Question for some more seasoned Recruitniks' offseason histories

[DeepSpringsVol]

Originally Posted by PimpVol

Yeah. That's it. We should have turned it up a notch. Quite funny. Fulmer turned it up a notch in starting in 94. You make it seem like it was some sort of easy thing to dominate another states recruits forever. Internet football geniuses. They are the best.

Just because he improved recruiting from his hire date to mid 90s did not mean he couldnt still work harder. Biggest room in the world is room for improvement. But I guess us internet geniuses are the only ones who can figure that out. Nobody was bashing Fulmer.

[UTMark]

When did Bill King have his 1-900-# for recruiting. I bet he made a fortune.

[volger]

Pre .com = film, phone calls, and footwork.

[tomq_123]

I didn't follow recruiting a lot, but TBS used to have a good recruiting show once a week I would watch in the 90's.

[JCLawyerVol]

Originally Posted by volroadwarrior

ESPN was maybe just a twinkle in someone's eye. Recruiting was not closely followed as it is now with the internet. Got it from the newspaper or word of mouth, if at all. I was too busy chasing ______ (fill in the blank), working and changing diapers to get too interested in recruiting. Just watched the games and let the recruiting chips fall where they may. I got mad when we lost on the field and couldn't care less about the star rankings (if they even existed then).

Sounds like you caught some _______ if you were that busy changing diapers.

[volroadwarrior]

A lot less drama in the earlier decades. No stupid hats on the table. Drama queens didn't have the big stage. The few people who got excited were usually either ones associated with the recruit's HS or hometown. There was a lot less excitement and publicity at the colleges and university about who signed with them.

[volroadwarrior]

Originally Posted by JCLawyerVol

Sounds like you caught some _______ if you were that busy changing diapers.

[JCLawyerVol]

Originally Posted by volroadwarrior

Ha! Don't say that I've got my first on the way... Class of 2030?

[UTMark]

I also remembering when Mike Keith had the afternoon drive show in Knoxville. He always had the scoop.

[PimpVol]

Originally Posted by DeepSpringsVol

Just because he improved revruiting from his hire date to mid 90s did not mean he couldnt still work harder. Biggest room in the world is room for improvement. But I guess us internet geniuses are the only ones who can figure that out. Nobody was bashing Fulmer.

Guess you are right there. Everybody could always get better at everything all the time.

[DeepSpringsVol]

Originally Posted by PimpVol

Guess you are right there. Everybody could always get better at everything all the time.

I love Phil by the way. Great man.

[Hacksaw]

Dad joined the Navy at a young age. I was raised in a variety of locales around the world. But we would always keep track of the Vols. I still remember the '79 Bluebonnet Bowl vs. Purdue. It was one of the first live Vol football games I remember watching on TV. We would normally wait until Sunday and check the scores in the back of the sports page to find out whether we won or lost.

Recruiting? Forget about it. We were happy to be able to know the final score.

Thank God for modern technology.

[Morpheus]

In the 80's the local newspapers would run weekly recruiting articles with fairly in depth info about recruits we were after. Much better than anything they do today.

I really got hooked on recruiting by Jeff Whittaker's Deep South Recruiting Guide in the 90's. It was a seasonal mag that focused primarily on the south east, and had full bio's of every blue chip recruit with color photos and a 10.0 rating system. I would start looking for them at local convenience stores early every summer and sift through all the info. Fortunately we were recruiting like gang busters at the time, and it made for an exciting signing day when very few people really followed it.

I remember the commitments of players like Andy Kelly (as a punter), Carl Pickens, Heath Shuler, Little Man and Hayden, Garner, Dale Carter, etc. Brandon Stewart and Peyton Manning and the debate about which would turn out to be the better QB. The fiasco surrounding Randy Moss's recruitment, when he was dropped by Florida State and courted by UT for a while, only to be turned away to Marshall because of off the field issues. Those were exciting times to be a Vols fan.

Anyone remember "Black Monday"? When we had like 10 blue chips leaning to us the monday before signing day, and only one of them ended up signing with us. That one guy was Billy Ratliff, maybe the most important part of the national championship team that followed a few years later.

[RhodesVol]

Originally Posted by Morpheus

In the 80's the local newspapers would run weekly recruiting articles with fairly in depth info about recruits we were after. Much better than anything they do today.

I really got hooked on recruiting by Jeff Whittaker's Deep South Recruiting Guide in the 90's. It was a seasonal mag that focused primarily on the south east, and had full bio's of every blue chip recruit with color photos and a 10.0 rating system. I would start looking for them at local convenience stores early every summer and sift through all the info. Fortunately we were recruiting like gang busters at the time, and it made for an exciting signing day when very few people really followed it.

I remember the commitments of players like Andy Kelly (as a punter), Carl Pickens, Heath Shuler, Little Man and Hayden, Garner, Dale Carter, etc. Brandon Stewart and Peyton Manning and the debate about which would turn out to be the better QB. The fiasco surrounding Randy Moss's recruitment, when he was dropped by Florida State and courted by UT for a while, only to be turned away to Marshall because of off the field issues. Those were exciting times to be a Vols fan.

Anyone remember "Black Monday"? When we had like 10 blue chips leaning to us the monday before signing day, and only one of them ended up signing with us. That one guy was Billy Ratliff, maybe the most important part of the national championship team that followed a few years later.

Damn, that sounds incredible. Too bad it's far more in depth now. However, I don't know how I would pass all the time at work when I need a break without VN to keep me in the loop on our fan bases meltdowns without modern technology. Haha.

Also, Billy Ratliff definitely earned his stripes, even if he never turned out to be Reggie White.

[Morpheus]

Originally Posted by RhodesVol

Damn, that sounds incredible. Too bad it's far more in depth now. However, I don't know how I would pass all the time at work when I need a break without VN to keep me in the loop on our fan bases meltdowns without modern technology. Haha.

Also, Billy Ratliff definitely earned his stripes, even if he never turned out to be Reggie White.

Yeah, It was different back then. It was like having to wait for your favorite TV show that came on once a week. Had plenty of time to build up the drama and suspense. Very few recruits played "the game" because they had no stage to do it from.