"LSU defeated Oregon, 9-8, in the Eugene Regional final on Monday, advancing to super regional play. Tennessee won all three of its games in the Knoxville Regional, defeating Wright State and Liberty twice."

Women’s golf names new head coach – UTSports

Former Tennessee Lady Vols women’s golfer Diana Cantu was named head coach of the program on Tuesday. Cantu, who replaces Judi Pavon, played for UT from 2006 to 2010 and has been head coach of the Maryland Terrapins since 2006.

"She led Maryland’s program to unprecedented success during her seven-year tenure as head coach. Most recently, in 2021, Cantú’s Terrapins squad turned in its best-ever finish at the Big Ten Championships (second), advanced to the NCAA Championships as a team for the first time in program history and earned its best-ever national ranking at No. 14. She was selected as the Big Ten Coach of the Year at season’s end."

NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships to begin – NCAA.com

Wednesday marks the start of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will last through Saturday. The Tennessee Vols program has 17 athletes competing in 16 entries at the event, with 10 entries on the men’s side and six on the women’s side.

"The first event scheduled for Wednesday is the men’s 100-meter sprint as part of the decathlon at 4 p.m. ET. In total, there are six events that have their finals scheduled for Wednesday: the men’s 10,000-meter run, men’s hammer throw, men’s pole vault, men’s javelin, men’s long jump and men’s shot put."