KNOXVILLE — “It was a little shocking.”
Brandon James wasn’t the only person inside Neyland Stadium on Saturday who was a little shocked following Tennessee’s 30-6 loss Florida.
Losing four straight games to the Gators by an average of 18 points is probably a little shocking to a lot of Big Orange fans.
But James was the biggest reason for that shock among the 106,138 jammed into Neyland, be it good shock (a few Florida fans and and the entire Gators football team) or bad shock (everybody else).
It was James, after all, who returned a punt 78 yards for a first-quarter touchdown a little more than 10 minutes after he had returned the game’s opening kickoff 52 yards to set up Florida’s first score.
At that point the 5-foot-7, 185-pound junior had accounted for 130 yards, which was pretty much the same total the entire Volunteers offense accumulated in the opening half (actually 138.)
But that’s not the really, really shocking part of all this. The shocking part is this: The first score of the Gators’ 59-20 victory a year ago in Gainesville as an 83-yard punt return from ... Brandon James.
So after he admitted that he, too, was a little surprised and shocked that the Vols chose to kick to him not once, not twice, but three times, he added with a devilish grin, “I guess they felt like they had a team that could get it done.”
The biggest question on the collective of mind of the entire Big Orange Nation this morning is undoubtedly this: When is Phillip Fulmer going to admit he can’t get it done without a special-teams coach?
An error in the kicking game cost the Vols a touchdown at UCLA. The kicking game cost them last year at Florida. It cost them dearly Saturday in a game that they actually led in total yards (258 to 243) and time of possession (30:02 to 29:58).
“I pride myself on having the ability to coach the kicking game,” Fulmer said, almost defiantly. “Brandon James is a good returner, but he’s not that good.”
Maybe he’s not. But his four career punt returns have him third on the SEC career list, two from tying for the top spot. So it’s at least a little shocking that the Vols kicked to him three times.
In fact, it was almost incomprehensible that they kicked to him a third time after he torched them the first two times Saturday. That may have been the biggest shock of all.
But this isn’t really about James. It’s about how the UT coaching staff handled both UCLA and James, not to mention how it intends to handles and all the special-teams problems it could face down the road.
When is Fulmer going to set aside $150,000 of that $2.5 million he’s making annually and bring in a guy whose sole focus is the kicking game? Would he rather part with $150 grand a year and coach as long as he likes, or would he rather lose all his payday when athletic director Mike Hamilton decides he needs a new face to fill the newly renovated Neyland Stadium?
“We’ve got seven special-teams coaches,” Fulmer argued Saturday, meaning that seven of his assistants lend a hand in special-teams play.
But in light of Saturday and the blocked punt against UCLA, one has to wonder if having seven special-teams coaches isn’t a bit like having two quarterbacks. If you have more than one, you have none.
The Vols are already circling the wagons this morning, telling anyone and everyone that they also started 1-2 last season, also got embarrassed by Florida, yet somehow rallied to reach the SEC title game.
But last year’s team didn’t have to travel to Auburn the week after losing to Florida. It came home to lick its wounds and regain its confidence against Arkansas State. Nor did last year’s team have to travel to Georgia, which it will visit on Oct. 11 this year.
Last year’s team had a talented senior quarterback in Erik Ainge who had started parts of each of his four seasons. This year’s starter, Jonathan Crompton, is a fourth-year junior seeking his first meaningful win.
As for the kicking game, senior punter and place kicker Britton Colquitt will be back in uniform for the Georgia trip after serving his five-game suspension for a DUI last February, but by then it could almost be too late.
“Our team,” Fulmer said, “it seems like we’ve got to learn things the hard way.”
Like how it might be time to hire a special-teams coach to teach UT punters not to kick to Brandon James.
Mark Wiedmer started work at the Chattanooga News-Free Press on Valentine’s Day of 1983. At the time, he had to get an advance from his boss to buy a Valentine gift for his wife. Mark was hired as a graphic artist but quickly moved to sports, where he oversaw prep football for a time, won the “Pick’ em” box in 1985 and took over the UTC basketball beat the following year. By 1990, he was ...
There are some coaches who need to exit UT. Never mind who needs to hire new ones.
Hire a new AD. Hire a new Head Coach and let the current assistants reapply for their jobs...except Chavis. He needs to sit on the porch with Phil. Do you think that the business world would pay millions per year for mediocrity? Extend contracts and give raises for 75% effort? It's not the players' fault entirely, but they must be very embarassed. You don't fumble on the 1-yard line in the SEC. If they played the game over next Saturday, I guarantee you that Phil would kick off to B.James and say, "dadgummit, he did it again!" Have you had your Phil? Write to the University and share your opinion.
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