Five reasons to be excited about the upcoming season

It is finally almost “Football Time in Tennessee.” You can smell it in the air here in Middle Tennessee, despite it being 105°F outside. While driving to my home last evening, I drove by Smyrna High School (the defending Tennessee 5A state champs, alma mater of current Volunteer CB Marsalous Johnson, and the current dwelling spot of his brother, highly recruited Senior WR Rodriguez Wilks) and I got chills just hearing those pads pop and the whistles being blown. This made me start thinking about some players and areas that we, the fans, should be excited to see about the 2007 Volunteer football team that we may not already know.

1. Rico McCoy – This kid is a heat-seeking missile who will blow up any ball carrier crossing his path. He’s been a demon in his limited appearances on defense and on special teams. If he can just get the scheme down and continuously be in the right spot, he could team with Jerod Mayo and Ryan Karl to make up the best LB trio in the SEC.

2. Chris Scott – This is when the highly-recruited 6’5” 300lb Scott can make that jump into being the All-America candidate that may thought he could be when he was recruited out of high school. He struggled with his weight early on in his career in Knoxville and the coaching staff now seems unsure of whether Scott will play RG or RT. Wherever he is, I am excited to see a youngster who has worked so hard reap his rewards.

3. Eric Berry – Enough said. Berry seems like one of these kids that was just born to be a tremendous football player. From his production in practices, it seems that Berry has a great opportunity to start at one corner on opening day, which has to be a first in the Fulmer-era. Some kids don’t like up to the five-star hype, but it looks like Eric Berry is all substance. He said last week that his idol is Champ Bailey. Well, if he’s 85% as good as Bailey, he’ll make a lot of money one day playing this game.

4. Brad Cottom – This is a position whose production, or lack thereof (sans Jason Witten), has been a bone of contention with many, me included, in the Fulmer era. Cottom is a huge target (6’8” 270) with great top speed, who can cause matchup problems for a defense. His production will be vital to the Vols offensive success until the young receivers get up to speed.

5. Austin Rogers – I have been an Austin Rogers fan since I went to a David Lipscomb – Goodpasture game a few years back to go see current USC WR Patrick Turner play. Lipscomb came out on top that night and by the time that game was over I was wondering more about this versatile Austin Rogers kid than I was about Turner. He ran the ball, ran back kicks, caught passes, and covered Turner quite well. The only thing he didn’t do that night was punt! Fast forward a few years and Rogers is at a crossroads in his Tennessee career. He showed glimpses of what he could do with a quality performance against Air Force, but then got hurt against Florida and contracted Mono, which effectively ended his season. If Rogers can stay healthy, he could be a huge asset to the Vols aerial assault.

There are plenty more reasons to be excited about the Vols upcoming season, but I thought that these were five young men whose futures intrigued me. If the Vols can get good contributions from these five guys, Atlanta could very well be within reach for Phil Fulmer’s squad.