Tennessee Blogs

September 26, 2010

Time to Share a Tennessee Tradition
By Scott Felts
scott.felts@charter.net
http://www.blazerchronicles.blogspot.com

Most Tennessee fans have heard about General Robert Neyland’s Game Maxims.  The University has put one of the seven that the team recites before every game on each of the home season tickets this year. 
What a lot of Tennessee fans may not know is that there are many more than seven Neyland Maxims and even more importantly as the Vols look this week to face Les Miles and the LSU Tigers, is that Miles has his own “way with words”. 

Now some people may not think that Les is a game time strategist.  I remember in the Vols 2005 win in Baton Rouge, Miles trying to call a timeout as his team intercepted the ball, late in regulation, not realizing that the clock stops on time of possession. 

However, I have found some Les Miles quotes and decided to hand the LSU fan base their own set of Miles’ Maxims.   They can thank me later.  Now, keep in mind these are REAL quotes from LSU coach Les Miles over the year; quotes that HAVE to be included in any discussion of Miles and his ability as a game strategist.

1. "I think there's a very small margin of error, and therein lies the difference of victory."
2. "They didn't play badly. It's just that they played poorly at the wrong time."
3. When the chips are down and a play has got to be made, we play 'em and we make 'em."
4. "I think the want to play the best player and the want to play that player that you trust will play well is something every coach has, but the want to play the best player certainly overrides any natural bias."
5. "Every drive is a game on the line even though it's not."
6. "These are games that we've won. Those aren't nearly as important as the games we've yet to play, and if he's ready to play in games we've yet to play, that's what I want to see."
7. "Finish the game and have the opportunity to take an opponent and remove any opportunity of victory that they might have."

There you have it Tiger fans, your very own list of Miles’ Maxims.  There were MANY MANY more useable quotes, but I felt like these seven best represented your team and your coach.

Be proud and start a game day tradition of reciting them before every game.  I am sure that it will pump you up. 

I leave you with one more important quote from Les Miles as the Vols bring their undermanned, undersized and underdog team into Tiger Stadium this week to take on the Tigers at 3:30 eastern on CBS.
"Whether the light switch is on in every room or not, I'm not certain, but I can tell you that most of the house is lit."

Sure it is Les, sure it is. 

September 16, 2010

Changes Abound, But for SEC, Vols-Gators Still The Big Game
By Scott Felts
scott.felts@charter.net
http://www.blazerchronicles.blogspot.com

The more things change, the more they stay the same. 

That’s what “they” say at least.

This Saturday inside Neyland Stadium the 10th ranked Florida Gators will roll into Knoxville looking to extend a 5 game winning streak over the unranked and undermanned Tennessee Volunteers and take a big step toward Atlanta and the SEC Championship Game.

Casual observers may believe it is too early to look to Atlanta, but history says otherwise.  Since the divisions split and the SEC Championship Game has been played in 1992, the winner of the Tennessee-Florida game has made it to Atlanta 12 out of 18 years.  (3 times the loser made it, and 3 times Georgia advanced.)  The Tennessee-Florida game is THE game of the SEC, regardless what Alabama and Auburn fans or those partying at outdoor cocktail parties may have you believe. 

No one is predicting that a Tennessee win on Saturday means they will be in Atlanta on the first weekend of December, but for Florida, a program among the nation’s best, this game is a stepping stone to championship aspirations.  For the Vols, this game is merely a stepping stone off of their front porch and onto the road to redemption. 

There is little reason for anyone to think that the Vols have any chance at taking that step forward on Saturday.  In the five game Florida winning streak, the Gators have outscored the men in orange 154-63.  Tennessee is under the NCAA allotment for scholarships, they possess very little experience or depth. 

The Vols are coming off an embarrassing second half performance to top five opponent Oregon and have even been called out by their own coach for quitting in the midst of adversity.  Experts took note of that and have placed the Vols as home underdogs to the tune of anywhere from 16 to 18 points.

That is why, for Tennessee and its fans the spoils of an improbable victory on Saturday are more about the positioning of a rebuilding project than they are about championships.  Tennessee’s record sits at one win and one loss with a winnable game against Alabama Birmingham coming up next week.  After that, it is on the road for two weeks against LSU and Georgia before taking a week off at the midpoint of the season. 

A win against the Gators on Saturday and a possible split of those road games would have the Vols sitting at 4-2 heading into the second half slate of games. (A worst case scenario has the Vols losing both road games and sitting at 3-3.) 
The toughest of those games begins with current number one team and defending National Champion Alabama and a road tilt at South Carolina before ending the season at home against Kentucky, whom the Vols haven beaten for 25 straight years.  Even losing all three of those games, a win on Saturday would mean the rebuilding Vols would be 7-5 or probable worst case 6-6, which would get them the much needed bowl game invite and extra practices that come along with it.

Lose the game on Saturday, and even though the wins are still there for the taking, the path to extra practices and post season play becomes much more treacherous.  

But remember, losing this one game doesn’t mean the Vols’ season is over.  Some players and even rabid fans may even say those Championship aspirations are still alive.

Of the three games lost by the eventual SEC East representative in Atlanta, two of those losses and subsequent trips to Atlanta belong to the Vols.  The last time it occurred was in 2007 and there have been more than a few of those changes we mentioned earlier for both programs since.

Gone since the 2007 game are the SEC offensive and defensive players of the decade in Florida’s Tim Tebow and Tennessee’s Eric Berry. 

Gone for the Vols are legendary National Championship head coach Phillip Fulmer and legendary loudmouth head coach Lane Kiffin.  Gone with them are a total of 20 assistant coaches and 10 draft picks. 

Gone for the Gators are a total of eight assistant coaches and one who left and returned within the same time frame.  The Gators have had 14 players drafted since that 2007 game.

So while the smart money is on Gators to win in Knoxville this Saturday and go on to play in Atlanta for the SEC Championship, think about one thing while remembering all the changes that have taken place for both teams and keeping the slimmest of hope alive.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

August 23, 2010

Blazer Chronicles UT Martin Game Preview
By Scott Felts
scott.felts@charter.net

As 2010 dawns, changes abound for the University of Tennessee football program. 

That sentence could have been the first sentence written about any of the last three seasons.  This year however, it comes with more trepidation than in previous seasons, as the Vols are coming into their own, on their own with few more than themselves seeing success at the end of what many believe will be a long season on Rocky Top. 

If you are reading this, you are certainly already aware of the changes that the team and coaching staff have undergone in the past nine months.  Also changes have been made to the stadium as in previous seasons with this year’s upgrades cosmetically pleasing to both the casual fan’s eye and the eye of the consummate old timer. 

Arriving mid-season will be a stature of Tennessee Legend General Robert Neyland.  Already in place on the west side of the stadium’s exterior is a pedestal which has some of the General’s Game Maxims carved into it.  Those same Maxims are again to be recited by the team in the locker room before every game (after the change to that tradition under Kiffin) and one Maxim will be on each season ticket this year for the home game schedule. 

With the return of the Maxim tradition by the University, Blazer Chronicles pays homage by using the Maxims to preview this season’s opener with the UT Martin Skyhawks. 

The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.

In football mistakes are measured by turnovers and penalties.  Mistakes are often made by young teams with inexperienced players. 

UT Martin returns 45 lettermen after losing 20 from a season ago and they split down the middle by returning and losing 14 starters. 

Tennessee returns 37 lettermen after losing 28 and the Vols return 11 starters against 13 starters lost. 

Derek Dooley and his coaching staff are completely new at Tennessee except for holdovers Jim Chaney and Lance Thompson while UT Martin coach Jason Simpson enters his fifth with the Skyhawks and has hired four new coaches since last season, including interestingly enough a graduate of USC that coached at Ole Miss under former Vols DL coach Ed Orgeron. 

Simply looking at these numbers, one would expect the Vols to commit more mistakes however do not overlook the “wow factor” of playing inside Neyland Stadium in front of 100,000 orange clad screaming fans.  The skyhawks and their coaching staff should have composure issues regardless of their experience.   The season ending win over Austin Peay last season at Graham stadium was played in front of 4,120 fans.

Play for and make the breaks and when one comes your way SCORE.

In 2009, the Vols’ defense forced 24 takeaways through 13 games and scored 138 points from those takeaways.   The Skyhawks on the other hand forced 21 turnovers through 11 games and points scored off of those turnovers were unavailable at the time of this article. 

It’s hard to predict how many turnovers each team will have on September 4th but the Vols should be in a good position to turn any Skyhawks mistakes into points.    

If at first the game – or the breaks – go against you, don’t let up…put on more steam.

Both the Vols and Skyhawks struggled early in games in 2009.  The Vols outscored opponents but not by much, 79-67 while the Skyhawks were outscored by 20 in the opening frames of 2009, 79-59. 

However, both squads did a good job of putting on more steam, as the Skyhawks outscored their opponents 89 to 68 in the fourth quarter last season while the Vols outscored opponents 89-56 in the final frames of 2009 games.  

If the game goes the way Tennessee and its fans would like, the Vols won’t need to score late however.  By the fourth quarter the Vols’ backups should be focusing on keeping the Skyhawks grounded.

Protect our kickers, our quarterback, our lead and our ballgame.

2009 saw the year of the block for Tennessee kickers, especially Daniel Lincoln who had two fourth quarter field goals blocked at a 12-10 loss at Alabama.  On the season, the Vols had 4 field goals and a punt blocked while the Skyhawks only saw one of each on the season.

The Vols offensive line of 2009 surrendered 21 sacks but no starters return to the unit for 2010.  The Skyhawks lost two senior starters on their offensive line that gave up 18 sacks to opponents in 2009. 

The Skyhawks were a perfect 4-0 when leading after three quarters while the Vols were 7-0 on the 09 season.

Ball, oskie, cover, block, cut and slice, pursue and gang tackle…for this is the WINNING EDGE.

This Maxim talks about overall hard play on the defensive side of the ball.  The Vols were good at this in 2009 totaling 71 tackles for a loss, 21 sacks, 18 forced fumbles, 14 of those recovered, 45 passes broken up, 10 interceptions and 37 QB hurries. 

With a new defensive coordinator that is known for his aggressive defense with disguised blitzes from all directions and the talent difference between FBS and FCS players, the Vols should more than have the edge here. 

UT Martin dented stat books in 2009 with 73 tackles for a loss, 20 sacks, 18 forced fumbles,  10 of those recovered, 28 passes broken up, 11 interceptions and 17 QB hurries. 

Press the kicking game.  Here is where the breaks are made.

Tennessee understands this Maxim more than ever after the loss at Alabama and kickers from three different teams converted four field goals on the Vols in 2009. 

Special teams are a focus for the Vols under Head Coach Derek Dooley whose addition of a Special Teams’ Coach is the first for the Vols in decades. 

The Vols were 13-21 on field goals in 2009 and averaged just over 41 yards per punt.  A 9.3 yard punt return average and 24 yard kickoff return average weren’t anything to get excited about either. 

For the Skyhawks, their special teams were anything but special.  Head Coach Jason Simpson was not be happy with 3-8 on field goal attempts,  a punting average just under 36 yards, a punt return average of around 6 and a half yards and a kickoff return average of right at 20 yards.  He was so un happy; he also hired a new special teams coach, Ryan Nielsen who was mentioned earlier as a USC alum.

Carry the fight to our opponent and keep it there for 60 minutes.

This is the intangible Maxim that the Vols must have in every game this season.  The Vols must be hungry.  The Vols must be ready to carry the fight to every opponent regardless of their talent level and they have to keep it up for the entire game. 

New football strength and conditioning coach Bennie Wylie has done his part to prepare the Vols for four quarters.  How will the willpower and dedication of 72 scholarship athletes and a handful of walk-ons translate on the field?  
Only time will tell.  However one thing about this season is a certainty to me.

The UT Martin Skyhawks should provide little resistance in the pursuit of Head Coach Derek Dooley’s first Tennessee win.

Blazer Chronicles’ Prediction:     Tennessee Vols 47   UT Martin  10

July 7, 2010

Tennessee’s Dooley Brings National Signing Day To July

By Scott Felts
scott.felts@charter.net

Derek Dooley's late hire by the University of Tennessee didn't give the new head coach much time to engage in recruiting leading up to National Signing Day activities the first week of February.  No problem, the Vols’ head man finished with a strong class despite the short time frame and since then he has been busy bringing Tennessee fans their own mini Signing Day perhaps as a Christmas in July type of present. 

