Lane Kiffin has his hands full with recruiting and assembling a coaching staff. But on Thursday morning, Tennessee's new coach delayed his return to the recruiting trail for a quick tour of campus.
Specifically, the classrooms.
Kiffin spent about three hours making unannounced visits to several players' classes, including on attended by star safety Eric Berry.
Defensive back Daryl Vereen also got a surprise visit from Kiffin, who spent time in the classes before leaving to visit with recruits Thursday afternoon.
Those unannounced trips to class were intended to put an emphasis on academics as players begin the spring semester.
While Kiffin was in class, defensive back Brent Vinson resolved his latest academic issue and remains enrolled at UT as well as a member of the football team.
Until Thursday, Vinson's status had been uncertain. WBIR reported late Wednesday night that Vinson had been dismissed from the team along with two other players.
The sophomore, who is one of UT's most athletic players, should be available for the 2009 season as long as he remains in good academic standing.
Thursday also brought news that reserve offensive lineman Darius Myers will not rejoin the team.
Myers was suspended two games this past season by former UT coach Phillip Fulmer for "lack of academic effort" and a violation of team rules.
According to UT, Myers was never reinstated following his suspension, although the sophomore from Memphis did return to practice.
Myers ends his UT career having played in two games, both of which came as a redshirt freshman in 2007.
After playing in all 14 games as a true freshman in 2007, Vinson's playing time tailed off this season for a variety of reasons.
He did not travel to Los Angeles for UT's season-opener against UCLA because of an academic-related suspension, and he missed the first half of the Northern Illinois game after showing up late to a team meeting.
He also missed UT's game against South Carolina due to suspension, likely the result of a traffic stop that ended with police issuing Vinson five citations. Vinson did not play the following week against Wyoming as well.
He returned to the field against Vanderbilt, where he returned his only interception of the season 69 yards.
The next week, he did not play in the season finale against Kentucky, at least partially due to a leg injury suffered the week before against Vanderbilt.
All told, Vinson played eight of UT's 12 games in last season and finished with 13 tackles and one pass broken up.
Drew Edwards covers University of Tennessee football. He may be reached at 865-342-6274.
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Comments » 83
britt writes:
What about Ramone Johnson? Was he the third player or was it Morely
cgbtn writes:
According to Drew's Notebook, Morley is OK
jimvols13 writes:
Keep it up Vinson. Look forward to seeing you on the field next season. Heck, scratch that, I'm actually looking forward to seeing you and the rest of the team on the field this Spring at the Orange/White game. I'm actually energized for that game for the first time in a while. I hope UT has an extraordinary turnout for the O/W game, that would be tight. Anyway Go Vols.
FWBVol writes:
Don't you have some other site with other swamp lizards to hang out on?
graphpro#231211 writes:
It's been a long time since a UT could play a heavy weight and be able to control the outcome. A REAL LONG TIME!
volwalk writes:
Congrats to the Gator Nation. That is a great team led by one of the best college football players, I've ever seen.
It just makes it that much better for the Vols, when we go into the swamp next year and steal a victory.
Go Vols
Volinsider writes:
CONGRATS TO THE GATORS! YOU MADE WE SEC FANS PROUD.
bfrank78 writes:
GO GATORS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now that's how it's done 2 in 3 years. The Florida Gators are the new Titletown, USA!!!
Southpaw_Vol writes:
How many classes did Fulmer give surprise visits to? 0? We might need to look at the film before we can comment on that though. Maybe he was workin' like heck to get in there.
MrBamSeydu writes:
Who is the 3rd player??
I also heard it was Ramone Johnson from a credible source, but did not hear the WBIR thing.
westennvol writes:
I hate the gators, but gotta say that i am proud that an SEC team brought home the Gold again! Plus as much as i hate the gators, i actually like Tim Tebow. He's a good kid! Congrats lizards!! We'll getcha soon!!
