Dave Hooker's Audio
The recent surge in arrests of Tennessee football players has forced coach Phillip Fulmer to be more creative in his approach to discipline.
For example, following the arrest of freshman Daryl Vereen, Fulmer had the entire team run the next morning at 6 a.m.
Great idea, huh?
I thought so. At least, it might stand a better chance of getting the players’ attention than a sentence of community service and a police ride-along.
But a few days after an early-morning run, another UT player had a run-in with the police. Based on that, the new punishment had no more impact than the traditional punishment.
My contention always has been that Fulmer should discipline players by taking away playing time. I might as well suggest that he take a pay cut. From his perspective, one apparently seems as unappealing as the other.
Instead, Fulmer prefers a punishment that poses less of a threat to his won-loss record. And I’m sure plenty of fans are just fine with that.
But has that reduced off-the-field incidents? No.
What does?
Georgia coach Mark Richt repeatedly has responded to players’ off-the-field transgressions with game suspensions. The word “repeatedly” should be emphasized, because the problems recur despite the punishment.
So what do you do? Accept the fact that arrests are as much a part of the game as false starts, then move on?
That was my inclination before consulting with former UT football player (and my radio sidekick) Fred White. Surprisingly, we shared common ground.
He liked Fulmer’s idea for the group run even more than I did. In fact, I could sense him seething through the phone at the thought of having to run at 6 a.m. because a teammate had gotten in trouble.
“That will work,” White insisted.
I would have agreed if there hadn’t been evidence to the contrary. But maybe I wasn’t giving the group run enough time. And maybe the group run just needed to be tweaked.
White said that everybody should have to run with one exception. The player responsible should stand on the sideline for a firsthand view of the misfortune he had caused his teammates.
I could tell White was getting angry just talking about someone making him run at 6 a.m. I envisioned one of those looks he gets on the rare occasion a Sports Page caller disagrees with him.
The guilty watch; the innocent run. That works for me.
Then, I suggested a change of time. Rather than a 6 a.m. run, how about a midnight run?
“Midnight?” White said. He paused and added, “I like that.”
White pointed out that the midnight run would be more demanding because players would still be required to work out the next morning as part of their off-season conditioning work.
We both decided one day wasn’t enough. Since the program has had a series of problems, why not respond with a series of runs? My proposal: If one player is arrested, the rest of the players run at midnight for six consecutive nights. White suggested that the offending player’s position coach could oversee the late-night operation.
Suppose, that despite witnessing all the misery endured by his teammates, the guilty player becomes a repeat offender. What would you do then?
Simple. If a player is arrested a second time, his teammates would have six midnight runs a week for two weeks.
“You wouldn’t want him on your team after that,” White concluded.
Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knews.com.
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Comments » 56
nivatne writes:
Why are we talking about this? I want to know who UT signs on Feb 5!!! Create a story people want to read!!!
PS My 1st time to be the first poster on an article
eaglentn2002#343016 writes:
WOW John Adams this is some real good writing. You've really out did yourself. Let's kick this dead horse until August. Drop it and write something positive for a change.
VolsorCat writes:
Knoxsingle: That would require a cleaning of the house at the KNS. They dwell in negativity. I do agree with the midnight runs however. Maybe if they ran every Friday and Saturday night from now until March 1st, it would help. Before they run on those nights, take them to hospitals, halfway houses, Big Brother events etc. Force them into the community more and in a positive manner.
seviervol72 writes:
Not bad, but boys will be boys and as long as there are college athletics this going to happen so i agree get off it and lets talk about the guys that do the right thing and make us proud they are volunteers.
GerryOP writes:
Yup, brilliant! Particularly on Friday and Saturday nights!
jdnan writes:
How embarrassing that fans want to see fewer articles like this one. Is this an Xbox game we're cheering for or the lives of the men of our favorite team? I would rather see young men I'm not ashamed to cheer for than a BCS bowl game. Of course, I'd rather it be both, but in life you must prioritize, otherwise, the terrorists win.
givehim6 writes:
Sounds to me like a bunch of rebels spoild kids thoughing a fit because they don't like the new coachs that have been hired.
ssgdebity writes:
I think this is a joke having the team run at 6 am. That is way to easy on them. Hell I am in the military and run 2.5 to 3 miles every morning at 5 am. So I think in order to get disipline since there is a whole lot that they lack is to bring the pain, and make them so pissed off that they will think twice about doing something stupid. For example have them do grass drills at 3 or 4 in the morning along with sprints, then make them go on a 15 mile road march with all their football gear on their back. Then when they return get a trash can fill it with water and in 2 man teams hump that trash can filled with water up and down the football field. And if the trash can filled with water loses any water or is spilled out then they start all over. Do this all day long. Then go to class. These are just some ideals. But just running them aint enough BRING THE PAIN then they will think twice.