Yesterday, the Vols who many believe may not yet be finished with their 2010 class brought in what many Tennessee fans will consider the bow on top of the recruiting prize. 

Malik Jackson a 6’4’’ 270 pound defensive end transfer from of all places, Lane Kiffin’s University of Southern California joined the Vols and will be eligible to play two seasons for the Volunteers, beginning this fall. 

Jackson who will compete for a starting role with the Vols was a four star defensive end prospect in 2008 and was rated the Country’s 10th best weak-side defensive lineman.  Last season Jackson played in all thirteen games for the Trojans and compiled eighteen tackles, three and a half sacks, a forced fumble and two pass deflections. 

Jackson’s arrival is met with heavy support from the Volunteer Nation not only because it fills a need and helps add scholarship players to the roster but because Dooley was able to pluck him away from the Vols own Judas Brutus, Lane Kiffin. 

Jackson who may not be the last Southern California player to move East wasn’t the first player Dooley has added to the roster since Signing Day. 

Here is a list of the players that Dooley has been able to lure from other schools or bring in to help immediately in 2010.
Greg Clark a 6’4’’ 290 pound defensive tackle from North Side High School in Warner Robbins Georgia was added to the class after Signing Day.  Former Vols Anthony Sessions and Jason Respert played at the same high school and Clark heard a great deal about the Vols from Respert who was an assistant coach for Clark for two years.

Brent Brewer was a three star wide receiver signee of Florida State University in 2006 but was drafted in the second round of the MLB draft by the Milwaukee Brewers.  Brewer played in 427 games for the Milwaukee franchise in the minor leagues before deciding to give up baseball and return to college and play football. 

Brewer is expected to play safety for the Vols and his age and maturity should be a plus for an otherwise young team.   Brewer who didn’t play at all for Florida State will have four years of eligibility. 

DeMario Williams is another two sport athlete that Dooley has reached out to.  Demario was recruited in football by MTSU, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Troy but never played for the Blue Raiders of MTSU on the gridiron.  Williams did play two seasons on the hardwood before deciding to go back to football and do that at Tennessee as a preferred walk-on. 

Williams is entering a deep position for the Vols, but any depth and any athlete should be welcome at this point for Tennessee.  Williams believes he will have three years of football eligibility at Tennessee.

Darin Gooch is another player brought in at a key position of need by Head Coach Derek Dooley.  Gooch is a junior college transfer playing the center position on the offensive line.  Gooch who will also join Tennessee’s School of Engineering is six foot, two and one half inches and tips the scales at over three hundred pounds. 

Gooch will have three years to play for the Vols beginning in 2010.

Matt Darr comes into the 2010 expanded class also helping an area of great concern over the past several seasons.  Darr is a punter and at 6’2’’ and 215 pounds was one of the County’s best at the position. 

Darr who played in the US Army All America Game originally committed to USC and Pete Carroll.  When Carroll left for the Seattle Seahawks job, Darr switched schools to Fresno St.  Lane Kiffin then joined the Trojans and after Signing Day he hired Darr’s position coach from Fresno St to join his staff at USC.  Darr was told he would be released from his Letter of Intent if he wanted to transfer, and he did, only not to Lane Kiffin and USC, but the Derek Dooley and the Vols.  

Darr also played linebacker in high school and in what seems to be a trend for Dooley, excelled in another sport, this time track and field.   Darr will have the full four years of eligibility at Tennessee.

Dooley has also brought in at least three other walk-ons from local schools that will help provide depth.  Blake McAmis a 290 pound offensive lineman from Bradley County, JaRon Toney a 5’9’’ 165 pound running back form Alcoa and Caleb Leonard a 6’3’’ 220 pound offensive lineman from Knoxville Halls.

What these nine players mean for Tennessee is hard to measure before the 2010 season begins, but suffice to say their recruitment shows that Derek Dooley is not content with where the program is, and isn’t a pushover when it comes to making his team better.

Dooley and Tennessee recently sent USC a letter informing them that they would be showing interest in every junior and senior on their roster for recruitment to Tennessee; a door that was opened by NCAA sanctions against the Trojans announced last month. 

That isn’t the move of a southern gentleman that is content with what he has.  It’s a calculated move by a general that knows he needs to build up his armament as he prepares for battle.  It’s a move that Tennessee fans should consider a gift, even if it’s not December 25th.

July 3, 2010

Separation Anxiety:
How the Vols’ Coaching Situation Could Affect the 2010 Season

By Scott Felts
scott.felts@charter.net

Separation anxiety disorder is a psychological condition in which an individual experiences excessive anxiety regarding separation from home or from people to whom the individual has a strong emotional attachment.

Tennessee football fans may be suffering from just that, as the Vols head into the 2010 football season with their third head coach in as many years.

I’m not talking about anyone specifically.

Several Tennessee fans miss legendary coach Phillip Fulmer, while others, regardless of the way in which he left, may miss Lane Kiffin.

Fans of all teams like to have someone to look to in times of both success and failure. Fans also like to know what to expect from that head coach.

It’s a relationship that is built over time and one that oftentimes gives fans comfort or grief depending on how they agree or disagree with their coach’s philosophy.

However, when you have that coach and that relationship, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with him, you at least have something.

You know, as a fan, going into any given situation what to expect, and that provides you comfort. 
For Tennessee football fans in 2010, that comfort is non-existent.

There is no clapping on third down failures to look forward to lamenting.

There are no wild accusations thrown in the direction of rivals, to cheer at with buddies over a beer. 

Derek Dooley represents an unknown for Tennessee football fans, and some may be feeling the anxiety of that unknown as the season inches closer.

Tennessee fans shouldn’t worry however.

Time will heal the anxieties of the unknown. 

Tennessee fans should especially not worry too much about the start of the season, as UT Martin should offer very little resistance on the field.

Tennessee coaches are 17-4 all-time in their first game as coach, though General Robert R. Neyland had three "first" games, going 3-0 and improving the overall mark to 19-4. Also, Tennessee has won 15 consecutive home openers dating back to the 1994 season.

There are some other odd and interesting statistics that may help Tennessee fans start to understand what to expect out of the 22nd head football coach to roam the sidelines.

Tennessee’s record in a new coach’s first season all-time is 111-71-11 for a winning percentage of .604.

Many people think Tennessee could achieve a 6-6 record, and a bowl win would match last season’s record of 7-6, which would keep Tennessee close to its average for first-year head coaches.

Another thing Tennessee fans can look forward to is the fact that the Vols play better football when a Democrat is in the White House than when a Republican occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Vols have a winning percentage of .721 with Democrats in office (351-130-18) compared to a winning percentage of .660 (a record of 425-200-37) with Republicans in office.

Also, Tennessee has never won a National Championship with a Republican in office, having won all six of its titles when the country was under Democratic leadership (F.D.R. in 1938 and 1940, Truman in 1950 and 1951, L.B.J. in 1967, and Bill Clinton in 1998.)

All of these stats and numbers obviously have very little to do with how Tennessee will fare this season under Derek Dooley.

Even if a 7-6 or similar record occurs, it is more a result of coincidence than statistical certainty.

Aside from the separation between fan and coach, there has also been this physical separation between fan and team since late December of last year.

That separation is now drawing to a close, and as it does, Tennessee fans need to understand that regardless of the unknown, and regardless of what the stats or experts might tell you to expect, they should remember the words of Irish writer Marguerite Gardiner.

“Yes, the meeting of dear friends atones for the regret of separation; and like it so much enhances affection, that after absence one wonders how one has been able to stay away from them so long.”

It won’t be long now Tennessee fans.

It won't be long until you have that comforting understanding of your new head coach, that familiar refrain rings out around you and your friends and fellow fans, and all of the separation ends.

“It’s Football Time In Tennessee!”

October 21, 2009

Crimson Tide and Volunteers Face off in One of College Football’s Best Rivalries
By Scott Felts
scott.felts@charter.net

It’s the ninety-second installment in one of the SEC’s and College Football’s greatest rivalries. Called the Third Saturday in October even if it’s not always played then, the annual matchup between the Tennessee Volunteers and the Crimson Tide of Alabama is one of those “Grandpa Games”. It’s one of those games that you probably heard about first from your grandfather.

Great coaches like Robert Neyland, Bear Bryant, Johnny Majors, Gene Stallings and Philip Fulmer have walked the sideline of this annual matchup.

Played every year since 1928 except for the World War 2 season of 1943, this game is a measuring stick for players, coaches and fans alike. Tennessee trails in the all-time series which stands at forty-six wins for Alabama, thirty-eight wins for Tennessee and seven ties. The only time Tennessee has led the series was after the 20-7 win in 1960 which gave Tennessee a nineteen win-eighteen loss and-six tie advantage.

This year’s matchup will be played in Tuscaloosa Alabama for only the ninth time. Tennessee and Alabama played in Tuscaloosa for the first time in 1913, a game won by the Crimson Tide 0-6. The series in Tuscaloosa is tied at four wins apiece and this year’s winner will claim the lead with their fifth victory on the campus of the Crimson Tide. Most of the contests played in Alabama in this series were played in Birmingham; with the Crimson Tide leading the series there twenty one wins to fourteen wins, with six ties.

There were many storylines surrounding the series in its early years from 1901 to 1914. The first matchup was won in 1901 by Alabama and fans of both teams were so unruly the series was suspended for two seasons. Riots toward officials after the game in 1909 brought another suspended period and the start of the game was suspended due the protested use of an Alabama player who had played professional baseball in 1914. That game, won by the Volunteers proved to be the last in the series until 1928 when both schools were announcing to the nation that they were programs to be feared.
The series has become a ping pong match of late with no team being able to post more than three straight wins since the Vols did it from 98 to 2001 as part of a seven game win streak. Since the series restarted in 1928 the teams have traded three game win streaks or more, eleven times with the longest win streak being owned by the Crimson Tide at 11 from 1971 until the Vols 35-28 win in 1982.

The end of that game in 1982 saw the goal posts tumble at Neyland Stadium. Tennessee had sent the message that they were no longer the whipping boys for the Crimson Tide. The World’s Fair was in town that season and after the game jubilation from the Vol faithful was unmatched by even the happiest child that’s ever been on a fairground midway. This one game was so important for the Tennessee Volunteers that the radio broadcast by legends John Ward and Bill Anderson were playing on the Volunteer Networks phone lines when callers were placed on hold during the 1986 season. Tennessee overcame deficits of 11 and 9 points and held off three passes into the end zone during the final minute to win the game.

This series is played by men with intensity and desire that most people would find hard to understand. A classic example of such willpower comes from the 1913 game where some say Tennessee tackle S.D. “Bull” Bayer bit the ear off of opposing Crimson Tide tackle W.T. “Bully” Vandegraaff. According to Bayer however, Vandegraaff’s ear had a nasty cut at its top, bleeding and dangling from his head. The ear got caught on Bayer’s pants and Vandegraaff was so incensed that he jumped to his feet and attempted to rip the ear from his head. Teammates stopped Bully however and after a manager bandaged what was left of the ear, Bully stayed in the game. Bull later remarked that he had never seen anything like it again in his years of football. His opponent wanted to rip the ear from his own head so that he could stay in the game against Tennessee.

As we near this weekend’s matchup and talk of this season’s teams flow from the mouths of broadcasters and fans do yourself a favor and stop to realize just what this game means. It means more than this weekend’s final outcome. It means more than passing stats and head coach’s records. THIS game, the third Saturday in October that will be played on 2009’s fourth Saturday in October is a microcosm of tradition and emotion. As Al Browning wrote, “It is a war of fierce intensity and many intangibles make it more colorful than the leaves that wave in the cool breezes when games are played in Knoxville and more hospitable than the annual pregame gathering of fans from both programs near Denny Chimes on the quadrangle when games are played in Tuscaloosa. There is pride, at times too much. There is respect. And, of course, there is tradition, loads of it.”

