Tennessee’s football team got a taste of something new during this morning practice session — annoying sounds.

Rather than using piped in crowd noise — or ear-splitting loops of Rocky Top, which other teams use before facing the Vols — new UT coach Butch Jones went for something even more distracting as the Vol offense approached the end zone.  According to The Knoxville News Sentinel’s Evan Woodbery, the loud sounds included:

*  A crying baby

*  A screeching siren

*  The jets of an airplane taking off

*  And “a car alarm wailing incessantly”

Jones had promised before spring practice began that he would use some unusual noises and sounds to try and break his team’s concentration during drills and scrimmages.  Sounds — get it? — like he’s making good on his promise.

Maybe Tennessee should have given Derek Dooley another year after all.  While the Volunteers’ search for a coach hasn’t had the ups and downs of Arkansas’ search (yet), things are looking pretty rocky right now on Rocky Top.  With Mike Gundy rebuffing Tennessee Wednesday morning and Charlie Strong turning down another Vol job offer on Wednesday night – UT will likely claim they never made an offer to either coach, of course — the Vols rolled a pair of snake eyes.

For Volunteer fans in need of some perspective, Alabama was ditched at the altar by West Virginia’s Rich Rodriguez in late 2006.  Then Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe pulled his name out of contention.  Yes, Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe.  But then on January 1st, 2007, Tide officials finally met with some guy named Nick Saban.  You know the rest.

Earlier this week, many Arkansas fans were screaming for AD Jeff Long’s noggin after the Hogs had apparently been rebuffed by Les Miles, Gary Patterson, Chris Petersen, and Mike Gundy.  Then Long landed Wisconsin’s Bret Bielema from out of the nowhere and the AD was once again a hero and the Razorbacks were once again relevant.

In other words, things can change pretty quickly.  But that won’t make things easier for Tennessee fans.  Their program has a 100,000-seat stadium, a new $45 million football complex, is second all-time to Alabama in terms of SEC titles, and ranks eighth in the nation in all-time football wins.  Yet today they were dissed by two coaches, one of which would rather stay at Louisville.

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Alabama landed a highly-touted recruit last August when cornerback Geno Smith from St. Pius X High School in Atlanta committed to the Crimson Tide.

Smith, who signed with Alabama in February, chose the Tide over such schools as Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Ohio State, Texas and Southern California.

Alabama should be thankful it didn’t have to beat out Tennessee for Smith’s services. That’s because in a Q&A with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Smith revealed a secret about his recruitment.

“I really liked Tennessee,” Smith said. “All my junior year, I would come home and play ‘Rocky Top’ on YouTube and then hit repeat.”

That kind of interest could have given Tennessee an advantage in its recruitment of Smith. That’s why he told the AJC his biggest disappointment from the recruiting process was the lack of communication from the Vols.

“A coaching change happened with whomever recruited my area during my junior year,” Smith said. “I didn’t know who was recruiting me until later that spring. By that time, I was like, ‘OK, we’re going to shift it to Alabama and Auburn.’”

The coaching change Smith referenced involved former defensive line coach Chuck Smith, who left Derek Dooley’s staff following the 2010 season. It’s unclear who on the staff was responsible for recruiting Smith during the spring of his junior year.

It’s puzzling why Tennessee would be slow to recruit Smith, who’s ranked the nation’s No. 2 cornerback and 31st overall prospect in the 2012 class by ESPNU. Atlanta, which is less than a four-hour drive from Tennessee’s Knoxville campus, is also a city of focus in recruiting for the Vols.

It’s possible Smith wasn’t ranked as highly on Tennessee’s board as most other schools, although that would be surprising. There’s also no guarantee Smith would have signed with the Vols even if they had begun to recruit him earlier in the process.

But there’s a reason Smith was disappointed in the slow recruitment from Tennessee. Vols fans will likely join him in that frustration.

Nothing can wipe out a signing class like coaching turnover.  Well, that and thuggery.

In a Rivals.com piece yesterday ranking the 13 unluckiest — initially highly-ranked — signing classes, coaching transitions and off-field shenanigans led three SEC recruiting classes to be labeled as duds.

Among them:


1.  Tennessee, 2009 — The unluckiest class on the list.  This one was Lane Kiffin’s crew.  Arrests, violations of team rules and eventual transfers — when Kiffin left — decimated the class.

6.  Tennessee, 2007 — Phillip Fulmer’s next to last class was filled with busts as well.  Academics and players who never even arrived on campus hurt.  When some others were disappeared by Kiffin when he took over in ’09, things only got worse.

12.  Florida, 2008 — Transfer, transfer, transfer, transfer, drug-related dismissal.  At the height of Urban Meyer’s Gator tenure, he brought in a class that’s better known for underachieving than achieving.  Again, it’s no wonder that his departure and Will Muschamp’s arrival contributed to the mess.


Texas A&M’s 2003 class was unlucky #13 on Rivals’ list, but since A&M was playing in the Big 12 at the time, it’s hard to rank that as an SEC class… even if the Aggies are now part of the family.

