Rocky Top Nation

      I would like to start out my first ever RTN report by saying a late merry Christmas to all!  I hope everyone got to spend valuable time with their familes and just had a good time.  I will be giving a report of everything Miami Heat and Tennessee Vols every week from now on. Hope you enjoy.

     Let me start with Miami Heat basketball.  Yesterday, they played the Knicks in Madison Square Garden on Christmas day.  The Knicks had won 6 of their last 7 games but the Heat came to spoil the party.  Dwayne Wade and co. beat the Knicks 93-87.  My boy Dwayne Wade scored 30 points while also gaining 9 rebounds and 4 steals. Michael Beasley had another solid offensive night with 19 points.  Jermaine O' Neal added 11 points. The Heat must continue to have solid productivity of the bench if they want to keep this up. At 15-12, the Heat would currently be a 5th seed in the East.  Also, expect Beasley to be depended on more as the Heat advance in the season.  Beasley will be a huge factor for the Heat this season.

   The Tennessee Volunteers Basketball squad picked it up against North Carolina A&T after what head coach Bruce Pearl called "the worst loss of the season" against USC.  On of the bright sports for Tennessee in the 99-78 victory was Skylar Mcbee.  Mcbee hit a much needed three straight 3's in a row and finished with a total of 12 points off the bench.  Tennessee three point struggles have been highlighted throughout the season and players such as Mcbee need to be making three's on a consistent basis.  Freshman forward Kenny Hall also got to play when Wayne Chisim was tooken out and responded by adding a total of 16 points in 13 minutes. The Vols must improve though as a critical stretch of the nonconference season approaches. Tennessee plays cross-state rival Memphis on Dec. 31, a Charlotte team on Jan. 6 that is receiving votes in the Associated Press top 25 poll, and finally a home date with top-ranked Kansas on Jan. 10.

   The Tennessee Volunteers Football team arrived in Atlanta on Friday.  After working out for the first time in Atlanta at Decatur High School, the Vols had a welcome party at Dave & Buster's.  Later in the week they'll visit the Georgia Aquarium and a hospital. They also have banquets, a trip planned to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site and a handful of media events.  Though the Vols main  priorities are dealing with the  No. 11 Virginia Tech looming on New Year's Eve (TV: ESPN, 7:30 p.m.).  As far as the starting kicker for this game, Lane Kiffin said this: It’s still open,” Kiffin said. “We kicked all three of them again today and we’ll go back and watch this film, and we’ll figure it out pretty soon. It wasn’t very good again today."  Freshman running back Bryce Brown is still dealing with the effects of his concussion on Monday and was held out of practice, but both Dan Williams and Wes Brown returned from their head injuries.  Right tackle Aaron Douglas was also back on the field, though he was limited by his sore left ankle. The freshman is expected to be back at full speed Sunday.

    There are plenty of rumors going around in the recruiting front.  One of the newest rumors is coming from scout.com.  It basically states that Tennessee has a shot a landing Lache Seasnstruk, Corey Nelson, and Ahmad Dixon.  If this is true, it would be a huge achivement for Texas native and defensive backs coach Willie Mack Garza. UT wide reciver commit Markeith Ambles, also told fans that he "isn't going anywhere."  UT soft verbal commit Brandon Willis is expected to be choosing between UNC and UT during the Army All-American game.  I don't expect Brandon Willis to go to UNC because of his close relationship with Corey Miller but we shall see. UT commit Delvin Jones is visiting Arkansas and Ole Miss during the coming weeks to.  Georgia commit Nickell Robey is waiting to see who Georgia hires as their defesnive coordinator before he decide which school he will attend. It's also believed that the staff has their eyes set on a 3 sport and 3 star athlete out of Decatur, Georgia. His name is Marcques Johnson and on November 16 he states that: "Tennesse coach Orgeron has been recruiting me hard." On December 16th he said this: "I like Tennessee the best," he said. "I went down there and I love their facilities. Their facilities are about two years old so I like Tennessee. I know Alabama and Tennessee want me at cornerback and I talked to old man Kiffin and he said he'd use me at cornerback and maybe use me like Eric Berry and move me around to different spots." The next day he said: "I've been talking to Tennessee and plan on taking a visit there in January." It looks as if the recruiting front is heating up for Tennessee and i'll be sure to keep you up with the latest.

