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The Mike Keith Show | TYLER LUNDBLADE, CAROLINE KERR, SMOKEY XII (10.27.26) · The Mike Keith Show

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_09: From the peaks of the smokies.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_09: To the peaks of the Mississippi.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_09: This is George Hall.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_09: It's the ball network.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_09: Inside Acta, from Rocky Top, direct from the coaches.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_09: Mike Keith starts now.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_10: Glad you're with us.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_10: Got a lot of ground to cover on this show.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_10: One of the best things about working on the University of Tennessee campus is the amazing people who come to visit, and we snag as many of them as possible for interviews.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_10: Broadcaster Shannon Spake was here at Tennessee recently, and she was kind enough to take time with us.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_10: We'll tell you what she's got going on.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_10: Tennessee volleyball stayed hot over the weekend with another SEC went over a top 25 program.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_10: All SEC setter Caroline Kerr stops by.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_10: On Monday, we reviewed the football program's progress through the first eight weeks of the season.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_10: And you keep asking us, and I'm serious, how is Smokey 12's progress coming along?
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_10: Alexi Callan has an update on the top newcomers for season so far.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_10: And he asks bonus questions that you've texted us from the first two months of the show.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_10: We haven't had time to get on the air.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_10: We've got him answered on this edition of the Mike Key Show.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_10: But up first, inside the orange with ball newcomer Tyler Lundblade.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_10: After a back issue that slowed his off-season and his slow ramp up for return to action that kept him from the ball's first two exhibition games, Lundblade took part in the closed scrimmage over the weekend against Davidson.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_10: He might have been the player you saw in the one clip from the scrimmage, maybe.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_10: In this week's Inside the Orange, meet the 25-year-old Texan who's fought hard for this one season at Tennessee.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_10: Inside the Orange is presented by Google Gemini, official Gen AI partner of Tennessee Athletics.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_17: Tyler in front of us.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_17: We kind of have a walk of your collegiate basketball career.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_17: At a first glance, what do you think when you see all these memories?
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I see all the steps in the journey.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_03: Each one has their highs and lows.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_03: Uh but it's I like I see that picture of me and SMU, and I think how long ago that was, uh, and how young I look, but I'm excited to see, you know, kind of all what you guys have pulled together and all these different stops.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_17: Yeah, okay.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_17: Well, speaking of, let's go to the first one here.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_17: And for the element of surprise, we did cover it from you.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_17: So go ahead and lift it up.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_03: Oh my gosh.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_17: I thought it only fair to go back to high school, Tyler.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_03: This was before high school.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_17: This is before.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_17: So this is what?
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_17: Middle school?
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_17: How old are we talking?
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_03: Going into my freshman year.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: This is like the summer of eighth grade.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_17: Okay, so what do you remember about this Tyler at this point in your basketball during this?
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, this was like one of the first like big camps I went to.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_03: I remember like being in middle school, like all the top players went to the CP3 Rising Stars camp.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_03: And so I was, I like got online and filled out my application.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_03: It was like, I gotta play for this EYBL team.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I remember being like so excited that I got selected for that camp.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_03: And so we traveled all the way to Greensboro, North Carolina.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_03: It was kind of cool.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_03: It was a little like foreshadowing that I'd spend my senior year of high school in Greensboro.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_03: That's right.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but that was such a fun weekend.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_03: I went with a couple of my teammates, uh, and that was like, you know, kind of my first like big time basketball moment.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and it was a lot of fun.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_17: So you talked about Greensboro, North Carolina also being a part of your journey.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_17: You did spend a year there.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_17: That was your senior year of high school.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_17: What was the decision to go out there, move out there for the year so you could play ball before college?
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was really all driven by COVID.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_03: I was going into my last summer of the EYBL circuit and then COVID hit, and so I didn't really, I didn't play at all that summer.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_03: And I grew up in a small private school in Texas, and so like putting up 30 and 10 every night, you know, didn't really drive it, move the needle for recruiting.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_03: And so at the time, Virginia was like my dream school when they were recruiting me.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_03: And uh we kind of asked one of the coaches there of some prep schools that they liked, and we ended up landing on Greensboro Day School in Greensboro.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_03: So I moved there for my senior year because we were gonna play a you know big-time national schedule.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and it was an awesome year with my parents there.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_17: Thinking back to this Tyler who had no idea about the basketball journey that was ahead of him, what is one piece of advice that you would go back and share with him today?
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_03: Like be present and enjoy every moment.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, I think the positives and negatives, especially like given the way my college career went, like, you know, being in the valley sucks, but it it makes you appreciate the mountaintops that much more and just enjoy it.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_03: Like you just if you would have told that kid he'd be at four schools in six years like in in college, he would have had no idea.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um and just to enjoy the ride.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_17: Well, starting off year one on that ride, it was anything but a straight line, definitely more of a roller coaster with highs and lows, ups and downs.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_17: What do you remember about your mindset heading into your first year of college basketball at SMU?
