Kiffin says 'no situation' with Richardson

Nu’Keese Richardson might be frustrated.

But apparently not enough to leave Tennessee.

Warning flags went up immediately after the highly touted freshman receiver missed practice on Sunday afternoon amid rumors he wasn’t pleased with his role with the Vols, but coach Lane Kiffin took them down on Tuesday. Richardson might still be sorting through some personal issues, but there are no plans for him to deal with them anywhere than UT heading into Saturday’s game with Memphis (TV: ESPNU, 7 p.m.).

“There is no situation,” Kiffin said. “Nu’Keese was dealing with some issues Sunday, some personal issues. But Nu’Keese was in yesterday and everything is fine.”

Kiffin’s vague explanation of Richardson’s absence over the weekend seemed to indicate things were far less than fine over the weekend.

Richardson hasn’t had nearly as big of an impact as he or the Vols (4-4, 2-3 SEC) might have liked through eight games, but despite only getting one touch against South Carolina last Saturday, there was no discussion of him transferring with Kiffin.

“He’s a little bit frustrated, like a lot of freshmen around the country are, especially when you’re potentially a really great player and you’ve had great success in high school. You come in and things are different in college than high school. Nu’Keese will continue to develop, we’ll continue to work with him and eventually he’ll be a great player.”

That process doesn’t typically happen overnight, but it’s perhaps been more difficult than Richardson anticipated.

He’s been a non-factor in the passing game with just five catches for 48 yards, the Wildcat package installed to take advantage of his speed has only yielded one explosive play and his ability to field punts has been spotty at best.

But even with such great expectations for Richardson, UT also anticipated some rough patches in putting him on the field so quickly. He won’t be the last player to have a hard time with the adjustment either, and though his role has been limited lately, the Vols certainly aren’t giving up on him.

“I think he’s frustrated in general,” Kiffin said. “There are a lot of freshmen around the country that want to come in and do well right away, and Nu’Keese has struggled a little bit. He’s got to continue to develop, work on the little things, be more consistent in practice and eventually be a great player here.

“We have extremely high expectations for all of our players, especially our freshmen as they get here. I think all of our freshmen when they get here are going to freshmen all-Americans and going to be great players for us. He’s made a few plays for us, we haven’t given him a ton of opportunities, but he’s got to be more consistent in practice and do things better. He realizes that, and this will be a big week of practice for him.”

It started one day later for him than the rest of the team, but Richardson is back in the fold after an absence on Sunday that was never completely explained.

Whether or not he was homesick, upset with his performance, worried about his role on the team or anything else, the Vols aren’t sweating the details. Most of them have been there before anyway.

“I mean, me personally, I really don’t know what’s going on,” defensive tackle Dan Williams said. “Just as a player, everybody goes through something when they first come to school. I mean, everybody.

“I’m a fifth-year senior now and I’ve been through a lot, and there are a lot of things guys don’t see that’s off the field, behind the scenes, so I kind of understand. Coach and him will talk about it and they’ll work through it. For the most part, it’s nothing new . . . but I think it’s nothing too big. Coach and Nu’Keese will work it out.”

The Vols also aren’t expecting that relationship to end anytime soon.

© 2009, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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