MiserableFloridaVol writes:
The reign of terror continues in the sunshine state. Please Kiffin fix this.
jturne44 writes:
ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
yo are the smartest man on planet earth ahahahahahahahahahaha what the H))))LLLLLLLLLLLLL are you thinking?!?!?!?!I am only a sophomore at UT and from out of state, you NEEED to be writing a satire...otherwise you make zero sense and have no idea how the game of football correlates to discipline which fulmer could never understand...brent vinson should be off the tem...I still to this day don't understand why he still is on the team...
once again I HOPE that you are being sarcastic
volunteers4life writes:
Uh-oh, jimvol! You've basically just been called a moron by a moron.... WTH!!!!! Dude said he was excited to see him play and hoped for a large turnout at the Orange and White game. I am sure everyone else here is excited about this up-coming season to an exponential degree as well. Since we are suppose to be fans and all. Especially opposed to our most recent seasons. This entire program has a much higher than normal buzz about it. He was not advocating Fulmer's disciplinary methods nor was he condoning Vereen's conduct at UT. Please correct me if I'm wrong, jimvol.
P.S.-- I wouldn't run around here acting like you are so much more intelligent than anyone else on this board when you cannot spell, punctuate, conjugate, or coherently express your own opinion in a grammatically superior way. JMO.
volunteers4life writes:
Congrats Gatorzzz and FloridaDC!! I know it must feel great to watch your team acclompish so much in the last three years, both in football and basketball. You made the SEC-East proud, and even had many vols rooting for you guys temporarily. I hope we get the chance to return the favor sooner rather than later!!!
volunteers4life writes:
All I can say is why would you want to play in ANY other conference in the US if you are an NFL-bound play maker???? SEC reigns supreme, baby!
rabidvol1998 writes:
Fulmer didn't have to. He's an established coach with a support system, not a new one trying to set a culture and create a system.
I guess you will be happy if CLh raises the GPA of the team, but the wins stay about the same.
vol88 writes:
I won a friendly contest, courtesy of the swamp lizards. Was a fan for 3 hours.
I'm happy to report I'm totally cured now!
agarn59 writes:
I think they have shots for that.
jimmyrayvol writes:
I too was a 3hr fan and I think the question of who the true national champs are has been answered.
illinoisvolfan writes:
Can't play if you're not eligible...
Good job, CLK. Next step, getting the right shade of orange back on top.
As always, GO BIG ORANGE!!
GBO writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
myvols2002 writes:
I too was a three hour fan but I sure wasn't jumping up and down any.
vol88 writes:
Tell me all about that.
smokeysal22 writes:
Uggghhh, my affliction is over as well, quick 3 hour gator virus. Now I must shower 98 times,paint my chest orange and put up a cardboard cutout of Pat Summit in her cheerleader outfit to fully dissociate myself from actually considering to cheer for the gators. Anyway, Congrats Swampies!!! We coming to town next year with Eric Berry and staff, we will make sure that he doesn't eat for the full week coming into the game so he can have his gator tail fried and dried until he is satisfied.
TommyJack writes:
Tried mightily to pull for gators, but in the end, just couldn't do it. The announcers didn't help. Lovefest for Teabow (as great as he is) was disgusting.
dvols writes:
our players ae in class?? now i see where we are messing up!
Orange4life writes:
bide your time while Tebow is there, gona be a long fall when hes gone
grats
ctownvol writes:
I agree TJ. Obviously the kid is a great person and more obvious is that he is a great football player, but the way they were talking about him.... "Just spending time with him is a life-changing experience" C'mon now. Life-changing? Just meeting him? He's a 21 year old kid from Jacksonville. Not the second coming.
tnbigg writes:
Kiffin is etting the tone early. What a fantastic shift in dynamics! This is the foundation for creating greatness on a sustained basis. Maximum performance can only happen when the T E A M works like a T E AM and everyone is focusses on the T E A M and their friggin "swagger". Send "swagger" to the gators. That their schtik...let them play Miami come lately while we prepare to play like a true team. Go NFLSOCALVOLS!
ctownvol writes:
Bigg! Hey bro. How in the world are ya? Been a while.
