SARASOTA, Fla. - University of Tennessee football recruiters are used to squaring off against Gators, Gamecocks and Commodores. For Casey Kelley, the Vols will have to best Yankees, Red Sox and Devil Rays.

The two-sport star from Sarasota (Fla.) High School never expected football to become the option that it has. Kelley had his athletic career laid out since birth.

Like his father and brother, he'd surely play professional baseball. Football was to be no more than a passing fancy.

"A couple of years ago, it was just baseball. I played football for fun," Kelley said. "Now, football is more than fun."

Much more. Football has already guaranteed the opportunity for a free college degree.

And with a 6-foot-4, 195-pound frame, strong arm and a growing mental grasp of the game, could the NFL be within reach? Sarasota football coach Bob Perkins, who coached Daunte Culpepper and Doug Johnson in high school, seems to think so.

"I hate to say it, but he may be closer to his ceiling in baseball than in football," Perkins said. "In football, he's got an unbelievable ceiling. He's just starting to touch on some of that potential."

That potential - in both sports - has Kelley thinking. Maybe he can postpone the decision he'll eventually have to make. Maybe the shortstop can play quarterback. Maybe, just maybe, he can succeed where so many two-sport athletes have failed, by playing both sports in college.

"I just want to keep all my options open," Kelley said. "I love both of them right now and I'll make that decision down the road."

Playing both sports in college seems like the most likely plan. That is, unless Kelley soars to the top of the major league baseball draft next summer.

Kelley's father, Pat Kelley, who heads up the Cincinnati Reds extended spring program in Sarasota, admits that being drafted in the first two or three rounds and securing "lottery money" would be tough to pass up.

"I would say if he keeps improving and keeps working in the craft, he'd have an opportunity at it," the elder Kelley said. "But things change so fast at that age. There's no guarantee."

Sarasota baseball coach Clyde Metcalf agrees.

"He's certainly got the skills and the ability," said Metcalf, who's coached six first-round selections in his 26-year career. "I've never tried to predict the draft, because it's an unpredictable art. But I think he's certainly a kid that will draw a lot of attention next year.

"Without question, there's that type of potential."

Anything beyond the first three rounds and the Kelleys' baseball experiences may actually push their son away from the diamond.

Pat Kelley spent what he calls the best 21 days of his life in the majors with the Toronto Blue Jays. But, having signed a minor league contract directly out of high school, he also knows baseball's pitfalls.

"The one thing I regret now is not having my degree," said Pat Kelley, whose elder son, Chris Kelley, graduated from college before joining the Tampa Bay Devil Rays minor league organization. "Education has been very important with my other children. That will factor into the decision.

"I think we have a pretty good perspective of how hard it is to get into the major leagues."

Dorm life, cafeteria food and final exams may not be living in the lap of luxury. But try 12-hour bus trips and playing in front of sparse crowds with no guarantee a trip to the majors will ever happen.

"It's a lot different when you're 18-years-old, you're in a strange city, mom's not cooking for you and you go 0-for-14," Pat Kelley said. "It's a lot tougher mentally."

UT, Alabama, Duke and Ole Miss are some of the schools that already have offered Casey Kelley a football scholarship along with an invitation to play baseball.

Playing both sports in college means inspecting two programs at every school. Kelley said he's grown fond of the Rebels because of their success on the diamond and the gridiron.

Alabama coach Nick Saban made a memorable pitch earlier this month when he informed Kelley that he too was a two-sport athlete in college.

As for the Vols, they'll lean on the Helton factor.

"Todd Helton was one of the guys that did both sports," Kelley said, referring to the Colorado Rockies first baseman who played football and baseball at UT. "That means a lot. He's been through it before. He knows how it works."

Kelley said he'll take all five of his official visits this fall before making an announcement sometime after football season. The lure of playing for UT offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe surely will help the Vols.

"He helps people get to the next level, not only physically but mentally," Kelley said of the mentor who molded Peyton and Eli Manning. "I think that would be great to work with him"

Then, comes the caveat.

" if I went to play football."

Kelley's understandable indecisiveness puts UT and other schools in an odd position. How much time and effort do the Vols put into a prospect who may sign a letter of intent, yet never play college football if the majors deem him an early-round talent?

Perkins definitely thinks Kelley has enough football talent to lean on.

"He's allowing us to take our offense to the next level," Perkins said. "Some of the things that we're able to do offensively are completely attributable to Casey."

Perkins said he's been supplying Kelley with complex audible packages since he was a sophomore.

"He's a very bright kid," Perkins said. "He's a student of the game. He watches a lot of film and dedicates himself."

Eventually, Kelley will have to dedicate himself to making a decision. Football or baseball? College or professional?

Not too long ago, such a debate would have seemed preposterous.

"A year ago, I would have said baseball in a minute," Pat Kelley said of the son he raised in the clubhouse. "With his success in football over the past year, I believe football has pulled alongside."