More Bad News Out of Knoxville
Anyone who lives in the East Tennessee area likely opened the sports pages this morning to find more disheartening news about their beloved Volunteers. From USA Today:
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Running back Bryce Brown left the Tennessee program on the first day of the Volunteers’ spring practice, coach Derek Dooley said.Dooley said Brown told him Thursday that he was dealing with family and personal problems that included “some of the reasons why he came here.” Brown was not present for practice.
”I was a little surprised, but you can only control what you can control,” Dooley said. “He went through the entire offseason, but I also think that this wasn’t something from the last three weeks. But I’m not here to recruit. I’m here to coach.”
The Wichita, native averaged 38.3 yards in 12 games as a freshman in 2009.
Brown was rated as one of the top recruits in the nation in 2009, and his recruitment process drew a lot of attention thanks to his relationship with adviser Brian Butler.
The NCAA investigated whether money was improperly raised for Brown to visit colleges while in high school. Neither Brown nor Tennessee, who was not recruiting him at the time, were punished.
Brown originally committed to Miami, where his brother, Arthur Brown Jr., played but instead signed at Tennessee after Lane Kiffin was hired as coach.
In January, Kiffin left Tennessee to coach at Southern California and Arthur Brown left Miami and enrolled at Kansas State earlier this month.
Dooley says Brown will remain enrolled at Tennessee for the rest of the spring semester but did not indicate if he would then transfer.
A writer like myself usually would like to concentrate on all the teams who are focused on winning championships next season, but there are a few traditional powers who can’t seem to avoid drama these days… namely Michigan and Tennessee.
Knoxville is still feeling the afteraffects from the jilted honeymoon that was the Lane Kiffin Era. The embarrassment that Kiffin caused the program will be long lasting. When he took over the program, more than one notable player decided it was best for them to continue their college careers elsewhere. That’s not necessarily out of the ordinary when a coaching change takes place, but he didn’t stay long enough to replace the departed talent.
Derek Dooley’s road to success is getting more and more difficult. Luckily, the RB position has some depth. Rising sophomore David Oku was a Top 100 recruit and a very talented player in his own right who will likely be the first in line to take over the starting position. Junior Tauren Poole should also see some significant playing time, while RS freshman Toney Williams returns from a knee injury that kept him out last season. The Vols also have 4 star prospect Raijon Neal coming in the fall, who will likely compete for playing time.
Good job i guess when coach O left that the pay window closed and he needs to find another who will pay him