Jan. 8
The Volunteers lose at Arkansas in the first game of Bruce Pearl’s SEC-levied suspension for lying to NCAA investigators the previous summer. Associate head coach Tony Jones filled in for Pearl for the first eight conference games.
Feb. 2
Derek Dooley signs his second full football recruiting class at UT, a top-15 haul. Of the 26 players who showed up on campus, 19 played in 2011, and the Vols were starting five first-year players on defense alone by season’s end.
Feb. 7