It doesn’t happen often, but occasionally, in practice, Daryl Vereen will scoop up a loose football and show off his old moves.

“I do every now and then,” he says. “I reminisce a little bit.”

Vereen, the former star running back at North Meck High, has not carried the football since 2006-07, his senior season in high school, when he rushed for a county record 2,603 yards and 31 touchdowns. But Vereen has been mixing it up in the storied Southeastern Conference, arguably college football’s best league, ever since.

And entering preseason camp for his senior season as a Tennessee Volunteer, Vereen is penciled in as the starter at strongside linebacker.

“It’s a long, hard road,” says Vereen of moving up the depth chart. “I’ve been looking for that one chance.”

When he committed to former Vols coach Phillip Fulmer, Vereen was told he’d get a look as a running back in Knoxville, and he did. But the Vols ultimately moved him to defense and redshirted him as a freshman. Moving off the ball after carrying it for so many years was not a simple, overnight adjustment, especially for a spirited personality like Vereen who infused teammates and fans with energy after each carry.

“It was a transition that took time, going from playing running back to going to the defensive side of the ball and that mindset,” says Vereen, a psychology major. “It took me really about a year to be defensively minded and a defensive player.

“I just started trying to perfect that craft.”

Vereen played in seven games as a redshirt freshman in 2008, mostly on special teams. He played in 10 games in 2009, also on special teams before getting significant time at line backer last year.

Vereen played in all 11 games last season and started for the first time in his career against Ole Miss. He made three tackles against the Rebels and had a season-high four against rival Vanderbilt. He posted three tackles and two quarterback hurries against Oregon and had three more stops in the Music City Bowl loss to North Carolina. In that game, he dropped Tar Heel squarterback T.J. Yates for his first career sack.

As a strongside linebacker, Vereen often plays in space opposite multiple receivers or matches up with the tight end in man coverage.

Coaching carousel

Daryl Vereen had the option to play college football almost anywhere he wanted, and as the recruiting cycle continued, college coaches were like defensive backs in hot pursuit of the speedy and shifty Viking tailback: no one could secure him.

Big-name coaches dropped in at North Meck quite often, and one day in particular, Fulmer and North Carolina’s Butch Davis visited in such close proximity that they nearly crossed paths.

Ultimately, Vereen chose Fulmer and the Vols. He liked the idea of not only playing football in the SEC, but also of doing it in front of 100,000-plus rabid fans at Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium. But after Vereen’s sophomore year, Fulmer was let go by the university. Then came the one-year Lane Kiffin experiment.

The brash and controversial young coach talked a big game, took verbal jabs at rival Florida and ruffled all the feathers he could in a short amount of time, including those of loyal Vol fans. By the time he bolted to Southern California, he had caused riots on the Knoxville campus. Vol fans burned Kiffin T-shirts and essentially banned him from ever stepping foot in the state again.

“I don’t have too much to say about Lane Kiffin,” says Vereen. “As far as us and the team that had to go through all that (change), I feel like it made us stronger. It’s definitely a test.”

The Vols hired Derek Dooley, coaching legend Vince Dooley’s son, as head coach before last season. Vereen says Dooley has been open and honest with the Vol players, a trait he appreciates.

“I respect him and thank him a whole lot,” says Vereen. “He’s a class act guy, likes to run a clean program, and I like that in a coach.”

Vereen enters his senior season with a new position coach and is now under the tutelage of his fourth strength and conditioning coach.

Saturday night lights

Following his final high school game at North Meck, Vereen, despite his future playing in the SEC, was heartbroken. He talked of how much he’d miss the Friday night lights.

That hasn’t changed; Vereen still holds those memories dear. But he’s also thankful for his current opportunity.

“There’s really nothing like those Friday night lights,” says Vereen. “There’s also nothing like prime time on ESPN.”

Like any highly rated recruit, Vereen knew of the SEC’s reputation of being an elite football conference. Being part of it hasn’t lessened it in his mind.

“It’s a crazy, down South speed,” he says. “It’s really everything that’s advertised.”

But Tennessee hasn’t been the historical powerhouse program of old during the last three seasons. In that time, the Vols are 18-20 overall and 10-14 in the SEC. That’s not what the Vols are used to, and Vereen is hopeful his final season is when Tennessee will get back on the winning track.

“We have a super young team, but we also have a super talented team,” says Vereen, who shared the team’s John Stucky Hard Knox Award for mental and physical conditioning this off season. “Ithink the biggest thing about this year is how the young guys mature and how the older guys lead.”

Vereen is now among the older guys, as one of eight red-shirt seniors on the team. And the fact that he is about to play his final college season is still hard for him to believe.

“Time really does fly by,” he says. “It really is (some) of the best years of your life. I’m really happy I got to spend it all here. Even with all the coaching changes, I’m glad to be finishing as a Vol.”

Tennessee opens the 2011 season Sept. 3 at home against Montana.