'25 Portal Thread

[Mullins2010]

 

[PowerT.]

Dont know anything about that player, but I rather play our guys we recruited in Farooq.

 

[Walkman]

Dont know anything about that player, but I rather play our guys we recruited in Farooq

Quality depth is a great thing and wins games in the SEC.

 

[VolByLaw]

The Charlotte transfer visited a couple of weeks back but wanted it under the radar. TN hasn’t done anything with him to this point and looking at his journey I’m sure they are trying to figure out what credits transfer or not to be eligible. He has moved around a good bit. Would be a depth piece.

-AP

 

[Weezer]

Listened to a video this morning where apparently "insiders" were saying mid season last year that Nico just couldn't run the offense and couldn't wrap his head around what Heupel wanted to do.

That explains a lot actually.

Actually, it creates a buttload more questions. Amazing how people were apparently seeing things our coaches didn't. Was Nico just a huge problem that Heupel didn't recognize? Or are people applying hindsight and claiming to know things they actually didn't.

 

[lilesrt]

“Agents”..

 

[De La Cloobs]

Actually, it creates a buttload more questions. Amazing how people were apparently seeing things our coaches didn't. Was Nico just a huge problem that Heupel didn't recognize? Or are people applying hindsight and claiming to know things they actually didn't.

Well, Heupel rode with who he had to ride with. Nico probably gave us the best chance to win. It was Nico's first real season and he is young, so they were probably hoping it would all click eventually. They saw what we all saw, but nobody else was as good.

I am just excited to see a QB who can actually run the offense like Heupel wants. Haven't had that since Hendon.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

“Agents”..

Lol

His uncle Ray and his former middle school defensive coordinator.

 

[Vol423]

Listened to a video this morning where apparently "insiders" were saying mid season last year that Nico just couldn't run the offense and couldn't wrap his head around what Heupel wanted to do.

That explains a lot actually.

That seems consistent with the product on the field.

 

[LaagerVol]

Actually, it creates a buttload more questions. Amazing how people were apparently seeing things our coaches didn't. Was Nico just a huge problem that Heupel didn't recognize? Or are people applying hindsight and claiming to know things they actually didn't.

3rd option, Heupel recognized his shortcomings, adjusted the offense to mitigate, and didn’t have a better option on the roster so had to roll with it.

 

[Vol423]

3rd option, Heupel recognized his shortcomings, adjusted the offense to mitigate, and didn’t have a better option on the roster so had to roll with it.

This is precisely what I think happened. The offensive playcalling last year was WAY too conservative, particularly in the red zone. Heupel didn't trust Nico.

 

[Weezer]

3rd option, Heupel recognized his shortcomings, adjusted the offense to mitigate, and didn’t have a better option on the roster so had to roll with it.

This is precisely what I think happened. The offensive playcalling last year was WAY too conservative, particularly in the red zone. Heupel didn't trust Nico.

So we're saying Heupel recognized Nico's shortcomings but chose not to look for a QB in the winter portal? Given Nico was seeking to renegotiate his NIL at that time, we could have pushed him out the door then and brought in a QB to go through Spring practice.

 

[Lloyd_Christmas]

So we're saying Heupel recognized Nico's shortcomings but chose not to look for a QB in the winter portal? Given Nico was seeking to renegotiate his NIL at that time, we could have pushed him out the door then and brought in a QB to go through Spring practice.

Most great coaches have the mindset that they can coach up every player. Add in that Nico is a QB, Heupel's specialty, and was the biggest recruit landed by Tennessee in a long time...Heupel wasn't going to just push him out the door.

 

[volinexile17]

Also, what QB worth adding is going to come in to compete with Nico?

And if you add a guy, do you lose Merk or Gmac?

And what does that say to a guy like Faizon or future QB recruits?

Are you really gonna pay 4 QBs?

Adding a QB when you think you’re gonna keep Nico just doesn’t make sense.

 

[Weezer]

Most great coaches have the mindset that they can coach up every player. Add in that Nico is a QB, Heupel's specialty, and was the biggest recruit landed by Tennessee in a long time...Heupel wasn't going to just push him out the door.

Why not push him out the door if he was such a huge problem, as others are saying? Heupel knows the most important thing is winning. If he mis-evaluated Nico, why not fix the problem?

Also, what QB worth adding is going to come in to compete with Nico?

And if you add a guy, do you lose Merk or Gmac?

And what does that say to a guy like Faizon or future QB recruits?

Are you really gonna pay 4 QBs?

Adding a QB when you think you’re gonna keep Nico just doesn’t make sense.