What’s not surprising is that Tennessee has taken an overall nosedive as a program with two classes impacted by defections and coaching-change-driven attrition.  Toss in a 2005 class that was initially ranked #1 by some services yet failed to produce any all-time greats and it’s clear why things went south on Rocky Top. 

While Derek Dooley hasn’t won enough games to satisfy Vol fans in his first two years — and he’s squarely on the hot seat entering Year Three — the man has quietly re-stocked UT’s cupboard.  He’s inked three Top 20 signing classes despite the mess left by Kiffin and an NCAA investigation that hung over the program for two years.  Question is: If Dooley’s ousted at season’s end, will attrition take its toll on the Tennessee program once again?

Steve Spurrier is jealous.  Jealous of the way he believes ESPN has been fawning all over Alabama’s Crimson Tide.

Appearing on Dan Patrick’s radio show, South Carolina’s coach said that he went to SEC commissioner Mike Slive to complain about ESPN’s kind treatment of Bama.

Last year, ESPN did an all-access program behind the scenes of Nick Saban’s football program.  Think that kind of thing doesn’t help with recruiting?  The network also ran an ad last December that featured Alabama fans saying “Roll Tide” repeatedly.





To be fair, ESPN has run a number of ads involving “crazy” fans of various schools and teams.  And the network is producing an all-access series at Oklahoma this year.

But that didn’t stop the Ol’ Ball Coach from turning to Slive:


“I said, ‘How much did Alabama pay those guys to do that?’  He said, ‘Oh, they didn’t have to pay them anything.’  I said, ‘Well, what happened to Go Gators or Rocky Top or Go Gamecocks?’  I didn’t think that was all that fair.”


Is it fair?  Probably not.  But networks can’t be expected to provide 100% equal coverage of all 120 FBS schools.  That’s just not going to happen.

Last summer at SEC Media Days, Steve Spurrier looked like a shell of his former self.  Gone was the bravado, the rapier wit and sharp tongue.  Instead, an aging coach stood before the media.  Just another aging coach.

Fast-forward through a 9-win, East Division-title-winning season and the Ol’ Ball Coach is back.  Not only was the he #1 hit at last week’s Media Days, but Spurrier’s still talking smack.  And unlike Lane Kiffin — who he spoke of as part of his engagement in Chattanooga on Saturday — Spurrier’s digs are usually pretty funny.

Last week, Carolina’s coach said that coaches who win have more reason to talk.  And while the coach says he still hasn’t won very much in Columbia, he’s clearly won enough to get his tongue wagging again.  Try on these quotes (reported by Mark Wiedmer of The Chattanooga Times Free Press):

On Mike Slive’s proposal to raise academic standards for players — “Some of these guys are not academically capable of raising standards.”  (That’s not exactly brochure material for the University of South Carolina, now is it?)

On the need to get athletes more money — “Marcus Lattimore doesn’t have a car.  He’s probably had a $15-20 million impact on our school.  But he can’t get a car unless a bank qualifies him for a loan.  I told him the other day, ‘Go get a loan.  I think you’re a good risk.”

On Ohio State’s recent rumored issues with a car dealer — “Ohio State has a better car arrangement than we do.”

On former Tennessee coach — and foil — Phillip Fulmer — “They ought to put Coach Fulmer on an NCAA committee (to change college football).  He’s a common sense guy and they need some of that.  We’re really pretty good friends these days.”

On his multiple wins in Knoxville (with Duke, Florida and Carolina) — “If you beat Tennessee in Knoxville, you’ve got to learn how to sing ‘Rocky Top.’  We were fortunate enough to beat them a few times up there.”

On former UT coach Lane Kiffin – “I didn’t think much of him, did you?”

And on Kiffin’s suggestion to then-recruit Alshon Jeffery that he’ll wind up pumping gas if he signs with Carolina (a statement Kiffin denies making) — “Yeah, Alshon was laughing about that when we were getting ready to fly to Birmingham for SEC Media Days.”

It’s been a long while since Spurrier felt confident enough to start throwing jabs.  And that should tell SEC watchers just how good he feels about his 2011 squad.

Tennessee’s hiring of Missouri State’s Cuonzo Martin hasn’t done much to cool fan anger over the dismissmal of Bruce Pearl.  The early results are in in the form of a non-scientific poll at The Knoxville News Sentinel’s website:


Happy with the hire: 25%
Not happy with the hire: 36%
Reserving judgement: 37%


When just 25% of the fans voting approve of the hire, that’s not a real good sign.  One prominent UT booster — blogger Clay Travis — tweeted this: 


Odds Bruce Pearl returns to NCAA Tourney before Cuonzo Martin goes for the first time?  Nearly 100%.


Funny.  If Pearl doesn’t get a lengthy ban from the NCAA for destroying the UT program — a nugget that surprisingly few Tennessee fans accept.

Even Pearl’s son Steven — who played for the Vols this year — had a rough tweet regarding Martin:


All I can do is laugh and say good luck sir


Of course, Steven has seen his dad’s fall from grace up close and at least has the excuse of a wounded heart to blame for his lack of decorum.

