Episode 179: Defensive newcomers roundtable

GoVols247’s Wes Rucker, Patrick Brown and Ryan Callahan went into the Fort Rucker Sun Room — the Fort Rucker Studio somehow is still being renovated — to discuss plenty of football topics and some baseball.The Tennessee baseball team opens its first NCAA Tournament in 14 years with a Friday night game against Liberty in Chapel Hill, N.C., and there’s plenty to discuss with second-year head coach Tony Vitello’s Vols.But football, as usual, is the meat and potatoes of the Football Friday podcast.Some interesting SEC and Tennessee-specific news emerged from this week’s annual SEC Spring Meetings in Destin, Fla., so there’s plenty to discuss on that front, including the potential of alcohol sales to the general public at Neyland Stadium in the very near future.Tennessee continues to wait on news of the immediate-eligibility waiver appeals for transfers Aubrey Solomon and Deangelo Gibbs, but plenty of other defensive newcomers have enrolled this week and are completely good to go for this season. We discuss those new arrivals in this episode.A couple of Tennessee players (senior linebacker Darrin Kirkland Jr. and sophomore tight end James Brown) have been added to the medical-retirement list, and this episode also features some insight on those unfortunate situations.Recruiting is always a topic on the Football Friday podcast, and this week is no exception. Callahan has the latest on several Tennessee targets heading into the busy, camp-filled portion of the recruiting calendar.