Latest / The Craig Way Show / Scouting the Tennessee Volunteers with Jayson Swain
Transcript
- 0:05Speaker 1: It's a Yacht Rock Wednesday.
- 0:08Speaker 2: So in Morning Dance by Spira Jira fits the profile.
- 0:15Speaker 2: But the reason we bump back with Morning Dance, it'll
- 0:18Speaker 2: be a morning dance in Knoxville, at least central time.
- 0:22Speaker 1: It's 1110 a.m.
- 0:24Speaker 2: Central time kick at Neyland Stadium. when the Texas Longhorns
- 0:28Speaker 2: take on the Tennessee Volunteers. First time ever for the
- 0:31Speaker 2: University of Texas to play a football.
- 0:33Speaker 1: Game in Knoxville.
- 0:35Speaker 2: And here to help us break it down, very pleased
- 0:37Speaker 2: to be joined by the broadcast analyst on the Vol Network,
- 0:41Speaker 2: Jason Swain, who joins us on the hotline right now. Jason,
- 0:44Speaker 2: I greatly appreciate your time. I know it's going to
- 0:46Speaker 2: be noon, 10 central, but still a little bit early
- 0:49Speaker 2: for the kickoff there, even astride the river there in Knoxville,
- 0:53Speaker 2: isn't it?
- 0:55Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the fans will prefer the game to
- 0:57Speaker 3: be at 3.30 or a night game. I think the
- 1:00Speaker 3: football team prefers a noon game because this is a
- 1:03Speaker 3: team that practices in the morning. They're used to getting
- 1:06Speaker 3: up early and getting their business done. So I'd be
- 1:10Speaker 3: curious to kind of see how this football team comes
- 1:12Speaker 3: out and plays a noon kickoff game or college game
- 1:16Speaker 3: that's going to be here and you're hosting the number
- 1:18Speaker 3: one team in the country.
- 1:19Speaker 2: Yeah, pretty exciting stuff for both sides on this. I
- 1:23Speaker 2: want to get your overview, first of all, your expert opinion,
- 1:27Speaker 2: since you've watched this team, even going back to the
- 1:30Speaker 2: fall camp workouts, and now through the first three ballgames
- 1:33Speaker 2: of the season. What has really stood out to you
- 1:36Speaker 2: about this 3-0 start for the Vols here in these
- 1:38Speaker 2: first three games?
- 1:41Speaker 3: Well, I mean, defensively, Tennessee went out and replaced the
- 1:44Speaker 3: defense coordinator and brought in Jim Knowles, a guy that
- 1:48Speaker 3: you know, both teams are familiar with Tennessee is familiar
- 1:50Speaker 3: with Texas is familiar with, uh, we saw Jim Knowles
- 1:53Speaker 3: in the 2000, you know, 24 season when Ohio state
- 1:56Speaker 3: won the national championship. And so, I mean, he's, he's gonna,
- 1:59Speaker 3: he's gonna give you different looks for sure. And Tennessee has, uh,
- 2:03Speaker 3: I think the personnel for, for Jim Knowles to be
- 2:05Speaker 3: creative and what he does on defense. And so that's
- 2:08Speaker 3: something that, you know, Arch Manning and Texas offense will
- 2:11Speaker 3: have to kind of, you know, maneuver through and figure
- 2:13Speaker 3: it out.
- 2:14Speaker 4: So for me, that's, really what I'm paying attention to
- 2:16Speaker 4: the most.
- 2:17Speaker 3: I think secondly, Faison Brandon, the very talented young quarterback
- 2:23Speaker 3: for Tennessee that's.
- 2:24Speaker 4: Gotten a lot of attention.
- 2:26Speaker 3: Two times he's won SEC Freshman of the Week, but
- 2:29Speaker 3: this will be a different test for him.
- 2:31Speaker 4: This will be the most competition that he has faced.
- 2:34Speaker 3: And so how does he rise to the occasion?
- 2:36Speaker 4: How does he play? And how does the coaches manage him?
- 2:40Speaker 3: I thought they did a good job of putting him
- 2:42Speaker 3: in positions to be successful, but first couple games, but
- 2:45Speaker 3: he wasn't asked to do a lot. I think for
- 2:47Speaker 3: Tennessee to be successful against Texas, he's going to have
- 2:50Speaker 3: to do a lot more, and I think the coaches
- 2:52Speaker 3: will have to ask him to do.
