Vols: Start Your Day with a Glass of Demonte

The USA Today preseason college football poll is out. It took awhile before I finally stumbled upon Tennessee at #18. On ESPN Radio and Fox Sports Radio, I listened in to college football preview shows. The hosts on both never stumbled upon Tennessee. And here in Minneapolis, I tuned in a local radio sportstalk show that happened to be discussing the SEC. Georgia, LSU, Florida, Auburn, Alabama and even Kentucky were mentioned.

Tennessee was not mentioned.

It's one thing to be a middle-of-the-pack college football program and annually expect little to nothing in the way of coverage from the national media. When you're Tennessee - top 10 all-time in wins, top five all-time in bowl wins and appearances and second in SEC championships - and you're not even being hinted at, much less being mentioned at all, that's a problem.

Coach Phillip Fulmer began to address that problem by venturing forth into what some might call his Final Frontier: The ESPN studios in Bristol (Conn.). Fulmer went through what they call the "car wash," appearing on "ESPN First Take" and on ESPN Radio's "The Herd" and “Tirico and Van Pelt.’’ Incredibly, he even did a live ESPN.com chat. I know, I know . . . it's all a bit much to fully comprehend at one sitting. So let's all take a moment to relax, catch our breath and try to move forward. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE . . .

Throw in a few taped appearances for “College Football Live" and "The Hot List" for ESPNews and now, you've got a head coach ready for a kayak trip down the Tennessee River.

Knowing Fulmer's history, it's hard to imagine he initiated the trip to Bristol. Surely, he must have lost at cards to Bruce Pearl and Pat Summitt and when he ran out of chips, they said he'd be square if he did a little UT pub on ESPN.

While I give him credit for getting outside of himself and actually doing the Vols a great service by going up there, he stayed well within The Fulmer Parameters with safe, cushy remarks. Though that's Fulmer, that's where I think he did the program a disservice.

One of the things that's been missing with this program is fire. A little extra juice that actually makes it to an opponent's bulletin board. Someone willing to step out on a limb and say something provocative, or even borderline provocative. Someone like, say, Demonte Bolden?

Did you catch what he said to an ESPN.com writer about Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow at Saturday's media day? “I don’t care about Tebow. Yeah, he’s an All-American, but he’s a regular player. Get him back on the field. You know what I’m saying. I made hits on him last year. This year, I’m going to get back to him a lot quicker."

Now, there was nothing out of bounds with what he said. But considering Tennessee's recent history of "let's play nice," he might as well have been sending missiles across the bow, in front of the bow and at Tebow himself. These were practically fighting words. One wonders if Fulmer, upon learning of the quotes, suspended Bolden for the season.

The comment was a very small facet of media day, but they were words the rest of Bolden's teammates should hear.

A quick sampling of some Vols fans brought reactions nothing short of fear. "Oh I wish he wouldn't have said that. That'll just get Florida more revved up to play us." Another said "Great. I wish Fulmer would rein these guys in."

Are you kidding me? Those kinds of comments are exactly what the Vols have been missing for too many years. I'm not for a moment suggesting Vols players need to act like the Miami Hurricanes of old, showing little to no class for opponents. But there is a fine line between confidence and arrogance. In the case of Tennessee players, what they say is usually just this side of PBS Sprout.

Recent seasons have shown the Vols to be a little less talented than their teams of the mid to late 1990's. But that doesn't mean the cupboard's been bare. Often times, the collective state of mind a team has going into a game can carry it just a bit further than their talent should reasonably allow. I contend that the converse has been the case with UT.

Rather than have a little swagger, rather than throwing a few comments out there and coming out on the field breathing fire and chewing glass ready to back them up, they have gone out of their way to out-nice everyone.

While this might seem fine and dandy to Fulmer and the coaching staff, it often strikes in the face of what makes a great player who he is.

Last year, shots of Florida coach Urban Meyer on the sideline during their game with the Vols seemed to indicate profound joy, bordering on laughing, over beating UT into submission. You almost got the idea he was annoyed the Gators didn't break 60. And leading up to the game, Florida players, though showing respect to the Vols, made it quite clear they fully expected to win the game.

The Vols have tried the Barney method of comments leading up to a game. The "I love you, you love me..." approach. Maybe now is the time to throw out that playbook, along with last season's offense, and begin bringing some heat.

So what if they ruffle a few feathers. So what if they get under the skin of a few players. So what if a rival coach takes issue. This team - this program - hasn't done anything significant in the college football world since 1998. They won't say it publicly, but the coaches know it. They know it only too well.

And let's face it, most of that has to do with what the players do on the field on a Saturday afternoon or evening. But perhaps...perhaps...what they do off the field before Saturday can begin to set the table differently than fans have seen for the past 10 years.

You don't think that matters? Think again. At the highest level of athletics, in any sport, it's often little more than attitude that tips the scales of winning or losing. Individually and collectively, it's the difference between hope and expectation.

It says here a little Demonte will go a long way towards changing the culture of this team - this program.

CGabriel is a radio talk show host, freelance writer and voiceover artist. A native of Chicago, he makes his home in Minneapolis with the three loves of his life: His beautiful wife and two daughters.