Excerpts from Chris Low chat on ESPN today

[Wilhelm16]

I take exception to this myth of the high school talent in TN. Is there some magical effing force that makes you a better athlete simply because you live in a different state? I'd say it's more likely that the talent gets overlooked, because TN doesn't send a bunch of rural kids from now defunct local small schools to centralized super-schools. Call me crazy, but I think Bama faired pretty well with Hightower, Notre Dame with Golden Tate, Ole Miss with Oher and Patrick Willis, Kentucky with Randall Cobb, USC with Patrick Turner, Marshall with Chad Pennington, the Vols with Witten, Leonard Little, Al Wilson, Travis Stephens, Tiny Richardson, etc etc etc

The only difference I've seen is the coaching process. In TN you can't be a head high school coach without being a teacher or having like 10 years as a volunteer coach. Other states have non-staff stipend positions....it's not the talent of the players. It's like saying players from Portland are naturally better than those from Cross Plains because they live 15 miles farther up the road. It's NOT the talent.

That's a myth and the myth is continuously perpetuated. The talent is there...bother to look for it. If Dooley wants to recruit "3 stars with character", at least get the ones that likely grew up bleeding orange.

 

[LA Vol]

All winning out will do is prove that Dooley can beat our fellow cellar dwellers and take on a scrub from an easier conference. If Hart keeps Dooley on those terms, he's getting ready to see what fan apathy looks like. I'm pretty sure he'll get a taste of that at Troy and Mizzou when fans stay home in droves. Troy's Homecoming, and you won't be able to give tickets away.

 

[ImportedVoL]

If we can get gruden.. That needs to happen.. period.. point blank.. end of story

None of those other names make me excited, so I would say give Dooley another year if we cant make a deal happen with gruden and see if a huge name is around at that point.

I just do not want another band aid, or gamble.. If we are going to get rid of Dooley, The hire they make needs to be a HUGE, and make waves across the recruiting world immediately.

Gruden is the only coach around at the moment that could do that. UT would instantly be on the tip of everyones tongue across the nation and we could pretty much take our pick of all the 5* talent out there.

That is what Tennessee needs and deserves..

Gruden or bust... JMO

 

[Nashvol2]

I dont know what kind of a salesman Hart is, but, if you can get a guy to listen then you can get him buy.

GRUDEN!!!!

:hi: I noticed that you haven't posted a ton but I couldn't agree more, one salesperson to another.

 

[TnTech_Vol]

My concern is that Hart will retain Dooley. Then Strong will go to Arkansas. Malzan will go to Auburn and Gruden will end up somewhere else.
Then Dooley gets fired at the end of the 2013 season and no really, really good coach is available to come to U.T.

Heard this morning Jimbo Fisher is leading candidate for Auburn.

 

[Negateer]

If we can get gruden.. That needs to happen.. period.. point blank.. end of story

None of those other names make me excited, so I would say give Dooley another year if we cant make a deal happen with gruden and see if a huge name is around at that point.

I just do not want another band aid, or gamble.. If we are going to get rid of Dooley, The hire they make needs to be a HUGE, and make waves across the recruiting world immediately.

Gruden is the only coach around at the moment that could do that. UT would instantly be on the tip of everyones tongue across the nation and we could pretty much take our pick of all the 5* talent out there.

That is what Tennessee needs and deserves..

Gruden or bust... JMO

How do any recruits know about Gruden? Because of his TV gig?

Just curious. I don't follow the NFL, so the only time I've ever heard his name is on VN.

 

[YankeeVol]

Tried to explain that to a lot of Dooley supporters but it does not seem to sink in.

Winning 8 games against nobodies is going to be the norm with Dooley. They've accepted mediocrity

 

[utvolkyle06]

Auburn and New Mexico St. play Saturday to decide which coach goes first. :birgits_giggle:

 

[TXGoVols5]

How do any recruits know about Gruden? Because of his TV gig?

Just curious. I don't follow the NFL, so the only time I've ever heard his name is on VN.

He is all over ESPN these days, including Monday Night Football. He also does QB Camp segments with draft eligible college players.

He's pretty well-known. Plus, Chris Low thinks he's a rock star.

