Disappointments sometimes turn into blessings. Watch the distance segment of Tennessee’s track program in the months and years to come.

UT recently hired Justin Duncan as cross-country coach to replace Sean Carlson. He left the Vols after one year for a one-step-up job at Colorado.

Duncan had coached distance runners for five seasons at Oklahoma State. His timing was terrific. His team won the NCAA cross-country championship last November.

Duncan’s Cowboys were big winners in the Big 12 Conference. Timing? The Cowgirls won their first indoor Big 12 crown in 2023. Dr. Danny White, Tennessee vice chancellor and athletics director, saw all that as a good omen.

UT has now added Brian Biekert and Amy Rudolph as assistant coaches for Tennessee cross country and track. Duncan says he is excited about the move. Both were head coaches at their previous schools.

“We are all on the same page and have a shared vision of where we want to take this program,” said Duncan.

Biekert is coming from Southern Illinois. Before that, he coached at Tulsa, Syracuse, Iowa State and Brown. He has degrees from Central Connecticut State and Iowa State.

Rudolph has spent the past six seasons at Iowa State. I know more about her than him. As a competitor a generation ago, she was a star – twice an Olympian (5,000 meters, Atlanta and Sydney) and three times national champ. She set an American record in 1996.

While running for Providence, she won NCAA titles in the indoor mile and outdoor 1,500. She has been an assistant coach at Providence, Bryant and Syracuse and was a volunteer coach for seven years at Auburn.

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The late Chuck Rohe, first in a line of top track coaches at Tennessee, left behind a collection of tall tales. Coppley Vickers told one the other day that was new to me.

While coaching at Furman, Rohe reduced travel costs by “inviting” his cross-country team to spend a night at his mother’s home in the Chicago area. He told his runners to have a big breakfast because they were not going to stop for lunch. They’d pause for the evening in West Virginia and everybody could have steaks.

“Well, about 8:30 we pulled off at a restaurant on the side of a mountain,” recalled Vickers, then a Purple Paladin star for Rohe.

“Everyone ordered steaks. The waitress said she would have to go to the basement and check the freezer to see if she had that many steaks. When she came back, the report was one.”

The team had hamburgers. The team won the Southern Conference championship meet the next day. I had to research details. Vickers was the individual winner. Vickers followed Rohe to Tennessee.

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Football recruiting is hot news. Here is a long-range tip: Cooper Witten, son of former Vol tight end Jason Witten, is a top 25 prospect for the class of 2027. He plays safety for Liberty Christian in Argyle, Texas, where his dad is the coach.

Witten is listed as the No. 5 prep player in Texas in his age group. He had an impressive freshman season, 82 tackles, four for loss, two interceptions (one pick-six), two forced fumbles and three kick blocks.

Pass it on if you see Josh Heupel. Tell him Mr. Witten was a tough guy at Tennessee and a legend with the Dallas Cowboys.

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In the football recruiting jungle, there are whispers that Vanderbilt might be guilty of tampering with another school’s starting offensive tackle. Unlikely, you say? Not the Commodores. They wouldn’t do such a thing. Is there proof?

Former Liberty left tackle Chase Mitchell entered the transfer portal one day, visited Vanderbilt the next and chose the Commodores over an offer from Tennessee. Does that sound coincidental or suspicious?

In January Vandy hired Chris Klenakis as offensive line coach. He was offensive line coach last season at …

You guessed it, Liberty.

Question: Could all this have happened by chance? Answer: Yes, of course it could.

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This just in from west of Knoxville: Memphis fans are blowing smoke about their Tigers having a better record and taking Tennessee’s target spot in the 12-team college football playoff.

The Memphis schedule: North Alabama, Troy, Florida State, Navy, Middle Tennessee State, South Florida, North Texas, Charlotte, Texas-San Antonio, Rice, Alabama-Birmingham and Tulane.

Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com