It was Western Kentucky and lawvol did an excellent job with his version of this post (as in better than mine’s going to be), so I’ll keep this relatively brief.

Judging by the atmosphere on campus before the game and during the game in the student section, you would in no way have thought Tennessee’s opponent was possibly the worst Division I-A team in the country. I found this out on the long walk from my apartment down the Cumberland Avenue “Strip” and through the heart of campus on my way to the Vol Walk. I managed to get an up-close spot fort the spectacle, and I’ll have a video from it at the end of this.

The new JumboTron is awesome, especially when they take the ads off and make it full screen (click to enlarge)

As for the game, I’ll start with Jonathan Crompton. Sure, the tipped balls are worrisome and the first interception he threw – though not his fault, said Lane Kiffin – was the awful kind of pass he would have made last year. Other than that, he really didn’t have that many incompletions.

He looked confident. He looked poised. He managed the offense very well (I can only remember one substitution penalty and procedure penalty). He was 21-of-28 and threw five touchdowns for goodness sakes. Sure, it was mostly the short passing game.

But if your quarterback struggles with making multiple reads (as Crompton did in 2008), you don’t make him do that. You let him take the snap and throw it to a wideout against a corner playing off the line and let the playmaker get some yards in space. You throw the short hitch. You get Crompton rolling out with options short, medium and long. Heck, Crompton even slid when he had to scramble.

The receivers played well enough to make you forget the injuries. Luke Stocker caught two scores. Marsalis Teague led the way as a freshmen and is going to be a great player. Quintin Hancock deserves a shout-out.

But this day belonged to the offensive line. Crompton had time to throw and that only helps him. And the line opened enormous holes and got great push on just about every play, as was evidenced in the stats. Hopefully they stay healthy throughout the year, because watching them open lanes for Hardesty, Bryce, Oku and Poole (let’s not forget about Toney WIlliams, either) could be really fun to watch if they are able to keep it up.

The defense was swarming and Western Kentucky had no time to do anything – at all. I thought the linebackers played pretty well, but we’ll have to see how they go up against stronger, faster opponents in the future. Janzen Jackson was the first freshman to see the field defensively, and, like Teague, he’s going to be a great player. I thought Wes Brown also played very well: well as in fresh, considering everything we’d heard about him all preseason were the bad condition of both of his knees.

To conclude, anytime you dominate a team 63-7 and outgain them by the margin Tennessee did, you feel good about it. But if nothing else, it’s a game where you get some confidence, especially on offense where those guys are trying to make us all forget last year’s atrocities. It’s a chance for the freshmen and new players to get some game action, as every little bit of experience helps. Western Kentucky was the perfect opponent for Lane and Company to open up with.

My view from Section F (click to enlarge)

Looking ahead, I think this team could be pretty tough to beat in Neyland Stadium this year. If the crowd was like it was for Western Kentucky – and those of you who were there hopefully agree with me on this – how will it be when Auburn, Georgia and South Carolina come to visit?

Which leads me to my next bold statement: I see absolutely no way UCLA comes into Knoxville next week and beats Tennessee.

There, I said it. First off, anytime you travel across the country to play, you’re at a disadvantage. See LSU last night at Washington, Maryland getting rocked at Cal, our own Vols the past two seasons and Cal coming here in 2006. Kevin Prince is UCLA’s starting QB. He was 18-of-29 for 176 yards, and threw two picks against one touchdown. That was at home, against San Diego State.

Next week he’ll be dealing with the Tennessee defense. In Tennessee’s stadium. Against a group of players and coaches and fans that want to right the wrong of last year’s embarrassing loss. And do it emphatically in front of a national TV audience on ESPN.

Yes, yes, I know we all said the same exact thing last year. But if not for horribly inept coaching (throwing 41 passes Dave Clawson and letting Kevin Craft dink-and-dunk you down the field John Chavis), Tennessee wins that game. UCLA has certainly improved, but this time they get the dubious honor of making the long trip. We all already are aware (boom, alliteration!) of the importance of this game to the rest of the Vols’ season. Tennessee absolutely has to beat UCLA next Saturday.