-Gorockytop

Sweetwater, Tenn.-native Kippy Brown has returned to the Volunteer coaching staff as wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator.

"This is a great day for Tennessee football. When hiring assistant coaches you sometimes feel like you hit a homerun. By bringing Kippy back to the Tennessee family, I feel like we hit a grand slam," said Head Football Coach Lane Kiffin. 

"Having known Kippy since 1990, I never imagined being able to add him to our staff, but we always start our searches at the top. Six of our nine coaches have now come here from NFL teams. Not only is he one of the best wide receiver coaches in the college or NFL ranks, he has a great connection to the Tennessee family and was an unbelievable recruiter in his two previous coaching stints here under Coach Majors and Coach Fulmer.

"Kippy will be coaching with us tomorrow as we begin preparations for the Chick-fil-A Bowl. I'd like to thank Dr. Jan Simek and Mike Hamilton for their support in this hiring."

Brown, who most recently served as assistant head coach and passing game coordinator for the Detroit Lions, brings an extensive amount of experience to the Vols - including 13 years in the college ranks and 13 years in the NFL.

Brown began his coaching career at Memphis State University (now University of Memphis), where he served as running backs coach and wide receivers coach. He has also served as wide receivers coach at the University of Louisville. He joined the Vols under head coach Johnny Majors in 1982 as wide receivers coach. During his first stint with the Vols, Brown helped Tennessee acquire the nickname "Wide Receiver U," coaching numerous pass catchers to greatness, including Anthony Miller, Tim McGee, Alvin Harper and Carl Pickens. He left the Vols in 1990 to serve as running backs coach for the New York Jets from 1990-1992, before returning to Rocky Top in 1993 as assistant head coach and wide receivers coach for Phillip Fulmer. During his second stint with the Vols ('93-'94), UT compiled an 18-6 record and outscored their opponents 847-383 over the course of those two years. Peyton Manning also benefited from Brown's guidance during his freshman campaign as the Vols' signal caller.

"Kippy will be a great asset to the team. He has a lot of ties in Tennessee, and he's a great coach," said former Vol and NFL star Alvin Harper. "He was like a father to me. He showed me a lot and helped me grow as a man. I learned more at UT than I learned in the pros, and a lot of that is because of Kippy and the invaluable experience he brings."

In 1995, Brown returned to the NFL as running backs coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. From 1996-1997, he served as running backs coach for the Miami Dolphins before being named the offensive coordinator from 1998-99. He spent the 2000 season with the Green Bay Packers before becoming head coach of the XFL's Memphis Maniax in 2001. After the demise of the XFL, he spent four seasons as the Houston Texans wide receivers coach before joining the Detroit Lions in 2006.

On Eddie Gran 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The first of what will likely be several new hires on Florida State's coaching staff took place Sunday.

Warchant.com confirmed through sources inside the University of Tennessee that running backs and special teams coach Eddie Gran has been hired to become an assistant coach on Florida State's staff.

Prior to his one season at Tennessee, Gran spent 15 seasons as an assistant under Tommy Tuberville, first at Mississippi and then at Auburn. Gran coached running backs at both stops and added special teams duties to his Auburn assignment.

During his tenure at Auburn and Ole Miss, Gran tutored seven NFL running backs, including Carnell Williams, Ronnie Brown, Rudi Johnson and Deuce McAllister. Gran's current class of running backs at Tennessee is having a very productive season. Montario Hardesty is just 158 yards away from becoming the Vols' all-time single-season rushing leader, and the running backs have not had a fumble on a running play this season.