- 2:54Speaker 4: A lot more as well.
- 2:56Speaker 2: He already has my admiration, Jason, for no other reason
- 3:00Speaker 2: than we're both from the same hometown. Now, he was
- 3:02Speaker 2: a Grimsley Worley when he played at Greensboro and I
- 3:04Speaker 2: was a Ragsdale tiger, but, but he, uh, that that's
- 3:07Speaker 2: a high level program there, uh, in Greensboro Grimsley, they're
- 3:11Speaker 2: a perennial state championship caliber team.
- 3:14Speaker 1: And for him to come in, he looks pretty comfortable.
- 3:17Speaker 2: Uh, is, is that what you've been able to discern
- 3:20Speaker 2: for a, for a freshman jumping right into the fire
- 3:23Speaker 2: and three games in, he looks like he's just kind
- 3:25Speaker 2: of adapted pretty well.
- 3:28Speaker 4: Yeah, he has.
- 3:29Speaker 3: I mean, he's not a normal, true freshman at all.
- 3:31Speaker 3: I mean, I've had a chance to speak with guys
- 3:34Speaker 3: who have played the position here over the years, and
- 3:38Speaker 3: you couldn't tell that Faison was a true freshman.
- 3:40Speaker 4: I mean, 6'4, 225.
- 3:42Speaker 3: I mean, physically, he doesn't look like a freshman at all.
- 3:45Speaker 3: And so he can't play like one on Saturday for
- 3:50Speaker 3: Tennessee to have a chance to beat Texas. But, man,
- 3:53Speaker 3: he's really impressive, and he really is.
- 3:55Speaker 2: When you were a wide receiver at Tennessee, what did
- 3:59Speaker 2: you and, say, the other veterans do to help if
- 4:04Speaker 2: you needed to, to have a young quarterback kind of
- 4:08Speaker 2: relax a little bit and just let it rip, so
- 4:11Speaker 2: to speak, as the coaches like to say? Did you
- 4:13Speaker 2: have to do that, and do you see that from
- 4:15Speaker 2: guys like Redarius Jackson and Mike Matthews trying to help
- 4:19Speaker 2: him along, even though he looks like he's adapted pretty well?
- 4:23Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 4:23Speaker 3: My sophomore year, we had a true freshman quarterback and, uh,
- 4:25Speaker 3: you know, we understood the assignment, you know, defensively, uh,
- 4:28Speaker 3: you know, they got, they got to play well. I mean,
- 4:30Speaker 3: I think that can be a young quarterback's best friend
- 4:33Speaker 3: is first to defense.
- 4:34Speaker 4: And then secondly, the running game.
- 4:36Speaker 3: And, you know, we, we understood what we need to
- 4:38Speaker 3: do when we had a, a true freshman, a quarterback.
- 4:41Speaker 3: And I think these guys understand that, uh, where there's Jackson,
- 4:44Speaker 3: Mike Matthews, uh, Berlin Staley and all the other guys around, uh, Faison,
- 4:51Speaker 3: they understand what they need to do. They need to
- 4:52Speaker 3: do their job. They need to do it well. Yards
- 4:55Speaker 3: after catch will be, I think, very, very important. So,
- 4:58Speaker 3: you know, tackling in space will be, you know, something that,
- 5:02Speaker 3: you know, Will Muschamp and his defense want to make
- 5:04Speaker 3: sure they do a good job of because, you know,
- 5:05Speaker 3: you wouldn't want, you know, Faison to be able to
- 5:08Speaker 3: be protected with short throws and then allowing your receivers
- 5:11Speaker 3: to go out there and make big plays.
- 5:12Speaker 4: So if you're Tennessee, that's certainly what you want to do.
- 5:16Speaker 3: You don't want to put Faison in position to have
- 5:18Speaker 3: to make picture-perfect throws down the football field. Let him
- 5:22Speaker 3: make short throws and then let your receivers go out
- 5:24Speaker 3: there and make plays. you know, for you in space.
