July 26, 2012

Dooley says Bray matter handled 'internally'; talks Milligan trip and more

NASHVILLE --- Calling the incident outside the apartment of quarterback Tyler Bray "silly, prepubescent behavior," Tennessee coach Derek Dooley said Thursday the Vols had handled the matter internally and would move forward.

Dooley, speaking to a gathering of reporters prior to the 46th annual UT All Sports Picnic, went on to say the incident where Bray and his roommate, Michael Grandinetti, were accused of throwing beer bottles and golf balls that damaged the car of Bradi Hudson, should never have happened.


"Obviously (Bray's) accuracy is not where it needs to be. He missed the trash can." - Derek Dooley



"It is what it is. It's a silly incident. It shouldn't have happened with a little better judgment," Dooley said inside Lipscomb University's Allen Arena. "Probably wouldn't be talking about it if it wasn't Tyler Bray and he wasn't the quarterback at Tennessee. That's just understanding that role and how big it is and even the silliest things you might do are going to be publicized and can be a negative deal.

"We've spoken enough about it really, guys. I don't want to just keep going.We handled it internally. We take it seriously, no matter how silly the actions were. And I mean that."

Further, Dooley cracked that the matter showed Bray needed to work on his throwing mechanics.

"Obviously his accuracy is not where it needs to be," Dooley deadpanned. "He missed the trash can."

Bray reached out to the victim and said he would cover the cost of the damages to her car, and Dooley reiterated that the matter had been handled internally and that he had spoken at length to Bray.

'JUNCTION VOLS?'

With the Vols' trip to Milligan College for a week of pre-season camp set to commence in two weeks, Dooley acknowledged he had wanted to test the training camp experiment previously and believes it should help bring the team closer together.

"I think it's harder today than ever to create an environment that training camp always was, which was you were the only people in town, you're all in the dorm together and there's no real distractions," Dooley said. "There was a pay phone down in the lobby if you ever wanted to call somebody. It was great for team building, getting to know each other, getting to know guys and asking them questions and learning about them that you never would.

"Today, how summer school runs into camp, we start school now end of camp, with social media and the connectivity, it's so hard to create that environment when you stay around in the same place. I just felt like it would a neat thing, and I'm glad and I appreciate Dave (Hart) supporting me on it and allowing us to try it out."

Moreover, Dooley didn't rule out perhaps trying the process of camping off-campus again in the future.

"I don't know. I want to see how this one goes. We'll see," Dooley said. "Of course, there's a cost involved. Hopefully the cost is worth the investment, and I think it will be."

NOTHING OFFICIAL

Dooley said there is no official update to the status of Dante Phillips, who committed to the Vols last week after he was not admitted into the University of Florida. Dooley said UT would release official news immediately once available, a likely indicator that the Vols continue to feel good about Phillips having a future at Tennessee.

Dooley did say he and his staff have examined the Penn State roster and would add a player if they believed he was a right fit. But Dooley stressed it was a much different situation than when they snagged Malik Jackson two years ago from USC when the Trojans were hit with sanctions.

"I don't anticipate that happening. It's not from at least doing a little diligence on our end," Dooley said of adding to the Vols' roster with Penn State players who may now transfer with immediate eligibility following the NCAA's unprecedented sanctions this week against the Nittany Lions program. "I think the timing of it has made it challenging for those players and for the programs. Everybody is a week away from reporting. Probably a big shock for them and a lot of thinking through it. It's probably a long, drawn-out process.

"It's something that I wouldn't be doing the job that I'm paid to do if I didn't have an interest to see if there's the right fit for our team. I don't think it's something where we're desperately looking for guys because I believe in the roster we have. We have a good, full, deep roster but that doesn't mean that there aren't some special areas that given the right player, the right makeup, the right position that we wouldn't consider it."

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