Gran also produced an SEC special teams player of the year in Auburn kicker John Vaughn, who won the award in 2006. That same season, Gran's special teams units led the SEC in kickoff coverage, field goal percentage, PAT percentage and punting.

With Gran unavailable for comment, it is uncertain what position or positions the 44-year-old coach will oversee at FSU. Neither current running backs coach Dexter Carter nor defensive ends/special teams coordinator Jody Allen are expected to be a part of Jimbo Fisher's future coaching staff. Since Gran has extensive experience coaching both running backs and special teams, he could coach either or both at Florida State.

In addition to his accomplishments as a position coach, Gran has a reputation as an outstanding recruiter. He has recruited the south Florida area for both Tennessee and Auburn. Gran was the primary recruiter for two of Tennessee's current four-star commitments - Delvin Jones and Ted Meline. He was also recruiting recent FSU commitment Jeff Luc and other targets such as Matt Elam, Merrill Noel and Keion Payne.

Based on the terms of his current two-year contact with Tennessee, Gran will reportedly owe somewhere between $50,000-100,000 over the next 24 months

On Frank Wilson

TigerBait.com has confirmed that Frank Wilson has accepted LSU head football coach Les Miles’ offer to replace Larry Porter as the Tigers running back’s coach.

Wilson a New Orleans native just completed one season at Tennessee with Lane Kiffin.

Porter, who was hired as the head coach at Memphis, will handle LSU’s running backs in the Capital One Bowl. The Volunteers are projected to be participating in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

     Tennessee senior running back Montario Hardesty had a career night as the vols won 30-24 in OT. Hardesty scored three touchdowns including a game winning touchdown run. The victory against Ketucky makes the streak 25 straight victorys for the Vols over Kentucky. At halftime the score was 21-14. To start the half Tennessee marched down the field, but was stopped on 4th and goal from the 1 yard line. When Tennessee got the ball back they responeded with a strike from Johnathon Crompton to Luke Stoker for the touchdown. Devin Mathis also added a 30 yard field goal. Tennessee went into the fourth quarter leading 24-21. In the fourth quarter the game seemed to be over when suddenly Stoker fumbled the ball. The crowd was into the game when Kentucky offense got on the field. Kentucky started off with a 13 yard scamper from Alco native Randall Cobb. However, Tennessee defensive back Dennis Rogan made a huge play by shedding a blocker and tackling Morgan Newton to hold Kentucky to 4th and 3. Knoxville native Lones Seiber kicked the 21 yard field goal to tie the game. Going into overtime the score was all tied up at 24 a piece. In overtime, UT won the coin toss and chose to play defense. Knoxville native Lones Seiber missed the field goal. Tennessee would captalize off the missed field goal as Hardesty score the game winning touchdown.

     Montario Hardesty carried the ball 39 times for a total of 179 yards. Johnathon Crompton was 13 of 23 for 220 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception.  Gerald Jones had 5 catcheds for 113 yards while Luke Stocker had 5 catches for 78 yards and a touchdown. UT had 22 firstdowns while kentucky had only 13. UT had a total of 466 yards. Tennessee did a good job of avoding penalties as they only had 2 for 24 yards. Kentucky had 6 penalties for 64 yards Tennessee was 7-15 on third down conversions. Both teams accounted for 2 turnovers.

