Is Tennessee football out of bounds?
By Ray Glier, special for USA TODAY
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Before University of Tennessee football players get a playbook, they get a Think Card. It is an orange card small enough to fit into their wallets. On the front it says, "THINK," followed by a series of questions designed to help the player assess his behavior and make the appropriate decision.
"It's embarrassing to our administration, to our fans, to our coaches, to me and to a large portion of the other kids," coach Phillip Fulmer said of the recent arrests.
By Ed Reinke, AP
On the back of the card are the home and cell phone numbers of the Tennessee coaching staff so players can call for help.
The Think Card is part of a safety net of counselors, tutors and role models the university has been constructing since 1995 after eight football players had run-ins with the law in a one-year span.
But during the last 16 months, players frequently have fallen through. Tennessee football players have been in at least 20 incidents involving shoplifting, assault, gun charges, motor vehicle citations, disturbing the peace and failing a drug test.
Even after coach Phillip Fulmer gathered his players for a meeting during spring practice in April and told them the bad behavior had to stop, linebacker Daniel Brooks and defensive back Corey Campbell were suspended after off-field incidents.
Brooks pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of driving without a license and three other charges were dismissed by a Knox County General Sessions Court judge. Brooks will miss the first three games this season.
While court dates await other Volunteers players, Fulmer is scheduled to face reporters today in Birmingham, Ala., at the annual Southeastern Conference media days.
In an interview last week, Fulmer tightened his lips and took a deep breath when asked about the recent incidents. "It's embarrassing to our administration, to our fans, to our coaches, to me and to a large portion of the other kids," said Fulmer, Tennessee's head coach since 1992. "You would hope that young men who have the opportunities they have, to be on the stage they're on, would make better choices."
Assault accusations
Among the poorer choices:
• Carolyn Goodrich said her son thought he had been hit accidentally by an elbow during a pickup basketball game Jan. 12.
It wasn't until the next day, while looking at a university surveillance videotape, that Deshaun Goodrich saw he had been punched on the right side of his face when he wasn't looking by a Tennessee football player.
"He'll have a metal plate in his mouth the rest of his life," Carolyn Goodrich said.
Tony McDaniel, the 6-7, 300-pound defensive tackle who was shown on the videotape hitting the 6-4, 205-pound Goodrich, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and is scheduled to enter a plea Thursday in Knoxville General Sessions Court.
• Shadiyah Murphy also never saw who broke his jaw March 4. The Tennessee student said he was hit from behind in an altercation with several Vols football players at a fraternity dance, according to court affidavits and police incident reports.
Murphy's jaw had to be wired shut to heal.
Jerod Mayo, a freshman linebacker, and Robert Ayers, a freshman defensive end, have been charged with aggravated assault in the Murphy case and are scheduled to appear in court Monday to answer charges.
• Quantavios Emerson did see who hit him, opening a cut on his head that required four staples to close April 10 in a fight in a dormitory lobby. Emerson, who was in the fight with Bret Smith, a Tennessee wide receiver, and Brent Schaeffer, a quarterback, said he was struck while on the floor.
Smith and Schaeffer pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and were ordered to pay restitution to Emerson. Smith was suspended from the team; Schaeffer left the program voluntarily.
Vols' safety net
The school has devoted resources and considerable effort to the issue of student-athlete conduct. At least three full-time employees of the football program have duties that include steering players from trouble.
• Former Tennessee quarterback Condredge Holloway is assistant athletics director for player relations and counsels players on their behavior off the field.
• Running backs coach Trooper Taylor, the assistant head coach, also handles player development issues.
• Judy Jackson, the associate director of student-athlete welfare, has an office with a window looking out on the indoor practice facility. She coordinates players' participation in community-related projects through the G.O. V.O.L.S. service program.
The list of football players who have participated in the program in Knoxville is substantially longer than the list of players who recently have faced criminal charges. During the spring semester alone, football players logged more than 1,000 hours of community service, from Habitat for Humanity to reading in schools to Boys & Girls Club activities and others, according to a record kept by the athletics department.
The Knoxville Police Department has assigned an officer to act as liaison between the Tennessee team and the police department and to counsel players.
Tennessee's athletics department also is participating in a program sponsored, in part, by the SEC. MVP, Mentors in Violence Prevention, is a program conducted by Northeastern University's Center for the Study of Sport in Society in which college athletes try to teach youngsters how to avoid confrontation.
A cycle of problems?
The caretakers of Tennessee's football program — President John D. Petersen, in his second year at the school after coming from the University of Connecticut; athletics director Mike Hamilton, on the job since July 2003 and at the school since 1992; and Fulmer — say there is no systemic problem with the program and college football programs across the country have the same issues with handling young, immature football players.
"When we adjusted the NCAA rules a couple of years ago to limit the amount of contact with prospective student-athletes, I think it limited the ability of coaches to get to know the athletes better," Hamilton said. "You're having to make quicker judgments sometimes assessing a student-athlete's ability to fit in."
Asked if he thought there was a recruiting problem at Tennessee and if the Vols were recruiting athletes at risk to get in trouble, Peterson said the university's issues with athletes are a "cyclical thing we see."
Peterson said he did not think Fulmer was recruiting athletes at risk for bad behavior. Nevertheless, Hamilton said Tennessee might be willing to join the growing list of universities conducting criminal background checks of athletes to see if there is anything that might reveal a potential for problems. But he did not view it as a panacea.
"Is it something we're doing for PR sake, or is it something we're doing that will help us make a better decision to accept a student-athlete?" Hamilton said. "If it helps us make better decisions, then I'm for it."
Citing Georgia and South Carolina, Peterson said football teams at other SEC schools have had their share of problems off the field. Eleven South Carolina players have been arrested since the end of the 2004 season. At Georgia, three returning players have been suspended for the season opener against Boise State for off-field incidents and a fourth has been kicked off the team. Five members of Georgia's incoming recruiting class failed to meet academic requirements.
Peterson said Fulmer has demonstrated a get-tough policy on athletes who repeatedly caused trouble. The president said Fulmer dismissed wide receiver James Banks — "the best pure athlete on the football team" — in December after several incidents.
"Is it acceptable? No," Peterson said of the rash of incidents. "Is it a concern? Yes, it's always a concern when things like this happen."
Gary Holliday, a spokesman for the Knoxville Police Department, said authorities do not feel there is a security issue with Tennessee football players and their interaction in the community.
There is a difference in opinion on campus, however. Chemistry professor Jeffrey Kovac said the recent incidents suggest something is not right.
"My impression is that these kids are under close supervision by coaches, but there is still trouble. So is there a systematic failing?" said Kovac, a longtime critic of the football program.
"I think coaches have a responsibility to set tones and standards, and if there are a lot of incidents, it suggests there is a problem."
Quarterback Rick Clausen said Fulmer gathered the team near the end of spring practice after the April assaults and demanded some accountability.
"He said, 'You guys made this problem and you're going to fix it,' " Clausen said.
Clausen, one of six team captains, said the 18 seniors have been leaning on freshmen and sophomores to reel in their strike-back mentality when they get into confrontations. But they are not always successful.
"Some guys don't get it. It's very few, but those few you can't help them," Clausen said. "It's frustrating."
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