Gotta love Rocky Top. Philip Fulmer is back amid the calls for his reign to be over, but I like Icons and Phil is a Icon. With a record of 147-45 in the tough SEC, this guy should be able to coach till he drops. ie JoePA. I know he hasn't won a National Championship since Tee Martin(Sorry Manning), but to put up at least 8 wins in the last 7 of the last 8 years, that is saying something. So Rocky Tops get off his back!
Now onto the review they lose the veteran Erik Ainge who is battling for a spot with the Jets. I think they signed some old guy from S Miss so I think he has a shot. But Jonathan Crompton is more the capable of taking over. Arian Foster comes back to anchor the backfield but watch out for Lennon Creer, very fast. The WR return basically intact from last year, with Lucas Taylor, Josh Briscoe and Austin Rodgers all very solid. The OL which always seems to be a strength returns 4 starters and and boasts a line average of 6'4 315.
Defensively they lose Jerod Mayo(who the Patriots will love) and Johnathan Hefney(who seemed to be there for 10 years) to the pros but have very capable replacements. Rico Suave McCoy brings his 106 tackles back as long as Strong Safety Eric Berry the superfrosh last year. The defense will be solid but by SEC standards average. Schedule wise they open with @ UCLA, Rick Neuheisel debut, but other then that the non conference is easy and when have a SEC schedule you need to be easy on non conference scheduling. This year the Gators and Bama are the only big hitters that will come to Rocky Top and what a statement game it will be vs the Gators who have won the last 3 and a 59-20 blowout last year. But the road is brutal going at Auburn, at Georgia and at S Carolina. So this is a good Tennessee team but as always will finish with about a split in SEC play which is good enough for me to garner a #12 ranking.
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