      With a win over Kentucky, Tennesssee clinched a 2nd place finish in the SEC East, a likely Outback Bowl apperance, and continued the streak of dominace over kentucky for a 25th straight year.  Kuddos to Lane Kiffin for the way he has led this team. There could have been no better way to end this season. Tennessee is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-Gorockytop, Rocky Top Nation site owner

     The charges of attempted armed robbery have been dropped and Janzen Jackson will start against Kentucky.  Head coach Lane Kiffin had this to say about the manner, "As I've said before, we wanted to take our time and get all the information in regard to his situation," UT coach Lane Kiffin said in a prepared statement. "These were very serious allegations and we had to make sure we handled this properly."  Lane Kiffin went on to say, "After an extensive and thorough investigation by the Knoxville Police Department and the District Attorney's office, they've cleared Janzen of any wrongdoing in this situation and he had no prior knowledge of this incident. Janzen will join team activities today. As I've said before, we hold our student-athletes to an extremely high standard on and off the field, and Janzen has seen the effect personal decisions had on his former teammates and he is excited to rejoin our team activities."  Jackson had missed two straight games and the defense in his absence.  "He's very rested," joked Kiffin, at his weekly press conference. "He'll be ready to play. He's a great player for us, and we expect him to have a really good week of practice and he'll contribute for us on special teams like he has."  Former teamates Nu'keese Richardson and Mike Edwards are still charged and have been dismissed from the team.  Jackson, 6-foot, 174 pounds from Lake Charles, La., had 33 tackles before missing the Ole Miss and Vanderbilt game during the suspension.

-Gorockytop, Rocky Top Nation Owner

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin has had to reach so far down his depth chart because of injuries that even he wasn't sure who was on the field.

The Volunteers beat in-state rival Vanderbilt 31-16 on Saturday night playing with a third-string middle linebacker, a walk-on outside linebacker and walk-on placekicker Devin Mathis.

"That's the kicker, right?" Kiffin quipped when asked about Mathis.

After missing the postseason last year, the battered Volunteers (6-5, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) became bowl eligible with the victory. Tennessee hasn't missed out on a bowl game in consecutive seasons since 1977-78.

The Commodores (2-10, 0-8) finished without a conference win for the first time since 2002.

Tennessee entered halftime with the momentum, but Vanderbilt had plenty of chances to take advantage of a Vols defense fielding inexperience players and guys like senior linebacker Rico McCoy, determined to play despite having an injured knee.

"We just couldn't take advantage of some opportunities," Vandy coach Bobby Johnson said. "It's a tough way to end the season."

The Commodores had a chance to tie the game before halftime but stalled on fourth-and-2 at the Tennessee 38 with 51 seconds left. Instead, Tennessee drove for a quick touchdown to go up 24-10.

Vandy's Steven Stone was called for a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty, and Jonathan Crompton was perfect on four pass attempts. His 16-yard TD pass to Luke Stocker capped the 30-second drive.

"That was a big momentum shift," Vanderbilt linebacker Chris Marve said. "That just put us down even further, so we had to come out for the second half with an ever larger deficit."

Crompton finished 20-for-34 for 221 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Montario Hardesty ran for a career-high 171 yards and a touchdown.

The Vols struggled to move the ball in the second half, and Vanderbilt had a shot to pull within four points with about 6 minutes left.

On third-and-goal at the 3, MacKenzi Adams attempted a pass for John Cole in the end zone. The ball bounced off Cole and into the hands of Tennessee's Dennis Rogan, but a pass interference call on Rogan kept the Commodores' drive alive.

With a fresh set of downs, Vanderbilt couldn't move the ball, and Adams took a sack for a loss of 9 yards. Ryan Fowler kicked a 32-yard field goal to make the score 24-16 with 2:54 left, and the Commodores couldn't pull any closer.

Adams was 19-of-35 for 174 yards, a touchdown and an interception.

Vandy's Warren Norman had 73 yards rushing and 61 yards on kickoff returns. Norman's 1,923 all-purpose yards broke Herschel Walker's SEC freshman record of 1,805. He also became the Commodores' single-season leader for all-purpose yards.

"It doesn't mean too much to me because I'm not about breaking records," Norman said. "It's an honor though, just being mentioned with Herschel Walker. That's pretty cool."

Crompton's third-quarter interception ended a streak of 142 straight pass attempts without one, one shy of Casey Clausen's school record of 143.

