When I read a story about Cal quarterback Nate Longshore’s new hairdo, I immediately thought of Tennessee offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach David Cutcliffe.

The new do was all in fun, Longshore said when Cal reported Monday. He wanted to lighten up the mood for the Golden Bears’ first practice so he died his hair blue.

I wondered what if UT quarterback Erik Ainge had done the same.

“I’d be running 110s right now with a Bic razor-blade-shaved head,” the senior quarterback said.

I don’t think he was kidding.

Cutcliffe doesn’t even want his quarterback wearing an earring, much less blue hair. He gets upset when he sees players’ jerseys un-tucked. He’s all about discipline and details.

“Thank goodness,” most UT fans would say. They remember UT’s offense in 2005 (before Cutcliffe’s return) and they remember last year.

I’m not suggesting UT went from 5-6 to 9-4 just because Cutcliffe is opposed to earrings and un-tucked shirts. But I don’t think anyone would argue that his demand for discipline and an attention to detail had a huge impact on UT’s turnaround.

I thought about Cutcliffe again Tuesday when I heard UT coach Phillip Fulmer announce the indefinite suspension of sophomore tailback LaMarcus Coker. Never mind what Coker did or didn’t do to warrant the suspension. This is merely the latest incident.

Coker might not follow the rules. And he might be a distraction for a team trying to ready itself for the season to come.

But all that seems to change when you hand or throw him the football. Then, he becomes the defense’s problem.

So how does a coach who seems so devoted to discipline reconcile the up and down sides of a player who can get in an opponent’s end zone as fast as he can a coach’s doghouse?

“Young people will disappoint you,” said Cutcliffe, who was a head coach at Ole Miss for six years in between coordinator jobs with UT. “That’s the first thing you learn in this business.”

“In these decisions, you do what you believe in your heart is right. If it’s to dismiss one, that’s what you do.”

“When a guy is totally wrong and what I consider a bad apple to the rest of the team, then you get rid of him as fast as you can. The program is always bigger than the individual.”

He doesn’t put Coker in that category.

“I don’t feel that way right now at all,” Cutcliffe said. “I know some things about him that maybe a lot of people don’t know, that are his private business.”

Compassion aside, a coach can’t be consumed by the reclamation of one player. There are other players — other running backs — to consider. That all came into play in a 20-10 loss to Penn State in the last Outback Bowl.

Coker, who led UT in rushing last season, was held out of five bowl practices for disciplinary reasons. He began the game on the bench and might have stayed there if the game had gone differently

“We went (into the game) and were going to do without him,” Cutcliffe said, “until there were circumstances that you may have to have him.”

An offense in need of a spark then entrusted the ball to Coker. He ran 42 yards for a touchdown.

What happened next is just as significant. Coker carried the ball only four other times — for a minus-6 yards.

“Part of that is how you feel,” said Cutcliffe, pointing to starting tailback Arian Foster 10 yards away on UT’s indoor practice field. “See that guy over there. I know what his preparation was. My responsibility is to him.”

UT’s coaches often find themselves weighing one responsibility against another in these matters. In Coker, they have a talented runner who offers more breakaway speed than any one else in their backfield. In Coker, they also have a player who could help undermine the discipline of a program that too often has been lacking in discipline.

As disappointed as Cutcliffe and Fulmer might be in Coker, they obviously haven’t reached the breaking point. So they’re giving him another chance.

And they’re taking a chance when they do.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.