Phillip Fulmer has seen 11 different Tennessee players have brushes with the law since March 2004. AP

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- In theory, this should have been a pleasant and uneventful spring for the Tennessee Volunteers. With 17 starters returning from a team that went 10-3, won the SEC Eastern division and stomped Texas A&M 38-7 in the Cotton Bowl, the biggest "issue" facing the coaching staff was supposed to be determining which of their three proven quarterbacks -- Erik Ainge, Rick Clausen or Brent Schaeffer -- should be named the starter.

If only things were that simple.

Injuries to four of the Vols' five projected offensive line starters and several sidelined receivers made it tough to truly handicap the quarterback race, with Tennessee's offense failing to score a touchdown its first three scrimmages. A total of 21 players missed all or part of spring practice -- which concluded with Saturday's modified spring game -- while recovering from surgery, but nearly all are expected to recover in time for the season.

More disturbing has been the near-daily rash of headlines involving various off-the-field transgressions by team members, forcing head coach Phillip Fulmer to defend himself and his program against an onslaught of critics (including, albeit half-jokingly, SEC rival Steve Spurrier).

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Eleven Vols have been either arrested or issued citations since March 2004, including two incidents within a week's span recently involving alleged fights between Tennessee players and members of their school's general student body. Schaeffer and receiver Bret Smith were charged with misdemeanor assault after allegedly hitting and throwing to the floor a student who was arguing with Schaeffer's girlfriend in a dormitory lobby, while defensive end Robert Ayers and linebacker Jared Mayo were issued warrants for their role in a March 5 fight at a fraternity in which the victim was knocked unconscious and had his jaw broken (the student's mother said his jaw remains wired shut and is unable to talk).

Meanwhile, defensive tackle Tony McDaniel faces a felony assault charge for allegedly punching a student during a pickup basketball game in January, breaking four bones in his face.

Fulmer, though he has expressed anger and frustration over the events and taken his own disciplinary action (suspending all involved players except Mayo, who believes he was a victim of mistaken identity), has attempted to downplay their significance.

"These were mostly a few immature young men that embarrassed us; they'll either work their way out of it, or they won't be here [come fall]," Fulmer said during an interview in his office last week. "It could be a lot worse. We're not sitting here talking about someone that's been raped or worse -- those things terrify me."

Fulmer insists the repeated incidents and accompanying media uproar have not been a distraction to the Vols' on-field preparations, but they were certainly on the minds of several players interviewed last week. Expectations of a preseason top-five ranking and potential national title run have surrounded the team from the moment they walked off the turf at the Cotton Bowl, and while there's no denying their talent, maturity and chemistry have now become their biggest question marks.