VolsorCat writes:
Mark... Stop by Hamilton's office Monday. You are hired.....
CoverOrange writes:
Wow, JA actually interviewed someone that played sports. Oh, wait, it was the guy sitting right next to him.
As for more running. Well, like, duh. Doing it one time didn't scare anybody. Go watch that ESPN movie on Bear Bryant in Texas.
vol_in_lsu_land writes:
Is it just me, or does nobody else really care what this reporter thinks? Matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that VolCR's opinion means more, and that's saying quite a lot.
james#216392 writes:
If you want no more problems, shoot the guilty ones. One time and there would be no problems.
Serious, with this many players there are going to be some problems. I didn't like the arrest with recuits. The others are kids being stupid. That happens to ball players and non ball players. Guess which ones make the paper. That not to say its o.k. and shouldn't be punished but some is to be expected.
shane6#638715 writes:
Insane... Are you kidding me? This is a great idea if these kids were Marines. They aren't. They are student atheletes. Running, while a drag, is temporary pain soon forgotten. Running at 6am or midnight...pointless because it's temporary. Here's a novel concept. Since we can't seem to make a bowl trip without losing players to grades, how about making them show up with books in hand every Friday night for a whole semester and study. No talking, no iPods, no sleeping....just straight up hitting the books. If one dude has another offense then you make them show up both Friday and Saturday. That's something every guy would hate to do. When I was in school I hated detention much more than running steps. Or better yet, hire Al Wilson and the offender has to go see Big Al after the offense.
DennisVols writes:
I like the idea of midnight runs. That would eliminat the distrubing the peace incidents in the midnight hours and eliminate the idle time they seem to have too much of lately.
Parker's stupidity is only slightly less than the others due to the fact there seems no drugs or alcohol involved, but then again he is a senior and I would would expect a lot more from a player who should be in a leadership role by now.
Take away the free time, place a curfew on all the players and do the runs midnight and morning for several days.
Soon enough this will make them all become more ccountable for each other and to each other.
shane6#638715 writes:
Hey Mark, post brought back memories. Here's one for you. When I was a Platoon Sergeant my Marines lived on the 3rd deck of the barracks. One time my Marines royaly screwed the pooch so I got them in formation in front of the barracks and gave them a time limit to run upstairs grab a piece of gear that I selected and get back in formation. If they missed the time mark they had to run up put that item away and get back in formation. We played the game until all their 782 gear was down in the time alotted. Then I instructed them to build a bivoac site with a time mark. Once they finally got that right I made them tear it down because it their hooches weren't in line. I didn't tell them why, I just made kept tearing it down and putting it back up until they started working as a team and getting it right. Think we played the game for about 6 hours before they did it right. Boy, they were MAD...but the Platoon never made that same mistake again...Good times.
ssgdebity writes:
As I stated in my previous comment, these players need disipline, And to have someone there that can instill disipline to these guys would along the line of a Drill Sergeant. And 1 time aint good enough do it for 30 days or more to get the point across. And by doing what I stated previously not only will instill disipline but teamwork also. And those players need to start policing not only themselves but their teammates as well because by doing that now it will also show when it comes football time. So again BRING THE PAIN not some cakewalk of a run.
PS: Vols or Cat
I would love to but I am stationed in LSU land which I am having a hard time with, hearing these LSU folk last 2 years wining cause they didn't win the National Title, then this year they are like gods greatest team which is a joke.
vut56#231073 writes:
Well, the day is not over, so I must add a few more kicks to this dead horse.
There seems a majority (interested enough to respond)that is simply tired of the Adams approach: sarcastically demean the athletes and, by inference, knock their coach(es). I fault this constant approach for the following reasons:
These young men (and women) are representative of society as a whole; I believe there is broad evidence that anything happening on our campus...or any campus...just represents what is happening in every village, town and city in our land. The student-athletes...at any school..are generally choir boys (and girls), compared to young people on the streets, already in mobile home factories, or, dare I suggest..even "serving their country." Therefore, to demean them (our dear student-athlete)is to demean a young society, and guess who: every parent in the land. Our neighbors, our family, and, just maybe, ourselves.
It goes without saying that media, in general, overlook the good in people in favor of the sensational. Why? We continue to soak it up rather than stop reading, paying for, supporting advertisers or, put simply, demanding better.
