Tennesse Great Players?

[ooooo]

First of all everybody needs to get over the national championship Tennessee won 6 years ago. It's over now. I would say that after the loss to Maryland in the BCS bowl that the vols are slowly heading south. I think Tennessee will finish 3rd in the east behind GA and Florida.They get the players to compete but not the players to win the SEC. Case in point, Chris Leak of the Gators. Fulmer had him but screwed his brother and lost out on a freshman all american. Also, why couldn't the vols get Darius Walker. A soon to be freshman all american at Notre Dame.

[ooooo]

Just another thought, Maybe Tennessee doesn't recruit players from in state becuase the teams in TN dont run offenses to expose their talents. I would bet money that there are at least 5 teams that run a wing t or veer offense to every one that spreads it out and lets it rip. Conservative offenses are boring and hurt your players in the long run. More colleges would come besides the vols if there were more high scoring games instead of 2-0 wins(Lincoln Co.)

[BigSneaky]

It's over now. I would say that after the loss to Maryland in the BCS bowl that the vols are slowly heading south.

 

We played Maryland in a BCS bowl game??? Must have missed that one.

 

Case in point, Chris Leak of the Gators. Fulmer had him but screwed his brother and lost out on a freshman all american

 

CJ Leak was not screwed by Fulmer in any way...on the other hand Fulmer would have been screwing the whole team had he allowed a "senior in high school" to dictate who played @ Georgia.

[JC4life]

Brackins Brothers weren't that good and UT was pretty much filled at LB at the time.

 

Pennington:  no one knew he would bloom the way he did; he was a longshot coming out of high school.

 

Rickey Upton:  whatever happened to him?

 

Just like currently, the Huber kid from Powell, he is a good player, but Bama went after him to try and get to the Bruhin brothers IMHO.

825346129[/snapback]

Bracking Brothers weren`t that good? They both only started for Michigan, and if I remember correctly one of them lead the team in tackles one year.

 

UT just slept on Pennington, how you let someone from your own backyard slip by you I don`t know. Doesn`t that say something about UT's scouts?

 

Rickey Upton started for Penn St last year, no one heard about him because Penn St stunk so bad. Last I heard of him, he was trying to make it on an NFL team.

[itzme]

o yeah almost forgot.... what about my iian occonor! he is incredible... what yall have to say about that?

825345987[/snapback]

A: UT already had a kicker. They were not recruiting any more of them.

 

B: O'Connor was probably the third best kicker in the state that year.

[WesVLT]

UT just slept on Pennington, how you let someone from your own backyard slip by you I don`t know. Doesn`t that say something about UT's scouts?

825346563[/snapback]

 

It doesn't say anything whatsoever about UT's scouts. Read the rest of the thread and at least three people will tell you that Pennington was a Wing-T QB (translation: he didn't throw much) who did not have the skills at that time to even project into a great passer.

 

Obviously he developed at Marshall and played very well there, and the rest is history. But are you telling me he could have beaten Peyton Manning for the starting job?

[gimme3]

people make mistakes... its also the same guy that kicked every kickoff outa the end zone against UT

825346111[/snapback]

If yall are gonna talk about kickers, how about Andy Bailey from McMinn. He was all-state his senior year, he kicked just about every game through the end zone that year, a lot of them going through the field goal posts! He had a 54 yard field goal to beat Cumberland as time ran out. He signed with Georgia, redshirted last year, he starts this year. But UT already had Wilhoit, who is probably a little better.

[biglon68]

I'm a UT grad and a big fan of both UT and Tennessee high school football. UT used to recruit big time in Tennessee. To get to the next level like Fulmer has tried to elevate the team, he concentrates on the top athletes in the country now. Tennessee usually has 5-6 top notch blue chippers and a dozen or so solid prospects. For those top 5 or 6 blue chips we are competing with every school in the SEC or the nation for them. I think we have done a good job. You cannot expect us to get every Leroy Thompson or Brent Collins every year. I would look at how successful all the "big fish that got away" actually were at other schools. Check out www.taca.net/allfbp.doc to see the members of the Tennessee teams for 1984 thru 1997 that played in the Tennessee/Kentucky All Star Game. Most of the big time players we lost to other SEC, Big 10 and ACC schools never actually played that much in college. The exceptions are guys like Chad Pennington(Knox Webb) or Mike Faulkerson(Dobyns-Bennett) who were not highly recruited but developed into good pro propects in college! Most people think that the local guy is go good and angry that UT does not recruit them. Alot of the All-State Players in Tennessee probably would not even start in some areas of the country. I would love to see a team of orange blood Tennesseans in Knoxville but I'd rather compete on the national level. Even the smaller schools like Memphis and Middle Tennessee State have more out of state players on the roster most of the time. I was excited when UT started making recruiting progress in CA,TX,IL and FL! Go Vols!

[JC4life]

It doesn't say anything whatsoever about UT's scouts.  Read the rest of the thread and at least three people will tell you that Pennington was a Wing-T QB (translation: he didn't throw much) who did not have the skills at that time to even project into a great passer.

 

Obviously he developed at Marshall and played very well there, and the rest is history.  But are you telling me he could have beaten Peyton Manning for the starting job?

825346617[/snapback]

He must have had something in high school Marshall took him, and they don`t run anything close to the wing-t. Scouts are suppose to be able to see talent, they are suppose to be able to tell if someone can develope into a good passing QB (strong arm, accurate, field vision) Since we all know Marshall is a passing team, what did they see in Pennington that UT didn`t ?

[Opperman]

He must have had something in high school Marshall took him, and they don`t run anything close to the wing-t. Scouts are suppose to be able to see talent, they are suppose to be able to tell if someone can develope into a good passing QB (strong arm, accurate, field vision) Since we all know Marshall is a passing team, what did they see in Pennington that UT didn`t ?

825346825[/snapback]

 

Pennington in camps or something? Marshall's in a situation where they can take more risks with their scholarships than Tennessee can, because the payoff is much bigger. If Tennessee had recruited Pennignton (and if he'd signed), what's the payoff for that risk? A good backup for Manning? For Marshall, the payoff is having an NFL draft pick-caliber QB rather than a typical midmajor I-A quarterback.

[FBFan03]

You said it right. They worry about who's trendy or who is ranked high. When a kid is from Tenn. he will play harder for UT. Most kids grow up dreaming about running thru the "T" before a game. Ain't no kid from New York or Cali did that. That's why those kids will quit in some games. When you're from here it means more to you. I love the Vols as much as anyone but Fulmer is to busy chasing girl trainers to see that some of these kids right under his nose could help his team!    

825343833[/snapback]

 

 

 

I disagree with your statement. As a current UT student and member of the VASF, I know that the scouts have made some mistakes in not taking Tenn. players right off the bat. However, some boys from Tenn. would rather go to out of state schools such as UGA, Bama, LSU, etc. because they don't like Tenn. Just look at Victor Ellis. He wasn't heavily recruited by the Vols, and went on to have a successful career at Bama. I don't like the Clausen brothers either, but Casey was the best we could get at the time.

[FBFan03]

And a "great post" to you, too!  I love it when emotional comments are confronted with facts.  Sort of takes the wind (hot air) out of those sails!  Good job Sequatchie!  Go Vols!

825343958[/snapback]

 

 

Amen to that! It seems like people who say negative things about the Vols are those that probably weren't good enough to attend the school in the first place. They just don't know how GREAT IT IS TO BE A TENNESSEE VOL!