- 5:26Speaker 2: The other thing that comes to mind is in looking
- 5:29Speaker 2: at the numbers offensively is how the carries and the
- 5:32Speaker 2: yardage have been pretty equal between Bishop and Morris. How
- 5:35Speaker 2: about your thoughts on what those guys bring to the party?
- 5:38Speaker 2: And again, if it's rolling back to the quarterback, certainly
- 5:40Speaker 2: if your running game is going well, it's going to
- 5:42Speaker 2: make the quarterback more effective.
- 5:45Speaker 4: Yeah, for sure. I mean, Morris is a different back
- 5:48Speaker 4: than Bishop.
- 5:49Speaker 3: Morris is a guy who can take the distance at
- 5:50Speaker 3: any moment, has breakout speed. Javin Gordon is listed probably
- 5:56Speaker 3: as a second running back, and he's really, really good. So,
- 6:00Speaker 3: I mean, between those three, you can really look at
- 6:03Speaker 3: any one of them as being RB1. But, you know,
- 6:06Speaker 3: Deshaun Bishop will get the first snaps. I mean, he's
- 6:08Speaker 3: a guy that It's a former walk-on that's earned every
- 6:11Speaker 3: single opportunity that he has gotten here at Tennessee and
- 6:14Speaker 3: done the most with it. And so he's one of
- 6:17Speaker 3: the leaders on this football team. This running back room, man,
- 6:20Speaker 3: very versatile. They're tight-knit. Their coach, man, holds them accountable
- 6:27Speaker 3: for every little thing that they do. And so how
- 6:30Speaker 3: can that running game get going? How can it be
- 6:32Speaker 3: effective is going to be the question for Tennessee. Again,
- 6:36Speaker 3: taking that pressure off Faison. allowing them to have some
- 6:38Speaker 3: opportunities in the passing game down the field.
- 6:41Speaker 2: Visiting with Jason Swain, the analyst on the Vol Network,
- 6:45Speaker 2: as we bring down this Texas versus Tennessee matchup. The
- 6:49Speaker 2: other thing I was going to ask you with regard
- 6:54Speaker 2: to the offensive work. Now, I always get asked this,
- 6:58Speaker 2: depending on. how effective the team is, and then folks
- 7:02Speaker 2: like to weigh it against the caliber of opposition and say, well,
- 7:05Speaker 2: you know, maybe the team, they hadn't played a really tough,
- 7:08Speaker 2: tough opponent yet, although Georgia Tech is a quality opponent
- 7:11Speaker 2: as well. How do you, as a guy who played
- 7:14Speaker 2: the game and analyzes the game, balance that out in
- 7:17Speaker 2: your mind when you're assessing the caliber of opposition based
- 7:21Speaker 2: on the execution versus the execution and what you're seeing,
- 7:24Speaker 2: the precision of that execution from not only Faison, but
- 7:29Speaker 2: also the rest of the offensive unit and what they're doing.
- 7:34Speaker 3: Well, I mean, you factor in everything. I mean, the
- 7:37Speaker 3: truth is Tennessee hasn't really played anybody all that great.
- 7:40Speaker 3: I mean, we'll see how Georgia Tech finishes their season,
- 7:43Speaker 3: but you know, you look at how they played against
- 7:45Speaker 3: Colorado and, you know, how they were outmanned at times
- 7:48Speaker 3: against Tennessee. So, I mean, you gotta be realistic there.
- 7:51Speaker 3: If you are, you know, looking through a situation with,
- 7:54Speaker 3: with orange colored glasses, you still gotta be, you gotta,
- 7:57Speaker 3: you gotta be realistic. And so, but it doesn't mean
- 7:59Speaker 3: you can't go out there and beat anybody else in
- 8:01Speaker 3: the country. I mean, this is a talented football team,
- 8:04Speaker 3: a really good coaches and you're playing at home. And
- 8:08Speaker 3: under Josh Heupel, Tennessee has done a really good job
- 8:10Speaker 3: of protecting home field advantage. Last year, You know, you
- 8:13Speaker 3: want different and better results, but Tennessee has played well
- 8:17Speaker 3: under Hypo at home for the most part. So I
- 8:21Speaker 3: know last week, you know, looking at Texas and UTSA,
- 8:25Speaker 3: it looked like those guys were ready to play Tennessee,
- 8:27Speaker 3: and Tennessee was ready to play Texas after watching, you know,
- 8:31Speaker 3: Tennessee play Kennesaw State. So, man, that game was something else, man.