After struggling to find consistency on field goals with an injured Daniel Lincoln and punter Chad Cunningham, Tennessee called on Mathis for the first time this week. Mathis hit a 25-yard field goal and connected on three extra point attempts.

Mathis was a walk-on last season and nearly earned a starting job as Lincoln struggled. He spent the spring semester studying in Mexico and did not participate in the Vols' fall camp.

Tennessee finished its senior day in style when senior defensive tackle Wes Brown, who's played with injured knees for the past two seasons, intercepted Adams' pass and ran 25 yards for a touchdown with 3 seconds left, carrying Norman on his back for the last 5. His teammates piled on top of him in the end zone.

"Everybody was saying, 'That might have been the ugliest thing I've ever seen,'" Brown said. "I felt [Norman] hopping on my back, but I didn't want to be denied. I wanted to score, and I couldn't ask for a better ending."

1) Stop the Run - Tennessee struggled early on against the wildcat package, but picked up the slack as the game went on.  Mark Ingram was held to just 99 yards. All in all, Alabama just didn't do as good as they normally do against this Monte Kiffin defense.

 2) Control time of possesion - Tennessee did a very good job of this. Tennessee was always marching down the field and getting first downs. Problem was that they weren't converting their drives into points.

 3) Get off to good start early - Tennessee and Alabama were tied 3-3 to begin the first quarter, but going into halftime the score was 9-3 Bama. Not a great start for Tennessee.

4) Play great on special teams - Tennessee failed this part. Kickoff coverage was crappy. 2 field goals were blocked and 1 was missed. Unfortuantley, special teams cost Tennessee the game.

5) Create turnovers - Tennessee didn't get a lot of turnovers. However, the one turnover they did get was huge. Causing Mark Ingram to fumble the ball changed the game.

Here are my keys to victory for the Vols:

1) Stop the Run - If Tennessee is going to have any chance of beating Alabama they must stop Mark Ingram and the rest of the Alabama running backs.  Players such as Middle Line Backer Savion Frazier must have a great game if they want to accomplish this. Defensive lineman such as Ben Martin and Chris Walker must come out and cause trouble for Alabama's offensive line. If Tennessee can stop the run and make Alabama a one-dimensional team Alabama could be in for trouble on offense. Alabama quarterback Greg Mcelroy has struggled as of late even when Mark Ingram was having tremendous days.

2) Control time of possesion - With a such a great defense lead by Monte Kiffin it's a shame that the offense has had trouble in the past of keeping them off the field. In order for Tennessee's defense to be affective Montario Hardesty and crew must gain first downs. Both Hardesty and Bryce Brown have to be on there A-game against Alabama. If Tennessee can run the ball and keep the defense on the sidelines Alabama is in for a pleasent suprise.

3) Get off to good start early - There is no question that the Vols play better when they get off to a good start. Just ask Georgia. If Crompton can get going early and throw a couple of good 10 yard passes everything will start to come together for this offense. Tennessee needs to come out early and gain some confidence. Crompton's play seems to be 5 times better when Tennessee has a good start and hes gaining confidence.

4) Play great on special teams - One of the bad parts of this year for Tennessee has been special teams. Kickoff coverage has been absolutley horrible and Daniel Lincoln hasn't been the best either. It's extremely important for Tennessee to have good kickoff coverage or Javier Arenas and Julio Jones will be running into the endzone. It's also equally important that Daniel Lincoln connects on field goals or he could end up costing Tennessee the game. Special teams must improve in order for Tennessee to have a chance against Alabama.

5) Create turnovers - Last but not least, Tennessee needs to get into Greg Mcelroy's head and pick some of his passes off. By creating turnovers Alabama will start tear apart and the crowd will settle down. Watch out for Eric Berry as we all know he is very close to breaking the interceptions return yards record and would be more then glad to do it against Alabama. Also heisman canidate Mark Ingram might not like Eric Berry after the game either.

