I think I’m starting to feel a tickle at the back of my throat. My head is all gummed up like an engine that’s 10,000 miles past due for an oil change and my stomach is letting out random moans and groans—Morse code to the brain that something has run afoul. The National Signing Day sickness is settling over me like a brooding darkness.

Since I was a junior in high school, this virus has afflicted me yearly in the late afternoon of the first Tuesday in February. And every Wednesday the only real remedy seems to involve a massive thermos of coffee and a heavy dose of Rivals.com.

Sure, the physical side effects were originally imagined, but make no mistake about it, this sickness is very real. Being a diehard college football fan is a disease that we all signed up for.

The Tennessee hat, the Michigan hat and the Auburn hat were laid meticulously across the table. The No. 1 ranked running back (per Rivals.com) in the country made promises of “shocking the world.” In the end, Derrick Green selected Michigan.

Nothing shocking there.

Then again, Derrick Green was never likely to actually shock anybody. The recruiting process is so well documented in the Internet age that it’s rare to see a prospect make a truly surprising decision. The Rivals network alone has published 22 articles mentioning Green—many of them featuring him—in the month of January.

This is not a column to advocate the removal of Cuonzo Martin as the head basketball coach at the University of Tennessee.

It’s important to understand that as we delve into the absolute repugnancy that is Tennessee basketball in its current state. There is value to patience, and the shortcomings of this program don’t all pile at Cuonzo’s feet just yet. In fact, it’s still far from that.

That being said, the BasketVols are just plain bad right now.

This current version of hardwood Volunteers will never be mistaken for the Showtime era Lakers.  Despite their lack of offensive acumen, they continue to take a page out of the Bluff City Grizzlies' book by executing a Grit Grind style that fits the personality of Head Coach Cuonzo Martin.  Tonight the Xavier Musketeers invaded TBA, and the Big Orange defended their home turf with a hard fought 51-47 win.  Here are a few musings:

Now that the dust has fully settled in Knoxville in regards to the Butch Jones hire, keyboard cowboys (such as myself) are lining up in droves to offer their two cents on the hire.  UT fans can pick their poison and choose to look at this through a lens of "glass half full" or "glass half empty".  One of the consistent "glass half empty" narratives has been the following:

Butch Jones has followed Brian Kelly at both Central Michigan and Cincinnati.  He can win with Kelly's players, but he can't win with his own guys.  He has ridden the coattails of Kelly at both stops.

It took some time, but it seems as if we’re all slowly making our way onto the Butch Jones bandwagon. We had to go through our meltdown, but now we’ve all been recycled and repurposed as brand new Tennessee fans once again. We’re like water bottles: emptied emotionally, cast away, melted down, and inevitably turned into… you guessed it. A new water bottle!

Derek Dooley took a lot out of this fanbase emotionally, and I suspect that contributed heavily to the delusions of grandeur from Knoxville (and parts unknown) associated with this coaching search – that along with the fact that some of you ARE, in fact, psychotic. However, after threatening not to renew your season tickets and ceasing your donations, the majority of you appear to be back on those Big Orange tracks. Granted, none of us are really sure where the hell this train is headed.

But, since we’re all here, it’s time to talk about something important: offense.

You may be saying to yourself, “But, Ryan, offense is dumb and you’re dumb and this is the SEC.” Two out of three ain’t bad, but what Butch Jones is going to do philosophically with this offense is the single greatest asset Butch Jones brings to the table. And even though we scored in bunches last season, the way Butch Jones’ offenses are going to score will define how and if we can separate ourselves from the rest of the SEC East, the conference as a whole, and inevitably the country.

On Friday the University of Tennessee announced their newest football coach, Butch Jones. 