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I didn't really know what to expect.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_03: Coach Jankovich and that staff, they recruited me a lot out of high school, but it was kind of a unique situation because they had taken two high school guards and they're like, look, we view you as a scholarship player.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_03: We just we don't have another scholarship spot for a high school guard.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, so it was it was an awesome year.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_03: Like I went in, worked my tail off.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_03: I ended up, you know, playing really well, was maybe in a position to play that year, but we just had so many fifth and sixth year seniors ahead of me.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_03: I was like, all right, I chose the red shirt.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but we were on a really good team.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_03: Like we beat number two Houston at home.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_03: Uh unfortunately, we were like one game short probably of March Madness.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_03: We're in the first four out, but uh it was a really fun year.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_03: Like I still remember like them playing the scholarship video and me getting put on scholarship and whatnot.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I love that coaching staff.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_03: I love that team.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_17: In that first year, you really experienced the extreme high of earning a scholarship and the extreme low of it getting taken away.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_17: What did that first year though teach you about yourself?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, that I could do it.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_03: Like I knew um coming out of high school, like I always thought that I should have had the offers that everybody else had.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_03: But having a staff like believing you for the first time, especially having climbed that mountain as a walk-on, you know, I'd seen my brother do it in college football and climbing that hill and like, okay, yeah, I can really do this.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_03: Um that gave me a lot of confidence and I had to really lean on that when the year ended the way it did.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_03: But uh, I would say just it kind of proved to myself that I could do it.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_17: Well, despite everything that you had been through year one, you decided not to give up on yourself and you decided to commit to TCU for your second year of college ball.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_17: What was your goal heading into that year with a new school, having to essentially start all over?
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I was just looking for a spot to play really.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, they had just lost a shooter and from the previous year's team, and Coach Jank knew Coach Dixon, and so kind of I'd gone to Coach Jenk for advice, and so he got me connected to Coach Dixon.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_03: I decided to walk on there knowing that you know there was a need on that team for shooting.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, I had you know really good expectations for myself.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_03: I thought I could carve out a role.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and so I kind of went in, you know, knowing I was gonna be at the bottom of the totem pole again, which is a challenge.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_17: That first year, like you said, you walked on, you earned the scholarship.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_17: So it was a really successful second year of college ball, but then you enter your third year and you get hit with a different kind of adversity, an injury.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_17: How did that injury change the course of that second year at TCU for you?
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I really thought that going into my second year at TCU I'd have like a really big role.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but early in the summer I started dealing with some pain.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and we had an MRI and knew it was a sports hernia.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_03: And so it was it honestly, it was a huge blessing in disguise that I kind of had this surgery that I needed to get done and that I was able to get a medical red shirt when you know I could once again kind of see the writing on the wall that I wasn't gonna play it all that year.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_17: Year one and year two, again, very different highs and lows, but how did that shape you as a player and a person before you left to go on your next chapter?
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_03: Continuing to trust the Lord and like surrendering that my career is out of my hands.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but it was definitely an unexpected, frustrating two years.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um not really getting an opportunity when you know I thought I should.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_03: And so yeah, I think it was more of a kind of character development.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_03: Uh two years of my life.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um and I think it really set the stage for the next couple.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_17: Exactly.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_17: So a lot of work, a lot of growth leading into your fourth season of college basketball at your third school.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_17: What was the goal for yourself that you wanted to accomplish at Belmont?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_03: I just wanted a shot.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_03: Like I remember, you know, after having my scholarship pulled at TCU again, Coach Jank, again from SMU called Casey Alexander at Belmont.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_03: And, you know, basically we were begging places to take me and give me a shot.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_03: And initially the door at Belmont was closed.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_03: They already had all their scholarships filled.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but a couple weeks later he called again and was like, look, just give me 30 minutes of your time, just listen to me.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_03: The kid will walk on, like he just wants a shot to play.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_03: And so eight days later, I was on my visit to Belmont and committed there and uh kind of started that next chapter.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_03: But I didn't I had no idea what that year was gonna hold.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_03: Like I just wanted a I knew I could play at that level, I just wanted a chance to go and prove it.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_03: And yeah, I still remember on my visit, we were at dinner, and Casey was like, I don't know if you're our eighth best player or you're our third best player, but whatever you are, you're gonna get.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_03: And he was true to that, you know.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and that's all I wanted, like somebody that was really just gonna give me a shot because I felt like I didn't really have that so far in my career.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_17: So you just wanted that one chance, that one night to make a name for yourself.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_17: So if you would pick up that trape and it might bring back some memories.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_17: Of a uh a pretty special night in Tyler's career because on November 19th, 2024, against Oral Roberts, he scored 25 points in 22 minutes, 22 of them coming in the second half, and afterwards you took this selfie, this iconic selfie, and you sent it to your pa to your parents.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_17: Walk me through what you remember feeling, what your thoughts were during that game, after that game, and kind of how it changed the trajectory of your career.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, honestly, like the it was a a roller coaster that started my career at Belmont because I got there in the summer, I had a good summer, and then I just in the fall, I was like terrible.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_03: Like Casey would tell you the same.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_03: He was like, I'm just trying to force everything.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_03: I wasn't really playing my game and letting things come to me.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_03: But this one I started to play a little bit more, and you know, I had three points at the half.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_03: I had like a turnover, I'm in the locker room mad because I'm not playing well, and then uh the second half I just went off and probably played the majority of the second half.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_03: I closed the game.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, and Casey, with like a minute left, was drawn up in ATO for me.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_03: It kind of put the game away.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: And I think it was a huge confidence boost, like a definitely a coming out party of like, okay, I just scored 25 points in the college game, like I can do this.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, because for so long, you know, I knew I had the talent, but I hadn't done it.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that was a huge, you know, you can see how happy I am, but that was a huge moment for me.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_17: Your parents supporting you all the way through this entire journey, celebrating that moment with them, being able to see all the hard work show up.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_17: What did that moment mean to you?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I I knew they were gonna freak out uh when I got to my phone in the locker room afterwards.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but I was like, I'll just take this how I'm feeling right now, so I'll take a few drinks into them.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_03: But yeah, it's just it being on this journey, especially at TCU, like so many lows, and being on this journey with them, uh, it's just been so special.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_17: And that night was kind of a glimpse of what was to come for you during the rest of your time while you were at Belmont because you ended up being named the Larry Bird Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, your second year.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_17: What kind of a confidence boost did that give you to cement all that you had been through and knowing, no, I made the right choices because look where I ended up.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think you know, my first year at Belmont, I had no idea like I'd go from being a walk-on to leading the NCAA in three-point percentage.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_03: And that was a huge reason why I chose to stay was because I finally had stability in my career.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_03: Like you know, I could have left and gone back high major, but I chose not to.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, and you just look at like the names that have won that award in the years prior, like Fred Van Vliet, uh Bennett Sturts, I mean, so many like really great players.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, and to like set out and have like a huge goal before the year and to actually accomplish it.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_03: I still remember when we were about to head to St.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_03: Louis for our conference tournament, it like they put it out like right before we got on the bus, and everyone was freaking out, going crazy.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I remember like I saw the tweet and I was like running through the weight room, and Drew Sharnowski, my best friend at Belmont, was like just screaming, like tackled me in the weight room.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I remember FaceTiming my parents on the bus, and uh it was just such a good memory.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_17: And you talk about being a captain, being a leader of this team too, with all of the experience that you had gone through, your highs, your lows, how did that help you be able to relate to other guys on your team?
