Austin Price: Hello, everybody. Welcome in for another episode of Vol Club Confidential. I'm your host Austin Price. Tennessee Spring practice is underway. The baseball team continues to play really well under Tony Vitello. It's a great time on Rocky Top. Let's bring in Spyre's and Vol Club's, Will Watkins. Will, I know you all want to get more and more local businesses either at the state level or just locally in Knoxville to work with. How's that been received and then how do we get the Vol Club reaching out and getting more and more local businesses involved? Will Watkins: Yeah, absolutely. I think that's something that's a big area of focus for us in 2023, trying to bring more value to the businesses across the state in Knoxville specifically. I think there's a lot of value for working with these athletes, and these guys and girls on campus are really excited to be building these relationships and working with local businesses so we want to try to get as many involved as we can, so we're just hitting the pavement and trying to find as many businesses across the state as we can to get involved with the athletes here at Tennessee. Austin Price: You saw recently, Nico Iamaleava, he got a deal and Joe Milton close to getting the deal locally. Take me through the inner workings of some of those things. Will Watkins: Yeah, absolutely. Everybody go buy some Force Factor products. So Nico got that deal done with Force Factor and Walmart, which is great. He is a very marketable kid. People are excited to work with him. A ton of interest in Joe. We got some things on the five yard line that we're about to get pushed through, so we got a lot of businesses reaching out to us. And they're calling to try to get involved with these athletes, and so we're just trying to pair them up where they make sense and get as many deals for these athletes as we can. Austin Price: About three or four weeks ago, and we could chat here on this, about three or four weeks ago you had a bunch of the athletes out on Dr. Seuss Read Across America Week, reading at local schools, reading to second-graders, third-graders, fourth-graders. How important is that? And how did you see the players really gravitate towards that because at one point or another they were that second-grader or that third-grader? Will Watkins: Yeah, absolutely. I mean that runs through our 501 (C3) Volunteer Legacy, and it's a great way for us to partner with charities across the state. And this one was a lot of schools across the region, so we had a bunch of athletes out there. And honestly, right now that's where the athletes love spending their most time. It's well, probably what gets them the most excited, being able to go back and give back to those kids. Like you said, they were those second, third-graders. So when they get to go out and hang out with those kids that look up to them, that's a huge opportunity for them. So the athletes love getting those opportunities, so anything like that we can do, we try to do that and give back to these communities. Austin Price: Yeah. Want to be a Vol Club member? Cool signed autograph memorabilia, you get these cool pullovers like Turtleson with the Vol Club logo on it. Man, if you're part of the Secret Society, the one with the little feather on it, that's some top end stuff. We appreciate it. We'll talk to you here soon. Now let's bring in our two marquee attractions for this episode and that being BYU's transfers, Keenan Pili and Gabe Jeudy-Lally. Keenan and Gabe, thanks for coming in. When you're sitting there playing at BYU last year, I'm sure you thought we'll probably be teammates again, but not at BYU. So take me through two separate decisions, but you guys ultimately end up at the same place. We'll start with you, Keenan. Keenan Pili: Yeah, it was cool. I think I entered before the bowl game, he entered after. My process was pretty quick. I think maybe a week and a half I was committed, so maybe two weeks. But going through that process, transfer portal, it was hectic. It's like recruiting on steroids, and everything's going on in this small amount of time. It was cool. It was interesting and then he entered the portal and ended up here. That was cool for me. I already knew Gabe, so that was nice for sure. Austin Price: Keenan committed, nobody knew it was coming. It was great except for me. And they would've been that gateway with Gabe but Gabe's draw, it drew out a little longer. And then, I don't know, some fans started to find out. All of a sudden it was on our message board more and more, and I kept trying to ignore it and eventually I was like... Keenan Pili: It was leaking. Austin Price: Yeah. It was leaking. That's right. I think it started leaking from the UCLA people. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Yeah. Yeah, that's the thing happened but essentially just like Keenan said, I wasn't going to enter a transfer portal, but then we had some coaching changes and such, and I thought that I had to do what was best for me. And so I entered after the bowl game right before New Year's, and the process was the same. It was about a week and a half for me as well and because some of the other places I was debating on going started school way earlier than Tennessee, so I had to make the decision between then. I didn't make the decision mine with having people that I knew out of the school but it's nice at the end of the day to make a decision, have somebody that you already know so the transition process isn't as hard. Austin Price: All right, we got one over here. He's been around the block a time or two. You had to go on a Mormon mission, you're older, you're 24. Are you're turning 25 yet? Keenan Pili: Not yet. Coming up. Austin Price: Not yet. Soon to be 25, soon to be able to rent a car. He's married. Then this one started at Vanderbilt, went to BYU for about six months and now ends up at Tennessee. You both have played in Neyland Stadium before. What's it like to play in Neyland Stadium as an opponent? Keenan Pili: Pretty crazy. I always reflect back on that time we played and how it came full circle because that was the first year I got back from my mission that I played at Tennessee. BYU came here, and all that I remember is the people were super cool, super nice. Austin Price: Until BYU won. Keenan Pili: Probably. Didn't see anyone after, but the environment was crazy. Crazy environment at Neyland. Austin Price: What about for you? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: I guess my experience is a little bit different because Vanderbilt's a little bit of a rivalry. And my freshman year we had just beat Tennessee three years in a row. So it was like we were going to Neyland and I remember we were driving underneath the bridge or something like that and we were just getting pelted. Our bus was getting hit by a whole bunch of stuff and I was like, "What is going on?" They're like, "Oh, this is very much regular." But it's fun. It was a good environment. Both games actually been really rainy, so a lot of people left after half both times that we played. But the worst part actually about playing at Neyland is that you guys cut off the hot water versus anytime we play at the end of the game. So we would lose and have to take the coldest shower in the world, and it was the end of November. So it was just not much fun by any means. Austin Price: So it's either stink or freeze. Take me through getting here, acclimating to Tennessee. What have you enjoyed about it since you've been here the last couple of months, and what's it been like? Keenan Pili: It's been super smooth for me. Being married is always another challenge, bringing another partner with you, and my wife's enjoyed it as well. It's easy for me having football, having a team and somewhere to be every day, smooth transition, not hard at all. But to Knoxville, it's a great place. I think we've enjoyed, it's such a relaxed environment, fits us, and starting to get into the scene a little bit. Still trying to figure out the fishing scene, that's what I like to do and some of those type of things, but it's been good so far. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Yeah, honestly it feels more normal here than where I was before. It was a little bit of culture shock, so it's nice if you get back into some semblance of things that I'm used to. I know Tennessee pretty well because I was here for three years prior to that, but it's nice. Everybody here is really supportive and such, and my family likes coming out here, so it has been good overall. Austin Price: When some guys on the team want to roll to Nashville, are you like, "Yeah, I know lots about that. Let's roll." Gabe Jeudy-Lally: I definitely know a lot about it. I always explain Nashville as it was great to be there for three years and get my degree, but I would never want to live there. It's just so much is going on, and it's just going to continue to keep going that way because of what's going on over there. It's a nice two, three day visit, and then get out of there, that's for sure. Austin Price: You come in, everybody's going to make the grandpa jokes. I'm sure you catch a little bit of that with the team, but you come in as kind of this veteran guy in a room that is really young outside of Aaron Beasley. I mean it's all kind of freshmen and then early enrollees that should be finishing up their high school career. What's that like in that room and do you feel like you can impart some wisdom on some of those young guys like Arion Carter or T Lander or Jalen Smith? Keenan Pili: Yeah. It's been good to get to know the guys. I feel like they're teaching me. I'm learning so much from these guys over here. And whatever needs to be done in the room or I hope I can impart some type of wisdom or knowledge in the five years I've been playing, but really I'm just grateful to be in the room and be around those guys. Those guys are some studs and some ballers, and I'm grateful for it. Austin Price: What have you guys enjoyed about Brian Jean-Marie and Willie Martinez? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Coach really is just a man with a great personality and care for everybody in the room. It doesn't matter. We got a lot of guys in the room because we meet as DBs together, but Coach Willy could tell you something important about everybody in the room, which is something that I really appreciate regardless of the amount of guys that we got. And he's going to hold us to the standard at all points of the day, it doesn't matter what's going on. And so it's good because sometimes people get lost in the cracks with so many guys on a team and especially with so many guys in one position, but Coach Willie makes sure that everybody feels loved at the end of the day. And that's what you need when you get to this type of stage, and you got a lot going on. So it's good to have those types of people. Keenan Pili: Similar to coach BJ, I think that in the little time that I've known him as a coach is he really cares about the players, really cares about who we are, what we want to do