As soon as the Vols had the first couple of touchdowns yesterday and settled into the complete domination they displayed, my thoughts were already on UCLA. Hence why I’ve spent the last half of this post talking about next Saturday.

Anyways, here’s the video I took of the Vol Walk from yesterday (please know it’s long and my camera steadiness was lacking…you try holding your arm up that high for that long):

Click here to view the embedded video.

– … to me.

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Ladies and gentlemen, your 2009 Tennessee football depth chart for the season opener. Courtesy of the Chattanooga Times-Free Press. You can also see it on this interestingly-named site.

It’s just a depth chart, but it’s definitely something worth talking about. One thing, though, is clear: this staff wasn’t kidding with the whole competition mantra. Brandon Warren always seems to be hurt? Nu’keese Richardson gets to start as a freshman. Brent Vinson missing most of fall camp due to injury? He doesn’t start (though I assume he will when/if he’s healthy), and Antonio Anderson and Art Evans of all people get the nod. Montario Hardesty and Dan Williams, two seniors and two of the players we expect the most from in 2009? Listed as co-starters with a pair of impressive freshmen.

Like I said, it’s still just a depth chart. This of course doesn’t mean these guys that are listed as starters will necessarily play more snaps and start all 14 12-13 games this year. Nevertheless, it’s still interesting to see all the work these guys have put into camp and see who’s earned/not earned their share.

Just one more week people…

– … to me.

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I was one in the fairly large crowd at today’s scrimmage, the final “preseason game” for the football Vols before the season opener against Western Kentucky in two weeks. I was at last week’s scrimmage and the practice the Thursday before that, but most of what I’ll hit on here will be about today. I only stayed for the first half, however, but I feel I saw enough…

First, Bryce Brown is a stud. It’s a real shame (and a load of BS) that he’s involved with this mess with the NCAA three years after-the-fact, but regardless he wowed the crowd today. He showed a scary-good combination of power and speed.

Three of his runs really stuck out to me. His first featured him getting stopped basically at the line of scrimmage, but he kept churning and moved the pile for a five-yard gain. Another carry he hit the hole full-speed and ended up with a 10-plus yard gain, breaking through to the second level of the defense. Finally, on his TD run, he tried to go up the middle, but bounced it back outside and had enough speed to get to the corner for six.

All of this on a bad hip. Who knows exactly how close to 100% he was, but if this was Brown at less than that, it’s exciting to think about.

Brown’s fellow freshman back David Oku also showed some ability, as he was effective in making one cut and getting through the hole. Add these two guys to Montario Hardesty and Tauren Poole, and these running backs could be a special group. Given the quarterback situation, I expect Lane Kiffin to run the ball quite a bit. Of course so will opposing defensive coordinators, so it will be interesting to see how the Vols handle stacked boxes.

Speaking of the quarterbacks, I still think Jonathan Crompton will be the guy. I know Kiffin said this week the race between Crompton and Nick Stephens was very close, but, based on the three times I’ve seen both guys play, Crompton’s been more consistent. Neither have been amazing, but Crompton has clearly been the better of the two. We’ll see if Lane thinks the same way later this week (he’s expected to name a starter by the middle of the week).

Gerald Jones played today, and had a couple of nice catches. Quintin Hancock caught a touchdown after catching a short pass and breaking a tackle. The Vols also ran this route a number of times: with one-on-one coverage on the outside, the receiver runs a go route up the sideline, and the QB throws it on a line to the wideouts back shoulder, catching the cornerback with his back turned to the play. They tried this play three or four times, completing one of them.