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_17: Being able to speak to, hey, I've been in your shoes, I've done that, but if you work hard and you trust in yourself and trust in the process, your your limit is really endless.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_03: Having the weird, unorthodox career and all the adversity like really helped uh me lead those guys, especially through the year of, you know, with every season, there's so many highs and lows, and um having those guys see me be even keeled and you know, kind of a steady, steady mind frame.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_03: The whole year I think was huge for us and our group.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_03: And we had a special group of guys that uh were capable of doing some really good things and won a conference championship and uh, you know, had a great year.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_17: So the irony in all of this story is the continual having to walk on, earn a scholarship, having to walk on, earn a scholarship.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_17: But then for the first time in your career, on April 1st, 2026, which wasn't an April Fool's joke, it was very real, that you were going to commit to the University of Tennessee, be under the legendary head coach Rick Rick Barnes, but you're walking onto campus with a scholarship this time.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_17: What did that moment mean to you?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it was more so just like funny uh to us, where like, you know, I've walked on at all these schools and like in my last year I'm gonna be playing at Tennessee for Coach Barnes and like be the first guy in the portal class on a team that's trying to compete for a national championship.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_03: I couldn't believe that the Lord had put me in this position.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, it's just every time we talk about it, like my parents and I just get giddy, you know, thinking about like the journey and where I've come from and what we can do this year.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_03: And I remember sitting in the hotel room that night after it was like the first night of my visit, and I called Coach Barnes and told him I was coming here, and we hung up, and my parents and I were just like, Can you believe this?
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_03: We were on my visit and like we're at a baseball game and people are taking spy shots of us.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_03: So we're just like, What?
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_03: I'm trending on Twitter.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_03: We're like, what is what is my life now?
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_17: You know, like yeah, well, that's what I was gonna ask you because the excitement around you, once you did commit, like blew up.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_17: You were on so many different social media accounts, not just all of all nation, because obviously they were going through all your highlights and getting super excited about what they were seeing, but these big brand social accounts that just talk hoops were like, man, look at this story of this kid that's now committed to the University of Tennessee.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_17: Could you even process really what was going on?
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_17: What you were really about to go through with all of this at Tennessee?
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think I think I gained like 2,000 followers in like a day, uh, which is crazy.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um, but it it was just really cool.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_03: I think, you know, for me, like my journey and my plat, like the story I've had is an amazing way to like use my platform for good and to share, like, you know, regardless of the adversity that you go through, like there is another, there's another the other side of it.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_17: Yeah.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_17: When you look back on the walk of Tyler Lundblade and the entire collegiate journey that you've been on, what stands out to you the most?
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_03: Honestly, like I think just this the journey as a whole.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_03: Um, people ask me all the time, like, if I would if I regret going to TCU because I never played or I, you know, wish I would have gone somewhere else out of high school.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_03: I always say no because like I know for a fact like I wouldn't have enjoyed the two years at Belmont as much as I did.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and I wouldn't be as appreciative of this opportunity this year as I am now.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_03: And uh yeah, I just wouldn't trade it for a thing.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_17: When you think of yourself now being a face, I mean, gosh, you were the one leading the Adidas campaign lodge for the University of Tennessee, a program that historically has been at the top of the game for basketball.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_17: What are you most proud of of the person standing here today?
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_03: I think that I've just been grounded the whole time.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um obviously my faith is a huge, huge part of my life and the most important thing in my life.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_03: And uh my parents have been, you know, so helpful with that and for me, and you know, remembering that like this isn't my I haven't done any of this on my own.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_03: Like I've been given a gift by the Lord and I've done the work to maximize it, but you know, he's given me this platform and this opportunity, and so I'm just doing my my part to steward it, um, then use it for his glory.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_17: How cool would high school Tyler think of Tennessee, Tyler?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_03: Well, he wouldn't have thought it would ever happen because Tennessee was never a school I thought I'd end up at.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um but he would think this was awesome and uh wonder why it took so long.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_17: Well, we're very excited to see what you and this Tennessee basketball team do this year.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_17: What are you look most looking forward to about your last year of college basketball?