 

[Boca Vol]

I take exception to this myth of the high school talent in TN. Is there some magical effing force that makes you a better athlete simply because you live in a different state? I'd say it's more likely that the talent gets overlooked, because TN doesn't send a bunch of rural kids from now defunct local small schools to centralized super-schools. Call me crazy, but I think Bama faired pretty well with Hightower, Notre Dame with Golden Tate, Ole Miss with Oher and Patrick Willis, Kentucky with Randall Cobb, USC with Patrick Turner, Marshall with Chad Pennington, the Vols with Witten, Leonard Little, Al Wilson, Travis Stephens, Tiny Richardson, etc etc etc

The only difference I've seen is the coaching process. In TN you can't be a head high school coach without being a teacher or having like 10 years as a volunteer coach. Other states have non-staff stipend positions....it's not the talent of the players. It's like saying players from Portland are naturally better than those from Cross Plains because they live 15 miles farther up the road. It's NOT the talent.

That's a myth and the myth is continuously perpetuated. The talent is there...bother to look for it. If Dooley wants to recruit "3 stars with character", at least get the ones that likely grew up bleeding orange.

You point out 12 players over a 16 year span. I think that makes the point for you.

In states like FL, the kids have been playing football year-round since about 7-8 years old. It's night and day compared to TN.

Yes, TN does produce a few high level D1 players every year, but again look at your list, UT doesn't get all of them or the best of the bunch.

 

[1725gatorhater]

Winning 8 games against nobodies is going to be the norm with Dooley. They've accepted mediocrity

I was glad to see fulmer go in 08 and get kiffin. Things did not work well because Tennessee was too cheap and settled for Dooley. Wished they would have dug a little deeper in their piggy bank. I think if kiffin or fulmer coached this team they would have had at least 9 wins.

 

[vSphereGuy]

I take exception to this myth of the high school talent in TN. Is there some magical effing force that makes you a better athlete simply because you live in a different state? I'd say it's more likely that the talent gets overlooked, because TN doesn't send a bunch of rural kids from now defunct local small schools to centralized super-schools. Call me crazy, but I think Bama faired pretty well with Hightower, Notre Dame with Golden Tate, Ole Miss with Oher and Patrick Willis, Kentucky with Randall Cobb, USC with Patrick Turner, Marshall with Chad Pennington, the Vols with Witten, Leonard Little, Al Wilson, Travis Stephens, Tiny Richardson, etc etc etc

The only difference I've seen is the coaching process. In TN you can't be a head high school coach without being a teacher or having like 10 years as a volunteer coach. Other states have non-staff stipend positions....it's not the talent of the players. It's like saying players from Portland are naturally better than those from Cross Plains because they live 15 miles farther up the road. It's NOT the talent.

That's a myth and the myth is continuously perpetuated. The talent is there...bother to look for it. If Dooley wants to recruit "3 stars with character", at least get the ones that likely grew up bleeding orange.

Sorry, you are wrong. I have lived in both Florida (Fort Walton Beach) and Texas (Katy- just outside of Houston) and now Knoxville.

After seeing it first hand, there is a rather large talent gap. Don't get offended. It is what it is.

 

[bamacheats]

I'm fairly certain that Chris Low posts here as AlaskaVol.

 

[Wilhelm16]

Sorry, you are wrong. I have lived in both Florida (Fort Walton Beach) and Texas (Katy- just outside of Houston) and now Knoxville.

After seeing it first hand, there is a rather large talent gap. Don't get offended. It is what it is.

So geography plays a part in athletic development of teenagers? Wow, I guess I should move my kids to FL ASAP, or is it too late? Are they already
Pennsylvania-ized?

 

[Volballfan]

Well to be Honest if he is given the win out or your done card. He will be done. I'll say this here so you guys can rub my nose in it. Mizzu ,Troy, or Vandy will deal Dooley his card. I'll hate Like hell to have any of those win against Our Vols. But I have no faith he can win 4 Games in a row with this staff!

I said before the season started, Vandy would beat us in Nashville this year, and was flamed lol. That flame has been reduced to a spark now. Enough said.

 

[Boca Vol]

So geography plays a part in athletic development of teenagers? Wow, I guess I should move my kids to FL ASAP, or is it too late? Are they already
Pennsylvania-ized?