October 5, 2009

Stats, Words Don’t Lie; Crompton Not The One To Blame
By: Blazer Chronicles

Like most every Tennessee fan, I am frustrated with the 2-3 record and the lack of production on the field in Lane Kiffin’s first year as Tennessee head coach. Because of this frustration, I decided to look into the numbers to see just who is to blame.

A lot of Tennessee fans are blaming senior signal caller Jonathon Crompton. One of the first things I decided to do was to see if there was anyone else to blame.

A simple look at the statistics shows that number one on the Vol fan hit list should be special team’s coach Eddie Gran. For all of his success as running backs coach (36th in the country in rushing offense, Montario Hardesty leading the SEC in rushing and 8th Nationally with 115 ypg, only 1.5 ypg out of 5th nationally), Gran’s Kickoff teams are pitiful.

The Vols are 71st in the nation in kickoff return yardage with an average of 21 yards per return. Even worse is the kickoff return yards allowed. Tennessee is 116th in the country, averaging 29 yards per return. Most of Tennessee’s kicks are caught between the 5 and 10 yard line, which means that teams are starting on their own 35 to 40 yard line while Tennessee is starting between their 20 to 25 yard line.

Worse than just the average is the total number of return yards allowed. Tennessee has only kicked off 24 times and teams have gained 687 yards. Only three teams in the country have allowed more yards, but all three have kicked off more times. (NC State 695 yards, 32 kickoffs; Auburn 812 yards, 35 kickoffs; Alabama 775 yards, 31 kickoffs.)

For Tennessee fans seeing their stars playing on the kickoff coverage team and super talented freshmen on the kickoff return teams, these numbers are not where they need to be. Eddie Gran coached Auburn’s 2006 kickoff coverage team to first in the SEC. He has shown that he knows how to get his teams to the top. It’s time that he does that.

Looking further into the statistics one struggles to find fault in the defensive side of the ball. The Vols are 17th in the nation in passing D, 37th in the nation in rushing defense and 19th in total defense.

The Vols are also 30th in the country in passing efficiency defense and 39th in third down defense. The next target is found when you begin to compare those defensive numbers to those of their offensive counterparts.
Tennessee’s offense is 89th in the country in passing efficiency and 81st in third down offense. The Vols look even worse when you compare the numbers earlier of 19th in total defense to 56th in total offense and 17th in pass defense to 82nd in passing offense.

That lack of offensive production has lead to the Vols being on the field defensively way too long. Of the 17 teams in FBS that are 2-3, 11 of them have higher times of possession on offense.

These offensive numbers lay at the feet of the starting QB. Tennessee fans should get over blaming him however. Jonathon Crompton is who we thought he was; a mediocre SEC level QB with below average production and a lack of ability to take any self-responsibility.

The target that Tennessee fans should blame, is head coach Lane Kiffin.

Kiffin has numerous quotes from the early and pre-season that don’t seem to hold water now.
"Everything they do counts, no matter what it is. On or off the field, we take everything into account, which will end up having a lot to do with our depth chart."

Whoever is the starter, the other guy is going to end up playing at some point. Having both guys play well is a lot better than having one guy play well and one guy not."

"(The competition) is extremely close. If it was easy, that would mean one guy wasn't playing well. And if that was the case, we wouldn't be very good because you never know when you're going to need your No. 2. I'm excited that they're both playing well."

“In the end a lot of times, the decision has been made on who's the smarter quarterback, and (who) makes the smarter decision ends up beating the guy out. It'll be great to see Saturday."

"It really came down to Jonathan was a little bit more accurate. 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 combined.

"Jonathan had a slight edge for accuracy."

"It's weird to say it but if you listed the five most improved players from spring, Nick would be one of them even though he didn't win the starting job. If something were to happen to Jonathan, I feel very confident that Nick would come in and do a great job for us.

"I think we've got two really good quarterbacks."

So, taking those quotes into account, Kiffin should be concerned with mistakes being made, while knowing he has another guy that he himself called “really good”. Crompton has shown that he is far from “really good”, so at this point it appears as though Kiffin is refusing to admit that he was wrong.

It should also be hard for Vol fans and Kiffin to believe that Crompton still has the “accuracy” needed to be the starter. Consider these numbers.

So far in 2009 Jonathon Crompton is 91st out of 100 in passing efficiency in NCAA FBS. Crompton is 82-150 for 900 yards (11 yds per completion), 54.7% completion percentage, 8 INT’s (which is 5th most by any QB in FBS) and 9 Touchdowns (5 of which were against hapless Western Kentucky).

Also, of note is that all four quarterbacks with more interceptions, also have more attempts, yards, yards per completion and completions than the fifth year senior.

Earlier I said that Crompton is who we thought he was. The reason for that, is his career numbers mirror that of this season’s performance.

In his career Crompton is 206-395 for 2287 yards (11 yards per completion), 52.2 completion percentage, 17 Interceptions and 18 touchdowns.

This is as good as it gets for Crompton. His lack of production isn’t because of missed blocks or dropped balls. Crompton is playing as hard and as well as he can. Tennessee fans, myself included should get off his back. Kiffin is the one to fault.

Just last week, Kiffin called out 5% of his team for not trying as hard as they needed to.

“It’s time to come up. It’s time to come up with the rest of the guys that are doing things right.”
You’re right coach, it’s time to do things right. It’s time to do your best and put your best forward. Crompton can’t be your best, and he can’t be your best because you haven’t seen what Stephens can do. You’re too afraid to admit you were wrong about Crompton and too afraid of what the media will say if you win with the other guy.

Kiffin finished his comments to the media last week with one short message that can now be said to him.
“Quit being that guy.”

The Blazer Chronicles can be seen on the web at BlazerChronicles.com and BleacherReport.com under the same name.

September 21, 2009

From Erik Ainge to Janzen Jackson, Vols Come Full Circle
By: Blazer Chronicles

After this weekend’s 23-13 loss to the Florida Gators, the Blazer Chronicles is set to let everyone know just where Tennessee football is at: Tennessee football is back.
 
It’s not often that a team can lose by double digits on the road to its rival and proclaim to be “back”, but the Tennessee Volunteers are set to do just that. 
 
To better understand just how this proclamation can be made, one must first understand where the Vols football program was at, when it got there, and what moment in Saturdays loss to Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer’s Florida Gators that the program took that first step back. 
 
This article is here to give you that story.
 
Our story begins on November 6, 2004 inside Neyland Stadium. Tennessee was playing the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Vols led 10-7 just before the half. They were 7-1 and ranked ninth in the country. Tennessee had the ball, and freshman quarterback Erik Ainge was at the helm of the offense.
 
It was just before halftime and offensive coordinator Randy Sanders made the call to attempt to move the Vols into field goal range instead of taking the lead to the locker room. Ainge took the snap, which was loose on the ground, tried to make a play and was tackled by the Irish’s Brandon Hoyte. What initially resulted was a separated shoulder for the freshman phenom.
 
What happened long term was much worse for the Volunteer football program. 
 
Brandon Hoyte would say after the game; “You don’t just hit people to tackle them.  You tackle them so they won’t get back up. I say that respectfully.”
 
Erik Ainge didn’t get back up in 2004 and respectfully speaking, Phil Fulmer never got back up. Sure, the Vols went to the SEC Championship that season, and again in 2007, but both were losses. 
 
Even more devastating was that in the 57 games that ended between November 6th 2004 and September 19, 2009 the Volunteers’ program only outscored their opponents an average of 26-21 (take away the 63-7 win over Western Kentucky this season and it drops to 25-22), and compiled a record of only 33 wins and 24 losses.  Tennessee had two losing seasons during that time. They had three different offensive coordinators, and fired future Hall of Fame coach Phil Fulmer. The Vols' football program reached Rocky Bottom.
 
Fast forward to this past Saturday inside Florida’s Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. The Gators were leading 10-6, just one point more than the Vols were leading Notre Dame five years ago. The Gators were trying to score at the end of the half. Also like Tennessee, the play ended up being Florida’s final offensive snap of the half. 
 
Tim Tebow dropped back to pass and threw to Brandon James in the end zone.  That’s when it happened. Tennessee true freshman defensive back Janzen Jackson leveled a hit on James that would be rewound and played over and over in living rooms across the Volunteer state. The hit knocked the ball loose and it fell to the turf, incomplete.
 
The Gators had to settle for a FG and all at once, in one massive hit, Janzen Jackson awoke Tennessee Football. In just over 24 hours, the 17 second clip has over 1,000 hits on YouTube. 
 
Tennessee didn’t go on to win the football game against the No. 1 ranked defending National Champion Florida Gators, but they did earn a lot of respect from media, fans, and even the Florida Gators.
 
The postgame handshake didn’t last long, but Urban Meyer did manage to tell Kiffin, “You played hard, man.”
 
Meyer was right. Just in the context of Tennessee vs. Florida games, the Vols were outscored only 10-7 after “the hit” and in the four-and-a-half games before the hit, and since Ainge’s injury, the Gators outscored the Vols 136-56. 
 
“The hit” was more than just a pass defended. It was the shot that united Tennessee fans across the country. From Gainesville, Florida to Greeneville, Tennessee; from the Carolina coast to the California coast, Tennessee fans, future opponents, and potential recruits all witnessed the intensity and passion that Lane Kiffin and his coaching staff have brought to Tennessee football. They witnessed it all in one play. 
 
After the game, Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin said, “I think we have a powerful message around the country about what’s going on in Tennessee Football.  I think there is a real strong message about Tennessee football out there right now.” 
 
That message is that Tennessee football is back. The Volunteers have come full circle. The passion, the intensity, and the will to win are all there. The coaching staff is there. The playmakers are there. The last thing that needs to return to Tennessee football is wins.    
Those wins begin piling up, this Saturday at Neyland Stadium against Ohio University at 7pm. 

September 14, 2009

Jonathon Crompton vs. The World
By: Blazer Chronicles

Not often does a starting QB have a day like Tennessee QB Jonathon Crompton had on Saturday against UCLA. Crompton was 13-26 for 93 yards, zero touchdowns, three official interceptions, (although a 4th was called back due to penalty) and was involved in a QB-Center fumble exchange where he stood and watched as UCLA recovered instead of making the smallest attempt at recovering the ball. Oh, and Tennessee was 4 of 16 on third downs and 2 of four on fourth downs under Crompton’s watch.
I say that QB’s don’t often have days like that and they certainly don’t as a rule. However, sometimes QB’s do have a bad day. Be it, an interception to end the game, failing to convert a game winning drive, or just average play whenever better things are expected, QB’s sometimes lose football games.
What usually happens is those QB’s take responsibility for their actions. They put the team on their shoulders and they admit mistakes that they made in their personal game while vowing to not let it happen again.
That’s most QB’s. Not Jonathon Crompton however.
Let’s look at some of Jon’s post game comments vs. other QB’s that had off days.
Here are Jon’s comments after this week’s game against UCLA:
"Like the coaches said, we really didn't get into our groove on offense. And obviously when you don't, then this is the outcome. The good news is that we were still in the game in the end. We had four turnovers and still came up one yard short."
After the UCLA game in 2008:
"We don't need to get our heads down because we played good."
After the 30-6 loss to Florida last season where he went 18-28 162 yards, an INT and a fumble:
"We shot ourselves in the foot. We should have won the ball game in my opinion. We gave up 14 points in the red zone, and they scored seven points off turnovers. We fumbled on the first drive, and that gave them three more. Those things change the whole momentum of the game."
"Our offense a lot of the times was clicking, and we can move the ball and not many people can stop us except ourselves. I think our defense played a good game tonight and held them and we gave them points as an offense."
Ok, now let us look at the post game quotes of some other well known quarterbacks.
Tim Tebow after a 31-30 loss to Ole Miss in 2008, where he went 24-38 319 yards, 1 touchdown, 7 yards on 15 carries, 2 more touchdowns and one fumble.
“I’m sorry, extremely sorry. We were looking for an undefeated season. That was my goal, something Florida’s never done here. But I promise you one thing: A lot of good will come out of this. You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will play the rest of the season, and you will never see someone push the rest of the team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of the season. You’ll never see a team play harder than we will the rest of the season. God bless.”
Erik Ainge after the 2007 SEC Championship game where he threw two fourth quarter INT’s, one for a touchdown for LSU and one when the Vols were inside the 20:
“I shouldn't have thrown the ball out there. I mean, just as much as he made a good play, I made a bad decision. We played good, we protected all night. The guys played hard, I throw an interception for seven points when it's a tie game, it's going to get you beat. It's on me.”
New York Jets Rookie QB Mark Sanchez on his INT that didn’t even cost the Jets a win on Sunday:
"It should’ve been a shutout so I owe them one. It was just a costly mistake, really unfortunate. Even after my big rookie mistake, the encouraging thing was that Coach Ryan, Coach Schottenheimer, the whole offensive line came over and said, 'We're not going to change our approach. We're still going after these guys."
Last but not least, Former Tennessee QB and Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning, following a 14-12 WIN over Jacksonville on Sunday:
“I can’t say enough about the defense. I told them all face to face how we have got to do our part better on offense and what a great job they did. I thought we had to lean on them a little, a few too many times today. They came through every time, which was huge but hopefully we can ease a little pressure off them and score some more points and give them a little bit of relief from here on out.”
Anyone reading those quotes should be able to see the problem for the Tennessee Volunteers and Jonathon Crompton. It’s not his arm; it’s not lack of natural ability. Crompton’s biggest enemies are his attitude and his mouth.
Until new head coach Lane Kiffin realizes this and makes a change, Tennessee’s season is going to follow the same path as last season. Crompton has been given every opportunity to change. Crompton has been given the chance to take the reins and be a leader. Crompton was voted a senior team captain this year by his teammates. The student section, in the midst of his awful physical performance on Saturday gave him a chance.
With the Vols down 5 and taking over with just over 1:40 to play in the game, the student section began chanting, “Let’s go Crompton”. Not, V O L S Go Vols Go, not Orange….White…but the student section rallied behind their quarterback and chanted for HIM to succeed.
Not only did he fail them on the field, but with post game attitude and post game comments such as “The good news is that we were still in the game in the end. We had four turnovers and still came up one yard short,” he failed them as a leader.
In Jonathon Crompton’s mind, he doesn’t make mistakes, “We” do. In Jonathon Crompton’s mind, he doesn’t need to get better, “we” do. In Jonathon Crompton’s mind it’s “ME” against the world.
In the real world however, when it comes to making a change and ending the Crompton experience for Tennessee, its players and its fans, the season motto says it all.
“It’s Time.”

