Crompton can smile again after surgeries, sitting on bench : govolsxtra.com

Jonathan Crompton had some new additions to his game day uniform during Tennessee's preseason media day on Saturday.

There, on both arms, was a reminder of an incident that UT's starting quarterback would like to forget.

Two wristbands with orange embroidered No. 8 and No. 22 were a symbol and a promise.

Crompton wears the wristbands to honor Luther Dyer, a high school teammate and close friend, killed by a drunken driver in January amid a fiery car crash in Florida.

"It was tough," Crompton said Saturday. "You just have to deal with it the best you can. I told his mom I was going to honor him by wearing his number on my wristband this year."

Crompton's offseason loss certainly puts his other hurdles while at UT in perspective. Still, two seasons sitting behind Erik Ainge and two surgeries to his throwing arm took their toll.

No longer. Now is Crompton's time, and the changes in his demeanor have been obvious.

"He smiles," Crompton's mother, Janet Crompton, said. "He looks enthusiastic. We have our son back. For the last three years, I have not known him. He was irritable. You hardly ever saw him smile."

Jonathan Crompton was at his lowest late last summer. It didn't take long for his father, David, and former high school coach, Travis Noland, to set him straight during a summer visit back home to North Carolina.

When Crompton returned to campus, he immediately went to coach Phillip Fulmer's office. Crompton wasn't there to demand more playing time; he was there to apologize for not carrying himself like a winner.

Fulmer was surprised. He had no complaints about Crompton. Still, the conversation was likely the source of those questions posed to Fulmer about Crompton's work ethic on ESPN last week.

Following three years of watching his son go from heralded recruit to college backup, it's easy to forgive David Crompton if he was overly concerned about his son's minor offseason surgery on his right, throwing elbow.

David Crompton was so concerned that he sent his wife into the operating room just minutes before surgery. With the anesthesiologist held at bay, the doctor was peppered with some final questions.

"David has sent me on a mission," Janet Crompton told the doctor. "He wants to make sure he needs this surgery."

See, David Crompton had read the surgery could take six months to recover from.

"Yeah, if you're 90 years old," the doctor said before removing a loose body roughly the size of a dime from Jonathan Crompton's elbow.

The loose body, along with two more, had likely been in the joint for years causing more than a little discomfort.

"He's a tough hombre," David Crompton said.

Once he was 100 percent, Jonathan Crompton headed up UT's voluntary summer workouts - personally scripting plays for the offense since coaches can't attend, as per NCAA rules.

"I think he did a great job with it," first-year offensive coordinator Dave Clawson said. "Jonathan has a personality that other players gravitate to."

As does Clawson, according to the Cromptons, who describe UT's newest coordinator as a "Godsend".

"He might look like an IBM guy, but he's a football junkie," David Crompton said, adding that Clawson's NFL-type offense is tailor made for his son.

Much of that acceptance comes from a strained relationship that Jonathan Crompton had with former offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe, who was named coach at Duke in January.

"He never got to experience phase two of what coach Cutcliffe does with his guy," David Crompton said. "He got all of phase one with both barrels."

Ironically, Jonathan Crompton is playing for his third offensive coordinator despite selecting UT, in part, for its coaching stability. But despite the changes, the surgeries and the lack of playing time, Crompton hasn't wavered.

"He believes in his heart that he's one of the premier quarterbacks in this country," David Crompton said. "He's tired of taking a backseat to anybody. If that sounds egotistical, I'm sorry."

Preseason football means every team is undefeated and optimism reigns. That is no more evident than in the Cromptons' case.

"Yes, it's been painful for him and it's been painful for us," David Crompton said, "but this is 2008."