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_03: I think just playing at a level I knew I always could play at, but I haven't had the opportunity to yet.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I said it the other day, like I've been playing in front of 1,300 and 2,500 people a night, and yeah, it's gonna be 21,000 and playing in some pretty historic arenas and against some incredible coaches and programs this year.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um and you know, making a March Madness run on a team that I'm actually playing on.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, it's gonna be a fun year.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm I this is my mantra last year, but it was just always being present.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_03: Like I knew it could be my last year at Belmont last year, and uh I know for a fact this is my last year in college and my only year at Tennessee.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_03: So soaking up every day that I can, every moment, and not trying to waste any of it.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_17: Last year a best year?
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, exactly.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_03: Exactly.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_10: When the Mike Keith show delivered by Uber Eats continues, your questions are our answers.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_10: Andy Brock asks next.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_09: This is the Mike Keith Show.
• 19:19
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• 19:22
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• 22:00
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• 22:03
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• 22:24
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• 23:22
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• 23:26
  SPEAKER_10: We appreciate all of your questions on the Ball Network text line at 865-657-1278.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_10: We bring in our Andy Brock to ask those questions, but time limits us from showing all of them.
• 23:44
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• 23:45
  SPEAKER_10: Here are some of the best questions from the first two months of the Mike Keith show that didn't make it to air only because of time.
• 23:54
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• 24:04
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• 24:11
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• 24:22
  SPEAKER_10: Just text us a question, and Andy will ask the question here on the Mike Keith show delivered by Uber Eats.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_10: And well, it can be any question.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_15: It can be any question.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_15: It doesn't have to be game week specific.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_15: It doesn't have to be.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_15: I mean be creative, right?
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_10: You know, there's there's a I mean there's a line.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_10: There's a range.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_10: Right.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_10: Like I'm not given dating advice.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_10: No.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_10: No, no, nobody wants that.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_10: People might.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_10: No, they don't.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_10: But that's the I mean, I'm not gonna no, no.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_15: Speaking of former VFLs, Eric from Brentwood.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_15: You're right.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_15: Former Vol, who is now a VFL.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_15: That's it.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_15: That's it.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_15: That's it.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_15: Eric from Brentwood wants to know.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_15: Sorry.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_15: That's fine.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_15: Yeah.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_15: That makes sense.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_15: Yes.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_15: Who is a VFL from the last 30 years who you might feel doesn't get enough recognition?
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_15: It can be I I we can stay with football for now, since that's a lot of sports to comb through if you go through all of them, but who's a football guy, maybe someone from the last 30 years?
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_10: Who I would like to talk about more?
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_10: Oh, I probably got five or six.
• 25:30
  SPEAKER_10: T Martin.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_10: Uh Jamal Lewis.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_15: Yeah, that's a great one.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_10: I mean Jamal Lewis, a 2,000-yard rusher in the NFL.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_10: Um, that's another good one, too.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_10: I love love, love, love Travis Henry.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_10: Um Justin Hunter was an awfully good player.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_10: Really, really good player.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_10: Um you know, I can talk about Josh Dobbs anytime, but I I think he probably properly recognized Juwan Jennings is another one, the the way he competed.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_10: Um Golly, there I mean, there's several that you that I could kind of go on and on about a little bit.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_15: A lot of those early 2000s guys before really the takeoff of social media, they just don't get the buzz.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_10: And the mid to late nineties guys, too.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, you get into you know Bubba Miller and Jeff Smith and Kevin Mays and Jason Lehman and Leslie Ratliff.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, you talk about some really good offensive lines, I mean, really nasty offensive lines.
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_10: Um and then I mean, my guy is Leonard Little.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_10: Okay, that's just I don't mean to offend anybody else.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_10: But Leonard Little that's I mean, yeah.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_10: I love defense, I love pass rush.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_10: Leonard Little.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_15: Yeah, it's a good one.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_15: I mean, Leonard Little.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_15: We saw Jeremiah T.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_15: Lander play some of the edge, a little bit different.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_15: What did you like about that?
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_15: How how do you think he did with it?
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_10: I just think it's a different look.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_10: You know, it's a different look to utilize how do you get your best 11 on the field?
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_10: And and realistically, any ball coach will tell you at any level, whatever I've got, how do I get my best 11 on the field or my best nine on the field or my best five on the field or on the court according to whatever sport it is?
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_10: That's the challenge.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_10: And if your linebackers are your best players, then you certainly don't want to play just two at a time.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_10: If your best talent is multiple linebackers among that 11, that's what you do.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_15: Jason Swain actually tweeted.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_15: Jason Swain.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_15: He did tweet at us.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_15: He had a question.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_15: He wants to know how many tackles do you think Ariane Carter is going to get to.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_10: Well, because he's donating$427 for every tackle to uh cancer research, I hope he gets about 30.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_10: Um I think he's gonna show up a lot.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_10: Uh I mean, let's let's just put it this way.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_10: We've we've had a chance to hear what he said.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_10: We know how excited he is.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_10: Uh I would be surprised if he doesn't have double-digit tackles.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_15: Yeah.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_15: He sounded ready to go.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_15: I think he's ready to go hit somebody.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_15: Since he dealt with a lot of injuries in the secondary last year, how much more confident do you feel this team is at in the secondary right now, maybe compared to this time last year?
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_10: I think they're confident.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_10: Uh Andy, I think they they understand who they've got, and I think they feel good about Quay Moss at the nickel.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_10: I think they feel good about their starting safeties, I think they feel good about their starting corners.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_10: I think there are backups they feel good about.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_10: But once you get past a couple guys um sort of in that mix, are you too deep at every spot that you feel good about?
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_10: I I mean I I think so.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_10: Some people talk about three deep.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_10: Are you three deep at no, you're not three deep at every spot.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_10: Nobody is.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_10: Hard to today.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_10: It's not gonna happen.
