Published February 9, 2011 - 10:10am
NEW: Discuss this topic in the Google+ community for SEC fans.
The Tennessee Volunteers have had a bad week, needless to say. Sure, it’s the off-season, and there is plenty of time to get things cleared up.
First, defensive line coach Chuck Smith is no longer a part of the coaching staff. Smith is like a hype machine that never panned out. He left right after Signing Day, and you know this has been planned for a while. But Smith and Dooley proceed not to say anything until they have Curt Maggit and AJ Johnson’s signature. Both Maggit and Johnson loved Chuck Smith and bought into the hype machine that never was. Weird, isn’t it?
Next, star safety Janzen Jackson leaves the team for personal issues. Jackson has been dealing with these issues that sent him home before the bowl game in early December. It has been rumored as a “dorm room incident”. Nothing has been made public. Jackson is officially no longer enrolled at Tennessee, but you have to believe he will get this cleared up and be back for game time in the fall, right?
Derek Dooley had this to say about Janzen Jackson:
As long as he continued to manage his personal issues and football and school, he’s going to be welcomed back in the program,” Dooley explained. “He’s clearly reached a point where the personal issues have become much greater than his ability to manage workouts and school. Until he gets a little clarity on those issues, we’re going to support him.”
Freshman defensive back Ted Meline and sophomore linebacker Jerod Askew are transferring, and I’m not sure either were cut out for SEC football.
Senior center Cody Pope ends his career for medical reasons, and I’m even not sure he would have played another down for Tennessee at that position again, since Tennessee has James Stone developing into a great player.
Everyone that loves orange is hoping Jackson can get back into school before football season. He is no doubt their best player on either side of the ball.