Tennessee Vols Head Coach Lane Kiffin

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin, who had been working under a memo of understanding, has signed a six-year, $14.25 million contract.  As agreed to when he was hired in November, Kiffin will earn $2 million in 2009, which includes pay for broadcasting responsibilities and endorsements.  His salary will gradually increase each season, topping out $2.75 million for the 2014 season.  Should Kiffin be fired without cause, he will receive a buyout between $5 million and $7.5 million.  Kiffin must inform Tennessee athletics director Mike Hamilton if he is interested in any other college or professional coaching job or is approached about another position. He will owe the university between $200,000 and $1 million should he take another job.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin didn't defeat Florida as promised. He did deliver on another guarantee with a 45-19 win over the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.

"[Kiffin] basically made a promise to us that we wouldn't lose to them anymore, forever or until he leaves," Volunteers safety Eric Berry said. "He's not going to let Georgia beat us."

The first-year coach got some help from Jonathan Crompton, who passed for a career-high 310 yards and threw for four touchdowns.

Kiffin had emphasized the Georgia game to his players due to its importance in recruiting. Because the state of Tennessee doesn't produce many elite prospects, coaches traditionally have recruited in Georgia, and 12 current Vols hail from the bordering state -- including Berry.

"I told the guys last night, I don't know all the Tennessee history or tradition of all the matchups," Kiffin said. "There are a lot of great teams in this conference. But I told them, to me, this is the biggest matchup."

It was his first Southeastern Conference victory and kept the Volunteers (3-3, 1-2) from going 0-3 in the league for a second season in a row. Georgia (3-3, 2-2) dropped to 3-3 for the first time under coach Mark Richt.

"They played better. They coached better. It's very obvious their team was a better team by a long shot," Richt said.

The Vols' passing game had faltered at times this season, with Crompton struggling with his accuracy and his receivers often dropping passes when he was on target.

But by halftime Saturday, Crompton had already thrown for 205 yards and three touchdowns. He finished 20-for-27.

Georgia's offense never reached the red zone, and the Tennessee defense held it to 241 yards compared with the Vols' 472.

The Bulldogs found other ways to put up points. Brandon Boykin scored on his second 100-yard kickoff return of the season, and Bacarri Rambo returned Crompton's interception 28 yards for a TD.

Blair Walsh kicked a 52-yard field goal, and Zach Renner blocked a punt by Chad Cunningham that sailed through the end zone for a safety.

"I don't know that I've ever been involved in a game where the defense didn't let a team into the red zone one time," Kiffin said.

Crompton was a perfect 4-for-4 for 67 yards on a drive late in the first half, finding Marsalis Teague on a 5-yard touchdown pass for a 21-10 lead with 2:40 left. He also connected with Gerald Jones on a 51-yard score, the Vols' longest pass of the season.

Despite being Tennessee's most productive receiver returning from last season, Jones had struggled with drops and mistakes while recovering from an ankle injury and wrist surgery. He had a season-best 105 yards receiving and two touchdowns.

It was Georgia's Joe Cox who played the role of struggling quarterback. Cox finished 19-for-34 with 146 yards and no touchdowns.

On the opening drive of the third quarter, Cox fumbled a snap, recovered and threw to Tennessee's Dennis Rogan while under pressure. The interception set up a 30-yard field goal by Daniel Lincoln to give the Vols a 24-12 lead.

"It's so frustrating to come out and have so many things go wrong," Cox said. "It's embarrassing. We are not doing the things we need to do as players."

The SEC's leading receiver, Georgia's A.J. Green, finished with only 60 yards on eight catches. Its leading rusher, Tennessee's Montario Hardesty, had 97 yards on the ground and a touchdown.

Richt opened his career by winning four out of his first five meetings with Tennessee, but the Vols have won three of the last four.

The game has often been one of the SEC East's premier matchups, but for the first time in 38 meetings neither team was ranked coming in.

"We've got a long way to go to become a good football team," Richt said.