U T Martin

[@38320]

If I were the coach at UTM, I'd try to recruit the best players from the best teams in the region, all the way from Memphis to Nashville. I'd take a couple from Milan, Huntingdon, Camden, Westview, Union City, Fairview, Humboldt, South Side, etc. Then the parents and grandparents could go to Friday night high school football to watch jr. and go see big brother on Sat. at UTM. UTM might just start winning and having a bunch of fans. Is this a stupid idea or would it work West TN fans? I can only remember a couple of winning teams down at Martin, and they have so much potential in their backyard.

[westtn2004state]

Agree. I heard that they told Rafael Hill that he wasnt college material?

[Gerry Bertier]

I have always thought the same thing. I think these coaches believe players are better if they are from Florida or Ohio. Same thing happens at other schools around here. I have seen some top talent go to waste cause the coaches believe tn high school football players arent worthy to play on the next level.

[CoachBray]

Hey, Hey. They don't want to go around getting to big for their britches, do they? They consistently get like 6th or 7th dibs in their own state, so they don't get the talent that goes to UT, Memphis, and MTSU. Kids don't see a reason to go there (if they're that good) when they get a bigger profile school with a bigger profile schedule and campus only a short drive away. If they could've kept Chad Clifton, Will Offenhuesle, or Justin Harrell in their backyard, they may have got a trend going. They didn't, NOW they have a trend going.

[center68]

I go to UT-martin and work around the football team, and they do recruit around the entire state espeacially west tenn. and the ones they have got from west tenn. end up quitting with the exception of a few. The only reason they couldn't get Harrel, Ofenhusle, or Clifton is because they were being recruited hard by the Vols. Let me ask you a question where would you rather go UTM or to Knoxville? As much as I love Tennessee high school football they do not have the best athletes in the nation. As a Riverdale alum you could take them and put them in front of the best team from Cal., Fla, GA, and Texas and they would probably have a lot of trouble even stayin close. I know Tenn. has great talent but the great talent always ends up goin somewhere else. Its like someone said earlier on this thread we have to compete with UT, MTSU, Memphis, Vanderbilt, and a couple other D-1AA programs. Not to mention we have Ole Miss, Miss St. and other schools that are right over the Tennessee borders that players choose to go to first. But they do recruit west Tenn. players they just don't choose to go here.

[gigantor_73]

Yeah they recruit west tenn. But they only recruit one or two. And thats usually the top player from Tennesse. There are all sorts of good players in the west, but they are never given the oppurtuninity or the time by UTM. I know because i was a senior last year and there were eight seniors on our football team and Five of them went to play college ball and none of us heard a word from UTM.

[x-player]

theyve got enough talent to win more games than they have been but not enough to finish above midway in the pack. i think discipline is the main problem and they dont seem commited to me.which goes back to coaching. just an opinion.

[catsfever]

I'm from the west TN area, but now live in Knoxville. Believe it or not, we ask the same questions about UTK and why they don't recruit kids in their own backyard.

 

Mr 4A Football last year from Knox Central received a full ride from Vandy, but hardly got any looks from UTK. Cassen Jackson-Garrison is 6-1, easily 220 and a much better RB than any of the UTK backs right now. This guy was also the MVP of the Tennesse squad that lost to Kentucky in the annual HS All-Star game.

 

Not trying to shift the focus of your thread, but we feel your pain on this end of the state as well. Maybe it's something to do with the UT system???

[darkglow]

i don't really think we have the athletes or the resources to be competive year in and year out in the OVC.

 

I'd much rather go out and see a game if we were playing in the gulf south conference again (two more losing seasons in the OVC and i hear that's probably where we are heading to).

[mike d]

me and my friends have been asking this question for a long time. there are kids every year from west tenn going to tenn tech, murray state, etc. i am pretty close to a few programs in west tenn. i have been told by one coach of a very good high school program that he has never been contacted by anyone from ut martin. if they are going to stink, they might as well have a whole team of kids within a 100 miles or so of the school. its a great point that their attendance would go up just from the kids familys, coaches, friends, etc that would go to see them. there are alot of loyal fans of high school teams that form a bond with these kids and would go to support them. they should get one of the young up and coming coaches from around here that has a good rapport with the other coaches and let him go at it. ill find out who the athletic director is there and post it on here and we'll call him and ask him/her why they have a coach from the northeast and a bunch of players from god knows where. hes been there a few years now and they still arent improving so im sure the job will be back open soon. i see no reason they couldnt compete with area players. do you?

[Purple & Gold Standard]

Why would they want to go to UTM???...If you get recruited by Murray St...SIU...UT Chattanooga..MTSU...TN Tech...SEMO....Who are you gonna go to???Somebody that might actually win??..Or UTM???...You ever wonder why high school games draw more than UTM??...Sorry to say but it is because they have a losing tradition....Kids want to go somewhere they think they will win....UTM has been in a constant rebuilding mode since the late 80's when they made the playoffs with all those JUCO players and had such a good team....I would love for UTM to have a good football program so I could go over there and maybe see some good 1AA football played...Only problem now is the good football is being played by the opposition.....They are not even on a level playing field because of the subtraction of scholarships given...And when you don't have as many as the other teams in your conference then that makes every one you hand out got to be a guaranteed starter...You don't have the ability to recruit 1 or 2 bad players and overcome it....

[redbirdfan]

It's probably good to get as many local kids that you can.. Just from a numbers or economic standpoint.. You can lose with hardly anyone sitting in the stands or you can lose with some parents, family & close friends sitting in the stands because of the local kids are playing