Some quick notes from today’s press conference.

*Today’s speakers were, from Tech: OC Bryan Stinespring, DC Bud Foster, DE Nekos Brown and WR Danny Coale. From Tennessee: OC Jim Chaney, DC Monte Kiffin, DE Chris Walker, TB Montario Hardesty.

*MORE PRAISE FOR CODY GRIMM: It’s been a magical season for VT linebacker Cody Grimm. It seems every week someone is singing his praises. The trend continued today at the Georgia Dome when Chaney had this to say about the senior: “He’s back there deflecting the ball. He’s making tackles. He’s a real nuisance player. He’s a real pain in my butt, to be honest with you. He’s an exceptional football player.”

*WHERE’S ERIC BERRY? Stinespring said he and the Hokies are quite aware of Vols All-America defensive back Eric Berry, but they haven’t spent too much time trying to scheme for him. After saying that, Stinespring added: “We’ve asked Tennessee to put a little red light on top of Eric so we know where he is all the time. They haven’t really gotten back to us as to whether they’re going to do that. You start focusing a lot on one element, you’re not taking care of all the elements that you need to do. We certainly need to be aware of where he is and make sure that we try to account for him as well as we can.”

*MEETING OF THE MINDS: Bud Foster said he hasn’t spent much time with Monte Kiffin, but he was excited at the prospect. “You know, we talked several years ago. We were actually going to try to go visit them, but I think that’s when they had a changeover with their head coach. Actually, it was when … oh, I just had a brain fart … not Dungy. Dungy had just left (Foster was talking about Jon Gruden). But anyway, so there was a transition in staff and it didn’t work out. Tonight we have our assistant coaches … where we go out with our counterparts. I’m hoping I get a chance to go. It would be a great experience for me. He’s one of the legends of all football, and it would be a tremendous honor for me to sit down there. Not that we’d sit down there and talk shop and pick each other’s brains, but I’m going to try to just to see what drives him. I’m looking forward to that opportunity. That’s one of the neat things that this bowl does. We have an assistant coaches dinner with our counterpart. We were down here three years ago, and I ate with Willie Martinez with University of Georgia at the time and we really developed a tremendous relationship since then. We’ve gone down and visited with them on a couple of occasions. Maybe this will do something with us and Tennessee. I have the utmost respect for what Monte Kiffin has done at the college level and obviously for what he’s done at the professional level. It’s going to be quite a thrill to eat dinner with him tonight.”

*TAMPA 2: UT defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin perfected the Tampa 2 defense, his spin on the Cover 2, when he was coordinating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense in the NFL. In simple terms, the defense keeps four players in the defensive backfield and seven in the box to stop the run. Conversely, Bud Foster’s defense at Tech often uses eight and nine men in the box to pressure the passer and stop the run.

Foster’s defense seems tailor made to stop UT’s run-heavy offense. Kiffin was talking about the Tampa 2 today when Chaney chimed in: “I wish Bud would play the Tampa 2.”

*ONE-LINERS: Chaney had reporters chuckling for most of his Q&A session. I laughed hardest when he was asked about having fun during bowl week. He said the most fun he’s had is at practice. “We call it Yard Time. We get out of the prison and get to go out to the yard and have some fun,” he said. “We do have some fun with that.”

*JUST CALL ME DAD: Kiffin had this to say about working for his son Lane Kiffin, UT’s head coach: “They say, ‘What’s it like?’ And I say, ‘Well, he’s the head coach and I’m the assistant, so I call him Coach. As long as he calls me Dad, we’ll get along fine.’

*ARROGANT? NO: Because of some of the comments he’s made this season, Lane Kiffin has garnered a reputation for being arrogant. His dad tried to shoot that down today. “I do realize that some people who don’t know Lane Kiffin might think that he’s a little bit arrogant or whatever. Well, I just know that I’ve known him for 34 years now. I was there the day he was born. If he was a jerk, I’d still love him. He’d be my son, but I wouldn’t necessarily come work for the guy, OK?”