- 8:36Speaker 3: I think the team's looking at the clock, waiting for
- 8:38Speaker 3: it to hit zero so they can start prepping for
- 8:40Speaker 3: each other.
- 8:41Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 8:42Speaker 2: Jason Swain joining us here on 13 Under the Zone.
- 8:45Speaker 1: Let me get your thoughts again on the defense.
- 8:46Speaker 2: Now, you mentioned, of course, with Jim Knowles coming in,
- 8:49Speaker 2: and you're right, both Texas and Tennessee were pretty well
- 8:52Speaker 2: acquainted with him in the past. What's the biggest difference
- 8:55Speaker 2: you notice in Coach Knowles' defense than what the Vols
- 8:58Speaker 2: have been running prior to his arrival in Knoxville?
- 9:01Speaker 4: Man, they're playing faster.
- 9:04Speaker 3: Those guys, I think they have a stronger belief in
- 9:07Speaker 3: what they're doing, and I think they do a good
- 9:09Speaker 3: job of teaching it. I think One thing the guys
- 9:12Speaker 3: are excited about, too, is, you know, they know they're
- 9:14Speaker 3: going to be put in positions to make plays and
- 9:17Speaker 3: showcase their talents. And, you know, that's really the biggest thing. Now,
- 9:23Speaker 3: you know, Tennessee has a deep linebacker group, guys who
- 9:27Speaker 3: can do different things, athletic players in space, and also
- 9:30Speaker 3: guys who can rush the passer. And so, you know,
- 9:33Speaker 3: those are going to put those guys in position to
- 9:34Speaker 3: be able to make plays. Tennessee wants to address that.
- 9:37Speaker 3: the secondary and become more athletic. And they did that
- 9:39Speaker 3: through the transfer portal. So a lot of new faces
- 9:42Speaker 3: there from your nickel to your two safeties in your corner.
- 9:46Speaker 4: I mean, it's all new guys.
- 9:48Speaker 3: The only returning player in the secondary is Todd Redman,
- 9:50Speaker 3: number four, who was really good in his back half
- 9:53Speaker 3: of his freshman year last year, six, three, six, four
- 9:56Speaker 3: long and very technically sound.
- 9:59Speaker 4: So it's going to be a good matchup.
- 10:00Speaker 3: Matchup on the outside, especially with Kaylee and Cam Coleman
- 10:03Speaker 3: going up against each other every day in practice last
- 10:05Speaker 3: year when they.
- 10:06Speaker 4: Were both part of the Auburn football program.
- 10:08Speaker 3: So, yeah, I'm curious to see how knows defense man
- 10:12Speaker 3: compares against. So Sarkeesian and that offense, I got a
- 10:15Speaker 3: lot of respect for Sarkeesian as a play caller and
- 10:17Speaker 3: what he's been able to do in his time, you know, coaching,
- 10:20Speaker 3: you know, at this level. And can Arch, you know,
- 10:23Speaker 3: have success on the road? He's certainly been great at home.
- 10:27Speaker 3: It's kind of been a little bit of a different
- 10:29Speaker 3: story on the road for him. So it's going to
- 10:32Speaker 3: be a great matchup, man. I'm looking forward to it.
- 10:33Speaker 2: Another guy I wanted to ask about, and I guess
- 10:35Speaker 2: it would be collection of guys, because you mentioned through
- 10:38Speaker 2: the portal going to get some guys, and all programs
- 10:42Speaker 2: have done that clearly. Raheem Biles coming in from Pitt
- 10:45Speaker 2: has really kind of anchored the Texas linebacking corps.
- 10:47Speaker 4: There's been.
- 10:48Speaker 1: things like that.
- 10:48Speaker 2: But I wanted to ask you about Xavier Gillen because
- 10:53Speaker 2: of the Penn State transfers.
- 10:54Speaker 1: You've got an abundance of those as well.
- 10:57Speaker 2: And he seems to be the ringleader of that, at
- 10:59Speaker 2: least numerically in what he's done at the start of
- 11:02Speaker 2: this season.