• 29:00
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, this is uh this is much more Pro Ball like in terms of what the numbers are gonna look like, because if you've got one player at a spot getting paid a lot of money, then he's obviously very, very valuable.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_10: If by the time you get to the third guy at the spot and he's not as highly thought of, well then you know why he's in the third spot because he's not as highly thought of as a player.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_10: So you just don't have the kind of depth that you once did.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_10: But could you mix and match?
• 29:33
  SPEAKER_10: Sure.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_10: And and I think from this standpoint, I mean, I mean, if you had Farouk, would you feel really good?
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, you'd feel super uh about what your depth was at a couple of spots.
• 29:45
  SPEAKER_10: Um Jadis Richard, I mean, would you feel good about having him?
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_10: Of course you would.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_10: Um, but Tennessee doesn't, that's the way it goes.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_10: Lady Vol volleyball has become a must-attend event on the Tennessee campus.
• 30:01
  SPEAKER_10: Eve Rackham Watts' team is climbing up the nation's top ten after another four-set win over number 22 Vanderbilt.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_10: One of the stars of Lady Vol volleyball, Caroline Kerr, joins me next on the Mike Keith Show.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_15: It's time now for the block of the week, presented by Cracker Barrel McIntyre.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_11: Gonna run it.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_11: Mischief, ramming forward.
• 30:27
  SPEAKER_15: Slow down and savor breakfast at Cracker Barrel, their new sweet cream caramel apple pancakes, combined crispy golden edges, fluffy centers, and sweet fall flavors in every bite.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_15: Welcome home.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_09: Taking you inside the walls of Rocky Top, the Mike Keith Show, presented by Uber Eats.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_10: I'm joined by royalty on the Mike Keith Show, delivered by Uber Eats.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_10: If you're all SEC first team, you're royalty.
• 31:01
  SPEAKER_10: Caroline Kerr, Lady Vol Volleyball.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_10: Hello.
• 31:04
  SPEAKER_21: Hi.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_21: How are you?
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_21: I'm doing well.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_10: First team All SEC?
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_10: That's pretty good.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_10: Looking at some of your stats.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_10: 30 plus career double doubles.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_10: That's awfully good.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_10: Which is why you're first team all SEC.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_10: How long have you been playing volleyball?
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_21: I started playing when I was eight years old.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_10: Did you really?
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_21: Yeah.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_10: You're from Champaign, Illinois.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_10: It's a big deal up that way, right?
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_21: Yeah, volleyball is pretty big in Illinois.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_10: What made you get started with that sport in particular?
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_10: Because that's a little young to some people.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_21: My grade school had like all these banners on the walls, and like all these sports had like state championships and runner-ups, and like volleyball had nothing on the wall.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_21: And I was like, Mom, I need to play volleyball because we need to put a banner on the wall.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_10: Oh, so you didn't go with the trend.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_10: You went with the I want to build this up.
• 31:52
  SPEAKER_21: Yeah.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_21: Um, and that's kind of how I got into it.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_21: I'm the oldest sibling, so I didn't have any like older sip uh sisters that got me into it.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_21: I just kind of wanted to pick it up one day.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_21: My mom put me in it.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_10: All right, so you're from Champaign, home of Illinois.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_10: Your dad played football at Illinois, your granddad played baseball at Illinois.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_10: How did Tennessee get you out of Champagne?
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_10: How did it happen?
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_21: Yeah.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_21: Um, I joke with both of them that this is the better shade of orange um now, anyway.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_21: Um, and I still think that's obviously true.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_23: Um obviously true.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_21: Um, but I knew I I wasn't afraid to get away from home.
• 32:26
  SPEAKER_21: Um, I think it's good for people to, I mean, that campus is five minutes from my house.
• 32:31
  SPEAKER_21: And so to get out of my backyard um and to experience something new, um, I was really excited for.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_21: And I think it was the best thing for me um to kind of just grow as a person, as an athlete.
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_21: And I think the way you recruit setters, it's you don't always need one every year.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_21: And so it worked out for um both people, and I'm obviously happy where I ended.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_10: All right, so position-wise, you're talking about setter.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_21: Yeah.
• 32:53
  SPEAKER_10: Uh explain to people who don't know volleyball what specifically your role is in terms of how things function on court.
• 33:01
  SPEAKER_21: The setter touches the ball the m more than anybody else on the floor.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_21: Um, so naturally you have a big um impact on the game, but you're not the one scoring the points, which is kind of an interesting dynamic.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_21: I think of my job as to create and like help other people be successful.
• 33:17
  SPEAKER_21: That's how I think of my job.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_21: And so I'm always trying to put people in really good positions.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_21: Um, so whether it's kind of putting them on a route that they're gonna be successful on, um, maybe they have a good matchup.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_21: Um, and that's on me to kind of see that um and then put them in the best position possible to score.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_21: And so um I love helping my hitters be successful.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_21: Um, if they're being successful, that means I'm having a good night too.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_10: So the setter is in essence the point guard?
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_21: Yeah, you can think of it as point guard, you can think of it as the quarterback.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_21: We run the plays, we run the offense, um, and we kind of are directing traffic.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_10: You're in charge.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_10: And you've seen this thing build at Tennessee, but you said one of the reasons you wanted to come to Tennessee is you wanted to play for Eve Rackham Watt.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_10: Why?
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_21: Well, her and Gavin were both setters, and so I knew I'd be trained really well.
