Strange: Lots of questions about Vols, few answers

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Eric Berry says the Vanderbilt and Kentucky games will be a tribute to head coach, Phillip Fulmer, with players giving 110% on the field. Watch »

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Coach Chavis talks about the Vanderbilt coaching staff, specifically head coach, Bobby Johnson. Watch »

Phillip Fulmer had some interesting praise for Vanderbilt on Tuesday.

"They've done a good job of using their personnel,'' said Tennessee's head coach. "Particularly when D.J. Moore comes over and gives 'em some plays from an offensive standpoint."

Moore, of course, is Vandy's talented defensive back who has of late become a two-way player.

He caught two touchdown passes last week against Kentucky, a game in which, wearing his cornerback hat, he also caught two Kentucky passes.

Fulmer also said quarterback B.J. Coleman will "get his opportunities" when Tennessee takes the field Saturday at Vanderbilt Stadium in an unfamiliar role as underdog.

Coleman, of course, is UT's redshirt freshman who has made only one varsity appearance, a cameo against UAB on Sept. 13.

I relate the two subjects under the common heading of wondering how well Tennessee has used its personnel in this misbegotten season.

If Moore has been a shot in the arm for Vanderbilt's piddling offense, might not the sensational defender Eric Berry have been likewise for Tennessee's?

If Coleman looked so dynamic last week in a junior-varsity outing, should he have gotten a chance before the 11th game to see if he could elevate UT's flat-line quarterback play?

And should Brandon Warren have ... No, I'm not even going there.

Off the top, let me say that Fulmer and his staff have a decided advantage over the media and the fan base when it comes to determining who plays where and how much.

They're professional football coaches with decades of combined experience. They observe every practice, then rehash it on videotape.

The rest of us watch the games on Saturday, then, through the prism of 20/20 hindsight, critique and second-guess.

Bottom line, I don't think we'll ever really know for sure if Tennessee could have avoided this train wreck of a season by using its personnel differently.

As for Berry, who might be the best defensive back in the nation, the party line has been that he's too valuable to the defense to risk getting hurt on offense.

Fulmer stuck to his guns Tuesday. He even revealed a new wrinkle: that Berry has been laboring with a "shoulder" issue.

You would have never guessed it the way Berry has been laying the wood to receivers and running backs all season.

For his part, Berry, a former high school quarterback, remains eager to play offense.

Seeing Vanderbilt's Moore make a splash "just makes me want to do it even more,'' Berry said Tuesday.

Coleman, meanwhile, will get play Saturday. To what extent has not been determined.

Jonathan Crompton regains the starting role he held the first four games, but Coleman moves ahead of Nick Stephens, who started the past six.

It would be naive to expect Coleman to experience the same success Saturday against an SEC defense that he enjoyed against Hargrave Military Academy.

But it's not naive to at least wonder if he would have provided more of a spark than Crompton or Stephens these past weeks.

Offensive coordinator Dave Clawson said he has agonized all season, waiting for a quarterback to separate himself from the others. He's still waiting.

"And those aren't good seasons,'' Clawson added.

You could make a case for handing Coleman the keys and letting him take every snap of the final two games. Except, that is, for the 20 or so snaps a game where Berry plays quarterback.

After all, the Vols are not going to a bowl. A coaching search is on. What's left to lose?

Well, two more games, possibly.

"There are some players on the Tennessee football team that are only going to put that uniform on two more times,'' said Clawson. "As professionals, it's our job to do the very best we can to put those guys in position to win.''

As professionals, they should have a better idea than the rest of us exactly what those positions are.

But the way things have turned out, there will always be a lot of second-guessing about 2008.

Mike Strange may be reached at 865-342-6276 or strangem@knoxnews.com.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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