Tennessee starting DE, Fluker, Bray, Bumphis, 2 others named as receiving benefits

Tennessee defensive end Maurice Couch and four former SEC players have been named in a report as receiving illegal benefits during their time at schools. Alabama star DJ Fluker, Tennessee quarterback Tyler Bray, Mississippi State wide receiver Chad Bumphis and defensive end Fletcher Cox, were named by a Yahoo! Sports report. The payments are said to come from former Tide star Luther Davis, the report said. “Yahoo Sports also found that three NFL agents and three financial advisers engaged Davis in transactions totaling $45,550. The three agents were Andy Simms, Peter Schaffer and John Phillips. The financial advisers were Jason Jernigan, Mike Rowan and Hodge Brahmbhatt“. Yahoo said that Simms, Schaffer, Rowan and Phillips confirmed the payments to Davis, but did

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Tennessee (Finally) Fires Derek Dooley

Tennessee fans today got the news that they weren’t surprised or shocked about: Derek Dooley has been fired as the Volunteers head coach. After his team was drilled 41-18 by Vanderbilt, Dooley was told that he wouldn’t be returning. And he wouldn’t even be asked to coach the team’s game against Kentucky, either. And to make matters worse, but buying out Dooley’s contract will cost Tennessee a cool $5 million (FIVE MIIIIILION DOLLARS!). Dooley’s highlights included (per The Clairon-Ledger): A 15-21 record A 0-15 record against ranked teams (we start to think what might have happened to Mark Richt if UGA hadn’t beaten Florida) An 0-7 SEC record this year, despite being a dark horse for the SEC East title

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Quick SEC reaction: Week 2

Wow. What a Week 2 for the SEC. And it was somewhat humbling, let me tell you (although not as humbling as the Big 10, who saw Wisconsin, Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue, Iowa and Illinois all lose, stalwarts Michigan and Ohio State tested) – especially in Fayetteville. Anyway, this blog went an honest-to-God 9-2 yesterday, with our only bad predictions with Arkansas and Vanderbilt. Anyway, here’s some quick grades before a longer piece tomorrow, when we’re feeling more, ahem, ‘together’. 1) We completely underestimated Louisiana-Monroe. We thought they’d come to town, take their near-$1m, and walk off or walk over. Instead, they battled Arkansas when they were 28-7 down in the third quarter, and came back to win in stunning

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Rogered: Tennessee WR Da’Rick Rogers suspended indefinitely

Huge news in Tennessee: Standout wide receiver Da’Rick Rogers has been suspended indefinitely by coach Derek Dooley for an unspecified violation of team rules, according to ESPN. It is not known what he did to gain such a suspension, although Bruce Feldman, college football reporter at CBS was told that it was a string of troubling incidents that prompted the staff to make the move. In one tweet he said: “After what I’d been told by sources inside Vols program last yr, was surprised Dooley allowed Da’Rick Rogers to stay w team.” He added: “In 2011 Da’Rick Rogers had a series of incidents, incldg a complete meltdown at UK gm that sources say COMPLETELY crossed line w UT staff.” And

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SEC Prediction: Is Tennessee A Dark Horse for the SEC East this year?

If you haven’t heard, Derek Dooley’s out of his job as head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers. When? About December, 2012. We jest, but you get the point: Mr Dooley’s under huge pressure to get the 2012 right at Neyland Stadium after two years of debacle, and our thought is this: Shouldn’t we be thinking of the Vols as a dark horse for the division, rather than an also ran? LAST SEASON As awful as people who like you to think Tennessee was last year, we’d like to put this out there: The Vols were also hellish unlucky with injuries. They lost their best wide receiver Justin Hunter in their third  game of the season against Florida. Their QB, Tyler

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