Ainge plans to be Vols' QB next season

After Saturday's final game of the regular season against Kentucky, he'll work on the third.

"I'll be here next year playing football with (offensive coordinator David) Cutcliffe," Ainge said Monday. "We'll both be here and looking forward to doing great things here next year."

Ainge said the Vols would be a better team if junior receiver Robert Meachem decides to stay instead of opting for the NFL.

"Obviously he's thought about it," Ainge said. "He's had a great year; he's a great football player. I think if he were to stay, obviously that would help our team out tremendously. And I think it would help him out, too. He's got a lot to think about."

Meachem is on pace to break UT's single-season record for receiving yards.

With two games remaining, Meachem has 1,149 yards, just 21 shy of Marcus Nash's mark set in 1997.

Ainge said his decision is different than the one facing Meachem, who has been at UT for four years.

"Robert is a fourth-year junior, and it's a little different for him," he said. "I don't really think much about it. I get asked about it (going pro) a lot, but that's one of those things where you just kind of have to see where it goes and see what happens."

Meachem told the News Sentinel before Tennessee played South Carolina that he had not thought much about turning pro following the season.

Ainge's stance hasn't changed since he told the News Sentinel in October that he was "100 percent" sure he'd return to UT at that time.

On Monday, he echoed those statements and pointed out that both Peyton and Eli Manning, both No. 1 overall draft picks coached by Cutcliffe, remained in school for their senior seasons, as well.

"I don't think I'm where Peyton or Eli was right now," he said. "I have a lot of work to do with my game and still at this university. I've been here three years, and I want to get a ring. That's kind of where I'm at right now."

Ainge said Cutcliffe "has no intentions to go anywhere else."

"I know that things happen," Ainge said. "Several million dollars to coach a football team... I understand that. But he's not throwing his name out trying to find a job like that. It's one of those things where he's planning on being here and getting to work with us for a while."