It's a good thing Phillip Fulmer isn't into omens.

The University of Tennessee football coach has been around way too long to get bogged down by freaky superstitions.

That's why it wasn't a big deal when a storm passed through Knoxville just as the Vols were about to begin Day One of fall practice on Friday.

So what if it hadn't rained this hard since Noah? There weren't any "perfect storm" references.

Forced inside, with Lindsey Nelson Stadium basically under water, there was an early power outage in the Neyland-Thompson Sports Complex. Omen? Nope, just a temporary nuisance.

Fulmer has bigger issues to battle in the next four weeks.

His goal is to transform a program that went 5-6 in 2005 into an SEC title contender.

With that in mind, Fulmer saw exactly what he wanted to see on Friday.

"It's absolutely great to be back on the field," he said. "The first day of practice in shorts makes it hard to say a whole lot, but we're in pretty darn good shape. That's obvious.

"We've got some guys out there flying around who look like they know what they're doing. The question is how many more can we get up there in the mix."

Unlike last year, there weren't any day one questions about national-championship possibilities.

Questions revolved around regrouping, developing new attitudes and finding new leadership.

Junior quarterback Erik Ainge was the obvious place to start.

Fulmer and new offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe each said the Vols began Friday's workout with the best display of passing and catching they've seen in a while.

"I think Erik's very comfortable with the offense," Fulmer said. "He still has to get in sync with all of the thing's he's trying to do for coach Cutcliffe, and he's got to get in sync with the receivers.

"But we threw the ball and caught the ball as well as we did at any time last year. Consistency is what we have to have from him."

Strides were made. But they're still baby steps as far as Cutcliffe is concerned.

He and defensive coordinator John Chavis each lit into their respective units with some verbal challenges before and after practice.

"We inserted a good amount of stuff during the spring, so the carryover was good - not great," Cutcliffe said. "We're looking to get it to great."

Cutcliffe bragged on Ainge for making obvious strides with his mechanics and footwork over the offseason.

Grasping the entire offense and working on accuracy are at the top of the agenda the next 28 days for Ainge.

"I'm as anxious as anyone to see Erik in live situations and see how he handles himself well before we get to the Cal game (on Sept. 2)," Fulmer said. "He seems fine.

"He has the natural leader instincts, but before they really look up to him and respect him, he has to play up to the level it takes to win in this league."

A trio of surgically repaired running backs made another big impression.

Arian Foster, Montario Hardesty and LaMarcus Coker all drew rave reviews.

"All three looked darn good," Fulmer said. "It didn't look like they had any issues cutting at all.

"LaMarcus Coker looked fast. He's in good shape for the first time since he was probably in the eighth grade."

Cutcliffe saw the same thing.

"All three of them caught my eye," he said. "I saw Coker's quickness and Arian is definitely leaner than what he was. His movement was good.

"But all of this is in shorts and I've coached a lot of shorts All-Americans before. We'll see what happens when we start playing real football."

On the offensive front, another major area of concern, the offseason conditioning had a noticeable impact for Cutcliffe.

"I thought we were much more conditioned," he said. "You can see it.

"They're leaner. They're quicker off the ball and our feet were good. That's what you want to see, but you don't know for sure until you put the pads on."

That comes Tuesday.

First, the Vols have to make it through their annual media day session this morning and practices this afternoon, Sunday and Monday.

"There's a good attitude around here," Fulmer said.

It's all about the attitudes, not the omens.