Tennesse Great Players?

[926]

Tennessee does recruit the the top talent in Tennessee. There just aren't that many top level players in state. Tennessee did recruit Carl Stewart. They wanted him to play LB like Westmoreland, Moore and Al Wilson so he chose to go to Auburn where he is buried on the depth chart at RB. They were late on Moore because of his off field trouble.They are not interested in Thompson because of the two freshman they have plus the commitment from Crompton. They did not recruit Pennington for the same reason no big school did. He was a 175 lb wing-T QB in high school. He was a late bloomer. Besides Tennessee did pretty well with Manning and Martin during that time period. Sometimes the in state players UT does recruit choose to go elsewhere. Although, there are not too many examples of in state kids that go on to great success at other schools. Most of the guys in the NFL from Tennessee high schools played at UT. Take a look at all 12 SEC rosters. There will be fewer kids from Tennessee than any other southeastern state. UT has to recruit nationally to have a chance to compete in the SEC. It's ridiculus to say Fulmer doesn't know what he is doing. He's won 80% of his games. UT does have high ranked recruiting classes. They also put more guys in the NFL than most programs.

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Wow! You hit the nail on the head! I read this thread last night when it only had 3 or 4 posts and I wanted to respond, but I was too lazy and went to bed. I hate to agree with you, but the sad fact is that Tennessee is probably ahead of only Kentucky when it comes to high school football talent in the Southeast. If you scoffers don't believe me, just look at the rosters of the Division 1A schools in the Southeast. Even mid-major schools like MTSU and Memphis don't field as many in-state players as other states in the South.

[Sequatchie]

They wanted to split them, like that would happen. The twin they were not high on turned out to be the better player, even though the other is also a solid defender now. They got in late on Adarious Bowman, leading North Carolina in receiving and let Inman from Webb get out of town, haven't seen Marshall play but I saw in the preseason he was projected to start in their line as a freshman. They nearly beat Ohio State so if he's in there he can play and no doubt could have helped Tennessee's line. Did they even offer Tyson Clabo? He was an all-ACC lineman at Wake Forest and certainly would have added to the underachievers that have been blocking the last couple of years.

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I would take Robert Meachem or Jayson Swain over Adarius Bowmen anyday!

[Sequatchie]

Yea, he's won 80% of his games but look at who it's been against. Memphis, wyoming, vandy, kentucky, unlv, la tech, fresno st., duke, mtsu, rutgers, and syracuse? i mean come on. your right, he knows what he's doin, pullin the wool of ya'lls eyes.

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Well that may be but most college football people who know what they are talking about consider him to be one of the best in the business.

 

Keep in mind one of the 2 Syracuse wins in '98 was when they had McNabb at QB they had a good year that season I think.

 

But look at the bigger national powerhouse schools that Tennessee has beat with Coach Fulmer!

 

Alabama 8-2-1

Arkansas 9-1

Auburn 2-1

Boston College 1-0

Florida 3-8

Florida State 1-0

Georgia 7-4

LSU 2-2

Miami 1-0

Michigan 1-0

Ohio State 1-0

Notre Dame 2-0

South Carolina 11-0

UCLA 2-1

Virginia Tech 1-0

Edited September 17, 2004 by Sequatchie

[westtn2004state]

Tennessee should have been after Rod Smith from Milan more than they were.

[Port_Vol]

Sounds like Maryville fans are crying over spilled milk.

 

lets look at Tennessee football in the late 1970s and early 80s when Majors first came in. Tennessee would lose 4-5-6 games a year, or more. Even to Rutgers ("Whats a Rutgers?")

 

Better facilites, national recruiting, have reversed this trend, and why offer John Doe at Maryville who projects to be a * or ** star player, when you have **** or ***** star players knocking on your door.

 

The bottom line is that the vast majority, 95%, of TN HS football players are not SEC caliber. And the ones I can recall from EAST TN here lately are buried on the depth charts. Stewart @ AU. Jennings @ Vandy. Fanney from West had speed, but his size would've hurt him tremendously had he qualified at Bama.

 

Cade Thompson is a nice and tremendous kid I'm sure, but there is a reason he's going to NC. System QB possibly as well, but he'd be around Cooters or Hardegree's level on the depth chart at UT.

 

Same way with the Reynolds kid at Carter. He may have size, but I saw him a few weeks back, and he isn't anything SEC material. He'll wind up at an ACC School (the ACC may claim they are the best, perhaps they are, top-heavy with Miami, FSU. etc, but VT, GT, UNC, NCST are all middle of the pack teams)

[redthunder6]

Yea, he's won 80% of his games but look at who it's been against. Memphis, wyoming, vandy, kentucky, unlv, la tech, fresno st., duke, mtsu, rutgers, and syracuse? i mean come on. your right, he knows what he's doin, pullin the wool of ya'lls eyes.

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i was wondering if you forget to mention alabama, florida, michigan, auburn, florida state, miami. Plus Kentucky did have a very talented qb in tim couch.

[Purple & Gold Standard]

Yea, he's won 80% of his games but look at who it's been against. Memphis, wyoming, vandy, kentucky, unlv, la tech, fresno st., duke, mtsu, rutgers, and syracuse? i mean come on. your right, he knows what he's doin, pullin the wool of ya'lls eyes.

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Good Grief....