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_21: Um, but I you could tell even from even when I was in high school that we wanted to win and at a high level, and I just want to win.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_21: I'm a competitor through and through.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_21: And so it's like, if that is what their mission was, it's like that's something I can get behind, and that's something that's someone I want to play for.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_21: Um, and then coming to it, it's been so great to have the female role model.
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_21: And that's not something I would have realized in the recruiting process when I'm that young.
• 34:30
  SPEAKER_21: But being able to look back on it, it was like I don't think I could have imagined another way is to have somebody in your corner leading your program who understands what you're going through as a female in college athletics.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_21: And so um, there's kind of two sides to it.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_21: It's kind of the training half of it, the competitiveness, and then looking back on it is I think she's truly been a great role model um for the whole team because of just how she leads us every day.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_10: You're having a great year.
• 34:54
  SPEAKER_10: The team is having a great year.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_10: The progression of the program is obvious.
• 34:59
  SPEAKER_10: Where do you think Lady Vol volleyball has grown the most in your time at Tennessee?
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_21: I think the easiest one to point out is when I was a freshman, we uh in Food City Center, we would kind of slightly crowd one half of the arena, the bottom bowl.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_21: You know, it was it was nice, whatever, but it got pretty quiet at times.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_21: And I remember thinking to myself as a freshman, like it'd be the coolest thing ever that by the time I leave here, we are filling this entire bottom bowl.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_21: And we've set three attendance records this year, and every game at this point has that bottom bowl like well populated with people.
• 35:40
  SPEAKER_21: Um, and it's been the coolest thing ever.
• 35:42
  SPEAKER_21: And so I think that's an easy one to point out is like that's a huge part of where this program's gone, is because of the hard work we put in and the great coaching we've had.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_21: It's like attracted more people to want to come and watch our games, and so that's an easy one to point out for sure.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_21: But um, I think we've continued just to stay true to the culture of this program.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_21: Um, and that eventually brings in the right type of people who want to win.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_21: Um, and that obviously leads to more wins, that leads to bigger tendons records, that leads to the type of wins you see um last week with Kentucky.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_21: And so yeah, it's just really cool to kind of see that progression.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_21: Um, obviously, I've been here for five years, and so you gotta get a bigger picture on that sense.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_21: But um I think it started with staying true to who we were um in our culture.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_10: Do you get recognized going to class now?
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_21: No, no, I don't and I don't want to be.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_10: All right, well, I'm just wondering.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, because the majority of the people who are coming now are students.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_10: The students are into volleyball.
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_10: It's a thing.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah, you your group has made it a thing.
• 36:42
  SPEAKER_21: Yeah, you gotta be proud of that.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_21: I am.
• 36:45
  SPEAKER_21: I'm definitely am and I'm happy for the program more than anything, really.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_10: Yeah.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_10: So you've got your undergraduate degree.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_10: Okay, so what'd you get that in?
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_21: I got um a undergraduate degree with sport management and a minor in business.
• 36:56
  SPEAKER_10: What a great program.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_10: Sport management.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_10: So when you're through playing at some point, what would you like to do?
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_21: Um, I'd like to coach when I'm older.
• 37:03
  SPEAKER_21: Um, I'm hoping to play professionally as long as my body will let me.
• 37:06
  SPEAKER_21: So either coach or work in sports, uh administration.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_21: So I want to stay in sports, I've been in my whole life.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_10: It's funny with this team.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_10: I mean, you beat a Kentucky team that's top five.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_10: You obviously play the right caliber in the SEC.
• 37:19
  SPEAKER_10: As you move closer to the postseason, is is this a team that thinks given time and place, we can beat anybody we play?
• 37:27
  SPEAKER_21: Yeah, I mean, absolutely.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_21: And I I think that because of the competitiveness we have.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_21: It's not, I mean, obviously we're talented, but we got a fire in us and a want to win that um I think you don't want to see us in the postseason um because you're gonna get a really hard game because we're gonna play hard and we're gonna want to win.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_10: I like that.
• 37:46
  SPEAKER_10: Now, athletes have to be in uncomfortable situations.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_10: You have to work through like you got down two games to Kentucky last week and you came back and did the reverse sweep and won.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_10: Speaking of uncomfortable, how rough was it with the Music City Bowl last year when Tennessee is playing your dad's alma mater for whom he played football, Illinois?
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_21: Yeah.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_10: Was there was it just uncomfortable?
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_21: Oh, I went to the game and I was in my Letterman jacket, had the big T on.
• 38:16
  SPEAKER_10: Um what did he did he come down?
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_21: No, he didn't go with me, but he was watching it.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_21: Um, he was obviously just happy that I got to go to such a fun game with my hometown and my current school.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_10: He didn't give you the business afterwards, did he?
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_21: No.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_21: And I wouldn't let him anyway.
• 38:30
  SPEAKER_10: Any of your siblings give you the business about it?
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_21: No, but my sisters do love Illinois football too.
• 38:36
  SPEAKER_21: So um, but we keep that separate.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_10: That's good.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_10: Well, I'm glad you're here.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_21: Thanks.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_10: All SEC setter, Caroline Kerr with us on the Mike Keith show delivered by Uber Eats.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_10: A lot of big things for the Lady Valls coming up on the road this weekend, Texas AM in Missouri.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_10: You have anywhere you like to go in college station or Como?
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_21: I like to get on the plane to come back to the room.
• 38:55
  SPEAKER_10: There you go.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_10: And I like her.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_10: She should co-host more of the show.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_10: More of the show coming up right after this.
• 39:04
  SPEAKER_12: You're one-on-one with Mike Key, sponsored by Food City, the official supermarket of the Tennessee Volunteers.