September 6, 2009

Vols Overcome Sloppy Start, Throttle Western Kentucky 63-7
By: Blazer Chronicles

Play early, play often. That is what Tennessee freshmen and Tennessee recruits should take from the Vols opening contest of the 2009 season. Tennessee's true freshmen accounted for 154 rushing yards and three TDs on the ground, 125 receiving yards and one score through the air, and four total kick returns for 40 yards. Freshman Marsalis Teague led the team with six receptions for 86 yards and a score.

Though Teague was the only true freshman to earn a start, nine other first-year Vols made their UT debuts. That group included Darren Myles Jr., Janzen Jackson, Nu'Keese Richardson, Bryce Brown, Mike Edwards, David Oku, Greg King, Zach Rogers and Chase Nelson.

The coaching staff’s mantra of the “best” will play held true as well, as six non-freshmen made their first career starts on Saturday. Offensive players making their first start were center Cody Sullins, and right tackle Jarrod Shaw. On defense, the new starters were defensive ends Chris Walker and Gerald Williams, cornerback Art Evans and linebacker LaMarcus Thompson.

As exciting as the new players were, it’s what the new players were able to do on the field and on the scoreboard that was so impressive. The Vols racked up 657 total yards of offense while holding the Hilltoppers to 83 total yards.

Senior quarterback Jonathan Crompton completed 21-of-28 passes for 233 yards and five touchdowns. His 21 completions and five TD passes were career highs. To put into perspective the total turnaround, Crompton’s five touchdowns on Saturday were one more than he threw for all of last season. Crompton had two interceptions on Saturday, both on tipped passes.

Senior tailback Montario Hardesty eclipsed his previous career high for rushing yards less than 20 minutes into the game on nine carries. His previous career high was 78 yards on 16 carries vs. Georgia in 2007. Hardesty finished with 160 yards on 18 carries and one touchdown. His third quarter touchdown came on a 43-yard run, which tied for his career long run as well.

Senior wide receiver Quintin Hancock notched a career high for receiving yards with 65 yards on five catches. The five catches were a career high as well.

Tennessee's 63 points was the Vols' highest point total since Nov. 11, 2000 vs. Arkansas (63 points). The Vols scored 70 points on Sept. 23 of the same season vs. Louisiana-Monroe.

Tennessee’s running game totaled 380 yards on Saturday. Tennessee last rushed for 300 yards in a game on Sept. 25, 2004 vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (347). The Vols last gained 657 total yards at Kentucky in 1997 (695 yards).

While those offensive numbers are impressive, the Vols had to overcome a sloppy start in the first quarter to compile them. The score after the first frame was 0-0 and the Vols, who did not punt in the game for the first time since the Air Force game in 2006, had drives end by fumble and interception in the first quarter.

After the first quarter, the Vols put the ball into the end zone on four consecutive drives. After that, the Vols held the ball until end the first half, turned the ball over on downs with the first possession of the second half, threw an interception on the next possession and then scored touchdowns on five consecutive drives, leading to the final play of the game, which ended on the Western Kentucky six yard line.

While the offense played for three quarters, the defense took only one drive off on Saturday. The lone scoring drive for Western Kentucky came with several reserve players on the field. The drive accounted for 66 of the Hilltoppers’ 83 total yards on the day.

Tennessee held the Hilltoppers without an offensive first down for the entire opening half. WKU only moved the chains once, and that came on a roughing the passer penalty by UT defensive tackle Dan Williams.

The Hilltoppers managed just nine yards of total offense and lost a total of 16 yards rushing in the first half. WKU did not gain a first down by way of an offensive play until the 5:58 mark of the third quarter.

The Vols posted 12 tackles for loss (69 yards) and five sacks.

Junior Brent Vinson posted his third career interception in the fourth quarter off WKU's Kawaun Jakes.
The Vols were led by Nick Reveiz and Savion Frazier, who each posted six tackles. Neither had registered more than four tackles in a game in their careers.

Four Vols posted their first career sack or TFL in the game: Nick Reveiz, LaMarcus Thompson, Nigel Mitchell-Thornton, and Steven Fowlkes. Thompson had three TFLs.

Junior Eric Berry saw limited playing time in the second half and Western Kentucky’s offense hardly looked his way after he almost took the second offensive play of the game to the end zone after a pass break up. Berry finished the game with three tackles and that pass break up.

Tennessee scored nine touchdowns on Saturday. In all of the 2008 season, the Vols totaled 26 touchdowns.
Tennessee’s first year head coach summed the day up best.

"That does not surprise me, how these numbers are,'' Kiffin said.”That's the way we expect to play.
"I never said how many games we're going to win. I said we're going to play physical and we're going to play smart.

"You saw that (Saturday).''

Indeed you did.

The Blazer Chronicles will be back later in the week with the UCLA preview. Until then, as always you can see more from the Blazer Chronicles by clicking Blazer Chronicles. Don’t forget to tell your friends, tell your enemies and Go Vols!  

September 3, 2009

Opening Game Preview
By: Blazer Chronicles

The 2009 season begins on Saturday September 5th when the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers come into Neyland Stadium to take on the Tennessee Volunteers and new head coach Lane Kiffin. Kiffin is Tennessee's 21st head coach. Tennessee coaches are 16-4 all time in their first game as coach, though General Robert R. Neyland had three "first" games, going 3-0 and improving the overall mark to 18-4.

The Hilltoppers are from Bowling Green Kentucky and are beginning their 91st season of college football. They are new to the Sun Belt Conference and the FBS. This season marks the first season that the Hilltoppers are eligible to win the Sun Belt Championship and eligible to play in a FBS Bowl Game.

David Elson begins his 7th season at the helm of the Hilltoppers who had had 12 straight winning seasons heading into 2008 which saw a much tougher FBS schedule and led to a 2-10 season.

Elson believes that the Vols will rely heavily on the run and is preparing his team accordingly. Part of that preparation is getting his team ready to throw the deep ball.

"One of the things we've talked about is how we have to get better at completing the deep pass," head coach David Elson said. "We have to be able to complete those passes in this offense, so it was good to see our guys respond [in the scrimmage] with the lights on, and hopefully that will give them some confidence going forward."

That is a different approach than last season when WKU had a much more balanced attack. WKU averaged 143.9 yards rushing per game and 142.2 yards passing in 2008.

The Hilltoppers have lost eight straight road openers and have lost all eleven games played against current SEC members by an average score of 37-5.

The Hilltoppers will start Sr QB Brandon Smith who will be helped up the middle by a senior center and senior running back in 6’ 295 lb Cody Hughes and 5’7’’ 192 lb Tyrell Hayden.

Smith has struggled a bit through fall camp and is the only QB on the depth chart to have played in a game for WKU. His experience includes 12 games in three seasons. He is 18-of-38 for 120 yards and a touchdown for his career.

The offensive line was banged up in 2008 as no single player played all 12 games at one position.

The receivers for the Hilltoppers are an athletic group led by senior 5’10’’ 185lb Jake Gaebler who is only 25 catches away from being WKU’s all-time leader.

WKU has just two seniors starting on defense (linebacker Taurean Smith and cornerback Jihad Morris).

The top five defensive linemen are gone and two deep has 4 redshirt freshmen.

The line backing group returns four out of the top 5 tacklers return at the position from 2008; however the 09 linebackers combined for just one start in 2008.

The defensive backfield returns 6 players that started games in 2008 and they add Tulsa transfer Dexter Taylor who flirted with the QB position last season. Sophomore safety Mark Santoro returns as the leading tackler for WKU. He had 60 tackles in 2008.

WKU is a young team that should feel the pressure when they walk onto the Neyland Stadium field. WKU's 11 seniors are the fifth-fewest in FBS.

Tennessee has won 14 consecutive home openers dating to the 1994 season.

The Vols get the honor of being the first SEC team to play on the SEC Network, which will air one SEC home game in syndication each week for the duration of the 2009 season. The Vols are 6-4-2 all-time in their first appearance on a television network.

The Blazer Chronicles feels safe predicting a win for the Volunteers in this match-up. Head Coach Lane Kiffin should have his Volunteers ready to make a statement. If the offense can move the ball on beat-up defensive line of the Hilltoppers, the Volunteers should control all aspects of this game. The double-breasted prediction: Tennessee Volunteers 42 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 3

August 24, 2009

Blazer Chronicles

It’s freshman time, in Tennessee! As the Vol universe focuses on who the starting QB will be in a battle of Senior Jonathan Crompton and Junior Nick Stephens, several Tennessee freshman are making their case for playing time as the Vols are set to begin the 2009 season on September 5th. More on the QB battle in a moment as well as the drama surrounding freshman phenom Bryce Brown.

Saturday’s scrimmage won 37-30 by the defense, saw several Tennessee freshman either starting or highly contributing to the overall effort. Below are the players and some of their contributions.
LB Greg King
LB Jerod Askew Brought the pain to Montario Hardesty, causing a fumble and points for the D.
LB Nigel Mitchell-Thornton Almost intercepted a pass from Nick Stephens that lead to points for the D.
DT Marlon Walls played on the second team even though he joined the team late because of NCAA Clearinghouse issues.
DT Montori Hughes Started at DT on the first team.
CB/KR Mike Edwards Returned a kickoff 72 yards before being pushed out of bounds. Broke up a pass from Crompton to fellow freshman Zach Rodgers with a hard hit.
CB Eric Gordon Intercepted an underthrown ball from Crompton and returned it 33 yards.
DB Nyshier Oliver Intercepted a pass from third string QB Nick Lamaison
WR/QB/PR Nu’Keese Richardson From the Nu’ Gun package, gained 10 yards after faking to Brown and keeping around the corner. 24 yard punt return, but also fumbled a punt return opportunity.
WR/KR Marsalis Teague Nice yards after the catch effort, turning a short Crompton pass into a 25 yard gain.
RB Bryce Brown Was hit behind the line of scrimmage but broke loose for a 5 yard TD run. Finished with 30 yards on 4 carries.
RB David Oku 6 yard TD pass from Crompton, also took a screen pass over 15 yards downfield. Finished with 14 carries and 45 yards.

