Demetrice Morley done at Tennessee
Talk about it in
The General's Quarters
After being dismissed for academics following his sophomore season and then getting the second chance of a lifetime last January to return to Tennessee, safety
Demetrice Morley is now officially an ex-Vol. Head coach
Lane Kiffin made the announcement after practice on Tuesday reenforcing that his program is not for everyone.
"Demetrice won't be part of our team anymore," Kiffin announced. "Like we've said from the beginning, this isn't easy. It's very demanding for guys to stay here, go through everything we do, hold to our standards on and off the field and to do everything we expect to be part of our culture. Demetrice could not do that and we wish him the best of luck."
Third-year player
C.J. Fleming, who has earned his way this spring to first team reps, admits he feels sorry for Morley, but said simply that the talented Morley would not get on board with things.
"It's real big to lose a talent like Demetrice," Fleming said. "He's probably the best closer on the ball we have on defense. As far as the best, flat-out, raw defensive-back skills, he was probably the best we had. But when you have a guy who just isn't on the same page as everybody else it's hard to call him part of the family. It's unfortunate to lose him, and we're sad about it. But we've got to move on.
"When someone sees someone who doesn't want to come to practice and doesn't want to show up for meetings and just thinks they can just show up and it is their spot, but that is not the way it is with the new coaches and I think it (Morley's dismissal) is making everyone stronger."
Fleming was certainly not shocked at all by the news and not just because Morley missed two of the first nine practices without consent and three total practices. In fact, Fleming said it has been clear for a while that Morley wasn't going to make it on the team.
"Probably back when we started morning runs a couple of months ago," Fleming said of when it looked like Morley might have issues staying the course with the new staff. "He missed a lot of team runs. Then he was suspended indefinitely for a while. That is when I figured it out (that Morley wasn't going to make it). He and coach (Ed) Orgeron never really got together. That was a big thing with those two."
And while Fleming understands and agrees with the move he has sympathy for the wasted talent.
"He is senior, he has kids to take care of. This is his second chance back. Man, my blessings go out to him and I hope he straightens his life up," Fleming said.
Fellow safety
Eric Berry said it's unfortunate but this group he and Morley dubbed the "goon squad" has to move on.
"We were pretty cool and it's going to be hard not to play with him," Berry said. "Going into last year we had big goals. We accomplished some of them. I really don't know what to say as far as him leaving. I can't touch on that too much. He did a lot for us last year. It's tough to say when you lose a friend like that but we've got to move on. It's something you have to deal with.
Fleming said the decision by Kiffin to remove a senior starter not only gets everyone's attention but it provides plenty of motivation.
"Everyone (Wednesday) is going to be talking about like how they put Demetrice off the team," Fleming said. "That's Morley. That's our five-star and the number one overall defensive back and it's down the drain. It's real big that it is D-Mo rather than just someone who really hasn't played. That's a starter that got taken out of the lineup.
"It's going to make everyone more hungry. (Dennis) Rogan got some reps at free safety today. Everyone knows we have two free safeties coming in and that makes things better even though Demetrice is gone. It seemed like they just prolonged it. Everyone had a feeling it was coming."
Fellow starter
Rico McCoy echoed the sentiments of Berry and Fleming in that everyone has to go to work.
"You know how good he could be and you saw that from his first season here, him playing as a true freshman," McCoy said. "I was just talking about having him around as one of the guys (being missed), but that's a big hit right there.
"Somebody has to (step up), that's the way life is. Somebody else has got to step up. Somebody else is waiting for a break. And I guess this is it. We've got to keep working, work even harder now."
That work this summer will include five-star defensive back
Janzen Jackson and four-star defensive back Darren Myles Jr., both of whom will arrive on campus this summer and both will start out at safety according to defensive backs coach
Willie Garza
Morley's departure comes on the heels of last week's exit of junior tailback
Lennon Creer, who quit the team following two weeks of spring camp.
Ramone Johnson and
E.J. Abrams-Ward were dismissed during offseason conditioning.
Preston Bailey also elected to quit football and focus on academics prior to spring camp.
Darius Myers also is no longer with the team after he was dismissed before the onset of spring practice.
