Player’s careers ruined by coaches

#26
#26
Every one of those QBs except maybe Stewart were obviously in over their head in the SEC. Stewart’s problem was he was the same age as Peyton Manning.

Exactly…and I think the UT coaches made the right choice.
 
#28
#28
I wouldn't say his career was ruined since he has been in the NFL now for almost a decade and has technically produced more in that league than any Tennessee QB since Peyton, but Josh Dobbs. He was great and arguably a Top 4 QB in TN history, but he could've been so much better if we had an actual QB coach on staff. He just developed some bad habits that have hindered his ability at the next level.
 
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#30
#30
I know he's going to be a HOF, but it's insane that Jason Witten only caught 68 balls in his college career
Pretty high numbers for a TE in a pro-style formation at the time, especially considering the other reveivers on roster at the time that got lots of action.

I'm seriously hoping CJH has plans to exploit the obvious talents of Kitsleman this year. That guy could really help open things up for the down field reveivers. And he is more than capable of delivering his own damage on the field.
 
#31
#31
So it's pretty insane to think how broken Crompton was that Kiffin couldn't make him a serviceable QB till about game 7 of 2009 and then somehow got him drafted.
That is one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. Crompton was a complete bust for 4+ years and Kiffin finally whittled the playbook down to a bunch of high/low throws on one side of the field. Part of it was probably all the OCs we went through, but Crompton just couldn’t process an offense.
 
#32
#32
That is one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen. Crompton was a complete bust for 4+ years and Kiffin finally whittled the playbook down to a bunch of high/low throws on one side of the field. Part of it was probably all the OCs we went through, but Crompton just couldn’t process an offense.

Was it the Georgia game I think when they ran a bootleg to Denarius Moore and Crompton launched a 55 yarder on a dime and it was like "Oh hey! We found something he can do!" and then it was literally Hardesty for 60% of the time and a bootleg thrown in for the final half of the year lol
 
#34
#34
I would offer that most of the QB names mentioned didn't have their careers ruined by coaches or coaching decisions. Most QB's at any major program in the P4 ranks will not be true starting material regardless of the HC or QB coach. Most are destined to be back ups and graduate into the working world. Every program in the country has a list of these guys at every level of NCAA and NAIA. But, you recuit them and you give it a shot and you decide what their ptoential is and slot them. Alot of hte situations can be attributed to fit. The recruiting process cannot accurately predict who wil pan out as a program fit until they get on campus and get started. The rare positive of today's portal however does allow a player to get out and find a coaching and school fit sooner before they become a has been name.

I would argue that maybe Bailey is a good case for this argument. He was caught up at UT during an offensive style transition and his skill set was no longer viable in the schemes we were headed toward, and got pushed to the side in a detrimental way to him. Flip side says not all HS wonders make the transition to D1 well. Always wondered what would have become of him had he stayed home at UGA from the beginning. He's a prime example of someone that maybe could have been, just wasn't a fit at UT to have been. Maurer was a similar player that came in at a time of transition and just didn't really fit the same as when he was recruited. QB's like Bailey and Maurer would have been better suited for B1G or ACC style play.
 
#35
#35
I wouldn't say his career was ruined since he has been in the NFL now for almost a decade and has technically produced more in that league than any Tennessee QB since Peyton, but Josh Dobbs. He was great and arguably a Top 4 QB in TN history, but he could've been so much better if we had an actual QB coach on staff. He just developed some bad habits that have hindered his ability at the next level.

If Dobbs had Heupel as his OC, he probably is a Heisman finalist.
 
#38
#38
A little bit off the subject, for this specific thread but, what about Rick Clausen coming in and doing what he did? He made sure Saban remembered what he told him.

Which has me questioning that entire QB situation. Did we not have any other QB’s besides Ainge and Clausen in ‘05 or, was that done to get little Jimmy here?
 
#39
#39
Should Eric Locke be on this list? What about the transfer end CLK kicked off the team?
 
