Vols QB Driving Lesson No. 1: Stay In Your “Lane"

I think of how B.J. Coleman, the junior quarterback from Tennessee, has decided to transfer and I have to shake my head. It isn’t because he is leaving. Students transfer all the time.  Players leave programs, and that’s life.

But Coleman thinks he sees something in himself that former U.T. coach Phillip Fulmer didn’t, and current U.T. head coach Lane Kiffin doesn’t. He thinks he has separated himself from senior Jonathon Crompton, and is not getting a fair chance to compete for the job. It’s possible he may be listening to the wrong people.

After all Fulmer has only coached Peyton Manning, a two time NFL MVP, and Kiffin only has experience working with is Heisman trophy winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart. These two coaches do have a little experience evaluating the quarterback position.

It’s my belief that Coleman started listening to his friends. Someone got into his ear and said, “You are having a better spring. You need to be No. 1 on the depth chart." Unfortunately Coleman listened. He says he is leaving to go somewhere that gives him a better chance to play.

It is my hope that he goes to a school where he does have a chance to play and does well. The reality is we are more likely to see another version of Mitch Mustain who believed his own hype too much and is now struggling to beat out a freshman at his second school.

After Fulmer and Kiffin, B.J. Coleman is now going to try for a third opinion.

Kiffin has done some questionable things since arriving at Tennessee. But the one thing he has been most consistent about; the one thing he is most adamant about is that every position, every spot on the depth chart is up for grabs. The only exception is Eric Berry who is entrneched at the starting strong saftey spot.

No other position is guaranteed for anyone. Kiffin wants a fight through spring, a fight in the fall, and a fight every week of the season for the position you want. He simply wants the best players on the field when the whistle blows. There is no political agenda. A true competitor dreams of a scenario like this.

Most of the players have bought into Kiffin’s wide open competition. Practices are intense and energy is through the roof. Players are realizing the blood, sweat, and tears caused in the spring are down payments for success in the fall.

Coleman didn’t get it though, and he has been labeled a diva by some fans.

But this is a new culture.

Kiffin has a plan and is determined to stick with. Losing Coleman could actually play into Kiffin’s plan more than one would think. It’s no secret that Tennessee’s future quarterback isn’t on the team now, and wasn’t even when Coleman was still a Vol.

Kiffin will bring in a blue chip gun slinger next year to take the reigns of a team he is building this year. Crompton, a senior will be gone, and junior Nick Stevens will provide an experienced backup. If his plan works, then a stellar defense, along with a stable of blue chip running backs, and a handful of weapons at receiver will await UT’s new signal caller next year.

Meanwhile, if Crompton plays better than he did last year, which certainly can’t be that hard to do, success for this team may come sooner than later.

My advice for any quarterback wanting to drive Tennessee to victory…stay in your “Lane."