Again, if Nico was such a problem, why not push him into the winter portal and find your new QB then? There were better options then, plus it would have allowed a new QB to go through Spring practice. And no reason to keep Nico around on a crazy NIL deal if he couldn't get it done.


My personal opinion, I'm not sure Nico was the problem people say he was. I thought he played tough in the bowl game and was looking forward to his growth this season. I think the real problem was the family, not the kid. But the kid didn't have the backbone to stand up to his family. As such, I hope he sucks at UCLA, but my fear is he has a spectacular season and makes us look dumb. Why? Because if UCLA can unlock his potential whereas we could not, that's gonna hurt on the recruiting trail. And as for Joey A., I hope he comes here and balls out, but I need to see it. Having great numbers at Appy State isn't the same as playing in the SEC. And we have a lot of question marks going into next season. People seem to think it's a sin to admit that.

 

[rockytop25]

Why not push him out the door if he was such a huge problem, as others are saying? Heupel knows the most important thing is winning. If he mis-evaluated Nico, why not fix the problem?


Again, if Nico was such a problem, why not push him into the winter portal and find your new QB then? There were better options then, plus it would have allowed a new QB to go through Spring practice. And no reason to keep Nico around on a crazy NIL deal if he couldn't get it done.


My personal opinion, I'm not sure Nico was the problem people say he was. I thought he played tough in the bowl game and was looking forward to his growth this season. I think the real problem was the family, not the kid. But the kid didn't have the backbone to stand up to his family. As such, I hope he sucks at UCLA, but my fear is he has a spectacular season and makes us look dumb. Why? Because if UCLA can unlock his potential whereas we could not, that's gonna hurt on the recruiting trail. And as for Joey A., I hope he comes here and balls out, but I need to see it. Having great numbers at Appy State isn't the same as playing in the SEC. And we have a lot of question marks going into next season. People seem to think it's a sin to admit that.

Nico and his crew came to us at the 11th hour in December, demanding more money, which was the major issue.

Nico himself decided not to show up to practice and was actively trying to get other guys to jump in the portal at practice in the spring and lied to Heupel about doing so.

Nico maybe wasn't THE problem, but he was A problem for sure

 

[VolGee4]

Why not push him out the door if he was such a huge problem, as others are saying? Heupel knows the most important thing is winning. If he mis-evaluated Nico, why not fix the problem?


Again, if Nico was such a problem, why not push him into the winter portal and find your new QB then? There were better options then, plus it would have allowed a new QB to go through Spring practice. And no reason to keep Nico around on a crazy NIL deal if he couldn't get it done.


My personal opinion, I'm not sure Nico was the problem people say he was. I thought he played tough in the bowl game and was looking forward to his growth this season. I think the real problem was the family, not the kid. But the kid didn't have the backbone to stand up to his family. As such, I hope he sucks at UCLA, but my fear is he has a spectacular season and makes us look dumb. Why? Because if UCLA can unlock his potential whereas we could not, that's gonna hurt on the recruiting trail. And as for Joey A., I hope he comes here and balls out, but I need to see it. Having great numbers at Appy State isn't the same as playing in the SEC. And we have a lot of question marks going into next season. People seem to think it's a sin to admit that.

No, but it's tiring always reading the negativity. I don't understand why people always assume the worst of any situation. Heupel got Nico to lead a team to the playoffs. It's clear that he struggled with some things. Obviously, they (and me) thought he could improve at it. When he wanted more, that was the chance to let him go.

 

[Lloyd_Christmas]

Why not push him out the door if he was such a huge problem, as others are saying? Heupel knows the most important thing is winning. If he mis-evaluated Nico, why not fix the problem?


Again, if Nico was such a problem, why not push him into the winter portal and find your new QB then? There were better options then, plus it would have allowed a new QB to go through Spring practice. And no reason to keep Nico around on a crazy NIL deal if he couldn't get it done.


My personal opinion, I'm not sure Nico was the problem people say he was. I thought he played tough in the bowl game and was looking forward to his growth this season. I think the real problem was the family, not the kid. But the kid didn't have the backbone to stand up to his family. As such, I hope he sucks at UCLA, but my fear is he has a spectacular season and makes us look dumb. Why? Because if UCLA can unlock his potential whereas we could not, that's gonna hurt on the recruiting trail. And as for Joey A., I hope he comes here and balls out, but I need to see it. Having great numbers at Appy State isn't the same as playing in the SEC. And we have a lot of question marks going into next season. People seem to think it's a sin to admit that.

Heupel isn't involved with the money stuff...that's between Spyre and the player. Just because the player and their reps are being a headache for Spyre, it doesn't mean they're being a headache for Heupel. I agree with you on the family being the bigger problem off the field.

