Where will they land?
Links are your daily dose of Tennessee athletics news and notes…
James Pearce goes 29th in latest ESPN NFL Mock Draft
The consensus pre-combine is a late first round grade on Tennessee star pass rusher James Pearce. Matt Miller at ESPN mocked Pearce 29th overall, landing with the Washington Commanders. Miller mentioned his thin lower body as the reason for the drop, suggesting he could be a part-time contributor to start.
Pro Football Network had Pearce much higher, going 15th overall. Omarr Norman-Lott went in the second round, 58th overall. Dylan Sampson went at the top of the fourth round (105th overall) while Cooper Mays went in the seventh (249th overall) back to back with Dont’e Thornton (250th overall).
Lady Vols battle out a road win
It took 27 points from Talaysia Cooper for Tennessee told hang on to a tight win at Missouri. The Lady Vols fought through a slow start to hold off the Tigers, 76-71. It was a classic look-ahead spot for Tennessee, which will welcome in No. 6 UConn on Thursday. ESPN will have the coverage of the latest version of this storied rivalry.
Big-time coordinator news
After opting to take the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator job over Alabama one year ago, Ryan Grubb is returning to Tuscaloosa. Grubb never got started last season with new head coach Kalen DeBoer, and ended up getting fired after one season in Seattle. Now DeBoer has his right hand man back in the fold.
And at Ohio State, the Buckeyes are set to lose Chip Kelly to the NFL. Kelly will head to Vegas to run the offense for Pete Carroll, meaning Ryan Day has lost both coordinators following Ohio State’s title run.
Tennessee baseball makes a late add
Baseball season is now under two weeks away, and Tony Vitello is still adding to his roster. Tennessee picked up Alberto Osuna late last week, giving them another option at first base. Asuna hit .259 and 45 homeruns in three seasons with North Carolina before heading to D-II power Tampa. Asuna picked up another year of D-I eligibility, thanks to the Diego Pavia JUCO ruling. The Volunteers were likely set to turn to Dalton Bargo at first base before this addition.
Tennessee opens the season with a three-game series against Hofstra a week from Friday.