The Volunteer State

Tennessee is less than a month away from its season opener and so far has not self-imposed any sanctions amid an ongoing NCAA investigation, although the administration has not definitively said whether it intends to do so.

Self-imposed penalties have the potential to soften the blow from the NCAA when the case is ruled upon, but they offer no guarantee of protection from further sanctions.

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) Mike (@ByMikeWilson) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on Vols sports news by following @GoVolsXtra.

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This time of year, most college football coaches in America would have you believe that their quarterback competition is wide open. 

And many of those coaches would be fibbing.

But don't count Tennessee coach Josh Heupel among the truth benders when he suggested at SEC Media Days last week that the job is up for grabs and that the right to be the starter must be earned. 

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) Mike (@ByMikeWilson) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on Vols sports news by following @GoVolsXtra.

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Tennessee entered into a pair of contract extensions in 2020 that proved to be poor decisions.

UT needlessly awarded then-athletics director Phillip Fulmer and then-football coach Jeremy Pruitt two-year contract extensions last year, putting the university in a pickle when it opted for a fresh direction in January.

Any thought that last year's lousy deals would slow Tennessee's roll on awarding contract extensions went by the wayside last week, when UT athletics director Danny White announced contract extensions for nine head coaches.

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) Mike (@ByMikeWilson) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on Vols sports news by following @GoVolsXtra.

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Tennessee typically garners respect in the SEC media's preseason predicted order of finish. Don't expect that to be the case this year.

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) Mike (@ByMikeWilson) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on Vols sports news by following @GoVolsXtra.

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Josh Heupel will have the unenviable task of trying to follow Lane Kiffin's act when Tennessee's coach makes his first appearance at SEC Media Days on July 20 in Hoover, Alabama.

While Heupel won't match Kiffin quip for quip, perhaps he can score some points with recruits or prospects' parents who might tune in to see what Tennessee's first-year coach has to say. 

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) Mike (@ByMikeWilson) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on Vols sports news by following @GoVolsXtra.

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Quarterback Kaidon Salter arrived at Tennessee in January as a prized member of Jeremy Pruitt's final signing class. He'll depart having never participated in a practice.

Coach Josh Heupel dismissed Salter on Thursday following his Saturday morning arrest on a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge. It marked Salter's second off-the-field misstep in a little more than three months.

Blake Toppmeyer of the USA TODAY Network and the News Sentinel's John Adams weigh in on Salter's dismissal.

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) Mike (@ByMikeWilson) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on Vols sports news by following @GoVolsXtra.

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Former Tennessee athletics director Phillip Fulmer said this time a year ago that then-Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt had "inherited a mess" from predecessor Butch Jones.

If that's the case, then what words describe the situation Pruitt, fired after going 16-19 in three seasons, left for successor Josh Heupel?

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) Mike (@ByMikeWilson) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on Vols sports news by following @GoVolsXtra.

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June brought an important change to college football's recruiting calendar, as campus visits are allowed to resume for the first time since the pandemic hit.

Maybe that will spark to Tennessee football's recruiting.

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) Mike (@ByMikeWilson) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on Vols sports news by following @GoVolsXtra.

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Football is the ultimate team game, but star power also is required to ascend to prominence. 

Tennessee doesn't have a Heisman candidate on Josh Heupel's inaugural roster, but are there potential stars?

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) Mike (@ByMikeWilson) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on Vols sports news by following @GoVolsXtra.

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A Tennessee athletic department in need of some positivity got a shot in the arm this spring thanks to Tony Vitello's baseball program. 

The fourth-ranked Vols (40-13) are playing like a team capable of making the College World Series for the first time since 2005.

And the fiery and affable Tony Vitello, Tennessee's fourth-year coach, has emerged as one of the most popular figures in town. 

Stay connected on Twitter with Blake (@btoppmeyer) Mike (@ByMikeWilson) and John (@JohnAdamsKNS) and stay up to date on Vols sports news by following @GoVolsXtra.

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