The Vols went through the same pregame schedule that they will keep throughout the season, warmed up to the same music they will use all season, played four quarters and even kicked off at 12:21 which is game time for Western Kentucky. Kiffin said he was pleased with how the first half of the scrimmage went but thought the energy of his team dropped off after halftime. "We're going to have to work on continuing to finish," he said. "I don't think it was a conditioning issue. I just thought that we had them ready to go the first half and not as good in the second."

Now back to the QB battle. Saturday’s scrimmage was thought by many to be the final battle in the showdown between Crompton and Stephens. Casual observers noted that Crompton played measurably better. However, Kiffin and the coaching staff did not have the same tune whenever the scrimmage ended. "I thought they did well. We'll go back and look at the film. Jonathan ended up with more plays because of how it worked out. It's just how the series went." Those series led to stats of 17 of 31 passing for 270 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for Crompton and 10 of 18 passing for 100 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions for Stephens. Both QBs were sacked, and both threw near interceptions that defenders dropped. Kiffin should make a decision this week and make an announcement on who the starter will be. "It's going to be interesting to see as we watch this out and make some final decisions as the week progresses and what coach wants to do in regards to that," Volunteers offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said. "I think it's been the best thing for our football program to keep the competition on."

Freshman Phenom Ineligible? This week news broke that Tennessee running back and number one overall recruit Bryce Brown could be ruled ineligible by the NCAA for anywhere from one to three games. The reason is money raised for Brown and other players to attend football camps while Brown was a sophomore at Wichita (Kan.) East High School. The investigation has been ongoing since at least February. Tennessee’s recruitment of Brown is not part of the investigation. Neither is the recruitment from any other school nor any of the players involved. “I think it’s a gigantic distraction,” Kiffin said of the issue. “They can rule whenever they want.” Brown was also sidelined this week with a hip injury and was limited in Saturday’s scrimmage. That being said, he still impressed the coaching staff. "He's physical," Orgeron said. "He's a big back with speed, who kind of reminds me of LenDale White that we had at USC. He's very explosive." UT defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin offered commentary for the rest of the staff through the phone lines. "I was on the phone (saying), 'The bad news is we looked bad on that play,' " Monte said.” 'The good news it was Bryce Brown. And he's on our team.' " Ultimately, many people believe that Tennessee’s appeal of the undisclosed NCAA ruling on Brown will be won and any suspension will be removed. The NCAA in its “protection” of student athletes shouldn’t use those athletes that are more talented than others to further their overall agenda. Brown’s family will probably have to repay the money and the NCAA will have sent the message to future players to take caution when accepting ANY form of financial gift or assistance as you near and play with NCAA status.

Football season is less than two weeks away. As Tennessee fans look forward to a new beginning and a new season, the Blazer Chronicles looked to the future of former Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer. Check out the article By Clicking Here As always you can see more from the Blazer Chronicles by clicking Blazer Chronicles. Don’t forget to tell your friends, tell your enemies and Go Vols!  

August 17, 2009

Blazer Chronicles Picks the Starters

The Tennessee Volunteers completed their second major scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday. After the offense dominated the first scrimmage last week, the defense stepped up and made an impact in the second Orange vs. White affair. The good or bad news (depending how you look at it) is that the defense got their constant pressure and contained the movement of the offense with several starters either out or limited.
The Blazer Chronicles would like to break down the potential starters at each position. These are only predictions as Coach Lane Kiffin has yet to release a depth chart. Tennessee is not releasing stats from its practices and scrimmages so detailed reports are hard to come by. With less than three weeks until the first game against Western Kentucky here are your projected 2009 starters.
Defensive Secondary: Obviously Eric Berry (14) has the starting strong safety spot nailed down, but outside of that there are talented athletes that are all vying for playing time.
Redshirt Freshman Prentiss Waggner (23) should start opposite of Berry at the other safety position, but look for true freshman Janzen Jackson (15) to see playing time there as well.
The Cornerback position is a little more crowded mainly due to former starter Brent Vinson’s (13) injury which has kept him on the sideline. Art Evans (25) was playing the Left Corner Back in Vinson’s place, but he sat out most of last week with an injury.
I believe that Vinson has missed too much time to start right off the bat, and Evans’ injury isn’t serious so he will start the opener. At the other cornerback position, Dennis Rogan (41) will start, barely holding off Sophomore Anthony Anderson (36).
Linebackers: Senior Rico McCoy (5) has missed a lot of time with injuries as well, but that won’t keep him off the field at Weak Side Linebacker. He is Tennessee’s best and most qualified option at a position that I believe is the biggest question mark of the team.
At Strong Side Linebacker, LaMarcus Thompson (42), a 6-1 221 pound Junior should notch the starting score card while former walk-on Junior Nick Reveiz (56) will beat out Redshirt Freshman Herman Lathers (34) for starter, although both will play in Monte’s defensive packages.
Defensive Line: Junior Chris Walker (84) will start at RE when the Vols take the field in September, but the other end spot has bred quite a battle between spring starter Ben Martin (99) and Gerald Williams (57). Williams has dominated of late and I think he will overtake Martin at LE to begin the season. Monte’s system calls for the defensive linemen to make an impact however, so expect fresh legs to be substituted in whenever possible.
Senior Wes Brown (94) is the heart of the defense. The problem is he doesn’t have the knees to be the anchor at left tackle that the Vols demand all season. Wes will start and play as much as physically possible, but once the pain becomes too much look for Freshman Montori Hughes (93) to slide into Brown’s spot.
Nose tackle will be anchored by the big cat, Dan Williams (55). Junior Victor Thomas (52) can play at either tackle spot and should see playing time this fall as well.
Special Teams: Junior Daniel Lincoln (26) needs to bounce back after a bad 2008 season and he will get that chance at placekicker. Chad Cunningham (96) will probably start at punter, but he has been pushed well by California walk-on David Harrington (22). Gerald Jones (4) played at punt returner last season, but with the cast still on his hand and the speed, quickness and raw playmaking ability of true freshman Nu’Keese Richardson (7), look for the diminutive superstar to be to start. Dennis Rogan and true freshman David Oku (27) would make a nice compliment of kickoff returners on September 5th as well. Eventually, as Eric Berry’s season progresses Kiffin could use him at kick or punt returner in an attempt to develop some stats toward the elusive Heisman Trophy, but only if Tennessee is having a very special season.
Offensive Line: This unit has been pretty much set for most of the spring and fall. The problem that the unit has is depth over the course of the entire season. Luckily it’s early and we don’t have to worry about that in this article.
Senior Josh McNeil (50) is the leader at center even though the walk on Cody Sullins (66) continues to compete. McNeil has had nagging injury problems throughout his career. If he falters, look for Sullins to take over.
Helping plug up the middle is two of the strongest men on the team. Vladimir Richard (51) starts at Left Guard while Jacques McClendon (65) stuffs up the right side at guard.
Senior left tackle Chris Scott (79) has that starting position locked down while the other side has been an everyday battle. Junior Jarrod Shaw (74) has a slight upper hand in the opinion of most, but freshman TE convert Aaron Douglas (78) will see the field.
Tight End is another position that has seen a close battle of former starters. Senior Jeff Cottam (80) will probably get the initial nod however as Junior Luke Stocker (88), who has improved his blocking, has also had bouts of butterfingers.
Running Back is the thickest, most talented position on the team. Senior Montario Hardesty (2) looks the best that he has in his Tennessee career. He will start early, but it will be impossible to keep true freshman stud Bryce Brown (11) off the field. Don’t sleep on Sophomore Tauren Poole (28) however as he has had the most productive scrimmages of the stable. True freshman and number one all-purpose back David Oku (27) brings explosiveness and power to the table as well. Can we just start three running backs; wishbone formation anyone?
When and if the Vols use a “true fullback”, expect to see Junior Kevin Cooper (45) out of the backfield lead blocking and catching flare passes.
Wide Receiver is a position that has seen its share of bites from the injury bug this preseason. Gerald Jones (4) will start when healthy. He has promised he will be ready September 5th, and having watched him myself at practice last week, he will be ready to go barring any further injuries. Brandon Warren (1) has seen his career revitalized with the move to wide receiver and he should see starting time. Nu’Keese is obviously an athlete you want on the field and he will see his time, but I don’t think it will be as a starting wide-out. He will play some of the QB package, line up in the slot, maybe even alongside a speedy back in the backfield, but the other “3-wide” starting wide receiver will be either Senior Quintin Hancock (87) who just LOOKS like a wide receiver at 6-3 207 pounds, or true freshman Marsalis Teague (10) who has shown flashes of brilliance on the practice field. This battle may come down to the final week of practice leading up to kickoff.
Quarterback is the position everyone wants to know about. Not factoring into the starting equation, but worth mentioning is the departure of former baseball player, walk-on Mike Rozier. The starter at the position is still up for grabs but as well as Nick Stephens (17) has played this fall, Senior Jonathan Crompton (8) has probably done, “just enough” to hold onto the spot. Crompton has had that familiar rotation of good play, good play, disaster, but Stephens hasn’t been without error. It will be interesting to see how short Kiffin’s leash is on whoever the starter is.
There you have it, the Blazer Chronicles projected starting lineup for your 2009 Tennessee Volunteers. We will discuss next week any changes or official announcements and then the week after that is Hilltopper week and Blazer Chronicles will have a complete game preview and review. In the meantime, check out http://www.BlazerChronicles.com and don’t forget to tell your friends, tell your enemies and Go Vols!

August 12, 2009

Blazer Chronicles Update

Progress is the buzzword around Knoxville Tennessee this summer. The Vols football team continues its progress on the field and the contractors around Neyland Stadium continue their progress on the stadium and Tennessee video board, VOL TRON. Visitors to Neyland Stadium in 2009 will notice the changes immediately with the west side exterior work that has been done. That area is not finished however. After the 2009 season, the areas that will be painted brown for 2009, will be bricked over giving Neyland Stadium a classy new look. Last week’s article talked about the Vol Tron and work should wrap up on that new pearl this week. The cabinets are going in on the back side this week that will hold the photos and that should finish the work up for the crew from Oregon that has been working on the Vol Tron all summer.

The Big Orange Football Warm Up and more concluded in Knoxville on Tuesday and the second week session was even more entertaining than the first week. Opening the program of speakers was father of current Vol offensive tackle, Aaron Douglas and a former Vol offensive tackle himself, David Douglas. David Douglas was an offensive tackle from1982-1985 under young offensive line coach Phillip Fulmer. Douglas walked on at Tennessee but through hard work and determination he became a starter and scholarship player at Tennessee as well as a draftee of the Cincinnati Bengals and a player in a Super Bowl before the end of his playing career. Douglas started on the offensive line in 1984 while his younger brother started on the defensive line. Douglas played in the 1985 Sugar Bowl victory over Miami in the Super Dome and brought his helmet from that game, (pictured below). However, most interesting in his discussion was Douglas’ story of being lined up against all pro Reggie White every day in practice once he was made a starter. Douglas talked of having the responsibility of blocking White on every play and said that before Reggie’s untimely death, the man that might be the best defensive lineman to ever play thanked Douglas for making him a better player.