OdessaVol writes:
well said TJ
blitzshoot writes:
Congrats to the Gators , but I am still not convinced that Meyer can coach anywhere. He walked into a lottery at UF with good existing talent and Tebow entering as a Freshman.
cjraney writes:
Great point on UF's D. They have 5 Jr's on their 2-deep and NO Sr's. Spikes is probably gone to the League but all others will be back. Pretty scary, especially since they had 1 or 2 true Fr starting in the secondary.
cjraney writes:
Congrats to the Gators, and the SEC for 3 straight titles.
blitzshoot writes:
Time will tell. Not certain how long he was at Bowling Green, but he was only at Utah for two years. He had to know what the talent level was at Florida before he got there vs. in South Bend. I would like to see him stay some place for ten years before I would commit to his coaching excellence. Time will tell.
tnbigg writes:
Hey Bro'! I finally had a few seconds so I thought I'd check in...briefly though! Hope you've been well...
Vols lookin' great for 09! Bring back that old time religion in Knoxville!
ctownvol writes:
All is well here in Georgia. I do like the way things are shaping up. Check back in soon brother. Lots going on here in GoVolsXtra land...
CheckerboardPhilosopher writes:
RECRUITING REPORT (COMPREHENSIVE) From 3SIB
http://3rdsaturdayinblogtober.wordpre...
tnbigg writes:
Gotta' roll Bro'...keep the Faith...keep the powder dry and shoot at will...which is will...I dunno'...just shoot like crazy...no prisoners...Vols are back...no more fear about what's next and what lame brain excuse will be ventured to shift focus and blame to any and everything except the problem...GO NFLSOCALVOLS!
ctownvol writes:
That's what we're looking for! Good info!!
Timed_vol (Inactive) writes:
I hope CLK is a hard-a** on this stuff, and the off-field things. I don't mean tossing 'em off scholarship, I mean running the steps at dawn and dusk...
my guess is the athletic department has written policies on many of the transgressions that these kids make, and that is simply a mater of enforcinng them.
am I correct??
Ironcity writes:
Did he find anybody who failed to go to class?
blitzshoot writes:
Thanks for your meaningless comments naf. Seems like you took your own advise, classroom wise that is.
BigOrangeVol29 writes:
I like the fact that Kiffin is starting early to install a sense of control that wasn't seen under the previous regime unfortunately. It really impresses me that he's trying to assert control now so that the young men can understand that he's serious about things.
TommyJack writes:
Look it. A certain proportion of our recruits will WANT to get a degree. A certain % will want it, but need a push. A few won't care. For those that don't care, all we can do is hope they maintain eligibility. Just the way it is. ALL deserve our support if we want a winner.
jasonn1970 writes:
They can't play if they're academically ineligible Naffy. I think Kiffin's just making the point to them that he expects them to be eligible. I think he's also changing a culture that needed changed several years ago as far as lack of discipline that showed on the field as well as off.
bobmcreynolds#663132 writes:
Southpaw, you hit the nail on the head. Fulmer did nothing after he worked like heck to win that national championship. He became an administrator riding a big desk. Everyone wants to compliment him for his $1 million donation to the University. Hoever, he would NEVER have done that until Bruce Pearl did his Dame Bradshaw scholarship and got so much positive press from it. Good riddens. Now maybe we can be leaders instead of followers.
rich182x writes:
I guess we wont be looking forwatd to seeing Berry Offensively. I dont think that is the way CLK will be going. Hes looking for ProStyle all the way. Kind of a bummer, but I hope the new direction is a better one. Ive learned not to get to happy with new coaches last year. Ill just wait and see this time. THoughts on Berry?
SemperVol writes:
Where's the kid that commented yesterday? He said he was in that 8:10 class with E. Berry and Coach K actually didn't show up...
Where ya at?
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