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JiMGA, your son's barking right up AM's area of practice, so the best opinions will be his. I spent a summer working for a US Attorney and it was intense but rewarding. The money in criminal practice is to go white-collar defense after putting in your time with the government.
As for choosing between schools, the money should be an important criterion. If it's close, then you can consider more seriously the size of alumni networks, geographic placement, etc. At a glance, Miami is 3 times the size of UTK, which would give it an edge. But I bet UTK grads do well finding jobs in the state of Tennessee in a way that Miami grads might not outside of the city.
In terms of positioning oneself to go government, it could be a strong signal to take up any clinical/pro bono opportunities that provide experience in criminal practice or even government law generally. Demonstrated relevant experience is a great differentiator when applying for jobs. (That's part of how I ended up at a state university system after internships at an appellate court, a US Attorney's Office, and a bankruptcy court.) That might also be a slight edge for UTK depending on what offerings they have or how closely the campus works with the state government.
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