That looks to be the extent of the downfield passing game. Much of it was shorter stuff: rollouts with open guys in the flat and over the middle, quick slants, hooks, outs, etc. Expect the running backs to a big part of the passing game as well. Swing passes, for example. Also, Crompton scrambled and hit fullback Kevin Cooper for a long gain that setup a score (a pass down the field to the fullback? what is this?) I’m not saying Tennessee won’t ever go deep, but they haven’t all that much in the three times I’ve seen them.

Defensively, Brent Vinson didn’t play, but fellow cornerback Art Evans did. A number of freshman – linebackers Jerod Askew, Greg King, Nigel Mitchell-Thornton and Robert Nelson and defensive backs Janzen Jackson, Mike Edwards, Eric Gordon and Darren Myles – got work with the first and second teams. To me it’s always hard to really judge the defense in these scrimmages, because they are probably somewhat familiar with Tennessee’s offense having practiced against it for three weeks now.

They bounced back last week and pretty much dominated after getting basically shredded in the first practice, but today they weren’t as dominant. I don’t think it’s an area of concern – ie, if there’s something to worry about on this team, it isn’t the defense.

Wes Brown played a few series at defensive tackle, which was good to see. I didn’t see much from the guys behind Brown, Dan Williams and Montori Hughes – Marlon Walls, Rae Sykes and Victor Thomas. I’m not sure if that’s because they weren’t making any plays or because I just couldn’t tell.

A couple of other things: first, Lane wasn’t in the huddle today, as the first and second team offenses used signals, wristbands and play cards attached to their belts. The defense also had their plays on their belts as well, and the coaches on the sidelines were all wearing headsets, so I assume we had coaches in the press box. Secondly, on every third down, the intro to AC/DC’s “Hell’s Bells” began to play. I have no idea why. Finally, both teams were on the sideline closest to the fans, and between each possession they had short breaks – probably to give the guys a quick breather, but also to simulate TV timeouts.

Either way, we’re just two short weeks (although they’ll be the longest two weeks of the offseason) from Football Time in Tennessee.

Oh, and more thing…

FREE BRYCE BROWN!

– … to me.

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With the obvious connections between the Tennessee coaching staff – Lane Kiffin and Ed Orgeron – and the USC program, I feel like posting this video is relevant. However the real reason I’m posting it is because I think it’s awesome. You may have already seen it, but in case you hadn’t…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Doesn’t that just look really fun? If you ever wonder why recruits pick USC, this – and the winning doesn’t hurt either – is why. Pete Carroll is just a cool dude. He’s got his own channel on YouTube with almost 100 videos of a wide variety, including some of pranks they’ve played in practices the past years.

I had an assignment in my sportswriting class this past spring (I’ve debated posting parts of it) where I had to right a long (2,500 words or so) profile story. I chose Carroll, and in my researching the guy I have gained nothing but respect for him as coach (yes, I’m aware of the Reggie Bush incidents). I used to really dislike the Trojans, but thanks to that story and the connections between Kiffin, Coach O and Carroll, I have changed my stance on USC.

You might also be thinking, “Why aren’t they watching film?” or something like that. Well, when you have those kind of players, you can fudge a team meeting or two right?

If there’s a program to model yours after, it’s USC – we’ve got a couple of coaches who helped build it.

– … to me.

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One week down, just three more to go.

Tennessee wrapped up their first week of practice with a full-on scrimmage Saturday afternoon in Neyland Stadium following the NCAA-required “acclimation” period of practice first in helmets and shorts and then in shoulder pads and shorts. This week features two-a-day practices Monday, Wednesday and Friday of this week as the season opener September 5th against Western Kentucky approaches quickly.

I’ve enjoyed getting to go to the sites I normally go to for UT football coverage and reading accounts of the practices, and those accounts – mostly VolQuest and the News Sentinel – are what this post is going to be based off of, so I won’t go through linking stories you have more than likely already read. I haven’t had the opportunity to catch one in person myself, but I plan to change that this week, thanks to the precedent set by Hooper from Rocky Top Talk.