• 39:11
  SPEAKER_12: By Farm Bureau Insurance, the official insurance of the vault, Tennessee Insurance for Tennessee Life.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_12: By First Horizon, Big Bank Muscle, Small Bank Hustle.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_12: By Pilot, official travel stop of the vault.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_12: See you out here.
• 39:26
  SPEAKER_12: By Rackley Roofing, let us fix your lead, the proud official roofer of the big horns, and by UT Medical, the official health care provider of the vault.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_04: Out of here.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_04: Out of here.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_04: Out of here.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_10: I let the capability of the Ford F-150 bring the rest.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_10: Your local Ford dealer.
• 40:34
  SPEAKER_10: Sponsor of Tennessee Athletics.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_20: Being at the balls game saved my life.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_20: It was a normal day going to the game with my son, but this time it felt like a sledgehammer hit my chest.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_20: The UT medical team knew exactly what they needed to do and just kept me calm throughout the process.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_20: It was probably the most serious heart attack that you could have.
• 40:57
  SPEAKER_20: The team took care of me, worked quickly, efficiently, and I did catch the end of the game.
• 41:03
  SPEAKER_00: These are the stories of the region's academic health system.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_14: Sometimes it starts with protecting the quarterback.
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_14: Sometimes it's holding the line.
• 41:15
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• 41:18
  SPEAKER_19: We protect each other.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_19: We prepare.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_19: We stay ready.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_19: Protection looks different, depending on where you stay.
• 41:24
  SPEAKER_19: Whether it's protecting the quarterback or protecting what matters at all, the responsibility is to save.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_19: Best five methods.
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• 41:33
  SPEAKER_19: Driven.
• 41:38
  SPEAKER_23: When you travel across the great state of Tennessee, one thing you're sure to find is big orange passion.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_23: You see it throughout every inch of the volunteer state, just like you see First Horizon.
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  SPEAKER_23: Serving communities big and small.
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• 41:56
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• 41:57
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• 41:59
  SPEAKER_23: That's First Horizon, the official bank of the vault.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_23: Proudly serving Tennesseans for over 160 years.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_01: In the heart of every community, caring comes naturally.
• 42:12
  SPEAKER_01: At Farm Bureau Health Plants, we are your neighbors, your friends, and partners in health.
• 42:18
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• 42:27
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• 42:36
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• 43:10
  SPEAKER_10: If you're looking for a great podcast that revolves around sports yet shows a different side of top sports celebrities, I invite you to experience my favorite podcast find of 2026.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_10: It's the Sons and Daughters podcast, hosted by Shannon Spake.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_10: Known for her amazing work covering college and pro football and especially NASCAR.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_10: Spake found herself at a bit of a crossroads when her time at Fox Sports ended.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_10: She told us how the Sons and Daughters podcast came to be when she visited the Vol Network studio on campus recently.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_10: She started a podcast at the at the beginning of this year.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_10: I think the first episode was in March.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_10: And uh our sons and daughters and it it's not it's not typical.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_10: It's not you offering a lot of opinions, but you get people to talk about their origin stories, which I would think is extremely hard to do, and yet you make it look very easy.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_10: Why did you want to do a podcast like that?
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_10: Why did you believe you could do a podcast like that?
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_16: Well, I'll tell you this, it's harder with the men.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_16: Is it really it is?
• 44:21
  SPEAKER_16: Because I think men don't really think about their past as much as women, like reflect.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_16: I found that some of the men, Steve Wojowski, John Gruden, it was one of those things where they're like, I haven't thought about this in a really long time.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_16: But I will tell you, I I actually started, and this is for I know that a lot of people that are watching this are are young people that are coming into this industry.
• 44:44
  SPEAKER_16: So when I lost my job at Fox, I was just telling you this um this story.
• 44:48
  SPEAKER_16: Thought to myself, I have to stay in the cycle.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_16: So I actually started my own podcast.
• 44:53
  SPEAKER_16: It was called Spake Up.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_16: Uh I lit I went on chat I went on Chat GBT and I said, give me a name.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_16: Um and I thought to myself, my Rolodex is big enough.
• 45:02
  SPEAKER_16: I know enough people, I can at least get interviews.
• 45:05
  SPEAKER_16: I paid for everything.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_16: I hired a producer.
• 45:08
  SPEAKER_16: Uh I was I was paying for the entire thing.
• 45:11
  SPEAKER_16: Meanwhile, I have a couple of friends who are in the podcast space.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_16: Clay Travis is one of them, friend of the friend of the family, I know.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_16: Uh Colin Cowhart is another, and a man named Mike Davis, um, who runs a company called Dirty Mo.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_16: It's Dalen Hart Jr.'s uh media company.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_16: And so I would just periodically send them notes like, here's my numbers, what do you guys think?
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_16: You know, am I doing things the right way?
• 45:33
  SPEAKER_16: Well, the sons and daughters concept was Mike's idea.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_16: He had been sitting on this idea for I think about three years.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_16: And he comes, he came to me and he said, I I think I have something for you.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_16: I've had this idea to do an origin story podcast, and I just haven't been able to find the right person to do it.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_16: And I think that you're the right person.
• 45:53
  SPEAKER_16: And I think you're the right person because of what you've gone through in your life, the experiences that you've had, where you are in your life that you're willing to share those experiences and be very vulnerable and open.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_16: And I think you have the ability to connect with people because of that.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_16: And that's I think what I'm able to do is I'm not afraid to tell my own, I'm not a bit afraid to to expose the own my own warts and my own, you know, skeletons.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_16: And that and that opens opens people up to to share.