#40
#40
The thread on Randall Cobb got me to thinking Hurd and others spoken of who may have had success elsewhere on the field or at other programs. Obviously, we and they will never know for sure but, who are some of our former players you think coaches did wrong?

I still say had Butch put in the I formation, we would have never lost Hurd and, he would have accomplished more.

What about AJ Suggs, Brandon Stewart, Joey Matthews?

Anyone think C. J. Leak and Brent Schaffer got square deals or the players CLK ran off?

Of course, going back to Cobb, position changes worked out for some such as Jason Witten, Dale Carter and, for a short time, James Banks. But, who are some players negatively impacted by coaching decisions?
🤔
 
#41
#41
I'd love to see what Branndon Stewart and Brent Shaeffer could have done in CJH's offense.

Not sure about how many were run off or all of the circumstances. I can remember Majors had William Howard carry the ball 16 straight times against Ole Miss in 86 breaking an NCAA record at the time. In the stands, we thought he was punishing Howard for his grades.
Dealing with player attitudes or their mouthy Mom or domineering Dad is probably an art form that some coaches have and others don't. Hurd's Mom disparaged Kamara in the press. Stewart's Mom had something to say about the qb competition in 94 as I recall. The Wharton kid stole his teammates girlfriend. My guess is keeping a healthy position room is just one of the skill sets a coach has to have. 5 star busts aren't anything new, and they get alot more attention that the 3 stars that wind up being high round NFL picks. At the end of the day :))), coaches are trying to win games. Sometimes it's addition by subtraction. Every kid that hits the portal isn't doing so of his own accord. Some are told to hit the portal. Managing 18-21 year olds for a living is a tough job.
 
#42
#42
Whatever you want to say about Lane Kiffin, he can work with QB's. This is a man who coordinated high powered offenses and won titles with Blake Sims and Jake Coker. So it's pretty insane to think how broken Crompton was that Kiffin couldn't make him a serviceable QB till about game 7 of 2009 and then somehow got him drafted.
That’s really the only reason I wish we had kept Kiffin. What he accomplished with Crompton for one season should have enabled future QB’s to help us to compete for a SEC championship at least once or twice between Dooley, Jones, and Pruitt.

Bray and Kiffin or Dobbs and Kiffin would have been much better years.
 
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#45
#45
Simms wasn’t very good, but at least had some arm talent. I still think it’s a race Matthews and Sterling Henton as far as most limited opening day starters.

I’ll throw in the Jr version of Jonathan Crompton as honorable mention.

Simms held on the ball 3-5 business days before letting it rip
 
#47
#47
I don't enjoy thinking back on the failures of the past 20 years or so, but Kamara and Hurd come to mind. The other takeaway from the Butch years IMO is they seemed to coach scared and/or tight, so the players naturally feed off their coaches...
 
#48
#48
A. Kamara comes to mind with Butch. He wasted Kamara as a backup who proved how good he was in the NFL. The rumor was Hurd wanted to play TE Butch wouldn't let him so he transferred.
I believe most of what Hurd's family indicated. Hurd took incredible abuse as a RB. He saw his future fading away to nothing. Even if Jones had made changes to his "amazing system", he could have protected Hurd more.

I think Jones lied to Hurd so repeatedly that it finally blew up in front of the world.
 
#50
#50
Didnt ruin his career but cost Peyton the Heisman by not playing Jamal in the 97 Florida game. If we had beaten the Gators PM would have been an almost unanimous choice for the Heisman.

Instead Fulmer and Cutcliife played Mark Levine over one of only 7 players to rush for over 2,000 yards in 1 NFL season. Supposedly he didnt know the protection schemes. Well I would assume you would pick up the first player coming through and the first time PM threw a screen to Jamal or handed off on a draw play that would have been the end of the Gator blitz. Have heard Cutcliffe say that was the biggest mistake while OC.
 
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