Simms- your starting quarterback

Away from practice, Derek Dooley is a man of few words with the media.

But it takes only a few questions after practice to know where Dooley stands on the Vols quarterback issue.

"We're going to probably increase the reps of Matt and Tyler (Bray), and back down Nick (Stephens) a little bit," Dooley said at practice this week.  "Nick has been exclusively with the 1's (starting offense), now we're going to give Matt some with the 1's and give Tyler a little bit more with the 2's and some with the 1's. We're going to keep varying the reps so they all get equal opportunity."

Translation: The Vols are just over halfway through spring practice, but Simms has taken control of the race to be Tennessee's starting quarterback.

Simms wasn't mistake-free in the Vols' first scrimmage last week, but he made throws that impressed Dooley. He passed for one touchdown and threw one interception.

"It's good to be rewarded for hard work. Just got to keep getting better and keep improving and hopefully more reps will come," Simms said after practice on Tuesday.

Barring an implosion in the remaining practices, Simms will be the focus on April 17th in the Orange and White Game.  He is leaving freshmen Tyler Bray and returning senior Nick Stephens to battle it out for the back-up position.

Simms has only been in Knoxville a few weeks, but he is, without question, Tennessee's most experienced quarterback. He played two years of junior college football in California. He threw for more than 2200 yards and 17 thouchdowns in his senior season. In high school, Simms passed for more than 6000 yards and 60 touchdowns.

Simms has size (6-3, 220) and a Manning-like bloodline to the position. His dad is former Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms. His brother is former Texas quarterback Chris Simms.

Officially, Dooley may keep everyone guessing, but don't be fooled-- Matt Simms will lead Tennessee's offense in 2010.