with our life, our future, and what's to come. And you can go to him with your goals, and you know he's going to keep you accountable in that way because he is very energetic, and he'll get on you if he needs. But really that I think that's the biggest thing in Citadel so far is that he's a coach that really cares, really cares for the players and what you do on the field and what you do off the field. Austin Price: If there's one thing that you could take from BYU and implement it here as part of the culture that you thought was worked well for what BYU did and maybe could work well here, what would it be? I mean, you know what I'm saying? I think it's a copycat game. One school does this in recruiting, 15 other schools start doing that because it worked for that one school. You know what I mean? Is there something you feel like you could do it, bring from BYU to Tennessee, that would be good? Keenan Pili: I think something we focused so much on at BYU is trying to make a true family environment. And when you say brotherhood, what does that look like? The guy next to you, I call him my brother. Well, what are you willing to do for your brother or sacrifice in your life that you need to for the team? And they are already doing that, and I think hopefully, we can transition that part. That's piece I loved that I took from BYU and my time there is that love aspect and that true family and brotherhood. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Yeah, though my time was short over there, I also was at Vanderbilt before, Keenan hit it on the head. The love aspect's big over there because I had just walked in, and I felt like I'd been there for five years just like you. And I think that if you could bring that in anywhere you go, especially here at Tennessee, but anywhere in life it just will make everything go more smoothly. And I see the guys on the team, they all hang out, they all love each other, but translating that love to the field also will just get us to bigger places than even they did this past season I think. Austin Price: As you roll through spring practice, what do you want to get done this spring? I mean starting spots, starting spots aren't won in spring ball, but you can obviously take a step towards that. What do you want to get accomplished through these 15 practices? Keenan Pili: Yeah, I want to become a shoot a better athlete, better player on the field and better studier in the film room I think during spring ball, and most importantly, getting to know the guys and building the culture that we need to and getting accustomed to how things are here in Tennessee. I think that's a big thing I'm looking forward to in Spring. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Yeah, I guess kind of the same aspect of Keenan, but I want to be able to understand the guys that I play with on the back end, especially the guys that play safety and star because of course at Corner I do my certain thing, but I have to understand who's going to help me and where. I want to be able to know what guys like to call when we're in certain situations so I don't ever have to worry about we were on two different pages because playing DB, miscommunication is the reason why you get beaten good majority of the time. So if I'm able to be on the same communication scale with everybody on the field, I think that'll just roll over to the football season and eliminate some of the mistakes I ever made through the film watching that scene this past year. Austin Price: You guys feel like you guys have gotten closer because you knew each other walking in the door? Maybe not necessarily super close at BYU, but maybe you're closer now because you kind of had that common commonality? Keenan Pili: Yeah. We laugh about that sometimes. We were closer here than probably we were at BYU to be honest. Austin Price: In what way? What have you learned about each other? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Keenan said that funny. At BYU it was Keenan's more place, he'd been there and such. So I'd be like, "You just used to hang out with everybody in the corner, I'd never talked to you." And I was like, "Do you ever speak words?" That's what I said when I first came to Tennessee. He was like, "Yeah, I was just comfortable." But I mean, I got to know Keenan and Keenan's wife, got to just understand his story a little bit more, which is good because we're going to be on the field together. And those are the things that, I mean, I've gone over to his apartment, we got to hang out. And especially at the beginning when I didn't really know as many people on the team, it was nice to be able to not just hang out in my apartment by myself because that was part of the reason why I also left BYU because I didn't really do much over there. So I wanted to be able to branch out and do more here, and so it's been nice. Austin Price: What players have you connected well with since you got here? Keenan Pili: So I felt like I've connected pretty well with you talk about Beasley and a lot of the linebackers in that room. I hope to build stronger connection with the younger guys, I think is what I want to do. But yeah, for sure, those guys. Austin Price: Who's impressed you most out of the younger guys? Keenan Pili: Impressed me most? A lot of them like Arian, he's crazy athletic for sure. Ben Bolton too. He's out there with the athleticism and just pure raw talent. Yeah, for sure, those two are. Austin Price: How about a corner? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: I'd say Jordan Matthews, I've had to be 100% honest. He takes the film room to the field really well, and he's not afraid to ask questions. Which I think a big thing with guys that are young is either they think they know everything, or they're too afraid to ask the questions. And though he might not ask them to Coach Willy, he'll ask them to me, BT, whole bunch of other guys. And he'll translate that to the field. But I think all of them are learning on their own scales, and I think spring ball would be good for them. Ricky, he's crazy athletic. And I think Cristian Conyer just figuring it out right now. Once he figures it out, it'll all come in droves for him. But Jordan Matthews for sure is. I think he's a cut above right now, but everybody's doing their own thing. Austin Price: Helps his dad played at LSU and he's kind of, you know what I mean? You've got somebody to lean on about how to approach things. As you said, not being afraid to ask questions. What's the best thing you've learned about Knoxville at this point? Keenan Pili: Best thing I learned about Knoxville? Austin Price: That you did not know. Even back to your official visit, any of that because I mean you're going to see what. Anytime you take a visit, Alabama, Tennessee, McNeese State, wherever, they're going to show you the best parts. What have you found when you went out exploring with the wife or exploring with teammates? Keenan Pili: Found a lot of good food for sure. I didn't know it was as nice as it looks like. I felt like once all the greens here, going to look super nice in Knoxville. Austin Price: You wanted to get on the lake and go fishing, man. I mean, we're getting warmer. We're getting warmer. Keenan Pili: I'm getting there. But yeah, for sure those things. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: I'd say yeah, food because I'm a big food guy. But also I thought the weather here was going to be really bad the whole time because Utah first of all was horrible. I hate the snow. It's just absolutely horrible. And then... Austin Price: Yeah, we never get snow here. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: It's 10 degrees warmer here than it was in Nashville, which is so much nicer because it got pretty cold and pretty yucky in Nashville. So I like that it's been pretty sunny the last couple of weeks, and it just makes the overall vibe a lot better. Austin Price: I think sometimes too, the plateau, which is over here, the Cumberland Plateau kind of blocks some of the wind. The wind hits Nashville I think a little more, which is why you get tornado warnings a lot more in the mid-state than you do here. I think it kind of kills some of that so that you don't. If it's 55 and the wind's blowing 20, it's not really 55, right? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Exactly, exactly. Austin Price: Whereas if it's 55 and there's no wind, it's still 55. When you look at this team, what made Tennessee the right fit to want to come play here? I mean obviously the success last year. They win the Orange Bowl, they go 11 and two. But when you're making that decision and you've got multiple years now but you don't, how are you kind of weighing? I mean, you could easily make the bad decision. I mean every year the recruits that go to the wrong school and end up switching around, how do you do that when you're older? Keenan Pili: Especially being a one-year guy, it gets kind of tough. That's why I said that process was so condensed and fast. I was like, "Man, this is a tough decision." But really Tennessee, I think the relationship I had with the coaches from the jump is what helped me a lot. But then when we came on the visit, wasn't planning to commit on my visit or do any of that. Being around the people in the program and feeling the culture here is what really drove me to do that during that weekend. Austin Price: You just got that feel, that vibe. Keenan Pili: Yeah. Once I felt the feeling, I went and talked. I remember they dropped us off at the hotel, and I went to my wife. I said, "What'd you think?" She was like, "I know." And then I'm like, "Okay, I'll do it." And then I committed. I committed, shoot, like 10 minutes later. Austin Price: Most of the time you're trying to impress the mom in recruiting. With Keenan, you're trying to impress the wife in recruiting. What about you? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Though I do have two years left, I made it with the decision of only really wanting to come and play one year. Austin Price: Sure. But you got the wiggle room if you need it. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Yeah. Pretty much, I mean same thing. And my mom was the deciding factor. She's a good people person, and she understood that this was going to be the place that was going to get me to where I want to go academically, football wise, and just life. I did go to other places after that, but I had the age and inclination the whole time. Even though I'd gone to places next, I was like, I kind of already know where I want to go. And playing in the SEC, I've now witnessed playing against other people. And it was just like the caliber of people here are just significantly better. And if you want to go make that next step to go play in the NFL, you got to be here I think, if anywhere else. I know I'd gone and visited PAC 12 school, I'd gone and visited Big 12 school, and then we played independent. But playing at Vanderbilt for the guys in this league are just way better. And so if you think that you can make the next step, then