Adams: Endless August can't kill anticipation

By John Adams

Sunday, August 23, 2009

August just won't go away.

You attend SEC football media days in late July, get all revved up for college football and then have to wade through what has become the longest month of the year. This August seems interminable.

It's just the way the calendar falls, cruelly depriving us of college football the last weekend of August, making us wait all the way to September.

The wait is intensified by the expectations. You don't have to leave the city limits to find them.

New eras don't come along often at the University of Tennessee. Phillip Fulmer was UT's coach for 16 full seasons. His predecessor, Johnny Majors, was the coach for another 16 seasons.

You measure the new coach's tenure in months. Although he hasn't been on the job nine months, you couldn't tell it by the headlines.

He has angered opposing coaches and fans while endearing himself to large segments of an orange-tinted fan base that was ready for a coach more colorful than careful. He has hired and fired a strength and conditioning coach, then hired another one. He has tried to fire an administrator, only to find out he didn't have the firepower.

He has been better at hiring than firing.

UT fans were initially more excited about the big-name staff the head coach hired than the head coach himself. Don't forget: he took less money, so he could give more to his assistants.

Less cash, but more brash: That's the new UT coach.

You know he can hire. You know he can recruit. You know he can make a tape recorder purr and a reporter's pen pulsate.

And you want to believe he can coach.

His mentor, Southern California coach Pete Carroll, swears by him. That's a good start.

The anticipation for this season isn't relegated to the local guys.

The SEC is going for a fourth consecutive national championship. Florida might be the favorite, but don't forget about Alabama.

An Ole Miss quarterback not named Manning made the cover of Sports Illustrated. Jevan Snead also is on a Manning-like course to the NFL.

UT isn't the only conference team with a new man in charge. Former Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen got the head-coaching job at Mississippi State, thanks to a recommendation from Heisman Trophy quarterback Tim Tebow. Gene Chizik lost so much at Iowa State that Auburn hired him.

Brace yourself for another Tebow reference.

Have you heard he might be the best college football player ever? And you know about the promise, right?

I thought so.

But Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford is the most recent Heisman winner, and he's back, too. So is Texas quarterback Colt McCoy, who is Heisman worthy as well.

You want to see great quarterback play, watch the Big 12. You want to see quarterbacks wish they were playing in the Big 12, watch the SEC, which might outdo itself on defense this season.

You want evidence that the Mountain West deserves to be in the BCS, watch the Big East. Then call your congressman.

The Big Ten has something to prove, too, and it won't have to wait until the Rose Bowl. USC comes calling on the Buckeyes in September.

Matt Barkley might be USC's next great quarterback. He also might not beat out Aaron Corp.

This season isn't just about the kids. It's also about Penn State's Joe Paterno and Florida State's Bobby Bowden.

Paterno wins games without attending them. Bowden loses games he won.

How long can college football's marathon men last?

Answer: Maybe longer than Steve Spurrier if South Carolina's offense goes belly-up again.

Another answer: Maybe longer than Notre Dame's Charlie Weis if he can't capitalize on a more favorable schedule and a more experienced team.

The former coach circling overhead is Tommy Tuberville, the second Auburn coach to be fired within five years of an unbeaten season. He wants to coach again, and that's no Aggie joke.

Fulmer also is circling. He says he's looking for a big stage, where he could compete for a national championship.

Didn't he just have that? And didn't he go 5-7?

But this is no time for old news. A new season is fewer than two weeks away.

That's a hint, August. You've overstayed your welcome.

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