Kiffin: "There is no situation with Nu'Keese."
November 04, 2009 23:41 PM
Tennessee fans concerned about freshman Nu'Keese Richardson need not worry, said coach Lane Kiffin. The speedy freshman is back at practice after taking care of "personal issues."
Richardson was not in Sunday's practice, fueling speculation about his future with the Vols. Kiffin said Richardson was frustrated because he wanted to be contributing.
Kiffin also said he had to keep reminding himself that last Saturday was a big win over South Carolina, because he felt the team could have played so much better.
Here is the University of Tennessee's release on Kiffin's comments:
Opening Comments:
"This is a big game for us this week, an in-state rivalry. We know they are going to come and play. I would imagine this is the biggest game of the season for them. I know they have a bunch of Tennessee kids on their roster. We don't have to look any further than the last time they came in here and almost beat Tennessee. Tennessee came out with a four-point win. Then go all the way back to a Peyton Manning-led team that Memphis was able to beat, a really good Tennessee team. Our guys will be well aware of that. We are going to have to have a great week of practice, a very physical week. We will open up a couple of starting spots for some competition to make sure our guys understand that we need to continue to improve and get ready for a tough game.
On which spots will become open:
"We are going to open up the left guard spot, the nickel corner and the fullback spot. We are also going to open up the left end on third down, the mike linebacker spot and the back-up defensive tackle spot. There will be a lot of competition this week for guys to earn playing time and to make sure that guys are practicing extremely hard and physical.
On Nu'Keese Richardson:
"There is no situation on Nu'Keese Richardson. Nu'Keese was dealing with some issues, some personal issues on Sunday. He was in yesterday and everything is fine.
"He is a little-bit frustrated like a lot of freshmen around the country are. Especially when you are potentially a really great player and you've had great success in high school. Then you come in and things are different in college than they were in high school. Nu'Keese will continue to develop, we will continue to work with him, and he will eventually be a great player.
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