Next to the podium was Volunteer Sports Information Director Bud Ford. Mr. Ford brought a 2009 season preview pack and fan packs for the fans in attendance. Ford talked about where Tennessee got the idea for the fan packs and the information/schedule cards inside them. Ford said years ago when the University hosted a professional exhibition game, the Steelers had such a card and pack of information and the University decided to begin the same practice. Bud also mentioned the new SEC TV deal and how it puts the SEC ahead of all other conferences by getting the SEC product across the country. Once the first game selection is made by CBS, ESPN will play every other game in the SEC, nonconference or otherwise on its family of networks. Those networks include, ESPN, ESPN2, ABC, ESPNU, ESPN Classic and ESPN 360. ESPN has also worked with another distribution company to place games on regionally in the southeast at 1221 on Saturdays which takes the place of the old Lincoln Financial/JP Sports package. What I didn’t know is that those games are also going to be taken to major markets throughout the country. Ford mentioned LA, New York, Dallas and Minneapolis as just a few of the markets that those games will be played. This means that California Vol fans will be able to hop up at 830am to watch the Vols and Western Kentucky with their kegs and eggs. Bud Ford lastly mentioned that for the conference games that are not already announced, there would be a 12 day window previous to the game day that the times and channels would be announced. Ford said that if CBS passes on a game at 330, and the game is not picked up by the regional package, then games will be 6:00 or later, brining more night games to Tennessee fans. Game times that are announced are, Western Kentucky September 5th 12:21, UCLA September 12th 4:00pm, at Florida September 19th 3:30pm and just announced Ohio September 26th 7:00pm. Stay tuned to the Blazer Chronicles for new times as they are announced.
The next speaker was not on the program, but I can assure you that fans in attendance did not mind the interruption. Long time and former Voice of the Vols John Ward made his yearly appearance and spoke to those on hand for just a few minutes. John usually tells stories from his career and this year was no different. Tying into David Douglas’ time, the Vol legend told of a story from the 1985 Sugar Bowl where TV announcers for ABC told Bill Anderson, Ward’s partner that they hoped Tennessee could just “keep it close” enough to not lose their audience. The ABC announcers believed that Tennessee would lose to Miami and wanted to ensure the game didn’t become boring. Miami scored to go up 7-0 and then Tennessee scored 35 unanswered points to defeat the Hurricanes on National Television. After the game, Bill Anderson saw the ABC announcers and apologized for Tennessee not being able to “keep it close”.

David Blackburn stepped to the podium next and this man who is the Senior Associate Athletic Director and Director of Football Operations was a very impressive speaker. His motivational speaking style and content were very entertaining. Blackburn, you will remember from last week’s Blazer Chronicles was on the transition team that assisted Mike Hamilton with the coaching search. Blackburn is a Volunteer since childhood. He was a student at Tennessee and was hired in 1993 by new head coach Phillip Fulmer as Recruiting Coordinator. Blackburn worked under Fulmer through 2002 and he spoke of the “amazing impact” that Fulmer had on the University of Tennessee. Blackburn is also very excited about Lane Kiffin and the direction of the football team. David mentioned a few things that the staff is focusing on. 1) Fundamentals over Scheme 2) Clear Direction With Energy 3) Operate with a servant mentality. David said that if the team can focus on the fundamentals, know where they are going to go and get there with energy and passion and have a mentality of taking care of your team first, then success will quickly follow. Blackburn mentioned a quote from Monte Kiffin that I thought was strong. “Either you are teaching it, or you are allowing it to happen”. Blackburn said that he understand this as it relates to football as well as personal life. If you are not teaching someone or helping them understand how to do the right things, then you are allowing that person to fail by doing things the wrong way. Before Blackburn left, he handed out a sheet that listed the organizational components of running a major University Football program. The handout included that a team consists of 130 players, 10 coaches, 6 Graduate Assistant/Interns and a support staff of 20 that includes Strength and Conditioning, trainers, video operators, equipment, academic support and administration support. Tennessee’s overall football budget is approximately 13.5 million dollars, 12.3 for operations and the country’s largest recruiting budget at 1.2 million annually.

Tennessee’s offensive coordinator found time to come in and speak between practice and a coaches meeting. Jim Chaney was very entertaining and fresh. Chaney joked around and also sent the message that Tennessee coaches and players were dedicated to winning. Chaney said he is pleased to begin his 25th year in coaching with Lane Kiffin who he sees as very talented, multi-tasker with high energy who what you see with him, is what you get. Chaney said he hit the ground running in January with his first trip to Wichita Kansas to recruit the number one player and eventual Tennessee commit Bryce Brown. Chaney said he was “Damn glad he went to Wichita”. Chaney said that Tennessee’s facilities are very nice but that there are a few places he has been that have better facilities. Chaney will be in the press box during games this season and said he will collaborate with Lane on play calling duties. Before leaving, the Blazer Chronicles asked Coach Chaney to compare what he has seen in the SEC on film so far with what he knows of the Big Ten from his days at Purdue. Chaney said that the SEC has NFL coaches and that its front guys on both offense and defense are stronger, faster and more athletic. Chaney downplayed however the importance of that gap by saying that it’s our job to see what the other teams do, and change what we are doing to beat it.

Last to the podium was Knoxville lawyer and former SEC referee and Tennessee Vol defensive lineman, Mack Gentry. Gentry began working in Neyland Stadium at the age of 10, selling peanuts. He later moved to selling programs and eventually became a Tennessee defensive lineman. During his recruitment and after he was offered a 4 year scholarship at Tennessee, Gentry made a trip to Florida to talk with head coach Ray Graves. What Tennessee’s coaching staff didn’t know was that Graves was Gentry’s second cousin. Florida however could only offer Gentry a one year scholarship and so Gentry came home to Tennessee. Gentry played and worked with an impressive list of coaches that included Bob Woodruff, Doug Dickey, Bill Battle and even Bill Parcells at the Naval Academy later in life. Gentry said he had no desire to become a lawyer, but when he was going to graduate before playing his fourth year after a redshirt, the NCAA would not let him play unless he was a student, so he took some law classes and stayed on as a student coach 2 years to finish his degree. After his time at Tennessee and West Point, Gentry decided to become an SEC official. He served in that role from 1979 thru 1997 and then retired from college duties to join his brother in high school officiating. The NFL lockout of officials gave him an opportunity to fill in for a few games on the pro level, going from a high school game on one Friday to an NFL stadium the following Thursday night. Gentry like most former Vols, loves his University and his passion and love showed through.

The Big Orange Warm Up and More 2009 closed after that which means that Tennessee fans are one step closer to a new season and a new beginning. Progress is certainly being made in and around the Tennessee team and everyone will see that progress on September 5th when the Vols kick off against Western Kentucky. Stay tuned to the Blazer Chronicles for more fall camp updates and in-season game previews and recaps. Until then, check out Blazer Chronicles and as always, tell your friends, tell your enemies and Go Vols!

August 5, 2009

Blazer Chronicles Update

Welcome back to the Blazer Chronicles. As we turn the page on another month, that familiar refrain vibrates throughout the Smokey Mountains and across the country; It’s Football Time, In Tennessee!! Football season official began on Tuesday as the Vols hit the field for their first practice and a group of Tennessee fans went to school with the University sponsored, Big Orange Football Warm Up and More. The Vols will practice this week in shorts and shirts and don the pads for the first time on Saturday. Competition is open at every position except Heisman Candidate Eric Berry’s safety spot and as that process unfolds, it will be interesting to watch. The Blazer Chronicles will provide you with more information as it becomes available.

Inside the Big Orange Football Warm Up and More, Vol fans were treated to Athletic Director Mike Hamilton telling the story of how Lane Kiffin was hired to the University of Tennessee. Mike took the podium after being introduced by long-time Vol historian Haywood Harris and spoke about how excited he was for the start of football season. Hamilton said that he and Gary Wyant, David Blackburn and John Currie went to work last year as soon as the announcement was made that Phillip Fulmer would not return as head coach. Hamilton said that as an athletic director, you continually have a “list” ready and it was time to use his. Hamilton hired a search firm ran by Chuck Neinas who specializes in college football coaching searches. The men took that list by car, not University or Pilot Oil plane as some message board fans would believe, to Atlanta where they met with Chuck Neinas and said that they got the list down from 20-30 names to 8-12. Hamilton then said that Thursday after the Wyoming game he first met with Lane Kiffin in Atlanta, under a “cloak of darkness”, this time meeting the others at a Shoneys in Lenoir City, parking a car there, and driving another vehicle to Atlanta where they checked in under false names. The first meeting with Kiffin lasted about 4 and half hours. As the search continued, Hamilton met with eight different coaches in four major cities. While he said he believed that all could have had success at Tennessee at the 8-9 win plateau, he was looking for a coach that could win championships and that he believed there to be a “couple” on the list that admittedly didn’t contain Lane Kiffin three years ago, that could have done that.

By this time in the process however, Hamilton was looking for someone that had a plan as a national recruiter, someone that had an operational plan of how the team was to be ran from academics to discipline and someone that had a staff already in mind. Hamilton was in Dallas meeting with two other coaches and decided he wanted to meet with Lane a second time. Mike called Lane and asked if he could fly from San Jose to Dallas and meet with him the next morning. Lane accepted and called Mike when he arrived, the two men met for what was supposed to be a brief time, but stretched past midnight and then again the next morning. Hamilton explained Lane as someone who was “jacked” at the early morning meeting even after being up late, and then having been up already that morning and worked out. The morning meeting was where the two discussed possible staff members. Hamilton said that while Tennessee has the highest paid assistant staff in college football, they have the 8th highest head coaching salary in the SEC, and only the 4th highest overall staff salary in the SEC. Lane Kiffin was offered the job late Friday after Thanksgiving and was flown into Knoxville during the last football game of the season against Kentucky. Kiffin stayed at the airport Hilton and was announced the following Monday as the fifth Tennessee head coach in 45 years.

Mike Hamilton concluded his comments by announcing that the Vol Walk this season will now be one hour and forty-five minutes prior to kickoff and will begin at the Torchbearer in Circle Park. The Pride of the Southland Marching Band will then follow the team into the stadium by coming down Andy Holt Drive via the new pedestrian mall where they will do the Salute to the Hill and march into Gate 21. Returning Tennessee lettermen will be in the locker room each game to read General Neyland’s maxims to the team before they take the field.

Overall, Mike Hamilton gave an informative and entertaining presentation about a situation that could turn out to be the “creation story” of a new era at Tennessee.

Mike was followed by former Vol punter and 1998 National Champion David Leaverton who now serves as the Field Director for U.S. Senator Bob Corker. David who is from Texas, told a recruiting story about being new to the SEC and even former head Coach Phil Fulmer. David’s father took a call from Fulmer who asked if he was the special teams coach to which Fulmer paused and said, no sir, I am the head coach. Leaverton then went on to talk about his collapse in 1997 at UCLA which cost him the rest of that season as a punter for Tennessee. He called the short punt leading to UCLA’s go-ahead score as the lowest point of his career at Tennessee. Leaverton said he wanted to quit and go home but that his Tennessee family kept him in Knoxville and he was glad they did. As Leaverton continued he talked about the 98 season and recalled the near 100 degree temperatures inside of the Carrier Dome at Syracuse, his first punt back which was a 51 yarder that excited him and legendary games against Florida and Arkansas. Leaverton said that in 1998, someone always stepped up when needed and that they really came together as that “Team of Destiny” after the win over Florida. Tennessee defeated 3 BCS teams, 4 Top 10 teams and 8 bowl teams in route to a 13-0 record and the 1998 National Title.

Steve Early, the General Manager of the Vol Network was next to speak to Vol fans and he talked about how excited he was to be working his “dream job”. Early grew up in Tennessee and is a Tennessee fan. He talked about how a lot of men in his position at other schools, didn’t grow up around the team they work for. Steve gets a call from Tennessee Legend John Ward every morning and says his network’s mission is to Communicate the Future while Celebrating the Past. To that end, Steve mentions that this year at each home football game, the same “Tennessee Yearbook” will be on sale but that a smaller Tennessee playbill will be free to those fans coming to Neyland Stadium. While the yearbook will have stories and information that stretches the entire season, they playbill will change each week and will have lineups and game info for each specific game.

Early discussed the four million dollar upgrade to the video board that Vol fans will see this season. He said the new board will be 100% digital and in true HD. While he knows that some Vol fans will miss the iconic V O L S on top of the south end of the stadium, he was glad to see the newer version leave. He didn’t like the way that the sign looked on top of the scoreboard these last 10 years and he said the new sign will be a symbol to all that shows the brand logo of the Power T, which was not yet a logo when the V O L S sign was first added to the stadium. The side of the Vol Tron facing the river will have three black and white photos on it that can be changed. They will be backlit and will always be seen. The three pictures that will go up first will be a full facemask, up close shot of Vol Safety Eric Berry, Tennessee Legend and Stadium Namesake General Robert Neyland and a photo of the “I will give my all for Tennessee” sign from inside the Vol locker room.

