It's the first week of June, a time when rational adults enjoy warm weather and think about things other than football. You are not a rational adult. Neither am I. So let's talk about the Tennessee Volunteers slowly recreating their own personal soap opera for the second consecutive offseason.
Chaz Coleman — the blue-chip EDGE rusher Tennessee poached from Penn State, the crown jewel of their offseason, the guy Josh Heupel was supposed to unleash on Jim Knowles' new defense — has been a ghost since April. He missed most of spring practice. He didn't report for summer workouts on time. His Instagram went dark. And then, in what can only be described as the most Tennessee way possible, conflicting reports emerged over the weekend: one insider says he was dismissed, another says 'it's not to that point yet.' Coleman apparently did return to Knoxville on Friday, but VolQuest's Brent Hubbs noted his future 'remains a mystery' even with him physically in the building. Meanwhile, Austin Price said Monday that the team 'hasn't viewed him as a teammate in a long time' and that a permanent separation is 'probably' coming 'sooner rather than later.' The Vol message boards have already coined the phrase 'Nico 2.0,' which, if you remember, is a reference to starting quarterback Nico Iamaleava ghosting the program last spring before bolting to UCLA. Josh Heupel is collecting these situations like trading cards at this point. Rare, miserable trading cards.
While Tennessee fans stress-refreshed their phones, Lane Kiffin was doing his own version of a victory lap through the SEC spring meetings in Miramar Beach. Yes, the same Kiffin who gave a four-hour Vanity Fair interview in which he essentially told Black recruits' families that Oxford, Mississippi was not the real world. He apologized — sort of — on On3, saying it 'wasn't calculated.' Ole Miss fans heard that and immediately started counting down to September 19, when Kiffin walks back into Oxford wearing purple and gold. That game already has six months of emotional baggage and we haven't played a snap. At the spring meetings, Kiffin said the CFP selection committee director who met with SEC coaches was 'in a no-win situation.' Truly a man incapable of going five consecutive days without becoming a story.
The spring meetings themselves were a masterwork of organized confusion. The entire Power Four minus the SEC has now lined up behind a 24-team playoff that would kill conference championship games. The SEC's coaches unanimously said they love the championship game. Missouri's Eli Drinkwitz told reporters to slow down and 'enjoy what you have.' Steve Sarkisian, never one to undersell himself, proposed an entirely new four-team SEC mini-playoff. Auburn's Alex Golesh, presumably staring at the ceiling, noted that 'nobody in that room cares about what I think about the college football playoff.' Texas A&M's Mike Elko, equally done with the proceedings, said 'I don't know why you guys ask us.' Alabama AD Greg Byrne already told USA Today the championship game has 'run its course.' The conference left Florida without agreeing on anything except that they will meet again in June.
So: Tennessee might be losing its second star player in as many years to an off-field saga that nobody fully understands. Lane Kiffin is treating college football media like his personal therapy session. And the SEC is barreling toward a December deadline to decide the future of the sport by simply refusing to decide anything. Normal week. Everything is fine.
