Vols making the grades; team GPA up

While coach Lane Kiffin will ultimately be graded on what Tennessee's football team does in the fall, his early marks are exemplary.

UT's football team earned a combined 2.56 grade-point average in the spring semester, the highest team GPA since the 2004 fall semester when the Vols scored a 2.57.

It also is one of the largest jumps in team GPA from one semester to another in recent memory, approximately .2 over the 2008 fall semester.

'That's why we spend so much time and energy making sure our kids are going to class, making sure our kids are excelling in the classroom and making sure they're doing the right thing on campus to represent the University of Tennessee,' Kiffin said Wednesday on the News Sentinel's radio show, The Sports Page.

'I think anybody involved with Tennessee, any fans right now, can be so excited about what our players are doing and the way they are representing all of us.'

And not just in the classroom. UT hasn't had a player arrested under Kiffin's watch. Kiffin, who was announced as UT's head coach on Dec. 1, said he's 'extremely proud' of that streak.

'I think it gets missed a little bit around here and especially nationally,' Kiffin said. 'To me, when you evaluate a program in the first year…I want to know about player discipline.

'Are players going to class? What is their GPA? And are they staying out of trouble?

'I love what our players are doing — and our coaches — right now. I think we're a very disciplined program and a very disciplined team.'

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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