Put it this way. My brother moved to Sarasota back in '02. His son, who was 9 at the time, wanted to play baseball. They went to tryouts, yes tryouts at 9, and afterwards the coach pulled my brother aside and said his son had some talent but would need to work with a hitting coach before he could make a team.

Hell, when I grew up if you wanted to play, you played. Hitting coaches at 9 years old! Sad, but that tells you the level of competition in FL.

Football is the same. As good as Maryville is, there are 25 teams in Miami & Broward Counties alone that would crush them. I'm not knocking Maryville's program (it's phenomenal what they've done over the past 10-15 years) but the teams are that good down here.

 

[Wilhelm16]

You point out 12 players over a 16 year span. I think that makes the point for you.

In states like FL, the kids have been playing football year-round since about 7-8 years old. It's night and day compared to TN.

Yes, TN does produce a few high level D1 players every year, but again look at your list, UT doesn't get all of them or the best of the bunch.

Those are just the players off the top of my head. Again, I think it's a coaching and/or exposure thing. Up here in PA and when I lived in Montgomery AL they had just as many schools as in the county I grew up in back in TN. Just as many schools in areas that are MUCH more populated. My brother in law went to a school that was the combination of what used to be 5 different high schools all with their own football teams when his mom was in school. There are only 2 schools in that entire county (And counties are huge in PA)

The talent pool in TN is diluted, because in Robertson County where I grew up, for instance, there are 5 high school football teams in an area and population that would have 2 schools at the most. College coaches would have to use a microscope to find SEC talent amongst all of the AAA schools with 3-7 records out there. Some kid that may have been the next Earl Campbell ends up working in a factory or joining the military, because he went to podunk high where he had an O-line that averaged 180 lbs. and never played in the playoffs. Take the same kid, and put him in the Montgomery, AL area and all of the sudden he's playing for a national powerhouse like Prattville where they actually have enough students to have tryouts instead of everyone getting to be on the team. Now he has a line that averages 275 and he's playing on TV.

I'm sorry, I disagree. The talent is there, but it's just so hard to find amongst all the small schools. When I was in HS they talked about making one school for Robertson County, but people fought it. They wanted the "tradition" of the local football teams, but a team comprised of Springfield, Greenbrier, East Robertson, Jo Byrns, and Heritage would have been nearly unstoppable.

 

[bigorange#1]

Auburn and New Mexico St. play Saturday to decide which coach goes first. :birgits_giggle:

It's a loser leave town match!

 

[PMC2726]

So geography plays a part in athletic development of teenagers? Wow, I guess I should move my kids to FL ASAP, or is it too late? Are they already
Pennsylvania-ized?

It's not that Florida, Georgia, Texas, Cali have BETTER talent, it's that they have MORE talent, as is MORE population playing high school football. It's an issue of numbers -- far more high school football teams in Texas, etc than in TN. Also, a lot of TN's talent is based in Memphis (where I'm from) and everyone knows the success rate of bringing these kids to Knoxville.

With that said, I do see your point and I've repeated this fact over-and-over: not many people know or remember, but 1/3 of our '98 championship team was from Tennessee. I don't know that our numbers will ever be higher than that, but 1/3 is really impressive when you look at the numbers and everything does go in cycles.

 

[PMC2726]

Those are just the players off the top of my head. Again, I think it's a coaching and/or exposure thing. Up here in PA and when I lived in Montgomery AL they had just as many schools as in the county I grew up in back in TN. Just as many schools in areas that are MUCH more populated. My brother in law went to a school that was the combination of what used to be 5 different high schools all with their own football teams when his mom was in school. There are only 2 schools in that entire county (And counties are huge in PA)

The talent pool in TN is diluted, because in Robertson County where I grew up, for instance, there are 5 high school football teams in an area and population that would have 2 schools at the most. College coaches would have to use a microscope to find SEC talent amongst all of the AAA schools with 3-7 records out there. Some kid that may have been the next Earl Campbell ends up working in a factory or joining the military, because he went to podunk high where he had an O-line that averaged 180 lbs. and never played in the playoffs. Take the same kid, and put him in the Montgomery, AL area and all of the sudden he's playing for a national powerhouse like Prattville where they actually have enough students to have tryouts instead of everyone getting to be on the team. Now he has a line that averages 275 and he's playing on TV.

