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Article published Aug 19, 2008 Linebacker competition still too close to call
By Ryan Callahan of The Daily Times Staff
KNOXVILLE -- Less than two weeks away from the Tennessee football team's season opener at UCLA, senior Adam Myers-White still has no idea if he's going to be a starter.
"Y'all will know probably before me," he joked to reporters Monday morning.
And it might not be anytime soon.
Myers-White and senior Nevin McKenzie opened the final week of fall camp still in close competition for the starting job at strongside linebacker, the only position on either side of the ball that remains up for grabs.
It's a neck-and-neck battle that seems to offer no easy solution.
Myers-White, a U.S. Army All-American out of Hamilton (Ohio) High School in 2005, and McKenzie, a hard-hitting former junior-college transfer, have been co-starters on UT's depth chart since the start of spring practice in March.
Both came to Tennessee as safeties, making them equally capable of playing a position with pass-coverage requirements, and both are listed at 6 feet 2 inches and 215 pounds.
Making matters worse, neither apparently has stood out in the first 17 days of preseason practice.
"It really hasn't sorted itself out that anybody's just distinguished himself," Tennessee coach Phillip Fulmer said. "It's an ongoing process, and we're looking for a guy who can make plays there. ...
"Neither one of them have really just taken hold of that yet. Not that either one of them has done poorly necessary, but neither one of them necessarily have done great."
Myers-White took the first snap with the defensive starters in the each of the Vols' first two preseason scrimmages and led the team with five tackles in the opening scrimmage Aug. 9 at Neyland Stadium.
McKenzie finished with four tackles, including a tackle for loss, and a pass deflection in the most recent scrimmage Saturday night at Neyland Stadium.
The back-and-forth nature of the battle has coaches considering the possibility of having the two share playing time and expecting to postpone a decision until next week, when the Vols begin game-week preparations.
"I'm sure we will," Chavis said.
"There really hasn't been anything that's stood out. Both of them are working hard. Both of them are talented guys. It's matter of who's going to be the most productive, and we've got a situation where we've got two guys that can play."
Strongside linebacker is an important position in Tennessee's system. Last year's starter, then-senior Ryan Karl, was responsible for calling plays on the field. Myers-White or McKenzie -- perhaps even both -- likely will do the same this year.
"We can confuse the whole defense," Myers-White said. "It's a lot more burden, but a lot of other guys have got a hard job as well. You've just got to be able to do it."
The Vols have two who seem capable of handling it. Now it's only a matter of deciding on one.
"Nevin's a natural football player, whether he's at safety -- which he could have played here, except for some of the coverage obligations -- or whether he's at linebacker," Fulmer said. "He's just a football player. Adam's a smart guy.
"Both of them just need to make more plays. That's what they're out there for."