Bryce Cleared by NCAA

The Vols’ head football coach, Lane Kiffin, announced on Wednesday that freshman tailback Bryce Brown will not be punished by the NCAA after an investigation into his eligibility.

The NCAA took up a case against Brown revolving around money raised for him to visit colleges and football camps during his sophomore year of high school, although Tennessee was not recruiting him at that time.

“I think that that’s a heck of a deal by the NCAA to get it done right and get it done with a sense of urgency, so we’re very grateful for that,” Kiffin said.

Brown, one of the top high school prospects in the class of 2009, committed to the Vols after letting a scholarship offer from Miami expire. Coach Kiffin has allowed Brown to spend a large amount of his time playing with the first team offense during fall training camp.

“I really believed that they were going to get this right,” Kiffin said. “I really spent time explaining who this kid is and what he’s about. Obviously this is not a kid that should be punished for something like this.”

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 at 7:55 pm by bryan

Kiffin turning up the volume in Knoxville

If nothing else, Tennessee Volunteers head coach Lane Kiffin has put the program back on the map through brash thoughts.

Kiffin, who was fired by the Oakland Raiders, said from day one that his team was going into the swamp and beating Florida.

He also accused other coaches of recruiting violations only to incur one of his own on the very first day of the job.

There is no doubting that he is a solid coach and an excellent recruiter, but will his mouth and potential recruiting violations run him out of town?

Either way, it’s going to be fun to watch this season unfold in Knoxville.

at 7:29 pm by steve

Kiffin Names Crompton Starting QB

After practice on Monday, Volunteers head coach Lane Kiffin announced that fifth-year senior Jonathan Crompton had won the starting QB position over junior Nick Stephens.

Kiffin attributed Crompton’s opportunity to his entire body of preseason work.

“It really came down to Jonathan was a little more accurate,” Kiffin said. “Both guys made a number of plays during camp. Both protected the ball very well with very low interception numbers and very good numbers in general in all preseason games [scrimmages] combined. Jonathan had a slight edge for accuracy.”

Both QBs struggled in a team scrimmage last weak, leaving Crompton wary of becoming complacent with his starting job.

“The minute you stop competing, you get complacent … and that’s when things start going downhill. I don’t see that happening around here,” said Crompton.

Monday, August 24, 2009 at 9:47 pm by bryan

WR Jones Could Miss 4-6 Weeks

The Volunteers’ receiving corps just can’t catch a break.

Tennessee’s top receiver, Gerald Jones, suffered a high ankle sprain during a scrimmage on Saturday. A team source says Jones could miss upwards of six weeks, as reported by Bruce Feldman of ESPN, but Tennessee is holding out hope that he could return by Sept. 12, when the Vols take on the UCLA Bruins.

Jones is a 6′1″, 200 lbs junior who led Tennessee in catches (with 30) and touchdown catches (four) last season. The Tennessee receiving corps was already looking thin before Jones’ injury; junior Denarius Moore suffered a foot injury that will likely keep him on the sidelines until mid-September, and senior Austin Rogers tore his ACL to end his season prematurely.

Coach Lane Kiffin will likely make his debut in orange with WR Quintin Hancock and converted tight end Brandon Warren as the two starting receivers, with three true freshmen being the only other receiving help on the team.

Sunday, August 23, 2009 at 11:34 pm by bryan

Fulmer expects to return to sidelines

It didn’t take long for former Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer to get that itch again.

In an interview with the Associated Press on Monday, Fulmer said that after taking this year off to dabble in other areas, he expects to be back on the sidelines in 2010. Fulmer insinuated that he wants to lead a bigtime program to success at the highest level, something he did routinely during his time in Knoxville.

Fulmer might not have won big late in his career at Tennessee, but the guy could bring in some serious talent. His recruiting classes were usually among the country’s best, his laid-back attitudue seemingly resonating with today’s amateur athlete. It’d be very interesting if he finds his way back in the SEC. There could very well be some openings after this season (your seat is burning, Sylvester Croom), and despite his undying love for the Volunteers, wouldn’t the thought of slapping them in the face year in and year out be salivating for a coach who was forced out by the team to which he devoted his life?

Tuesday, August 18, 2009 at 10:16 pm by reggy10

Vols WRs Catch a Case of Dropsies During Scrimmage

During the team’s second fall scrimmage on Saturday, the Tennessee Volunteers’ offense seemed to take a step back, with the WRs suffering a bad case of the drops, according to Sports Illustrated.

The offense committed eight penalties, dropped a number of passes and fumbled twice.

“The defense really got after the offense and played extremely physical, played extremely well mentally as well,” coach Lane Kiffin said. “Obviously we’ve got to do a much better job as a staff on offense, and we have to keep the consistency up on defense.”

QB Jonathan Crompton ran the first team offense effectively, completing 17 of 25 for 178 yards and a 29-yard touchdown pass to Marsalis Teague.  Backup QB Nick Stephens fell victim to the receivers’ mental lapses, as he finished 11 for 23 for 120 yards, including an 18-yard TD to Jeff Cottam and a 21-yard TD to walk-on Sam Edgmon.

“It’s all mental, and it’s stuff that doesn’t need to happen at all or very much at all,” Stephens said. “We’re going to match their intensity for the next practice, all next week and going into the next scrimmage, and hopefully this won’t happen again.”

Sunday, August 16, 2009 at 9:44 pm by bryan

Top 10 Prospect Reopens Recruitment

6-foot 3-inch Josh Selby, a concensus top 10 prospect in the high school Class of 2010, announced that he would decommit from Tennessee and reopen his recruitment through his Facebook.

Gary Parrish, college basketball writer for CBS Sports, broke the news that Selby had decommited just two weeks after Selby vehemently denied the possibility of decommiting while at the Lebron James Skills Academy.

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl could do nothing but watch the drama unfold from thousands of miles away, as he has been serving as Team USA’s coach in the Maccabiah Games (comparable to the Jewish Olympics).

As Parrish detailed here and here, the presence of “Worldwide” William Wesley in the situation raises the question whether Wes had any involvement in the decommitment.

According to Parrish, “industry sources” believe Kentucky to be the early leader for Selby’s services in 2010; with Wesley’s relationship with Kentucky coach John Calipari (Wes was long rumored to have brought a number of players to Memphis during Calipari’s time with the team), questions could arise if Selby commits to UK.

Selby hasn’t entirely ruled Tennesse out, however. “We just want to make sure that Tennessee is the right fit,” Selby said. “It might not be.”

Wednesday, August 5, 2009 at 11:36 pm by bryan