New Tennessee Strength and Conditioning Coach Aaron Ausmus stepped to the podium next to take the place of Assistant Head Coach, Recruiting Coordinator and Defensive Line Coach Ed Orgeron who could not attend due to a last minute change of schedule because of rain forcing practice inside near the end of the day.

Ausmus talked about his staff which has five fulltime members and three paid interns. His favorite part of the job is showing up to work in shorts and a t-shirt. Ausmus is a former All-American National Champion in the shot-put and was Tennessee’s strongest lifter during his time at Tennessee. Ausmus left Tennessee for USC in 1999 where he met and worked with Lane Kiffin and Ed Orgeron. Ausmus later joined Orgeron in Oxford as the Rebels Strength and Conditioning coach. Ausmus is the same age as head coach Lane Kiffin and has been married for nine years with 2 young sons. When asked about Eric Berry, Ausmus said that Berry is a vocal leader that guys gravitate toward. He said that Berry is a true natural athlete and a powerful lifter.

The last speaker was ESPN.com’s Chris Low who previously worked for the Nashville Tennessean. Having Low close was probably a bad idea considering the University of Florida and Tim Tebow love fest that he gave the Tennessee fans in attendance when discussing the SEC season. Low called Tebow the greatest college player of his generation and said that no one would make a run at the Gators this season in the SEC. Low also believes that Lane needs one to two more top 10 recruiting classes to reach the talent level of the LSU Tigers, Florida Gators and other “top teams” in the league. Low believes the league is more balanced than ever and contains very good coaches. Low believes Tennessee coaches will get young players on the field more quickly than the previous staff and that begins with Bryce Brown and NuKeese Richardson in 2009. Low believes that this year will be Steve Spurrier’s last in the SEC and that former Tennessee Coach Phillip Fulmer could end up at Louisville or some other “SEC type” school, outside of the conference.

That is all from this week. Stay tuned to the Blazer Chronicles for more information from next week’s class and a recap of the first week of fall practice. In the meantime, check out BlazerChronicles.com and the other blogs here. As always, tell your friends, tell your enemies and Go Vols!

July 28, 2009

Blazer Chronicles Breaks down the Vols
By: Blazer Chronicles

Welcome to the Blazer Chronicles here at PhilSteele.com. This blog will bring you information and opinion about the Tennessee Volunteers. To learn more about the Blazer Chronicles follow the link at the bottom of this article.

Excitement is in the air in Knoxville Tennessee, as new head coach Lane Kiffin and the Tennessee Vols are on a crash course for football 2009. All SEC teams finished SEC Media Days last week, and that means that fall camp is not too far behind. Tennessee opens camp on Tuesday August 4th in Knoxville. The Vols will open camp without a few of the players that played well in spring practice. Freshman running back Toney Williams and Senior wide receiver Austin Rogers both suffered ACL injuries and will miss the entire 2009 season. Denarius Moore, Tennessee’s lone long ball threat at wide receiver last season could miss a few games with a foot injury and star wide receiver/G gun QB Gerald Jones is still healing from a post spring wrist surgery and will miss all of fall camp.

Those are the few negatives however for a program that needs more positives as the new coaching staff moves forward and cements themselves as the new guard. Of course the freshmen class will be added to the roster for fall, highlighted by number one prospect Bryce Brown who is already on campus and impressing his head coach both in workouts and in the classroom. Joining Brown and the other freshmen are a couple of quarterbacks. Mike Rozier, a former Boston Red Sox pitcher and son of a football coach from Texas joins the team to provide depth and work toward future starter status. Rozier is walking on to the football team and paying his own way through school. Also joining the quarterback ranks is junior college transfer Nick Lamaison. Lamaison will have four years to play three. The 6’1’’ 200 lb quarterback should benefit most from new strength and conditioning coach, “Stone Cold” Aaron Ausmus’ weight program as he works his way into the playing rotation. Speaking of adding weight, Junior QB Nick Stephens is back from a hand injury that kept him out of spring practice and he has added 15 lbs of muscle. Coach Kiffin has named both he and Senior Jonathon Crompton as number one quarterbacks going into fall camp.

The next two weeks the Blazer Chronicles will have some interesting information for you from directly inside the Tennessee program. Each year the University of Tennessee holds “Football School” which is called Big Orange Football Warm-up and More. The class is a two day, two hour per week class that gives fans inside information directly from those that are a part of the program on a daily basis. The classes are Tuesday August 4th and Tuesday August 11th from 6:30 to 8:30pm. Fans can contact the University to buy tickets, if they are not already sold out. This year some of the speakers that have been announced are Athletic Director Mike Hamilton, who will discuss the historic coaching change, Offensive Coordinator Jim Chaney and DL coach and Recruiting Coordinator Ed Orgeron. Tennessee broadcast legend John Ward almost always makes an appearance as well.

Two last quick and interesting notes coming out of SEC Media Days:
The Tennessee Athletic Department has purchased billboard space that will go up the first week of August to promote the new era of Tennessee football. The billboards will feature new head coach Lane Kiffin and superstar junior defensive back and new Heisman trophy candidate, Eric Berry. (You can check him out at Berry4Heisman.com) The interesting aspect of these billboards is that they will go up not only in Knoxville, but in the Atlanta metro area and in south Florida.

For uniform enthusiasts the Tennessee Vols plan on wearing the orange pants that they wore for the UCLA game in 2008 at road games in 2009 and when the Vols travel to Tuscaloosa to take on the Crimson Tide, the Vols will wear their Orange jersey tops. It is unknown to me at this time if that will be an “all orange” look or if the Vols will wear the traditional home white pants with two orange stripes when they take on Alabama.
We will end this week’s blog with a preview of the Vols first game against Western Kentucky.
The 2009 season begins on Saturday September 5th when the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers come into Neyland Stadium to take on the Tennessee Volunteers and new head coach Lane Kiffin. The Hilltoppers are from Bowling Green Kentucky and are new to the Sun Belt Conference. This season marks the first season that the Hilltoppers are eligible to win the Sun Belt Championship and eligible to play in a FBS Bowl Game. David Elson begins his 7th season at the helm of the Hilltoppers who had had 12 straight winning seasons heading into 2008 which saw a much tougher FBS schedule and led to a 2-10 season. The Hilltoppers have lost eight straight road openers and have lost all eleven games played against current SEC members by an average score of 37-5.

The Hilltoppers should start a redshirt freshman at quarterback in 6-3 190 lb Kawaun Jakes. If he does start, he will be helped up the middle by a senior center and senior running back in Lloyd Pressley and Tyrell Hayden. The offensive line was banged up in 2008 as no single player played all 12 games at one position. The receivers for the Hilltoppers are an athletic group led by senior Jake Gaebler who is only 25 catches away from being WKU’s all-time leader. The top five defensive linemen are gone and two deep has 4 redshirt freshmen. The line backing group is just the opposite, as four out of the top 5 tacklers return at the position. OLB Senior Blake Boyd has NFL quality. The defensive backfield returns 6 players that started games in 2008 and they add Tulsa transfer Dexter Taylor who flirted with the QB position last season.
The Blazer Chronicles feels safe predicting a win for the Volunteers in this match-up. Head Coach Lane Kiffin should have his Volunteers ready to make a statement. If the offense can move the ball on beat-up defensive line of the Hilltoppers, the Volunteers should control all aspects of this game. The double-breasted prediction: Tennessee Volunteers 42 Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 3
I hope this first visit was something that you enjoyed. Make sure to come back to Phil Steele.com to check out weekly editions of the Blazer Chronicles and once the season starts both game previews and recaps. As always, tell your friends, tell your enemies and Go Vols! The Blazer Chronicles can be further explored and experienced at Blazer Chronicles

 

A New Era on “Rocky Top”
By: Billy Haley

A new era will soon begin on “Rocky Top” in 2009. The Tennessee Volunteer faithful will watch a new head coach running through the Power T and roaming the sidelines for the first time since Coach Fulmer took over the team in 1992. Lane Kiffin is the youngest head coach in college football and has hit the ground running on all cylinders after being announced the 21st head coach at the University of Tennessee on December 1, 2008. Kiffin replaced one of the top college football coaches in the history of the game as well as the ambassador of the SEC, which adds an enormous amount of pressure to win quickly on the Hill. Kiffin has hired one of the top coaching staffs in America. The staff upgraded the program by signing a Top 10 recruiting class highlighted by the #1 player in country running back Bryce Brown. Kiffin realizes to win in the SEC you must recruit 365 days per year and that is the expertise of the new staff. Coach Kiffin has kept the Vols in the National Media with a handful of stories and made a powerful comment during his press conference that has Tennessee fans excited about the future, “I want the Tennessee family to know this: no one is going to outwork me as a head coach and no one is going to outwork our staff.” His statement sent a message across the country that the Vols program will not be outworked as they try to climb back to the top of the Southeastern Conference.

Coach Kiffin had the opportunity to make his first ever Vol Walk to the stadium and was blown away by the support and enthusiasm from the fans during the pre-game tradition in the spring. Tennessee Volunteer fans got their first experience of the “Kiffin Era” during the Orange and White spring game in April played at Neyland Stadium in front of 51,000 spectators, which was the second largest crowd to watch a spring game in the school’s history. The Vol fans showed up to campus bright and early to get in line for the fan day experience at Haslam Field and Kiffin let the team walk through to soak in the sights and sounds of the pre-game festivities with the fans. The atmosphere resembled a football game in the fall as Vol fans continue to show their passion and excitement for the future of the program.

The offense came out ahead of the defense 41-23 in a tremendous performance against a “vanilla” defense in the first public showdown between the Kiffin father and son duo in Knoxville. The Tennessee offense accumulated 665 yards led by QB Jonathan Crompton who began the game under center for the offense finishing 14-27 for 143 yards and one touchdown. Nick Stephens who had been battling a broken finger suffered during off-season training finished the day 11 of 21 for 131 yards and one touchdown. Most fans could tell from the opening snap that the defense was set up in their base formation and did not mix up schemes, but were still able to make some plays. The offense took care of the football, executed plays without turning the football over for most of the day, which was exciting to see from a unit that finished 118th in the country last season in total offense.

Coach Kiffin made the decision to join the offensive huddle through out the spring game, so that the players and coaches were on the same page during the contest. The offense was able to sustain a number of long drives by rushing the football effectively led by senior running back Montario Hardesty. The offensive rushing attack amassed 230 yards on 52 carries. Tauren Poole and Toney Williams looked very comfortable in the offense and Poole will be relied on heavily this fall in the backfield. Unfortunately Williams tore his ACL during off-season work outs and will be out for the entire 2009 season as he will continue to rehab and apply for a medical red-shirt. The #1 running back in the 2009 recruiting class Bryce Brown and #1 all-purpose back David Oku have hit campus this summer ready to work to fill the void of the Williams injury. Brown has impressed the veterans with his hard work ethic in the weight room increasing his size to 218 pounds this summer. Expectations are high for the freshman phenom going into his first season.

The potential for the defense with legendary Coach Monte Kiffin’s is scary considering they were one of the top units in the country last season. The excitement that the players showed during the spring game is exactly what you would expect from the group who are looking forward to the season. Defensive end Chris Walker was an absolute beast during the spring and the coaching staff has high expectations for him heading into fall camp. The Tampa 2 defense will put the secondary in positions to makes plays on the football. Look for the defensive backfield to record a high number of interceptions, which will be led by All-American Eric Berry and Dennis Rogan. A player to keep an eye on is freshman defensive back Prentiss Wagner who continued to make plays during the spring. Rico McCoy was seen around campus carrying a playbook as he put in extra time learning the terminology as he is in position to have a great senior season leading the linebacker core. Dan Williams decided to return for his senior season and that has assistant coach Ed Orgeron looking forward to his production this season. Williams played well during the spring and was lined up next to true freshman Montori Hughes who has shown that he was under-rated during the recruiting process and will push for playing time this season.