UT has a fine group of student-athletes; a few wander and often pay the consequence. After a few lynchings (forgive that PC incorrect word) at 6;00 AM, that would grow to be old news and JA could, only then, come up with the brilliant, original idea of having a perp drawn and quartered. After all, he has a story to dream up...poor guy.
THANKYOU4GETTINGRIDOFTHENOTSOSLIMONE writes:
Unlike you clowns, I enjoy reading Adam's articles. It just goes to show the lack of control that CPF has on and off the field. Pretty unusual how this was a top story on espn.com also? A top story on a national website and you don't think it should be posted on a local one? You guys are unreal.
Chainsaw writes:
Write about your dog and PETA membership Adams. It'd be a lot more coherent.
vol_in_lsu_land writes:
No, pleasegetridoftheretardedposter
It is the editorialization of the issue when three articles have already been written in a play-by-play fashion. Do you know what tabloid journalism is? That's what these "articles" pretty much are, and this editorial pushes it over that line.
They take a story that may have an ounce of merit and turn it into an episode of Oprah.
But I'm not surprised that a guy like you would turn to such news "reports". You're not classy enough to rely on factual reporting.
west_tn_volfan writes:
The people who think this isn't a big deal and would rather read stories about recruiting are sticking their heads in the sand. This problem at UT makes national news every time a player gets arrested and thats not the paper's fault. The problem is that there are some real boneheads on this team that make the rest of the guys and the school look bad. This garbage needs to stop or you will see more and more parents telling their 4 and 5 star players that they don't want them going to a school with that kind of reputation.
When you have dimwits getting caught with pot and recruits on their official visit in their car and players getting arrested for refusing to obey the commands of a police officer, you can't expect parents to feel comfortable sending their kids half way across the country to UT. The problem isn't the messenger the problem is the message these players are broadcasting nationwide.
orangeblood writes:
how many people were female doging at how much our players were "thugs" a few years ago and that "foolmer" needed to fix things quick. You know, im starting to understand why so many people hate tennessee fans...80% percent of us are either fair-weathered or female dog/moaners.
DroopyDrawers writes:
Adams is talking about this to hurt what little recruiting we have left to accomplish.
Adams, please pack and leave town. Can't you understand what a jackass you are.
Did you go iut to dinner with ALL of your friends, yourself.
JohnsonCity_George writes:
All of these are great ideas......and they are all great for recruiting. And John Adams, please apply for a job covering LSU and take little Jimmie Hyames with you. Oh, before you go, why not try to pi**-off Bruce before you go.
Hunter writes:
Anyone who is a John Adams fan is obviously not a longtime Tennessean.
Hatin' JA since......man, a long, long time.....
woodwr#217203 writes:
If I were a player, even a big fast mean player, I would be very afraid of retribution from a herd of big fast mean players..... much more afraid than I'd be of a coach; coaches are not allowed to really hurt players.
More importantly, if another player could get me punished, for smoking dope, I'd make sure his stash went missing. If another player could get me in trouble for underage drinking, I'd make sure whoever bought for him went missing.
The trouble with punishing the innocent is that it might be TOO EFFECTIVE at making the brothers each other keepers..... and it doesn't make them like their coaches.
FWBVol writes:
Touchdown, I agree that Steve Kiner is one of the baddest of the bad to play linebacker on the Hill, but I wonder how he would handle today's players. I don't know if you realize it or not, but Kiner is now a psychologist in Carrollton, Ga.
rootin4volz writes:
Amen, Fred White...make the offending ****er sit on the sidelines and watch, while his position coach has to administer the run, be it midnight OR 6am. In fact make the offending ****er be the one who has to blow the whistle to start the run. And if it's suicides they're running, make him blow it each time they start. That'll teach him to "blow it".
And Shane6, they may not be Marines, but if they want to be champions, they better damn well have the DISCIPLINE of Marines! I say make 'em run!
ZacharyUTK writes:
our football team is a bunch of babies who don't know how to play alongside each other. just out to be about "me, me, me".
DekanGator writes:
Better yet ... Make them Run on Weekend nights!
anthony writes:
And this guy votes on the Heisman and for the Hall of fame. No wonder we are in trouble. If this guy really tells us what he thinks, then he is gone!!
murrayvol writes:
I think a midnight swim in an unheated outdoor pool might be the ticket.
WaltGoVols writes:
As a former Marine, I can tell you that group punishment definitely works. They love that phooey at Parris Island. And it definitely builds up bonds of teamjwork too. It's call shared misery.
And it will put pressure on the miscreant players too. They'll be pressured by the other players to straighten up their act and get the coaches off everyone's butt.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
If this running included leading by example, CPF would be exploring other avenues. I know I would. Maybe a golf cart with a flashing red lite on top.
