A quiet, peaceful spring ended early Monday morning for the Tennessee football team.

Senior middle linebacker Marvin Mitchell, a projected starter in 2006, has been suspended indefinitely after being arrested for disorderly conduct resulting from an incident at a campus-area convenience store.

"Marvin had an issue and made a bad decision to be disrespectful to a police officer," UT coach Phillip Fulmer said Tuesday afternoon. "It’s disappointing to our team, our staff and it’s embarrassing."

The incident occurred at 3:37 a.m. at the Rocky Top Market on Cumberland Avenue when officers were called to disperse a crowd, according to an incident report from the University of Tennessee Police Department and obtained by the News Sentinel.

Mitchell reportedly threatened to "knock out" another customer and was asked to leave, according to the document.

Mitchell did leave temporarily, according to the report, but then returned to the store.

"The defendant became agitated, began to swear at him (an officer) and would not leave the property," the report said.

The arresting officer reported Mitchell smelled strongly of alcohol.

Mitchell became "verbally abusive" according to the report. He told an officer to "chill the (expletive) out" and continued to be argumentative. He reportedly attempted to walk away from the arresting officer twice.

Mitchell continued to be "uncooperative," was transported to the Knox County Intake Facility and charged with disorderly conduct, a Class C misdemeanor. He was released on $500 bond.

An arraignment has been scheduled for May 8 in Knox County General Sessions Court.

Mitchell was coming off a strong spring practice and had solidified himself as one of the clear-cut leaders of the Vols’ defense.

"He hasn’t had any issues in four years that he has been here," Fulmer said. "He’s certainly a young man who has good sense to walk away, and why he didn’t, I don’t know.

"He will be suspended indefinitely and punished internally and will meet all requirements or not play next season."

Fulmer called a team meeting late Monday to address the issue.

"It does compound the issue when you have a player who should be setting the proper example and he didn’t set it," Fulmer said. "I quickly called a team meeting last night at 10 o’clock and told them Tennessee is a special place to be and it’s a privilege to be a part of the program — not a right.

"If they’re going to be here, they’re going to represent our team and our university in the right fashion, or they can find something else to do."

Mitchell played in 11 games last season and started two.

He had four tackles in his first career start against Memphis and a career-high five tackles in another start against Kentucky.

The Norfolk, Va., native redshirted in 2004 after suffering a knee injury.

Fulmer admittedly was irate and angry at having to deal with the off-field incident.

Last year, eight UT players were either arrested or cited for violations between January and July.

"Like I told the team last night, I made it very clear what is expected of the team as far as behavior and representing our university, our program and our community," he said. "We haven’t had any issues in some time."

Quarterback Erik Ainge is one of the players who thought Fulmer definitely got his point across.

"Coach Fulmer laid down the law at our meeting last night," he said in a UT release. "He made it very clear that we had not had problems in a long time, and he would not tolerate problems in the future.

"Marvin is a good kid and hasn’t been in trouble since he’s been here, but he made a mistake. I don’t expect any other problems after last night’s meeting."

Senior defensive tackle Turk McBride had a similar response.

"Coach Fulmer has made it very clear what is expected of us," McBride said in the release. "He was very angry and very emotional at our meeting last night.

"I think the guys understand that he’s not going to tolerate problems."