So here’s a short recap of week 1, with my thoughts and reactions from what I’ve read and watched…

Physical, Physical, Physical

Though Tennessee’s only had one official practice in full pads, they’ve apparently stopped just short of beating the crap out of each other, especially Friday’s shoulder-pads-and-shorts practice. Monte Kiffin even said Friday that his defense shouldn’t have been tackling, and the coaches allowed cut blocks in Saturday’s scrimmage. There’s obviously a risk-reward aspect of having physical practices before the season starts.

Though the Vols have played just one day in full pads, that has not stopped the hitting and tackling

The risk is injuries of course, and the Vols absolutely cannot afford any more of those. This team’s depth – or rather it’s alarming lack thereof – is one of the biggest concerns I have with this 2009 team. A couple of injuries here or there, especially along the offensive and defensive lines, could be devastating.

However, the reward is the formation of a physical football team, something I don’t feel Tennessee’s had since at least 2005, if not before (though credit the 2007 team for its incredible resiliency). In other words, the last three year’s teams have been on the soft side in my opinion. Much of that has to do with the inability to run the football with any consistency, whether that be due to ineptitude of doing so or simply the lack of willingness to run it. Another aspect is the overall lack of aggressiveness, perhaps mostly attributable to the previous staff. But my point is that we haven’t seen a physical, hit-the-other-team in the mouth Tennessee football team in too long.

Freshmen

Obviously a big storyline every fall camp is the newcomers, but that’s even more the case this year. I’ve heard or read something on just about every one of the new faces, and most of its been positive. They’ve certainly been given the opportunities to stake their claims to earning serious playing time, and as the team enters the meat of its practice schedule (read, in full pads), it will be something to continue watching.

Poole flashed a big-play ability in the scrimmage Saturday

Running Backs

One area where I have almost no concerns about for the upcoming year, barring another injury or two (knocking on wood…). A healthy Montario Hardesty had a great week and appears to be on his way to nailing down the starting spot. I read Brent Hubbs on the VolQuest forum say he would consider backing off Hardesty’s work – as in that’s how ready he is to go. Taruen Poole was the stud from Saturday’s scrimmage and has probably been the most impressive to this point. The freshman – Bryce Brown and David Oku – have both gotten good reviews so far.

Many assumed Oku would be a redshirt candidate, but he showed that he may be a factor this season. Brown reportedly hasnt’ blown the world away, but part of that is him having to live up to the hype of being the top-ranked recruit from the last signing class (in other words, it’s not worth panicking about).

Quarterback Play

This is probably the primary concern, because the QB play was so atrociously bad last year. Jonathan Crompton and Nick Stephens have both had their ups and downs through the first week, mixing quality throws with turnovers. However, it was encouraging to see Crompton show out in Saturday’s scrimmage, where he looked very sharp in throwing for two scores, no picks and just three incompletions. Let’s not give him the Heisman yet, but let’s see (and hope) how he does today. Can he put two together two good days in a row?

Secondary

Another area of rather little concern. Mostly because Eric Berry’s back there, but there’s been quite the buzz about the defensive backs, especially corner Art Evans and safety Prentiss Waggner. Dennis Rogan has been getting worked at safety, perhaps signaling the coaches’ confidence in Evans’ abilities opposite Brent Vinson at the CB spot.

Jones had a solid week of practice despite a cast on his left wrist (that you can't see here)

Freshmen have also been making noise in the secondary, specifically Janzen Jackson, who appears to be the early leader for the most playing time. Other freshmen like Darren Myles Jr., Eric Gordon and Mike Edwards have all gotten relatively positive reviews so far.

Gerald Jones

Jones’ health was in question for the opener, but Jones has been practicing well, despite wearing a black cast on the wrist he had surgery on this offseason. He also appears to have regained his quickness and agility we saw late in his freshman season, according to WR coach Frank Wilson. I can’t not mention Brandon Warren here as well, as he’s made an impact in camp so far – much more than he made last season. Freshman Marsalis Teague has gotten his share of rave reviews, and Nu’keese Richardson’s quickness and speed has put him at a point where he absolutely must see the field in some manner (like returning punts).