- 11:03Speaker 4: Yeah, he's been important.
- 11:05Speaker 3: He's been, you know, each layer of the defense or
- 11:10Speaker 3: each level of the defense has a transfer from Penn State.
- 11:14Speaker 3: And I think that's helped the guys become acclimated with
- 11:18Speaker 3: Jim Knowles' system, a system that, you know, many people
- 11:20Speaker 3: felt like really gets going in the second year. But
- 11:24Speaker 3: Knowles wanted to make sure that he did some self-evaluation
- 11:26Speaker 3: to make sure the guys got it the first year
- 11:30Speaker 3: because there is no second year. It's this year. And
- 11:33Speaker 3: next year is not really guaranteed. But, you know, Xavier
- 11:36Speaker 3: Gilliam has been as good as advertised, if not better.
- 11:40Speaker 3: I mean, you watch him on film, he's getting double teamed.
- 11:43Speaker 3: I mean, he was– consistently in the backfield during spring,
- 11:46Speaker 3: during fall camp. And he's been a playmaker for Tennessee
- 11:50Speaker 3: in all three games.
- 11:51Speaker 4: So he's a good player. He's a player that's going
- 11:53Speaker 4: to play on Sundays for sure.
- 11:54Speaker 3: And it's going to be a nice battle between the
- 11:58Speaker 3: Texas offensive front and Xavier Gillum because there's a lot of.
- 12:02Speaker 4: Potential and talent in those trenches.
- 12:04Speaker 3: Yeah.
- 12:05Speaker 2: In that 4-2-5 look, the other thing that stands out
- 12:07Speaker 2: to me, the play of the linebackers, Arian Carter, we
- 12:10Speaker 2: knew what he was about, even with that goofy, ridiculous
- 12:12Speaker 2: business with the NCAA. We knew that he would come
- 12:15Speaker 2: back strong and what he's done with his charitable contributions
- 12:18Speaker 2: is just incredibly impressive. And then Amari Campbell, another one
- 12:21Speaker 2: of those Penn State transfers, he's got 17 tackles early on.
- 12:24Speaker 2: How about what those two linebackers do in anchoring up
- 12:27Speaker 2: the middle part there in the back seven of all
- 12:30Speaker 2: of their defense?
- 12:32Speaker 4: Yeah, they've been well. I mean, they've done a really
- 12:35Speaker 4: good job.
- 12:35Speaker 3: You know, Lamar Campbell, again, being that trio of Penn
- 12:39Speaker 3: State players that are transferred here to Tennessee to kind
- 12:41Speaker 3: of help with the defense. You know, Jeremiah T. Lander
- 12:45Speaker 3: is a linebacker that actually is in front of Lamar Campbell,
- 12:49Speaker 3: who was here last year, that just took his game
- 12:52Speaker 3: to the next level during the offseason. And so, you know,
- 12:55Speaker 3: those is going to make sure that Campbell and T.
- 12:58Speaker 3: Lander and And Arian Carter is on the field at
- 13:01Speaker 3: the same time to put their best playmakers on the.
- 13:03Speaker 4: Field at once.
- 13:04Speaker 3: And so that speaks to the versatility of this linebacker
- 13:07Speaker 3: room with T. Lander and Campbell and other Spillman as well,
- 13:12Speaker 3: number 13.
- 13:13Speaker 4: So you'll see different guys out there, man, at once.
- 13:18Speaker 2: Jason Swain is with us for a couple more minutes.
- 13:20Speaker 2: I want to ask you if you can to kind
- 13:22Speaker 2: of give Longhorn fans a an idea of what they're encountering.
- 13:27Speaker 2: I've been there, obviously, to broadcast basketball and baseball, but
- 13:30Speaker 2: never football, and I'm really looking forward to be there.
- 13:32Speaker 2: And if you want to explain the checkerboarding that's going
- 13:36Speaker 2: to go on with the fans and then what the
- 13:38Speaker 2: game day excitement and environment is around Neyland Stadium.
- 13:45Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, it's really unlikely. you know, many places
- 13:49Speaker 4: around the country.