I'm sorry, I disagree. The talent is there, but it's just so hard to find amongst all the small schools. When I was in HS they talked about making one school for Robertson County, but people fought it. They wanted the "tradition" of the local football teams, but a team comprised of Springfield, Greenbrier, East Robertson, Jo Byrns, and Heritage would have been nearly unstoppable.

I'm hoping our next kicker is out of MUS in Memphis. Kid is going to make some team VERY happy.

 

[Wilhelm16]

Put it this way. My brother moved to Sarasota back in '02. His son, who was 9 at the time, wanted to play baseball. They went to tryouts, yes tryouts at 9, and afterwards the coach pulled my brother aside and said his son had some talent but would need to work with a hitting coach before he could make a team.

Hell, when I grew up if you wanted to play, you played. Hitting coaches at 9 years old! Sad, but that tells you the level of competition in FL.

Football is the same. As good as Maryville is, there are 25 teams in Miami & Broward Counties alone that would crush them. I'm not knocking Maryville's program (it's phenomenal what they've done over the past 10-15 years) but the teams are that good down here.

See that goes back to what I was saying about coaching. He didn't say your nephew didn't have the talent. He hadn't received the same coaching as the other kids. Plus, as I said before in regards to more centralized schools, if you took a school like Greenbrier, and matched them up against a school from a similar sized county from FL you'd have the kids from one town in TN playing against what we would consider a county all-star team. It's not that they're just better, it's because they all go to the same school.

 

[Negateer]

He is all over ESPN these days, including Monday Night Football. He also does QB Camp segments with draft eligible college players.

He's pretty well-known. Plus, Chris Low thinks he's a rock star.

So they would know him as a TV announcer, basically?

How does that translate into swaying recruits? I think recruits are notorious for wanting to play for winning programs or winning coaches. Does a 17 year old kid in 2013 even know Gruden was ever a coach?

 

[Tarkus]

I take exception to this myth of the high school talent in TN. Is there some magical effing force that makes you a better athlete simply because you live in a different state? I'd say it's more likely that the talent gets overlooked, because TN doesn't send a bunch of rural kids from now defunct local small schools to centralized super-schools. Call me crazy, but I think Bama faired pretty well with Hightower, Notre Dame with Golden Tate, Ole Miss with Oher and Patrick Willis, Kentucky with Randall Cobb, USC with Patrick Turner, Marshall with Chad Pennington, the Vols with Witten, Leonard Little, Al Wilson, Travis Stephens, Tiny Richardson, etc etc etc

The only difference I've seen is the coaching process. In TN you can't be a head high school coach without being a teacher or having like 10 years as a volunteer coach. Other states have non-staff stipend positions....it's not the talent of the players. It's like saying players from Portland are naturally better than those from Cross Plains because they live 15 miles farther up the road. It's NOT the talent.

That's a myth and the myth is continuously perpetuated. The talent is there...bother to look for it. If Dooley wants to recruit "3 stars with character", at least get the ones that likely grew up bleeding orange.

Completely agree. I see great players from Tennessee at other programs all the time. Also, other schools recruit nationally such as alabama, oklahoma, nebraska, oregon, michigan,and notre dame. If they can do it we can. I never hear anyone saying it difficult to recruit to those schools.

 

[Tarkus]

So they would know him as a TV announcer, basically?

How does that translate into swaying recruits? I think recruits are notorious for wanting to play for winning programs or winning coaches. Does a 17 year old kid in 2013 even know Gruden was ever a coach?

If Gruden walks in to a kids house and puts a super bowl ring on the kids coffee table, I think it will get his attention. Most of these kids have parents who can fill them in.

 

[MEMPHISPHIL]

He lies he has been reading this message board. Hell they could have interviewed one of us for these responses except some of us might have an emotional breakdown talking about Gruden that ended up needing happy tissues.

Agree, they'er comments are based from our post on these boards, and we would have a breakdown and need happy tissue, I get teared up just thinking about him coming here.