Any info on DTs? Kinda important.
ORANGEASIAN writes:
John Adams needs to perfect his runs. How about KNS suspend you for the season, because your articles are stale and have alot of odor! I'm quite sure you have extra vacation money, go to looseranner.Maybe Mikki will go with you.
Singaporehillbilly writes:
We should adobt the LSU method. Payoff the cops and sweep any incidient under the rug. Then once in a while, kick a non-scholorship kid off the team that is on the scout team.
wrvlvolfan writes:
I like White's idea. At some point repeat offenders have to get kicked off the team. For those few who just don't recognize the wakeup call, then they simply do not need to be on the team.
Volalumnus writes:
Secondary plus...Maybe if they ran a little more they would be better conditioned to score points in the second half.
TommyJack writes:
FWBvol: Kiner is also remembered for sucker punching a FL(?) fan at a UT baseball game. Almost kilt him. Who's gonna police Kiner? lol
GreeneVol writes:
Remember in Full Metal Jacket where they strapped the guy to the bunk bed and whipped him with soap in pillow cases? That would be the payback after the guilty watched the innocent run....it might just work!
pdhuff#552644 writes:
TDTN- 9:11 a.m. _ You think ol' Kiner could scare up a few 6'5" 297 lb DTs in Ga? We'd shore appreciate them boys. Big news coming between now and Feb 5, some say. I like being surprised.
dgarland1#214014 writes:
Do you think that you should have to run at midnight every time you write a bad article for GoVolsXtra? I bet you would be in mighty good shape from Aug to about the end of April. Think about it. You could be around to write bad opinion pieces into your healthy 80s or so.
TommyJack writes:
I remember when Kiner was drafted by the Cowboys (later cut)..His first day of practice, he parked in Tom Landry's reserved space. Asked why, he said it seemed like the best spot available. lol Later played for Oilers (?)
FWBVol writes:
I think one reason kids today don't understand or care about tradition is the national recruiting everyone does.
A kid in California isn't going to know anything about UT other than what they see on TV. Even in the 60s when UT was recruiting guys like Kiner from Georgia or Steve DeLong from Virginia, they were from neighboring states that understood what the program stood for.
Today there are so many distractions for in-state kids that unless they are big into college football they just know UT has a big stadium and great facilities. They don't know about Bad News George Cafego, Bobby Dodd, Herman Hickman or some of the other players from the 20s and 30s. They probably don't know any of the greats from the 60s like DeLong, Kiner and Swamp Rat.
Maybe it's time to have a history of UT football for incoming freshman so they can find out what it means to wear the Orange.
TommyJack writes:
FWBvol: Not to be picky (but everyone else is), Kiner was recruited out of the Tampa area, I think.
THE_VOL writes:
BREAKING NEWS!!!! KPD today ordered an over-sized tour bus to accommodate all of the TN football players that will be doing ride-alongs!!! Word is that FOOLmer is pissed cause he won't get to drive it!
Ironcity writes:
I have always thought that the reason why the team ran was because it was the team that was fighting among themsleves (probably defense against the offense). As for Richt PLEASE!! He will suspend guys but only for meaningless games. Like I pointed out before, Ellerbe stole a car and got suspended two games. Like all coaches, if the players good he wil get a little more rope.
Colliervol writes:
I remember back in 2004-2005 that we were all clamoring for Phil to fix the discipline problem that was going on at that time. In 2006 and 2007, the frequency of incidents went down and everybody was fairly happy with what Phil did in that area. Can't be inconsistent on this fellas. Four incidents in January tells me that Phil and the team are backsliding and it needs to be halted quickly. Somehow these kids keep forgetting the message.
I don't agree with Adams a lot and regardless of whether he's being sarcastic or not, he's not far off here. Somebody needs to get their attention or we could easily be back to where it was in 2004. Evidently, there is a noticeable lack of leadership among the players because nobody is stepping up to halt this. (Can you imagine what Al Wilson, John Henderson or Fred Weary would have done to one of these goof-offs if they were forced to run? It wouldn't have been pretty.)
I like the idea of the guilty party watching and the rest of the team running six nights in a row. Don't care if he's Anthony Parker and 300 lbs. I figure there are about ten 300 pounders on the team who won't be very happy with him after they have to run because of him.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
tngeoff 6:38 - It wasn't the fritters, was it? Wonder what line he crossed. This strikes me as a fairly liberal 1st Amendment site.
Have you spotted any DTs who aren't going to Alabama?
TommyJack writes:
Geoff: What did he say that got him excised?
Not to worry...the man has several nom de plumes.
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