 

You might want to mention the wins over Florida,Georgia,Auburn,LSU and everyone else in the SEC...The SEC championships.the bowl victories and the National Championship..Oh and don't forget wins over Miami,Notre Dame,Meechigan and Ohio State...When you post say something that makes sense..Everyone in the country plays those types of teams...And by the way,there are some SEC teams that couldn't and haven't beat the teams you mentioned..Fulmer coaches in the toughest conference in the nation and year in year out has one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the nation..

[WesVLT]

Moonshine is bad when consumed in large quantities, folks. It'll make you post like some of the people on this thread.

 

I live in Gibbs Hall on the UT campus. I eat lunch around the players and coaches every day. I see the rigors they're forced to endure -- workouts only former college and pro players can comprehend; a breakneck routine only outdone by the UT ROTC on one of their hard days; a strenuous mix of brutality and excellence achieved in only a few circles in the collegiate realm. It takes a very special type of person to endure such an environment, much less to thrive in it.

 

There are some talented football players in the state of Tennessee, and a few of them are good enough to play D1 ball anywhere in the country. But even if Billy Bob Doe from Generictown, TN has made headlines in the local papers for 4 years, he's not necessarily capable of making the breakneck jump from high school football to the cutthroat realm of D1 athletics -- especially at a program as prestigious as Tennessee's.

 

I wish every young man who dreams of playing for UT all the success in the world. I used to have that dream myself when I was young, but I'm sure I still can't comprehend the rejection I would feel if I were a senior and the Big Orange weren't interested in me. Still, it is important to remember that if there is one number in Coach Fulmer's mind, it is 1. He is paid to put Tennessee in a position to win the National Championship every season. If there are two numbers in Fulmer's mind, the second is 85. That's how many scholarships Fulmer is given to make that championship happen.

 

He can recruit good in-state players, and they'll usually come and play for him. Chances are he'll have a halfway decent team -- heck, they might even compete with Vanderbilt every once in awhile. Or he can recruit the VERY BEST in-state players while also spanning the nation for the VERY BEST players in every other state in the union. Since UT is such a prestigious program, many of the best players (like Manning, Ainge and Schaeffer, whom none of you are exactly berating) are extremely interested in donning an orange jersey. Why would Fulmer turn them down just so he could give Generictown, TN the ability to say it had a player on UT's walk-on roster? Will that bring Fulmer the ring he's hired to win?

 

He chooses to seek the best of the best regardless of state, and look what it's gotten him:

 

1998 National Championship

1997-8 SEC Championships

Highest winning percentage among active coaches

Wins over all the teams Sequatchie listed, plus other quality programs

1998 Coach of the Year Award

3 Consecutive BCS bowl appearances (97-99)

NFL stars like Manning, Lewis, Henry, Wilson, Henderson, Garner, Stewart, and so many others

 

I find it interesting that while many of you have made a fuss over Fulmer failing to recruit in-state talent, none of you have criticized the out-of-state players he's recruited. Whatever Fulmer's done on the recruiting trail, it's worked better than any other active college coach. Look no further than his W-L record.

[thorough97]

The best safety in the country is from Chattanooga and plays for Nebraska. That's one of many but is the main one right now. I posted on this in a similar topic a while back, if it's still in the archives I will cut and paste others.

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And the bad thing is that Josh (the All-American) is the one that Fulmer DIDN'T want. He wanted Daniel to play as a DB, but Josh was an option QB at Hixson.

[REBELRON]

Yea, he's won 80% of his games but look at who it's been against. Memphis, wyoming, vandy, kentucky, unlv, la tech, fresno st., duke, mtsu, rutgers, and syracuse? i mean come on. your right, he knows what he's doin, pullin the wool of ya'lls eyes.

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Fulmer also has wins over Miami,Florida State,Ohio State,Michigan,Syracuse,Notre Dame,Georgia,Florida,Alabama,Auburn,LSU,Virginia Tech,UCLA,Texas Tech,Souhern Miss,Wash State. Yes! UT has beaten nobody under Fulmer

[Opperman]

Out of those 45 players count the scholarship players. Sorry but walk-ons don't count in my book. They hang on to alot of dead weight from Tennessee to let the typical UT fan believe they recruit the state. Like Jim Bob Cooter from Lincoln County will never play a meaningful snap in his career. UT does do a horrible job of recruiting the state. But doesn't all fall unto their shoulders. Vandy and Memphis and especially MTSU have all done a terrible job as well.

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I don't think Memphsi has done a terrible job of recruiting Tennessee talent. It's just that until lately, they haven't had the coach to get the top talent to stay. Sure, we'll still see some guys going to USC, Miami, Alabama, Ole Miss, Arkansas, etc. from over here, but Tommy West has done a good job getting most of the good Memphis and West TN talent to stay here. Looking at the depth chart, they have two offensive starters right now from Tennessee and another three who are projected starters next year at this point. Defensively, they have a couple more starters from the state, one of which is definitely NFL-bound. I know keeping the top Memphis-area talent at home (and West TN to a slightly lesser extent) has been a top priority for Tommy West, and I think you'll see the results in a couple more years.

[clinevol98]

fulmer and the rest of his coaching staff turn their backs to the great talent that is in their own backyard and go out to oregon (erik ainge) and florida (brent shaeffer) to get their quarterbacks and to california to get linebacker kevin burnett. granted, all three of those players are good but ut has missed local talent because they are too busy looking elsewhere. some of the players from tennessee that looked promising have so far been flops (gerald riggs for example)

i dunno if this is purely coincidence or not, but if you look at the premiere teams in college football today, most of the players on those rosters are from cities and towns close to the location of the college they play football for.