LB Aaron Willis Enters Transfer Portal

[ftsandersvol]

Not at all. One of the most talented guys on the defense. Disappointing he couldn’t see the field.

He played special teams last year, and I maybe heard his name once or twice. Hate to say it, but you have to earn your playing time. Some guys are gamers that don't really do all that well in practice, but I'm not sure he fit that category given his special teams play. Usually gamers stand out as soon as the whistle blows. He obviously didn't get the coaches to say, "Wow, this guy needs to be on the field more."

I wish him the best, and hope he finds a team not in the SEC that can use his talent.

 

[joevols89]

If he was so talented he would have played. I remember Hubbs and AP saying how small Willis is.

Nah just couldn’t put it together. The talent is there for sure.

 

[jonnon111]

JB is a good linebacker. Not great. Lacks elite lateral speed, but a solid tackler and definitely the right mindset because he ain't scared. I like Banks.
As far as transfers. Bye.

 

[GoodlettsvilleVol]

He was but a freshman. Can't expect too much. Was known to be quick, tough and to really bring it.

One more of many jumping ship from this recruit class.

At one time rated around #1 early on. Now with all the defections it is around 40th. Doesn't bode well.

247 had it rated 22 on a composite basis. They stop reconfiguring that ranking after a while and we lost at least four 4 star players since. Would likely have helped with our quality depth issue.One person said our class would have been ranked 38th or so with these losses.

Fast forward to our last class's ranking of 18th and it means we won't have the right quality and quantity of talent coming into Knoxville for the two years together. Looks potentially grim. We're supposed to be getting better.

 

[VolsSince78]

If Willis & Nixon leave, I count only 9 guys left from the 2021 signing class, excluding the transfer portal guys like Hooker, Milton, etc. And all the 2021 guys who have bolted except Andison Coby originally committed to Pruitt.

Just to mention an obvious point to most. With the short 2021 class and whatever scholarship reductions we face from the Pruitt mess, Huepel is still playing catch up with respect to building quality depth.

 

[TennesseeTarheel]

I've heard it said that sometimes the game is too fast for the player.

See. There it went again.

 

[Delmar]

Sad what a waste of time!

Looks like we had a bunch of those left over from Cornbread. Culling out the dead wood. That’s about six now that I never heard of.

 

[VolPack22]

If they could implement one rule for these transfers, I wish it would be for them to not allow the players to post a picture with them wearing the school’s uniform that they are leaving from.

 

[volfan_28]

This is an unbelievable mistake by our staff, make no bones about it. This kid is an absolute beast and in limited time on the field has proven his recruiting ranking to be justified IMO. He has sat behind the most incompetent and cowardly linebacker I’ve ever seen put on a Tennessee. Willis recognizes as much and wants to play. Amd he should be playing on this defense.

Ok Mr. Willis. Thanks for sharing

 

[IndianaVol]

Think he was a McDonald’s bag man?

I have little doubt Crouch was a recipient of a "Pruitt Happy Meal".
Now thanks to NIL that happy meal is now a large sized big boy combo meal.

I wonder if Crouch poking around Knoxville was to see if his name came up in the investigation?

 

[DiderotsGhost]

Well this is a bummer. We're thin at LB, too, so I doubt he'll find too many better options in P5 schools. Likely have to go G5 or FCS. Guess this means he was a bust.

 

[sjt18]

He was but a freshman. Can't expect too much. Was known to be quick, tough and to really bring it.

One more of many jumping ship from this recruit class.

At one time rated around #1 early on. Now with all the defections it is around 40th. Doesn't bode well.

247 had it rated 22 on a composite basis. They stop reconfiguring that ranking after a while and we lost at least four 4 star players since. Would likely have helped with our quality depth issue.One person said our class would have been ranked 38th or so with these losses.

Fast forward to our last class's ranking of 18th and it means we won't have the right quality and quantity of talent coming into Knoxville for the two years together. Looks potentially grim. We're supposed to be getting better.

Yeah except that the guys you mention appear to have been overrated in an inherited class.
you also forgot the portal. Losing non contributors is going to become a goal of roster management in the portal era

 

[LittleVol]

If Willis & Nixon leave, I count only 9 guys left from the 2021 signing class, excluding the transfer portal guys like Hooker, Milton, etc. And all the 2021 guys who have bolted except Andison Coby originally committed to Pruitt.

