No. 12 Tennessee (2-0, 2-0 SEC) will travel to No. 3 Georgia (2-0, 2-0 SEC) in Week 3 of a 10-game SEC-only schedule.
The Vols have a 8-game winning streak heading into the matchup, but will face its biggest challenge this season Saturday.
Mike Griffith previewed the SEC East contest on the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days.” Griffith covers Georgia football for DawgNation of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Topics of discussion included Jeremy Pruitt building Tennessee’s program in the last three years, Georgia’s team through two games and Bulldogs’ offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Todd Monken.
Monken is in his first season at Georgia after serving as offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, under then-head coach Freddie Kitchens, last season.
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Kitchens relinquished Monken’s duties of calling plays last season, causing a public discrepancy between the two.
Kitchens played quarterback at Alabama (1993-98) and was teammates with Pruitt and Vols’ offensive line coach Will Friend.
“It is interesting, Todd Monken used to work for Freddie Kitchens, who is Will Friend’s best friend at Alabama,” Griffith said. “Monken and Freddie did not get along last year, so both ended up losing their jobs. That was a very public feud between Freddie and his offensive coordinator. Monken was upset that he was not allowed to call plays.
“I can guarantee you that there were probably some calls made to Freddie Kitchens this week about Todd Monken, asking about some of his tendencies and thoughts. That’s what you do, you call your buddies and find out, I’m sure Freddie Kitchens would love to see Georgia get beat.”
Kitchens is currently serving as tight ends coach for the New York Giants alongside Kevin Sherrer. Sherrer, a teammate of Pruitt, Friend and Kitchens at Alabama, served as an assistant at Tennessee the last two seasons.
The show with Griffith can be listened to here or below.