Mailbag Podcast: Tennessee's path to a win over Arkansas?

The Volquest crew answers several subscriber questions on Tennessee football, basketball, recruiting, baseball and more on the Thursday morning mailbag podcast ahead of Tennessee and Arkansas this weekend from Neyland Stadium.

Tennessee Questions & Timestamps

00:36 HeupelMyLord: Do you believe that Ricky Gibson plays for Tennessee next year?

1:22 JackRG22: What do y’all anticipate the rotation being on the D-Line now that everyone is healthy? Also, AP does your gut say that McCoy plays again this season?

4:21 Southerner98: Why snub Majors out of “Championship Corner”? I realize he did not win a natty but really neither did Dickey. No one counts that ’67 season as a national championship around here. Seems weird to snub him on the weekend where the ’85 Sugar Vols are being honored.

9:36 Samsmith2233: How do you expect Tennessee to counter that QB run game that Bobby P loves to do?

14:48 Cain, this baseball team is young. Give me 2 freshmen you expect to have a big SEC impact?

17:01 SysVol: Now that we know the single portal period for January is the 2nd – 16th, how do you imagine this looks? Still have a pretty good gauge nationally of prospects who will enter and be a done deal as soon as they enter or will there be some serious recruiting battles that play out like the lead up to NSD?

18:42 VolsForever901: Speaking of the portal, what does the process look like for our coaching staff? Will they wait until after the regular season to self-scout and determine needs, or do they already have an idea of what positions they will need to strengthen?

24:29 DaleEllisFan: Is ‘27 QB Andre Adams (Antioch, TN) on Tennessee’s board? If so, where?

25:00 NashVol615: Best shot to win in Tuscaloosa since? Alabama plays UGA, Vandy, Missouri, and then Vols. I feel extremely confident that by the time we roll into Tuscaloosa, Alabama will be licking their wounds.

26:52 Knowing what we know at this point in the season, do you think our staff wishes they took 2-3 more players from the portal? What positions?

29:44 RandyG77: I will certainly miss hearing “Money!” on the Vol Hoops broadcast this year. Assuming Mike Keith does not decide to go it alone, any thoughts or preferences as to who might be the new color analyst for what appears to be an exciting upcoming Hoops season? Would you take Steve Hamer or the field?

31:57 Zjsvols: SEC Carnage: What do you think of this week?
Bama -2.5 @ Dorkwitz field
UGA -3.5 @ The Barn
UTjr -1.5
UF +7.5
SC +9.5 seems high

38:56 Tennken1961: Who should Tenn root for this weekend?

39:55 DavyVol: More likely to be on the roster next season? Colton Hood or Boo Carter?

40:28 West Tennessean: Lotta hype surrounding Ament. CRB heaped some praise which he effectively never does for a freshman. Is he legitimately the kind of player we can hitch our wagon to and have him carry us to the promised land?

42:23 What should we expect out of PG this year? Been a long time since it wasn’t ZZ.

43:47 Urwifespoolboy: Going forward, do we see early in season coaches firings becoming the norm? The kids seem to be trapped with nowhere to go in season. New coaching search and current recruiting class aside, this may be the easiest way to stem the flow of players entering the portal and transferring.

48:36 SmyrnaVol: Has Garner signed any extensions? Any concern this is his last year?

49:11 Do you see Halzle being in the running for a lower G5 head coaching job if they have continued success this year?

50:20 Do you think Pope has aspirations of being an OC soon?

51:04 The7Maxims: Do you all think Seth Littrell will be a permanent member of Heupel’s staff? Will he return in 2026?

53:25 Volken: You have to bet the farm. Who are you taking the SEC or BIG TEN top 2 (from each conference so 4 teams) or the Field?

55:30 007Vol: At what point does the NCAA say “enough is enough” and review all live ball penalties along with adding more eyes to the field (more referees)? The bad OPI in the State game is a good example.