Adams: Let Ainge, Crompton earn job

No big deal, right? Ainge has started on and off for two seasons; Crompton hasn't played a down of college football and is coming off a shoulder injury. Why wouldn't Ainge be No. 1 and Crompton No. 2?

Two words: "last season."

When Tennessee began football practice last August, I knew who its next quarterback would be. Ainge was the guy. He proved that as a true freshman before a shoulder injury ended his season.

Nonetheless, UT's offensive coaches announced a competition for the starting job between Ainge and Rick Clausen, who played so well in a relief role in 2004. The announcement might as well have been accompanied by a couple of winks. The coaches also were convinced Ainge would be the guy.

But the competition, like the season, took a strange turn. Clausen stepped up; Ainge stepped back. You know the rest of the story.

UT's 5-6 season wasn't a one-man disaster. But when you recall UT's poster play for 2005, who had his hands on the football?

The desperate, underhanded throw Ainge made into the heart of the LSU defense was the mother of all interceptions. Sure, it's unfair to judge a quarterback on one pass. It's also unwise to ignore a pass as devastatingly bad as that one, particularly when it was repeated in similar fashion later in the season against Notre Dame and Kentucky.

The post-season revelation that Ainge suffered from a turf-toe injury might help explain his awful season. But a bad toe doesn't make you throw a pass as ill-conceived as the one at LSU.

In the first three games of his freshman season, Ainge looked like a future first-round NFL draft pick -- high first-round. Last season, he was one of the worst quarterbacks in the SEC.

Which was the aberration: the first or second season?

You can't deny Ainge's ability. His size, arm strength and quick release are just what you're looking for in an NFL quarterback.

For all of those obvious attributes, last season raised several serious questions. What about his decision-making under fire? What about his ability to lead a team? What about his overall regression as a quarterback?

I thought UT's coaches were mistaken in making Ainge compete for the starting job last preseason. I think it would be another mistake if he didn't have to compete with Crompton on a level playing field when spring practice begins next week.

I can understand the perceived advantages in naming Ainge No. 1. Although his coaches might not say so publicly, they must be concerned about his confidence and the possibility of him transferring.

Those concerns aren't nearly as important as finding the right quarterback to lead this team. If Ainge still can't handle the pressure of competition, he's not the right man for the job.

I have no idea how good a quarterback Crompton will be. But I don't have any idea how good Ainge will be, either. Crompton is a blank slate; Ainge has had two conflicting seasons.

Remember when Crompton signed with the Vols? Ainge and Brent Schaeffer, who later transferred, already had established themselves as precocious freshman quarterbacks. Why would any quarterback have signed with UT at that point?

Crompton was undeterred. As a high school All-American quarterback in Waynesville, N.C., he decided UT was his school. And two talented freshmen couldn't scare him off.

So give him the chance to compete on equal footing. And give Ainge the chance to prove himself again.