Just to mention an obvious point to most. With the short 2021 class and whatever scholarship reductions we face from the Pruitt mess, Huepel is still playing catch up with respect to building quality depth.

And this is why the transfer portal is so vital.
We literally went from having the worst QB in the conference to having a top 3 QB in efficiency the very next season.

USC recruited three 5 stars and then added 3 All-Conference type players all in one off-season.

It's so different now, the ways a program is built and THEN maintained from just 10 years ago.

 

[VAVol85]

He was but a freshman. Can't expect too much. Was known to be quick, tough and to really bring it.

One more of many jumping ship from this recruit class.

At one time rated around #1 early on. Now with all the defections it is around 40th. Doesn't bode well.

247 had it rated 22 on a composite basis. They stop reconfiguring that ranking after a while and we lost at least four 4 star players since. Would likely have helped with our quality depth issue.One person said our class would have been ranked 38th or so with these losses.

Fast forward to our last class's ranking of 18th and it means we won't have the right quality and quantity of talent coming into Knoxville for the two years together. Looks potentially grim. We're supposed to be getting better.

You paint a pretty grim picture based on the loss of a special teams player!

I agree we could have a hole in the normal class progression due to the wipeout of Pruitt’s last class. But, we should be able to compensate with portal players.

In a year or so, we will begin to see how Heupel does with retention of his own recruits.

 

[cthvolsfan]

Oh you mean like they did with the competition between hooker and Milton? That practice right? Or a different practice? You can say fans are total idiots and have no insight if you want to but all that matters is what happens out on the field. And our defensive coordinator should’ve looked at how poor our play at middle linebacker was and made a change. The obvious change would’ve been a given Willis some actual playing time to assess the difference between the two. But because of seniority, understanding terminologies, and who knows what else… The job was given to Aaron Beasley and no matter how incompetent he was on Saturday it remained his job. It is a flawed by the staff.
And the comparison between Milton and Hooker is incredibly relevant here because that is very much the same. Milton won the job based on what happened in closed limited contact practices and no matter how incompetent he was they didn’t give anyone else game reps. That was bizarre. Because Milton had proven nothing in game action. The only reason hooker ultimately got on the field is because Milton was injured. The staff hast to do a better job of identifying players that are not competing well in game action and giving others an opportunity… Regardless of what their first impressions and practice were of a player

@Volpix, is that you? Sounds like the same person especially with the Hooker-Milton talk.

 

[butchna]

He tweeted this…

 

[Hallie]

Video looks like he was tackling well ...hitting hard ...why was he 3rd team ??

 

[RiseToTheTop]

Video looks like he was tackling well ...hitting hard ...why was he 3rd team ??

so you see 1 practice clip and second guess the entire staff ? lmaoo

 

[LittleVol]

so you see 1 practice clip and second guess the entire staff ? lmaoo

Nah...
Just look at it!

Come on man.

That dude should have been playing beside Banks.
He's small out there but he plays with an edge.

Beasley is a smart dude, but his physicality from high school is non-existent now.

 

[Hallie]

so you see 1 practice clip and second guess the entire staff ? lmaoo

Not sure if staff wanted him to leave .. but he looked like he was aggressive ...and a good tackler .. better than some we have at that position . Just asking if he looked like a 3rd team LB in those...I know there is more to story .. dont get all bent out of shape...

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Video looks like he was tackling well ...hitting hard ...why was he 3rd team ??

We used to see video of JG throwing great passes. Yet in game…

 

[Hallie]

We used to see video of JG throwing great passes. Yet in game…

You saw JG throw great passes?? Wow

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

You saw JG throw great passes?? Wow

Shocking isn’t it? But it did happen.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Not sure if staff wanted him to leave .. but he looked like he was aggressive ...and a good tackler .. better than some we have at that position . Just asking if he looked like a 3rd team LB in those...I know there is more to story .. dont get all bent out of shape...

I heard AP and Hubbs say he was just too small for the SEC.

 

[Hallie]

I heard AP and Hubbs say he was just too small for the SEC.

Oh ..well ok they the experts .. i recon neither ever played a down of ball ..but guess they measured his heart too ... yea he is short but at LB ..short is not a bad thing ..you can hide behind that front wave and as long as you are aggressive which he is .. you can find some small creases to get in some backfields .. video I saw had him making alot of plays in the backfield .. but im sure there were other things he didnt do well or her would not have been 3rd string ..