Reaction was mixed to say the least.  As the news has settled in and Butch Jones has had a chance to interact with players and fans, there seems to be a more positive vibe around the decision.  That was not the case in the first 24 hours.  There are a million reasons for the negativity.  Fans went crazy with the Grumors (silly in retrospect).  Fans just want someone they know (which is really tough considering there are less than 10 high profile coaches that the average fans really know much about).  Fans want a proven winner (but then when they get one they shoot holes in his accomplishments).  Here are three popular questions I've seen or heard asked from the Rocky Top faithful in recent days.  Perhaps the answers will make you feel better about Butch Jones.  Perhaps they won't.  Regardless, we have 9 long months before we find out who and what we have leading the Big Orange.

1.  Sure he won games, but that was the MAC and the Big East.  Can a guy who hasn't done it in the SEC win in this league?

In short, YES!  Nick Saban had a similar record to Jones when he took the job at LSU.  Not a single of Saban's wins was in the Southeastern Conference.  Les Miles had a similar record to Jones when he took LSU.  Not a single of Miles' wins was in the Southeastern Conference.  Mark Richt was a successful coordinator before taking the Georgia job, but he had never led his own team and had never spent a single game calling plays in the Southeastern Conference.  When looking at Butch Jones' resume through that lens, it doesn't make his 50 wins and 4 conference titles in 6 years as a head coach so bad, huh?

2.  Okay, so he won some games.  Recruiting is a whole different animal in the SEC.  Can Butch Jones recruit the South?

It remains to be seen.  There are signs that indicate Jones can not only recruit the South, but he can do so very successfully.  Of the current Cincinnati freshmen and sophomores, 21 are from SEC states.  13 of those 21 are from Florida.  Does that mean Jones can go in and win a battle head to head with Muschamp or Saban or Richt?  Not necessarily.  But let's not pretend like the dude spend every recruiting visit in Cleveland or Philly or Washington D.C. just because he coached in the Big East.  Honestly, Tennessee needs to revive their once strong recruiting roots in talent-rich Ohio.  Perhaps Jones can do just that.

3.  The Tennessee fans have been divided on every coaching hire since Johnny Majors.  Maybe Jones is a good hire, but does he unify the fanbase?

With all due respect, who cares?  A coaching hire shouldn't be made or not made based on the emotional reaction of any fanbase.  Certainly not a jilted, angry, and tired fanbase like Tennessee's.  Look, winning the press conference hasn't won any games for any team....ever.  Derek Dooley won his press conference, but then he proceeded to lose a lot of games.  Lane Kiffin won his press conference and he proceeded to put Tennessee under sanctions and bolt as soon as he could.  I, for one, am tired of winning press conferences.  I am ready to win a game that matters.  Maybe Butch Jones turns the Tennessee program around.  Maybe he doesn't.  Either way, Tennessee fans feeling unified on message boards is not the right reason to hire any coach.

So, whether you like the hire or not, Butch Jones is a proven winner as a head coach.  Whether or not your buddies who are Georgia or Bama or Florida fans are intimidated by Jones is wildly irrelevant. 

If Butch Jones has half the success at Tennessee that he has at Central Michigan and Cincinnati then he will have won 2 conference titles in 6 years.  I'd take that at this point.  Wouldn't you?

Congratulations to Tennessee’s new head football coach, whoever he is. You’re a lunatic, but congratulations nonetheless on being awarded one of the most prestigious coaching jobs in college football – yes, I can say that, even on the heels of three consecutive losing seasons – and all the wealth and recognition that go with the territory.

I can say that because the University of Tennessee bolsters one of the strongest traditions in college football, in the nation’s premier conference. I can say it because Neyland Stadium is still one of the sport’s historical landmarks and 100,000 fans still make weekly pilgrimages every fall. I can say it because I'm a damn madman.

As a teenager in the '90s, I grew up with a massive satellite dish in the side yard that allotted me a wide breadth of entertainment options.  One of these options was Showtime.  If you find yourself reading this as a male of similar age and entertainment options, and you DIDN'T ever stay up late to watch Shannon Tweed movies, then you are a better man than I am (or any of my buddies for that matter; you know who you are).  One of Shannon Tweed's most iconic films is the 1994 classic Scorned where she plays a scorned vixen out to avenge her husband's death by systematically destroying  the people she holds responsible.