Wes Brown

The fifth-year senior is gutting it out on two bum knees, and who knows how long he’ll be able to go this year, which is obviously unfortunate. He obviously is crucial in terms of depth on the defensive line, but more importantly he’s one of the older guys on the team that you hate to see struggle with soreness from two knee surgeries. Rico McCoy and Brent Vinson were also held out of Saturday’s scrimmage, so hopefully there’s nothing serious there.

Pace and Energy

This is something I hope is evident when I do get the chance to watch a practice, but apparently the pace has been pretty quick. David Cutcliffe was known for running a very quick, specific (as in heavy attention to detail) practices while he was running the Vols offense, though the comparison between this staff’s practices and the last staff’s practices is muddled due to the access differences between the two.

New Unis

Nothing more to this than just mentioning it because our fans – the ones on the message boards and in the blogosphere at least – seem obsessed with jersey news (ie, black jerseys). I’ll just say I like the new look and leave it there…

Just my thoughts from what I’ve read, seen and heard – nothing ground-breaking, I know. My hope is to go to Wednesday afternoon’s practice, where hopefully I can gather my own observations and share them here.

– … to me.

Images Courtesy of: VolQuest.com #19 ($) • VolQuest.com #16 ($) • VolQuest.com #6 ($)

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With football season right around the corner, the University of Tennessee has made a second change in as many years to the system of selling and distributing tickets to its students. They just released the information on it today, and I just wanted to share some quick thoughts on the changes, because it’s fairly different from last year’s system.

The highlights and lowlights of the new system and a brief history of my own student tickets experiences after the jump.

I’m a senior. My first two years I shamefully admit to being in the much-disdained Orange Nation. No, I never wore the shirts and the people around me most of the time angered me (and my friends) with their obvious lack of caring about the game. It made sense – you pay a little extra, but you pretty much get guaranteed quality seats.

Until you start sitting betweens rows 8 and 10 in Section F – the corner where you can’t really see anything. This might be taking it for granted, but if I’m not gonna be close enough to be on the first three rows, then I would like to be higher, so I could see the actual game. I then found out that the group leaders took care of “people that helped them” and had them on a separate “front-row” lists at the ticket office.

Fortunately, when the University went to last year’s system of season tickets and charging us for seats, they did away with the group, and now I have no clue if it even exists anymore. Amidst all the fuss over the charging of tickets, I was more amused than anything. People in Facebook groups threatened boycotting the openere against UAB and a rally to wear black at the Orange and White Game (that never actually happened), which was held shortly after the announcement.

Well, the new “cost” of tickets – $15 or one fewer 12-pack of Natty Light – and the poor product on the field attributed to really pitiful student attendance, which I lamented on here after the UAB game. The full student section was full for maybe the Florida game, and I don’t even know if it was full for the Alabama debacle.

As for me, I had better luck with tickets last year than either of my first two years: the highest I sat was row 35 for the Florida game, and I was on the front row for both Northern Illinois and Alabama. In three years, I’ve never sat in the upper deck of the student section or outside any section other than D, E or F. Pretty good luck, eh?

So when I heard last week while on vacation of the change in the system, I feared the worse. My luck has to run out at some point? But I read about it today, and here’s my thoughts:

THE GOOD:

• UT has now gone to a points or “Loyalty” system, in effect increasing student’s chances of getting good seats if they regularly attend games. I know some other schools in the SEC have something similar to this, where the more sporting events a student attends across all sports, the more points you accumulate and the better chances for winning lottery tickets to away games, bowls or SEC Championship Games. Hence, the more hardcore fans get rewarded with better seats.
• Seniority, baby. For the first year, you have priority based on your credit hours. Which obviously helps me, as I’m over 100 hours and just a semester and six hours from being an alum. So they took care of me.
• No more waiting in lines at the University Center. Not too long ago, UT was first-come, first-serve on football tickets. To eliminate the camping out and the suffering academics took as a result, they made it random, so it didn’t matter when you got there – all tickets were random. Last year, if you bought tickets you still had to go pick them up. This system is all online. I never really minded waiting, but sometimes it got complicated when everyone you’re wanting to sit with lives somewhere different off-campus than you, coordinating the collection of IDs got a little tricky.