• 46:22
  SPEAKER_16: And I'm curious, and I love people, and I love researching people, and I love talking to people, and um, and so yeah, that's where it's kind of come from.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_16: And it's been really cool.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_16: I mean, think about it.
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_16: I get to sit down with some of the greatest minds and find out most of the time, it's failure that has allowed them to grow and to be the people that they are today.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_16: And I think that that's a really great perspective for a lot of us to um to understand.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_16: I I heard a quote one time and it was actually written on Sean McVeigh's board when I went to cover Rams game.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_16: It was success is uh failure is not the opposite of success, it's part of it.
• 47:04
  SPEAKER_16: And I I have realized that a lot in this podcast that almost everyone that I've talked to has dealt with some form of failure, failure, setbacks that's allowed them to grow in the direction that they've gone.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_10: Were you surprised that Mike Shushewski was as honest about that as he was?
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_16: No.
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_16: No, because I also think he's in a place right now, right?
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_16: Where and he's a teacher, and I think he understands that from the very beginning.
• 47:29
  SPEAKER_16: I think he I think when he was a coach, because I covered him many, many times, and as a coach, even when I would sit in on some of his um shoot-arounds and his practices, you could tell that he was very inviting and he wants to be a teacher.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_16: And and obviously when you're dealing with press and interviewing him post-game, those are different situations.
• 47:49
  SPEAKER_16: But he's a teacher, and so I think he understood what the podcast concept was.
• 47:53
  SPEAKER_16: And I've gotten so many people who want to open up because it's about their origin, it's about their mom, it's about their dad, it's about the people who have gotten them to where they are, not necessarily just about them.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_10: When the Mike Keith show presented by Uber Eats rolls on, Smokey 12.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_10: A great start to his first season leading the balls.
• 48:14
  SPEAKER_10: We've got the update on your favorite dog next.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_10: Stay tuned.
• 48:18
  SPEAKER_15: It's time for the Sonic Big Play moment.
• 48:21
  SPEAKER_15: Sends Gentle to the right, give inside Brain.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_11: He breaks the plane, touchdown, Tennessee.
• 48:28
  SPEAKER_15: If you're looking for a meal that's never boring and guarantees fun, look no further than Sonic and the$7 big deal meal.
• 48:37
  SPEAKER_15: Sonic cheeseburger, small premium chicken bites, medium drink, and your choice of a medium tot or fry.
• 49:06
  SPEAKER_10: Note to self.
• 49:08
  SPEAKER_10: You love Smokey and have wanted to know everything about the progress of the newest member of the Smokey family.
• 49:15
  SPEAKER_10: That's Smokey 12.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_10: So with the bye weekend upcoming, we had the time, and Smokey12 had the availability to give us an update.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_10: Here's the Vol Network's Alexi Cowan.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_05: As a young starting quarterback, all eyes are on you.
• 49:32
  SPEAKER_05: The weight of the team is on your shoulders or your paws.
• 49:40
  SPEAKER_22: Say I'm a handsome boy.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_05: Just like Tennessee's George McIntyre, Smokey 12 is experiencing his first reps as the main man.
• 50:02
  SPEAKER_05: Eight games in, Smokey's senior handler Garrett Reeves gave us an update on his progress.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_22: We've been able to feed him pretty good, and uh he's gotten more comfortable being around cameras and fans and everything like that.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_05: Just like any Tennessee athlete, Smokey had to learn how to bulk up.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_05: Possibly the Derek Owings diet.
• 50:27
  SPEAKER_02: We've had a lot of guys that have had already 15 pounds of muscle in a six and a half week training block.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_22: He's put on close to 20 pounds.
• 50:34
  SPEAKER_22: Um, with him being a rescue, he was kind of underweight.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_22: For the colder months, we've got blankets, his vest keeps him warm that he wears on the field.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_22: We actually tried out um some protective earmuffs this week.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_22: For our canines, it's especially important that we protect their hearing.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_05: As the new starter, the best place to learn is out on the field.
• 50:56
  SPEAKER_22: We try and give him breaks.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_22: Just seems like every time we bring him in there, he just wants to come back out and run through the T, run through the end zone.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_05: Another rookie experience dealing with that media.
• 51:10
  SPEAKER_22: We call him Nosy Nealin.
• 51:12
  SPEAKER_22: He's always looking at everything that he's not supposed to be looking at.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_22: If he's got a camera in his face, he's looking at a flag that's 100 yards away.
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_22: And learning to trust your coaches.
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_22: He's just compassionate.
• 51:24
  SPEAKER_22: He loves his handlers, he loves his team, he does what we ask him to.
• 51:28
  SPEAKER_22: Um, he does a great job.
• 51:30
  SPEAKER_22: Set.
• 51:31
  SPEAKER_22: Good.
• 51:37
  SPEAKER_05: Just like any rookie quarterback, a rookie mascot will make mistakes.
• 51:44
  SPEAKER_22: Hey, different stuff.
• 51:46
  SPEAKER_22: Hey, there are some past traumas that we might not know exactly what they are, so sometimes the most random things will cause him to react.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_22: You know, whether it's him just looking at something and barking at it, or actually, you know, being frightened by something.
• 52:03
  SPEAKER_05: But this true freshman is learning more and more each game.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_10: For our Five Ball Network staff, I'm Mike Keith.
• 52:12
  SPEAKER_10: Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next time.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_09: All week long to the latest from the Tennessee campus.
• 52:20
  SPEAKER_09: Mike Each Show online, delivered by Uber East.com.
• 52:27
  SPEAKER_09: We are the Ball Network.