Position Changes:
- Brandon Warren has moved from tight-end to wide receiver and at 6-2 he should be a match up problem for smaller defensive backs through out the season. Warren was a freshman All-American at Florida State and a stand out playmaker at Alcoa high school in Knoxville. The hometown kid has high expectations for the fall and the local fans are hoping that he can reach his full potential this season.
- Aaron Douglas who is the son of a former Vol who will be following in his father’s foot steps since making the transition from tight-end to offensive tackle. Douglas was one of the top tight-ends in the entire country playing football at Maryville high school, but had the type of body that has continued to grow and the coaching staff believes he will be better built for playing on the offensive line. There are depth issues on the line, so Douglas will need to get ready to play quickly.
- Senior defensive end Wes Brown has made the move inside to play defensive tackle as he will help with depth problems on the defensive line. Brown has been a warrior since he has been on campus battling numerous knee problems, but continues to impress the coaching staff by his heart and desire to play every snap possible during the season.
- Ben Bartholomew has moved from full-back to tight-end and will help with the departure of Douglas and Warren who have switched offensive positions. Bartholomew’s brother Will was a full-back for the 1998 National Championship team, so the work ethic was instilled in him at an early age as he has cheered for the Vols for years.
- Sophomore linebacker Chris Donald who was a former five star recruit has moved to the strong side position on defense. Donald had high expectations with the fans since he was an Army All-American as a senior in high school, so hopefully with the guidance of Monte Kiffin he can benefit during the summer as he prepares to play this fall.

Major Injures:
- Senior wide receiver Austin Rogers has a torn knee ligament and is out for the season, but hopes to receive a 6th year of eligibility from the NCAA.
- Junior wide receiver Denarius Moore has a broken foot and will be out eight to ten weeks recovering from the injury. This is a huge blow to the offense as he is one of the proven home-run threat guys.
- Junior wide receiver Gerald Jones has a hand injury and will be limited in fall camp. The coaching staff is hopeful that Jones will be ready to go for the beginning of the season. Jones has proven he can take snaps in the backfield at QB while making plays with his feet and has been the most consistent punt returner when healthy.
- True freshman running back Toney Williams has a torn ACL and is out for the season. Williams will receive a medical red-shirt.

The Tennessee Vols currently have 81 players on scholarship with some expected turnover rate with the new coaching staff. The team consists of 17 seniors, 20 juniors, 15 sophomores and 29 freshmen.

Departures:
- WR: EJ Abrams Ward
- OT: Ramone Johnson
- DT: Donald Langley
- OG: Darius Myers
- OL: Preston Bailey
- RB: Lennon Creer
- S: Demetrice Morley
- OL: Darris Sawtelle
- QB: B.J. Coleman
- WR: Ahmad Paige
- WR: Tyler Maples
- DB: C.J. Fleming

Heisman Campaign:
The University of Tennessee launched a “Heisman Campaign” for All-American safety Eric Berry last week before the SEC media days in Alabama. (http://www.berry4heisman.com) Berry is one of the top collegiate football players in the country at any position. He runs a blistering 4.4 forty yard dash and loves contact just ask Knowshon Moreno who has made numerous highlight reels by getting “jacked up” last season in Athens. Berry led the country in 2008 with seven interceptions and two were returned for touchdown. He already holds the SEC record for return yards and will soon break the NCAA record in 2009 if all goes well. Eric Berry is the most recognizable face for the Volunteer football program since Peyton Manning who is arguably the greatest player to ever wear the orange and white. Volunteer fans would rather not speak of the trophy because of the outcome in which Manning was out-voted for the award in 1997 during his campaign, which ended with Charles Woodson winning the award. Berry will soon be playing in the NFL as he will be selected in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft, but he bleeds orange and hopes to take after his father who was a captain for the team in the 80’s and win football games to end his career on a high note in Knoxville.

Stay tuned to the Vols preview and bold predictions for the season!

TENNESSEE PREVIEW
By: Matt Dixon

After a disappointing 5-7 season in 2008, long time head coach Philip Fulmer was replaced by Lane Kiffin. This off-season, Kiffin has stirred up controversy with fellow coaches in the SEC with his bold, aggressive, west coast swagger. Kiffin has stated that his intend has been to fire up the Tennessee players and fan base and in doing so he has made the program the talk of college football. Two of the bigger names joining Kiffin on his staff will be his father Monte Kiffin, the long time defensive coordinator of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers and widely regarded as one of the best defensive minds in football, and Ed Orgeron, the former head coach at Ole Miss who is known as an excellent recruiter and one of the reasons the new staff compiled a top 10 recruiting class.

During the 2008 season, the offensive struggles were well documented. Dave Clawson came from the Richmond and was hired as offensive coordinator to replace David Cutcliffe and the offensive never panned out. The team finished 115th in total offense and 111th in scoring offense. The QB position was the focal point of much of last year’s struggles and of spring practice. Jonathan Crompton, a former 5 star recruit now a 5th year senior battled sophomore B.J. Coleman for playing time with Crompton getting a majority of the reps with the 1st team. Another QB, junior Nick Stephens injured his throwing hand before the spring began and entered the open competition late. Following the spring game, Coleman transferred to FCS Chattanooga leaving Crompton and Stephens to battle for the job entering fall camp.

Senior Montario Hardesty, who has battled injuries throughout his career finally has the opportunity to start as he will open fall camp as the starting RB. Hardesty, a team captain last year, will have to hold off top recruits Bryce Brown and David Oku for playing time.

The WR position for the Vols suffered 3 key injuries in the spring. Senior Austin Rogers tore his ACL and will be out for the year. Junior playmaker Gerald Jones had lingering effects of off-season wrist surgery and may not be 100% when camp opens. Junior Denarious Moore suffered a broken foot and hopes to return during fall camp. Senior Quintin Hancock emerged from the spring as a dependable target for whoever is behind center along with converted TE Brandon Warren.

The offensive line will be looked upon for much improvement after failing to live up to lofty rankings last year. C Josh McNeil was in a position battle with former walk-on Cody Sullins during spring practice. LT Chris Scott returns as do the teams’s top two G’s, Vladimir Richards and Jacques McClendon. The RT position battle will last into fall camp as a true starter didn’t emerge. Junior Jared Shaw and converted TE Aaron Douglas are listed on the depth chart but neither have played meaningful snaps.

Junior Chris Walker burst on the scene during spring garnering raves from Orgeron and the elder Kiffin. Monte even referred to his starting DE as “unblockable” at one point as he earned the defense’s most improved player award during the spring. Depth at DT was an issue behind DT Dan Williams. Senior Wes Brown was moved from DE to start alongside Williams but must recover from off-season knee surgery. Unheralded freshman Montori Hughes was a big bright spot during spring and should push for playing time.

Besides senior All-SEC performer Rico McCoy, the linebacker position is unsettled heading into fall camp. Senior Nick Reveiz was the MLB with the 1st team for much of the spring. Former top recruit Chris Donald, juniors Savion Frazier and LaMarcus Thompson, sophomore Darryl Vereen, and redshirt freshmen Herman Lathers and Nigel Mitchell-Thorton all will compete for playing time along with incoming freshman Jerod Askew, Greg King, and Robert Nelson.

Junior Eric Berry is on everyone’s All-American team at SS but the rest of the secondary is shaky. Last years starting FS Demetrice Morley was dismissed from the team early in spring practice leaving Prentiss Wagner and incoming freshman Janzen Jackson to likely battle for the starting nod. Returning starter Dennis Rogan has one CB spot locked down but the other spot remains up for grabs with the most likely candidates being junior Brent Vinson, sophomore Art Evans, or senior Marsalous Johnson.

Daniel Lincoln returns for his junior season hoping to repeat his freshman performance rather than his sophomore campaign. Chad Cunningham will handle the punting duties, a job he did for 5 games last year due to the suspension of starter Britton Colquitt.

Lane Kiffin has brought excitement back to Rocky Top this spring and summer and as fall camp approaches optimism for a rebound season is all around Big Orange Country.

Matt Dixon is a sports reporter for the University of Tennessee’s school newspaper, The Daily Beacon. Their website can be found at The Daily Beacon.

New Questions
By: Jack Bogart

As the Big Orange sun descends on fall camp this August, the whisper of Football Time in Tennessee resounds from the smoky mountains to the western woods. One era vanishes; another of modernity supplants it. The hip new California coach with his “USC East of the Mississippi” promises, enabled by the Old Man of cornhusker turned Tampa-2 fame, takes top billing in Knoxville. Vegas forecasts gloomier skies with 7-5 season predictions and media skeptics talk of a 4th place SEC East finish, but prognosticator Phil Steele & some Vegas wise guys foreshadow a return to better days, and quicker than expected.

Spring broke with optimism abundant, despite the off-season departures of a near dozen players, including ten highly touted recruits, especially along the already thinned trenches of the offensive & defensive lines. Amongst them included the celebrated hometown Chattanooga QB recruit who left school with unhappy words for the new gunslinger on Rocky Top, suggesting the kid coach might be all hat and no cattle. Few in the whiskey bars or blue plate diners voiced such concern. They see a senior-laden offensive line with three pre-season All-SEC caliber lineman anchoring a new fierce running game unseen in Knoxville since Travis Henry departed for the NFL; they see a highly touted high school QB who may rebound for a surprising senior season under the tutelage of four-time NFL quarterback producers in Kiffin and OC Chaney; they see hope in the talented freshmen of Bryce Brown, Nukeese Richardson, and Marsalis Teague, stolen from the recruiting treasuries of Miami and Florida alike; they see a coaching legend with Eric Berry to helm his new Tennessee-2 defense; they see a new found energy and old-school discipline diminished in the last days of the Kind Old Man whose sunset had come on Rocky Top.

The big question exiting spring and entering the end-of-summer is whether Kiffin brought with him some of that gypsy dust from his USC heyday that dusted well off their multi-time Heisman winners. Crompton remains the returning likely QB starter, the once #3 high school pro style QB prospect in America and USC recruit under Lane Kiffin, before he chose nearby Knoxville. Was Crompton’s 2008 troubles the outcome of a first-year offense that afflicted all of departed OC Clawson’s prior first year coaching stops, or does it mean JC’s talent is just not of a top-tier SEC QB caliber? The kid managed to shrug off death threats from disturbed fans like Obama’s Jay-Z impersonation, so talk the redshirt senior can’t handle pressure holds little water. The first time Crompton saw the field at UT was as a sophomore substitute starter against to-be national champions LSU, and he not only shocked them with big plays, but tried to run over a linebacker to boot. No good story fails to script a comeback, and Crompton is as due one as anyone.

The other “to watch” items come the break of camp the week of August 3rd focuses on the freshmen to be and the offense to come. Will Bryce Brown break out into a starting role, much as talented frosh made repeated immediate impacts at USC? Will the rejuvenated offensive line continue their physical play from spring? Who else emerges from the position battles of August -- walk-on starters, true freshmen, or seasoned vets remerging from a down season? Big battles include the reps at running back, the role of freshmen wideouts, and, of particular undetermined status, who starts at strong safety and strong- side linebacker, with freshmen contenders likely for each. One fact is evident -- as was true at SC, Kiffin promises the only guaranteed starter is Heisman candidate Eric Berry.

Aside from the loss of talented, but troubled, free safety Demetrice Morley (dismissed in spring) and First Round draft choice Robert Ayers, few changes in the roster warrant mention other than the diminished depth. One aspect of minimal concern that made the headlines of late were the injuries to wide receivers Austin Rogers (out for the season) and Denarius Moore (out for 8 weeks). While those injuries diminish the depth in Knoxville, it was unlikely either would have been in the top 3 WR rotation, with Gerald Jones, Quinton Hancock, and Brandon Warren likely to supplant those roles, with expectations “Nuke” (as talented freshman recruit Nukeese Richardson is known in Knoxville) or Marsalis Teague (a Florida de-commit), will play the complimentary, or even greater roles in the receiving corps. The cast on Gerald Jones’ wrist remains of greater concern, but he is not likely to miss much action other than some of fall camp. Expected starting DT Wes Brown continues to battle the knee injuries that haunted his career at UT and worries remain of the off-field occasional issues for CB Brent Vinson, but both are, for now, expected to start come Football Time in Tennessee in September. And when that big orange sun rises over Rocky Top, the naysayers and on-field adversaries should wary the young gunslinger may not be carrying an empty Tennessee musket.