THE BAD:

• The Group Policy. I had to read it a couple of times for it to make sense, but it still seems more complicated than it needs to be. The principle is still the same – 12 people max, have to apply at once. Yet, simply put you just have to find a “leader” and coordinate with ID numbers and all that. Either way, it seems like it could very easily cause problems.
• What counts as “good” or the “best” seats? Obviously if you’re sitting on row 40, you have a better view of the actual game than if you’re on row 1. So I just have to wonder how exactly they define those terms. I would guess “best” means closest…
• It’s so much more complex than it has been, and that could easily be a turn-away for the impatient and flaky students we very clearly have at this University. Perhaps the explanation was just really poor, or maybe the system is just meant to be that way. Only time will tell about the effectiveness.

So, at this point I have no idea if I should say I like or not. The only way to find that out is to obviously go through the process a couple of times. Fortunately for me, I’ll only have to deal with 8 times, and then I’m done with it – and on to the big-boy alumni/donor tickets system…

– … to me.

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Tennessee’s quarterback situation is no secret. As of now, Nick Stephens is the only scholarship QB slated to be on the roster this time in 2010, pending the likely addition of junior college QB Nick Lamaison, who would join the Vols when practice opens up in a couple weeks. This is what happens when you fail to recruit a QB for a couple of consecutive years, and obviously it’s certainly an uncomfortable situation.

Adding even more discomfort are two things involving this year’s QB class: first, by most accounts it’s a “down” year – as in there’s no true standout(s). Second, UT has swung and missed on a number of QB targets up to this point, almost to the point where frantically pressing the big red panic button becomes an acceptable behavior.

Nevertheless, Tennessee has one last – and slightly fading – glimmer of hope in Jesse Scroggins. As you probably know, Tennessee’s been in the mix with Scroggins for quite awhile, and all that work will come to a conclusion sometime tomorrow, when Scroggins is slated to announce his decision between USC, the hometown school, Tennessee and Florida. Most feel Scroggins is a Trojan lock. I accepted this as the outcome about a month ago, when SC offered him a scholarship following an impressive camp performance.

TUESDAY NIGHT MINI-UPDATE: Jesse Scroggins has pushed back his announcement to Thursday at noon Pacific, 3 p.m. Eastern time, according to VolQuest and VolNation message boards, which are getting this information from Scroggins’ MySpace page. It seems to me that if he was going to USC, he would have just come out and done so already, or done so with his teammate, safety Dion Bailey, who committed last week. I still think he’s a Trojan, but I’ll just say this: if he commits to Florida, I’ll literally throw up.

Jesse Scroggins announces tomorrow Thursday

After Scroggins, I have NO IDEA where Tennessee will turn next in their search for a QB.

Looking at the bigger picture, however, the following of recruiting has blown up in the last decade or so, thanks in large part to sites such as Rivals and Scout. Some of you may have have dived head-first into the phenomenon, others of you may not have even heard of Jesse Scroggins or may not even be able to name a current Tennessee commitment.

As for me, I didn’t really begin following the year-round recruiting season until I went to college back in 2006. But since then, I’ve probably procrastinated more time by looking at recruiting sites and following the various message boards rumors and what-not than I should have. Why? Because it’s addictive.

However, I’m a relatively glass half-full type of fan, so amidst all the hoopla surrounding the college choices of high school seniors, I try not to get caught up to much into it all. So, as it relates to this year’s class and more importantly tomorrow’s Scroggins decision (and the likely impending meltdown), I’ve offered five reasons why fans shouldn’t be losing any sleep over recruiting at this point in time.

