Tennessee Football Notes

Even though Tennessee's two biggest rivals are playing in today's SEC Championship game, today is still a big day for the Vols. Lane Kiffin will be on ESPN's College GameDay and will make picks at 11:30 a.m. Kiffin earlier this week said that Florida has better players but Alabama has better coaches. Expect Kirk Herbstreit and the guys to ask him about the game and it will be interesting to see if Kiffin takes any shots at Urban Meyer or Nick Saban.

In other Tennessee news, wide receivers coach Frank Wilson is leaving the staff to become the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator for LSU. Wilson is one of the few guys on Les Miles' staff that has recruiting ties to the Louisiana area and Kiffin needs to find a good replacement for Wilson. Trooper Taylor would be a good replacement, but Kiffin might want to bring in one of his own guys. Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher is interested in hiring Tennessee running backs coach Eddie Gran. This would be a huge loss for the Vols as Gran is  a great running backs coach and a great recruiter that has plenty of ties to the state of Florida.

In other recruiting news, Ed Orgeron made a splash this past week by visiting Florida commitment Mack Brown. The running back from Lithonia, Ga. said Orgeron promised him early playing time. This makes sense as the Vols lose senior Montario Hardesty and return sopohomores Bryce Brown and David Oku. Rivals.com says Brown is built like Oku. Toney Williams returns from an ACL injury and Tauren Poole could transfer after the season. Kiffin could use a good running back from this recruiting class.