KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — One month from today the Vols will come running out of the T at Neyland Stadium to begin the 2019 season against Georgia State.
Jeremy Pruitt will hold his season-opening press conference on Thursday at noon and the Big Orange begins fall camp on Friday afternoon.
With that in mind, here are some storylines to watch for throughout camp and into the start of the season:
1. ELIGIBILITY WATCH
The Vols will head into fall camp with two former five-star recruits that may or may not be able to play this season.
Offensive lineman Trey Smith started the first 19 games of his career before missing the last five due to blood clots in his lungs, a career-threatening condition. Jeremy Pruitt said at SEC Media Days that Smith wants to play football again and doctors are working on a plan for him to be able to do that this season. We'll see if Smith is able to participate in contact during camp.
He would certainly provide a boost to the offensive line and Tennessee has a former five-star defensive lineman that could help out that unit in a big way. Aubrey Solomon transferred in from Michigan this offseason and the Vols could certainly use him on a defensive front that is losing all of its starters from last year. Tennessee is still waiting to hear from the NCAA after applying for a waiver that would allow Solomon to play this season instead of sitting out a year. It seems like the NCAA has been handing out those waivers like candy this offseason but the Vols continue to wait.
It's not just Solomon that is waiting on the waiver but defensive back Deangelo Gibbs, too. The former four-star recruit transferred from Georgia and could provide some depth to the Vols secondary if he's eligible to play this season.
2. OFFENSIVE LINE IMPROVEMENT
Tennessee's offensive line has no choice but to get better because it can't really get much worse than it was last season. The Vols offense produced more than seven negative plays per game in 2018, fifth-most among the 65 'Power 5' schools.
Jeremy Pruitt and crew brought in a few players that can help and some returners have either gotten healthy or gained weight.
Alabama transfer Brandon Kennedy started at center for Tennessee in game one last year but tore his ACL in practice the following week and missed the rest of the season. He'll be back as a redshirt senior.
The freshmen five-star duo of Wanya Morris and Darnell Wright will be expected to at least contribute and could potentially start at both tackle spots. Pruitt's prized prospects both come in weighing more than 310 pounds. That kind of size was something Tennessee lacked in Pruitt's first season but the Vols have beefed up with nutrition and weightlifting in the offseason. Marcus Tatum, who started the final five games at left tackle, is up to 316 from 293. Nathan Niehaus, the starting right guard for six games, went from 287 to 300 pounds.
The Vols return ten starters on offense (only losing right tackle Drew Richmond, who transferred to USC) and certainly have the weapons at the skill positions to do some damage. The biggest factor in the offense's success will be the improvement of the offensive line.
3. QB JARRETT GUARANTANO'S DEVELOPMENT
If the O-line's improvement is the biggest factor, this is number two. Guarantano did an outstanding job protecting the football in 2018 despite having a defender in his face (or on his back) on what seemed like every play. He broke the school record for consecutive pass attempts without an interception with 166 and according to Pro Football Focus had the fewest turnover worthy plays of any SEC quarterback with just four.
Guarantano seems to be a popular breakout candidate among national media and ESPN analytics guru Bill Connelly highlighted his success despite a dreadful run game and constant pressure. ESPN also points out that Guarantano had a better 2018 season in terms of completion percentage, TD-to-INT ratio and third-down conversion percentage than Oregon's Justin Herbert, who is one of the top ten Heisman Trophy favorites.
It will help that Guarantano is teaming up with new offensive coordinator Jim Chaney this season. Guarantano LOVES Chaney and what he's brought to Tennessee. JG has been spending about two hours per day in the film room this summer and will have much more control of the offense at the line of scrimmage this season with the ability to call his own plays and change offensive line protection calls.
4. PRUITT'S DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE
Jeremy Pruitt's defenses led the nation in fewest points per game allowed in three of the five seasons before he arrived at Tennessee. Many expected the Vols to improve significantly on that side of the ball when Pruitt took over and it didn't happen in year one. The Vols allowed 1.2 fewer points in 2018 than they did in 2017 and forced the same amount of turnovers (15) in both years.
Pruitt called the plays on defense last year but that won't be the case in 2019. New defensive coordinator Derrick Ansley, who Pruitt is so comfortable with that they can often finish each other's sentences when it comes to football, will take over defensive playcalling, allowing Pruitt to focus on being the head coach. Juggling the responsibilities of head coach and defensive play caller may have caused Pruitt to miss some things last season.
"The one thing about being a defensive play caller, you kind of get in the rhythm of the game, after every series you go over every play that the offense just ran and as you're going back through it sometimes you can see a pattern or predict a little bit what's going to happen next, so you get a feel on how to call the game," Pruitt said at SEC Media Days. "One thing as a head coach, when you're managing the game, you're not going over every play the offense just went through, so it probably puts you at a disadvantage and I think this is something that's going to improve our football team by giving Derrick an opportunity to do this."
Seven starters return on defense but Tennessee will have to replace the entire defensive line.