(1) It’s July.

If had the resources and impetus to do a comparison between Tennessee’s commitment list from this time last year and the final signing class, it would be very different. Bryce Brown wasn’t even an afterthought as a possibility; the running back Tennessee had early was Jarvis Giles, who ended up signing with South Carolina. Janzen Jackson and Darren Myles? Marsalis Teague was soon to commit to Florida. Josh Nunes, a California QB, was committed to Tennessee.

Bryce Brown was a pipe dream this time last year

Now this is different for QBs, as they generally like to make their decisions before they begin their respective high school seasons. But National Signing Day is in February, over six months away. Many, many things can and will change by then.

The biggest point I have with this is that the excitement surrounding Lane Kiffin’s hiring and his staff may have had a big hand in helping sway some of the name recruits who are now preparing for the opening of fall camp. Now, recruits want to see some physical evidence. What’s the offense and defense look like? How many freshman will get opportunities to start and play? How Kiffin’s first season goes should ultimately have a say in the level of this recruiting class. Things go well? The February signing class more likely might reflect that.

(2) These are high school kids. They change their minds.

Exhibit A (Richardson) of recruits changing their minds after a long-term verbal commitment

We see this all the time: Teague and Nu’keese Richardson were long-time Gator commitments before signing with Tennessee. Brown was long believed to be heading to Miami. The aforementioned Nunes saw last year’s Florida debacle and then played the distance decommitment card. Some kids change their minds due to changes in head or assistant coaches. Others are just fickle, as you can expect from high school students who are merely 18 years old and already under more pressure than I’ve ever faced in my life. And still, some switch for other reasons ($$$)…

I’ll even use my own personal “recruitment” as a example. My college choice was between the “hometown” school Tennessee the University of Missouri. Both my parents graduated from UT and I had been coming to games since my first game back in 1992. However, the unknown and strength of the journalism school at Mizzou were equally as intriguing and both big draws. I visited Missouri a couple of times, and enjoyed it. Though I’d been coming to Vol football games for almost 14 years, my first actual tour of the campus came in September of my senior year, one week after the UAB game in ‘05. After a mid-October visit to Columbia, I was sure I wanted to go to Missouri. I was so certain, that I basically told my 130-something classmates on our senior-class trip I’d be going to Mizzou.

Fortunately for me, I had until April (not just February) to decide. As I began to have second thoughts about my choice, I thought about how much I enjoyed going to games at Tennessee and how Knoxville felt as sort of a second home for me. I couldn’t pass that up. So, in mid-April, a month before I graduated, I changed my mind. An old saying goes, “the rest is history…”

(3) Recruiting itself is a very inexact science.

Rivals and Scout do an excellent job in studying, researching, ranking and covering recruiting. But as we see so many times, high recruiting rankings don’t always mean automatic all-conference performers and draft picks. Likewise, not all two- or three-star guys turn out to be career second-teamers.

Out of hundreds of examples, I’ll go with two: first, current Tennessee linebacker Chris Donald was a five-star stud out of Huntingdon, Tennessee, ranked as the nation’s top LB and #18 player overall. In his three years in Knoxville, he’s redshirted a year, and played in two games last season. That’s it. Now I don’t mean to throw Donald under the bus, but to this point he certainly hasn’t lived up to his ranking.

I’ll go outside Knoxville for the flip-side of the above example: Jacob Hester. Hester was a two-star prospect by Rivals, from Evangel Christian School in Shreveport, Louisiana, a pretty prominent program. Hester chose LSU over offers from Texas, Oklahoma, Miami and Oregon, and then became the type of player everybody wanted on their team back in 2006 and 2007, and was vital in leading LSU to its national championship. He’s now playing for the San Diego Chargers.