you got to show it every Saturday in this league. Austin Price: You were at BYU for so long. I don't mean it's not even the old man joke. I'm just saying, but you've got the developed relationships. As you told him, you felt comfortable there with certain things. How much have you picked up the phone and called some of your old teammates and just shot the bull with them? Because you want to keep those friendships alive. Keenan Pili: Oh, yeah. We keep those relationships strong, and we'll call all the time. Austin Price: Do they ask about here? Keenan Pili: Yeah, all the time. All the time. Asking what Tennessee like? What's the team? All things like that. They know. It's like BYU, you're at a school, 30 kids are married, and lot of those got kids. And what's it like at Tennessee and NC? So it's funny, on the phone, we all call and talk about those things. Austin Price: Has the wife been able to find her little niche here because I think that's important, right? Keenan Pili: Yeah, yeah. That's super important. Yeah, she's getting there. She's a huge into fitness, and she's meeting some people in the area. And she'll probably find something to do out here. Yeah, keep her busy. She'll like that. Austin Price: All right, we're going to go a little rapid fire. Both answering, not long answers though. They don't have to be one or two words, but they don't need to be three minutes soliloquies. Morning person or sleeping in? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: That's a tough one. Keenan Pili: I can do both. It depends how when I fell asleep. It depends on when I fell asleep. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: During the week, morning person, but weekend I always sleep in. Keenan Pili: Yeah, got to catch up. Austin Price: What's one item you always bring or one item you always keep in your fridge? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: I have nothing in my fridge. I only get the stuff from the facility so I guess water. Keenan Pili: Ice cream for my wife. That about it. Austin Price: What kind of ice cream? Keenan Pili: Anything like nutty, pecan, pistachio, those kind of things. Austin Price: Butter pecan. What's an unpopular opinion you stand by? Keenan Pili: I have a ton. I can't think of them right now. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Okay, I'll give mine. When I was at at BYU, everybody believed that California had the best high school football, but I think that Texas has the best high school football bar none. I'll die with that on my death stone. That's where I think, unpopular opinion. Keenan Pili: My unpopular opinion. I can't think of one. I don't know. Austin Price: Favorite NFL team? Keenan Pili: Raiders. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Don't have one. Austin Price: You're a Texas kid and you don't have a favorite NFL team? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: I was a Tom Brady fan through and through, so I guess wherever Tom Brady played, but I don't have a favorite NFL team. Austin Price: Favorite sport other than football? Keenan Pili: Basketball. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Track. Austin Price: Jordan or LeBron? Keenan Pili: Kobe. Austin Price: Hey. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: LeBron. Keenan Pili: Kobe. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: LeBron. Keenan Pili: Kobe's in here. Austin Price: Dant'e Thornton was LeBron. Or no, sorry, it was Kobe. Winter Olympics or Summer Olympics? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Summer all day. Keenan Pili: Yes. Austin Price: One thing you love to do in the snow, even if you hate it. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: I used to be an extreme snowboarder, so I like to snowboard but I just don't like being cold. Keenan Pili: Snowboarding. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Yeah, actually. Keenan Pili: Oh, nice. Most I done is sledding. So sledding. Austin Price: Best first date idea. You don't answer this one. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Well, I mean I have a long-term girlfriend right now, but. Austin Price: Well, that's okay, but you're not married though. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Best first date idea. Austin Price: What did you do with this girlfriend on a date? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: I love sushi so we went and got sushi. And we ordered omakase chef style and so he brought out whatever he wanted to for us, and so it was a good. Austin Price: She was impressed. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: She was new to the sushi style so she would try some new stuff, so it good. Austin Price: All right. Now you're married. Take me through first date. Keenan Pili: First date? Austin Price: First date with your wife. When did you know? See, this is different. We normally have these kids on here. They're sure not married. We can go down a different road here. When did you know she was the one? Keenan Pili: I think it was our third or second date. I think. As weird as that sounds. Austin Price: No, doesn't sound weird. Keenan Pili: Weird as that sounds, yeah. And then we got married a year later or proposed. But anyways, first date picked her up, axe throwing, dessert, like a ice cream chocolate cookie thing. And that's it. Austin Price: Did she beat you in axe throwing? Keenan Pili: Probably. I don't even think I hit. I can't remember hitting it the right way so. Austin Price: It just kept bouncing off? Keenan Pili: Yeah. Austin Price: You guys like darts? