FanHouse SEC Football Preview 07

A sorry confluence of poor timing and shoddy internet service, with a little bit of real life thrown in, put the SEC preview schedule all out of whack. But hey, we're the SEC, we do what we want in the college football world anyway, right? So, hopelessly late, here's a missing piece of the SEC football preview '07 puzzle: a look at the Tennessee Vols.

WHY THEY'LL WIN

Good Erik: Erik Ainge had a statistically impressive 2006, finishing third in the SEC in QB rating (151.9) and breaking the school's completion percentage record (67%). But that's not why Tennessee can count on a good 2007. There are two moments in Erik Ainge's career at Tennessee that define him as a quarterback. One occurred last October in the Alabama game. Ainge, who was having at best an "off day" passing, threw an interception (his second of the day) to Bama's Simeon Castille, who ran the ball back to Tennessee's 8 yard line before being forced out of bounds by Ainge. Alabama settled for a field goal and the game stayed close. Later, Ainge led the Vols on a fourth-quarter touchdown drive that won the game. Had Castille scored on the interception, Bama might have put the game away early. But Ainge's hustle in the face of a mistake kept his team in it. As far as Ainge's offensive play goes, he won't have the luxury of throwing to experienced guys like Robert Meachem this season. In fact, he'll be breaking in a whole new set of wide outs. And while that might sound like a detriment, Ainge got a head start on breaking in the new guys, as he and linebacker Jerrod Mayo scripted and ran three full practices without the coaches present during the summer. Keep in mind too, that five of the last six BCS champions had a senior quarterback leading them. I'm just sayin'.

(Image via Georgia Sports Blog and Kit Kitchens)

Being a coach in the SEC can be lucrative (just ask any coach at Alabama). But because of the insanely high expectations each fan base has for its team, it can also be a pressure cooker (just ask any former coach at Alabama). Coaching in the SEC is kind of like being a salesman in Glengarry Glen Ross: first place, an SEC championship; second place, a set of steak knives; third place, you're fired.

Alright, so maybe third place isn't grounds for immediate dismissal, but it makes the barbecue circuit in the spring a little more uncomfortable. More than half the coaches in the league have been with their teams for less than five years, so turnover isn't unusual. Before we take a look at coaches who need to impress this fall to remain on their respective sidelines, let's be clear about who most likely isn't worried about losing his job anytime soon.

1. Urban Meyer -- current king of college football
2. Nick Saban -- even if he's not Bear Reincarnate, Bama's got a lot of money tied up in him.
3. Steve Spurrier -- If you can charge $100/year for access to your website, you've got job security. Click clack.
4. Tommy Tuberville -- Steadily maintains one of the best programs in the SEC this decade.
5. Mark Richt -- see also Tommy Tuberville
6. Les Miles -- Goofy hat, goofier comments, but wins.

Surprisingly, Bobby Johnson still isn't on the hot seat. He's managed to do something that nobody else has done since George McIntyre in the early 80s: hold the Vandy job for more than five years. And whether or not he also becomes the first coach to lead the 'Dores to a bowl since McIntyre, he's well-liked in Nashville and should be around for awhile. Also, Rich Brooks has gone from fans wearing "Rich Brooks Farewell Tour" t-shirts to writing songs about him, and could take the 'Cats to back-to-back bowl games for only the third time in 25 years.

So which of the four remaining coaches are on the hot seat? After the jump...

There's an old coaching saying attributed to Bear Bryant (though most old coaching sayings are attributed to Bryant) that says you lose a conference game for every freshman you start. Last year, Florida started Percy Harvin, and lost a game. They also won SEC and national championships. That's probably why over the summer Urban Meyer said that, starting with his top-ranked 2007 recruiting class, he doesn't plan on redshirting freshmen anymore.

So again, this post probably could have featured at least five Gators to watch in 2007. But instead, let's start with a freshman who may be starting from day one at one of Florida's rivals...

1. Eric Berry, DB, Tennessee

Eric Berry has pulled off two impressive yet disparate feats: he ran a 4.33 in an electronically timed 40-yard dash, and he has drawn comparisons to Peyton Manning. Obviously, the Manning thing isn't because they have similar speed, but because Berry is considered to be the most important recruit to show up in Knoxville since sainted Peyton in the mid-90s. The only reason Berry was a five-star athlete coming out of high school is that they don't give anybody six stars. He was the number one player in Georgia, the number one cornerback nationally (he also ran for over 1,200 yards and threw for 1,000 his senior season as a quarterback), and the number three overall player nationally. His father, James, was a captain for the Vols in the late 1970s, but the legend will say that it was not his legacy status that drew the younger Berry to UT, but Fulmer and Cutcliffe's insistence that Berry would play in a scheme similar to Arkansas' famed 'Wildcat' package used with Darren McFadden. How quickly Berry sees the offensive side of the ball will likely depend on how fast he secures his role as a starting corner for the Vols, where he will fill one of the holes left by Jonathan Wade, Antwan Stewart, and the injured Inky Johnson. Early reports are that Berry is physically ready and mentally mature, so it might not take long.

Even if it seems like Simeon Castille is in his seventh year at Alabama or Jacob Tamme played tight end when Tim Couch was at Kentucky, the truth is that college rosters are almost always in flux. It's the reason pundits make such a big deal about returning starters -- though I've never figured out why returning starters is such a good thing if they all stunk the year before, but I digress -- since the window to play in college is so short, getting guys with experience back is a luxury.

Like Bruce Ciskie and his Big Ten preview, I could have written this whole post about one team: Florida. In fact, I could have just written it about Florida's defense, which had seven players (Jarvis Moss, Reggie Nelson, Ray McDonald, Marcus Thomas, Joe Cohen, Ryan Smith, and Brandon Siler) drafted last April. And of course there are other big losses that nearly every team has to recoup.

But instead, I felt it better to spread the love around and look at the really big shoes that need filling, and the shoes which, if filled properly, could help their teams compete for a SEC championship. It starts with some of the biggest shoes -- both literally and figuratively -- that a quarterback could leave behind...