- 13:50Speaker 3: Now, obviously, it's a different ball game when we're talking
- 13:52Speaker 3: about a night game or a 3.30 game. But, you know,
- 13:55Speaker 3: the challenge is going to be out there. I mean,
- 13:59Speaker 3: it was reported that the president of the United States
- 14:00Speaker 3: is going to be here, too. So security is going
- 14:03Speaker 3: to be on another level. So, you know, it's encouraged
- 14:06Speaker 3: to get there early and to be patient. But it's
- 14:11Speaker 3: going to be rowdy. That's for sure. I mean, that's
- 14:13Speaker 3: one thing I can guarantee you. And it's going to
- 14:15Speaker 3: be up to Tennessee to make sure that You know,
- 14:17Speaker 3: they're making plays early to keep the crowd into the game.
- 14:21Speaker 3: And that's really the goal of any team when you
- 14:24Speaker 3: are traveling on the road is to try to take
- 14:26Speaker 3: the crowd out of the game as soon as possible.
- 14:28Speaker 4: So this crowd is loud. It has a.
- 14:31Speaker 3: Decimal record that was set a couple of years ago
- 14:34Speaker 3: when Tennessee played Georgia. So it is the loudest stadium
- 14:37Speaker 3: in the country. I mean, that's by fact. That is
- 14:40Speaker 3: not an opinion.
- 14:41Speaker 4: That is fact.
- 14:42Speaker 3: But, again, it won't be loud unless Tennessee guys go
- 14:45Speaker 3: out there and make plays and do a good job.
- 14:48Speaker 4: Early in the game.
- 14:49Speaker 1: We're looking forward to it.
- 14:50Speaker 2: Jason, I really appreciate you taking the time, a few
- 14:54Speaker 2: minutes to spend with us. I'll look forward to meeting
- 14:55Speaker 2: you on Saturday up in the press box. Thanks so much,
- 14:58Speaker 2: and we'll look forward to seeing you. Thank you for
- 15:01Speaker 2: joining us today.
- 15:03Speaker 4: Absolutely, man. Safe travels. Hope everyone has a good time
- 15:06Speaker 4: at the game. You bet. Thank you.
- 15:07Speaker 3: All right.
- 15:07Speaker 2: That is Jason Swain, the radio analyst on the Vol Network.
- 15:11Speaker 2: He works with Mike Keith on the broadcast, and they'll
- 15:14Speaker 2: have the Tennessee call on that.
- 15:16Speaker 1: We'll take a break.
- 15:17Speaker 2: When we come back, we have Inconceivable here on a
- 15:21Speaker 2: Wednesday afternoon, a Yacht Rock Wednesday afternoon. And like I said, remember,
- 15:25Speaker 2: it's a morning kickoff for Texas and Tennessee, at least
- 15:30Speaker 2: Texas time.
- 15:31Speaker 1: 11, 10 a.m.
- 15:33Speaker 2: Our coverage will actually begin at 7 o'clock in the
- 15:35Speaker 2: morning on Saturday morning with the 3rd and Longhorn podcast, guys.
- 15:40Speaker 1: That's at 7 a.m.
- 15:41Speaker 2: At 8 a.m., it'll be Longhorn's game day coming your
- 15:45Speaker 2: way from Backport Social in Round Rock. So that'll be
- 15:49Speaker 2: Saturday morning with Longhorn's game day. 10 a.m., the network pregame.
- 15:54Speaker 2: Roger Wallace, Will Matthews will join me there at Neyland Stadium.
- 15:58Speaker 2: for that with the network pregame starting at 10 and
- 16:01Speaker 2: the kickoff at 1110 a.m. Texas and Tennessee for the
- 16:05Speaker 2: first time ever in Knoxville. Only the fourth meeting ever
- 16:09Speaker 2: between the two schools. The other three were all in
- 16:12Speaker 2: Cotton Bowl games, 1951, 53, and then January 1st of 69,
- 16:15Speaker 2: the three times when they met.
- 16:22Speaker 1: All right, Inconceivable is
- 16:24Speaker 2: Up next here on a Yacht Rock Wednesday coming your
- 16:27Speaker 2: way on Sports Radio AM 1300, The Zone, and where
- 16:30Speaker 2: you can always listen to us 100% gratis, free of charge,
- 16:34Speaker 2: right here on the iHeartRadio app.