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: I like to play darts, yeah. Keenan Pili: Yeah. Yeah, I like darts. Cool. Austin Price: You were quick on that. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Yeah, I'm going to have my fair share of darts played with the boys before. Austin Price: Nice. Who's the most competitive teammate you've met here? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Kamal Hadden. Keenan Pili: Competitive? Go Pakk. Austin Price: Pakk Garland. I actually meant to go morning person or sleeping in. You guys practice in the morning. What'd you do at BYU? Is it morning or afternoon? Keenan Pili: Afternoon. Austin Price: I'll be interested what you think morning practices. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: This is not the earliest I've had practice before though. It was in my first two years, I've had it we were on the field at 6:30 in the morning, so this is perfect time. Austin Price: Yeah, it's not too... Keenan Pili: It's kind of nice. Austin Price: It is man. Trust me. Keenan Pili: Like the schedule. Austin Price: You're home, especially being a married guy. This is actually nice for you. Keenan Pili: You're done by 12:00. Done 12:30, 12:50, 1:00. Yeah. Austin Price: What's this school look like for you now as an older guy? Keenan Pili: I'm in graduate pro. I think he is as well. Austin Price: Yeah. You both graduated. Keenan Pili: Yeah, doing a graduate program. Austin Price: How many hours of semester are we talking about for that? Keenan Pili: I think nine. I think I'm in nine right now. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Yeah, I'm in nine. I just go to class on Tuesday and Thursday and then the rest of the week it's... Austin Price: So Monday, Wednesday, Friday you truly are done. You will be done at... Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Yeah. And then even when I go to class on Tuesday and Thursday, I'm done at 2:00. So it's very, very feasible. And I go get recovery for a majority of the rest of the day so I'm good and ready for the next day. Austin Price: What do you enjoy about Smokey's? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Smokey's is the best food I've had. Keenan Pili: There's three different dinners as dinner. That's the thing that I'm getting used. There's like a thing here, thing here, thing here. Austin Price: You got options. Keenan Pili: Cook over there. Yeah, options. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: If you say you don't like it, that means you didn't try to go get something that. You can literally make your own food there so you can make something you like. Austin Price: What do you make? You know what I mean? What's one thing that they don't have every day that you're like, it just sounds good. I'm going to get that. Keenan Pili: The day I usually cook is on the stir-fry day is when I cook the rice and meat. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: When they have personal pizzas, I'll do the personal pizza. Keenan Pili: Oh, those are good too. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Those are really good. Austin Price: What's your go-to pizza? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Spinach and chicken. Austin Price: That look. Keenan Pili: Spinach and chicken. All right. I'm a meat lover so sausage, pepperoni, call it good. Oh, I'm bacon. Austin Price: When you got to college, what'd you weigh? Keenan Pili: I was a safety in high school, so when I got to college I was shoot, maybe 200. Austin Price: And you're now 240? Keenan Pili: Yeah. Austin Price: What about you? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: 151 pounds soaking wet. Austin Price: And now what are you? Keenan Pili: Geez. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Oh, I was 189 today I think. Austin Price: So you put on almost 40 pounds? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Yeah. Austin Price: What's mom and dad say about that? When you show back up and they've not seen you in a month or two and you put on 25 pounds? Keenan Pili: They'd probably tell me why you didn't do that sooner. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: When I first came home, it was six weeks later and I had gained like 37 pounds in six weeks. And my mom was like, "You're fat." And I was like, "What do you mean?" She goes, "Your face is chubby." And I was like, "I just put on weight finally." She goes, "Oh, that might be right." So that was good. Keenan Pili: Six weeks? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Yeah. Keenan Pili: That was fast. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: I was a big boy. Austin Price: I'll tell you who continued to hear good things about adding weight this off season is Caleb Herring. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Oh, okay. Austin Price: He came in at 206, and he's up at 230 right now. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Keenan Pili: That's cool. Austin Price: Have you guys noticed much about him? Keenan Pili: I didn't notice the weight thing. I saw everyone at once. Meeting everybody it's hard to pinpoint it what it was. Yeah. Austin Price: Is it hard to keep up? I mean because you all have many new, especially you, you literally learned a 100 players at BYU and six months later you're learning 100 new players here. Is it hard to keep up with teammates and names and... Gabe Jeudy-Lally: I wouldn't say that. The names and such, it's pretty easy just like learning a whole bunch of defenses. It's more or less actually getting to know everybody. I could probably tell you what certain person's name is but I couldn't tell you really much of anything about them. So it's just more or less building those actual relationships with a lot of the guys on the team. Austin Price: Much like the recruiting class comes in, they've known each other from junior days and recruiting visits and such. And they kind of stick together. Do the transfers do the same? I had Dant'e on last week. He talked about how he hangs out with Omarr Norman-Lott, John Campbell, all of those guys are new transfers this off season. Do the transfers tend to gravitate towards each other just because they're coming in, or? Keenan Pili: Maybe a little bit. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: I know you hang out with your wife all the time. What you talking about? Keenan Pili: I already got it. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: I don't know. I guess though I'm not married, my girlfriend comes up almost every weekend so I hang out with her a lot. Austin Price: From Nashville? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: No, she goes to grad school in SMU but she's from home. But I hang out with Keenan a couple of times. But the DBs that got together, so the DBs hang out a lot together. So it's been nice to hang out with them. Austin Price: Through winter workouts, where have you gotten better? Keenan Pili: I think overall body and health for sure in the winter workouts has been my main goal and main focus. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: I'd definitely say speed, more burst from the get go because we do a lot of programming the body to be able to get out in and out of breaks and just starting off in the forties. So I think overall speed has gotten better. Austin Price: Do you have a feel for the tempo yet? I mean is there something you can do during winter workouts to understand, maybe not during real games you'll see this tempo, but during practice going against this offense, this is going to be, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Keenan Pili: The tempo of the offense, are you talking about? Austin Price: Yes. Keenan Pili: Not yet I haven't. I actually played versus Coach Heupel and his offense before. That thing is fast. Yeah, I'll say that. It is fast though. Austin Price: That's right. When he was at UCF played. Keenan Pili: UCF. BYU played them COVID year, and we played first sight. It was really fast. Austin Price: You glad all that's behind us from a standpoint of having full crowds. I mean just because... Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Yeah, I don't know, it was just, especially when the SEC came out, they were going to shut down football. And I was just like, "There's no way that we could do that." And then the first game, I played at Texas A and M and there was no such thing as COVID over there. It was 95,000 people, and then the rest of the season to having zero people. It just didn't feel right to be playing football and playing in the SEC going to Neyland and there's nobody there at all. Austin Price: It's like 20,000 people Gabe Jeudy-Lally: And you just look up, and it's just empty. It's just super hard to be able to play the game. But I'm so happy it's over now because we get to experience this thing and fully rocking, especially after last year. Keenan Pili: That was one of my favorite years, I'm not going to lie. To me, it was kind of fun. It was kind of fun. Austin Price: I'm glad you had a good time. What did you know about Tennessee before you got here? Anything? Did you know players that have played here, any of that stuff? What did you know? Keenan Pili: Not too much. I had a cousin here who played a little bit ago, Mapu. Austin Price: JT's your cousin, huh? Keenan Pili: Yeah. Austin Price: I didn't know that. Keenan Pili: Yeah. Austin Price: So have you talked to him since you? Keenan Pili: He called me when I was on my visit here. Yeah, he called me right before I was doing before the portal shoot. He's like, "I got to come out there, come catch a game." But yeah, that was a cool little connection here. Austin Price: Sure. I don't even know that part of this. What about you? Gabe Jeudy-Lally: I mean of course Eric Berry and Peyton Manning and such, but I didn't really know how deeply rooted the culture was. But I mean, I knew enough because it was a rivalry for when I was at Vanderbilt and so a lot of guys, there's a couple of guys that were at Vanderbilt that decided to flip from Tennessee, that went to Vanderbilt ironically. So they told me what they knew, but it's been nice to get to be rooted in it now. Keenan Pili: That was interesting. Coming to Tennessee is the whole southern football culture. You kind of hear about it, but being here now. Man, they love football, the fans and the area around here, you just hear about it when you're in the West Coast. Austin Price: And you and I got to experience it. Yeah, I mean you'll get a little bit there in spring practice that'll kind of wet the appetite a little bit, but this fall will be especially coming off 11 and two, this place over here will be hopping every Saturday and I know you guys will be excited for that. Two key additions out of the transfer portal heading into this 2023 season. Keenan Pili, Gabe Jeudy-Lally. Guys, we appreciate the time and good luck this spring and good luck this fall. Okay? Keenan Pili: Thank you. Gabe Jeudy-Lally: Thank you. Keenan Pili: Appreciate it.