In addition to physical abilities, coaches have to take into account recruits’ abilities off-the-field (ie, character) and in the classroom. Now, let me say I’m fine with a guy who makes straight Cs and dominates on Saturdays, as long as he doesn’t kill anybody, rob any banks, sell drugs, etc. But the grades issues with a number of highly ranked prospects are quite alarming. You get excited about a recruit’s signature to play football for your school, only then to be disappointed when he doesn’t qualify and has to go the junior college or prep school route (and he may or may not end up at your school) – an unfortunate situation for all involved.

Janzen Jackson? LSU lock...

(4) Gotta trust your coaching staff.

This is pretty straightforward. Certainly, Lane, Monte, Coach O and all of them can evaluate and recruit prospects way better than any of us can right? Not only that, but I for one don’t have a clue what exactly the offense and defense are going to look like this fall, so who knows what type of players the Kiffins need for the respective systems better than the Kiffins?

With the current QB problems, Kiffin has been second-guessed lately for passing on four-star QB Tajh Boyd last fall. Boyd had questions surrounding his arm strength and was coming off ACL surgery. So Lane said “thanks, but no thanks” and Boyd signed with Clemson. It’s OK to second-guess at this point, but you gotta believe Lane and offensive coordinator Jim Chaney know what they’re doing.

(5) Recruiting is only half the game.

What good are a bunch of studs recruits if you can’t coach them up, right (I’m thinking of you, Ron Zook…)? Then again, this is easily the most debatable of these five things. In today’s SEC, you absolutely have to have the horses to even think about competing yearly with Florida, Alabama, Georgia and LSU. Tennessee hasn’t since about 2001 (save for maybe the 2005 defense), and that – in addition to coaching and recruiting upgrades from the Georgias, LSUs and Alabamas of the conference – is why they’ve had two losing seasons the past four years.

It’s also possible to take slightly above average recruiting and still be able to compete. Vanderbilt and Kentucky have absolutely less talent than most of the SEC, yet they’ve been very competitive and seen success (by their standards) under Bobby Johnson and Rich Brooks, respectively. But then again, Tennessee isn’t either of those schools (duh).

Games may or may not actually be won via the fax machines the first Tuesday in February each year, but either way, it’s my opinion that coaching can cover up slight deficiencies in recruiting. It’s probably a little more difficult that way, but I think it’s possible. One school can’t get all the best players each and every year, so you have to be able to coach up some of the slightly less-talented players you bring in to be successful.

So that’s some way to approach recruiting here in the summer doldrums, when there isn’t much else to worry about. Some parts of this list are obviously not applicable in January and February, when it’s go-big-or-go-home time, so when it gets to that point, you’re on your own.

– … to me.

Images Courtesy of: • Rivals – Jesse Scroggins • soflafootball.com • Scout.com • SI.com / Dan Patrick’s blog

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Alright everyone, let’s have a little flashback now, shall we? Rewind to the day after National Signing Day, when Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin called Urban Meyer a cheater with the whole Nu’keese Richardson thievery. Remember all the hoopla and relative crap that went down after that? Well, we might be going through more of it…

You see, Kiffin spoke today at a kickoff event for a United Way campaign at Oak Ridge National Lab. As Lane is prone to do, the crowd there was pretty large and seemingly excited. And while he was speaking to said crowd, he may or may not have taken a little jab at Florida’s off-the-field criminal issues again (at 1:40). SEE HERE FOR YOURSELF.

It was an indirect jab at the Gators, and though he’s clearly talking about the accomplishments of his own team and players, there’s no doubt he’s aware of Florida’s issues and pointing those out. I just found this, and I don’t know how long it’s been up, but my guess is it won’t be long at all before this is everywhere. So call this a warning. I’m sure some people are gonna be upset that Lane’s being free with his words again. What do I think? Screw Florida.

I think Lane feels that exact same way.

– … to me.

Updated: 23 June 2009 – 10:17pm | by: Lawvol

Video: Lane Kiffin at ORNL

Nice find.  Didn’t figure you’d mind me posting the video to go along with the story…

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