So we at MrSEC.com are going to jump in with both feet on this one too, right?  I mean, we questioned Tennessee’s hire of Lane Kiffin and ripped the hire of Derek Dooley.  We must really be prepared to toss some darts after this one, right?  Right?

Wrong.  Hey, if nothing else, Martin is the first coach in three tries (including Kiffin, Dooley and himself) to actually have a winning record as the time of his employment at Tennessee.  That’s a start.

But here’s why this hire isn’t as bad — in our view — as many folks seem to think:


1.  Martin showed class in returning to Springfield to meet with his team face-to-face about his departure.  That’s becoming a rarity these days and it shows character.  Considering Tennessee’s current mess, there’s nothing wrong with the Vols hiring someone with a little character.  Richmond’s Chris Mooney would have been a perfect fit for UT had “major” NCAA violations from 2007 not come to light.  Staring down the barrel of the NCAA’s elephant gun itself, Tennessee couldn’t afford to take any chances.  Martin has a clean resume.

2.  Martin is a B-level, mid-major candidate which is about all the UT administration could hope to land in the Pearl aftermath.  NCAA sanctions.  NCAA probation.  A questionable roster.  High expectations in spite of those last three points.  Now toss in a lame-duck AD.  Why would a “name” coach volunteer to take the Volunteer job at this point in time?  They wouldn’t.  And UT floated trial balloons at the Jamie Dixons and Sean Millers of the world.  It’s not Martin’s fault that he was in the “and the rest” category of UT’s candidate list.

3.  Martin won the Missouri Valley regular season title last year — a first for the school — and he was named the league’s Coach of the Year.  His resume is short — three years in Springfield — but so is Shaka Smart’s at VCU.  Smart’s had a helluva run after miraculously getting into the NCAAs, but pre-tourney, the names Smart and Martin would have been squarely side-by-side on any list of young, mid-major coaches.

4.  His Missouri State players had only good things to say about their outgoing coach.  Again, that’s not always the case when a coach splits.

5.  The Gene Keady coaching tree has sprouted many successful branches: Bruce Weber, Kevin Stallings, Steve Lavin, Matt Painter, etc.  And Keady has glowing praise for his former protege.


Also, when you’re hoping to keep two current players from turning pro, it doesn’t hurt to hire a fiery, late-30s, African-American, former NBA player as your top guy.  Here’s guessing Belmont’s 58-year-old Rick Byrd would have had a tougher time keeping Scotty Hopson and Tobias Harris in Knoxville.  No offense, but 30 years at Belmont doesn’t give a man much street cred among 19- and 20-year-olds.

So, from the MrSEC.com standpoint, no, Martin is not Mike Anderson, the man Arkansas snared for the only other opening in the league this year.  But Tennessee couldn’t grab an Anderson-esque candidate in its current situation… and among the fallback, B-level candidates, Martin seems to have as many pluses as anyone.

And it bears repeating — at least this guy’s got a winning record as he moves to the foothills of the Smokies.

Does that mean he’ll win 70% of his games on Rocky Top like his predecessor?  Likely not.  But the Vols weren’t in a position to hire anyone else who could “guarantee” that kind of success.


Some links:

This writer bashes the hire and says AD Mike Hamilton will likely be gone soon.

Martin survived a scary bout with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

This writer says Tennessee made a prudent choice in Martin.

Boston Celtics assistant Lawrence Frank has indeed been contacted by the University of Tennessee.  But, “don’t expect him to be singing ‘Rocky Top’ anytime soon.”

Celtics beatwriter A. Sherrod Blakely of Comcast Sports New England says a league source has confirmed that Frank was contacted… but it was to discuss potential candidates the school should target.

Boston GM Danny Ainge said that UT has yet to ask permission of the Celtics to speak with Frank about actually coaching Tennessee.

“He’s a good coach, but Lawrence is committed 100% to our quest to win a championship this year,” Ainge said.  “He’s a quality coach who should be a candidate for a number of coaching opportunities in the future.”

Ainge is the uncle of former Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge.

1.  Tennessee has muffed six punts in 10 games this season and there might be yet another change at returner this weekend.

2.  The Vols have found a pair of freshman heroes in Tyler Bray (football) and Tobias Harris (basketball).

3.  Tennessee begins what it hopes is an NIT Season Tip-Off run against Belmont tonight on ESPNU.

4.  Vandy will be facing Tennessee’s suddenly hot passing game this weekend.

5.  Commodore players are already tired of hearing Rocky Top.

6.  Injuries have been the story of the year in Nashville.

7.  Nick Saban said his spank of AJ McCarron was “a good opportunity to teach, and it was a good opportunity for him to learn.”

8.  Alabama has made some moves on the offensive line heading into Thursday’s game with Georgia State.

9.  Alabama dominated Troy 79-60 in basketball last night.

10.  Is the Cam Newton story the biggest in college football history?

11.  Did you catch Bo Jackson congratulating Mike Dyer for breaking his freshman rushing record on Saturday?

There were just 35 seconds left on the game clock and not a soul was sitting. As the ball went through the hoop, a deafening roar echoed through the cavernous corridors of Thompson-Boling Arena.
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