I'm not saying that Heupel mis-evaluated Nico. Maybe they knew he would take a lot of work on the mental side but his talent could overcome it and they thought they could get him where they wanted him to be. He was still a young player last season and no coach will just give up on a young very talented player because he's having some mental struggles. It's entirely reasonable that Nico had shortcomings that held the offense back but the coaches also felt like they could coach him up and resolve those issues. We've seen several successful QBs at Tennessee play as freshmen and sophomores and struggle through some obvious mental (experience related) issues, overcome them, and then be very successful upperclassmen.

I think Nico was likely going to take a nice step forward at Tennessee, but he's probably going to struggle now being in a new system with a significantly less talented supporting cast. I do think whoever the starter ends up being, they'll likely put up numbers at least as good as Nico did last season.

 

[PlanetVolunteer]

I agree with Weezer about Nico

I felt he played harder than anyone in the OSU game and lean toarwads believing he didn't threaten to hold out.

I think his families culture is just that pervasive. I mean, he wouldn't be the first person brainwashed by his own family. Whether it be religious or political, it happens all the time. Don't totally blame him for not telling them to kiss his butt when it's been beat into his head at birth that he is to never question the patriarch. But...the apple don't fall far from the tree. Do think if it weren't for his family, he is here no doubt.

Agree with VolGee in regards to the negativity. We were hoping Nico would become a super star, so we lost that potential. It sucks, but we still have way more going for us than we don't. Don't see how you can think otherwise and it's not that crazy to think Aguilar can lead us back to the playoff in this QB friendly offense with the defense we have.

The sunshine pampers are needed when the majority of our fanbase is perplexingly negative. They've had meltdowns after making the playoff, back to back elite 8's and now one year removed from a baseball title lol.

 

[Ace]

Heupel isn't involved with the money stuff...that's between Spyre and the player. Just because the player and their reps are being a headache for Spyre, it doesn't mean they're being a headache for Heupel. I agree with you on the family being the bigger problem off the field.

I'm not saying that Heupel mis-evaluated Nico. Maybe they knew he would take a lot of work on the mental side but his talent could overcome it and they thought they could get him where they wanted him to be. He was still a young player last season and no coach will just give up on a young very talented player because he's having some mental struggles. It's entirely reasonable that Nico had shortcomings that held the offense back but the coaches also felt like they could coach him up and resolve those issues. We've seen several successful QBs at Tennessee play as freshmen and sophomores and struggle through some obvious mental (experience related) issues, overcome them, and then be very successful upperclassmen.

I think Nico was likely going to take a nice step forward at Tennessee, but he's probably going to struggle now being in a new system with a significantly less talented supporting cast. I do think whoever the starter ends up being, they'll likely put up numbers at least as good as Nico did last season.

Every head coach in college football is involved in the money stuff.

 

[therickbol]

Every head coach in college football is involved in the money stuff.

CJH is actually not involved with the money stuff. He purposely stays out of it. That way when players want to bring up money he is able to honestly tell them he has nothing to do with the money part of it. He communicates with Spyre about players and how much he thinks a player will help them win. For instance, after the Nico situation Spyre needed to know if Merk was ready to roll with him as the starter. Then Spyre is able to use market value to determine how much to spend on a starting caliber QB rather than a backup. But Spyre and CJH do not go over money terms. That is from a very reliable source.

 

[Lloyd_Christmas]

Every head coach in college football is involved in the money stuff.

He might communicate how critical certain players are to Spyre, but he stays out of the actual conversations over amounts and other details. He's very hands off with NIL.

 

[FBtime]

Why not push him out the door if he was such a huge problem, as others are saying? Heupel knows the most important thing is winning. If he mis-evaluated Nico, why not fix the problem?


Again, if Nico was such a problem, why not push him into the winter portal and find your new QB then? There were better options then, plus it would have allowed a new QB to go through Spring practice. And no reason to keep Nico around on a crazy NIL deal if he couldn't get it done.


My personal opinion, I'm not sure Nico was the problem people say he was. I thought he played tough in the bowl game and was looking forward to his growth this season. I think the real problem was the family, not the kid. But the kid didn't have the backbone to stand up to his family. As such, I hope he sucks at UCLA, but my fear is he has a spectacular season and makes us look dumb. Why? Because if UCLA can unlock his potential whereas we could not, that's gonna hurt on the recruiting trail. And as for Joey A., I hope he comes here and balls out, but I need to see it. Having great numbers at Appy State isn't the same as playing in the SEC. And we have a lot of question marks going into next season. People seem to think it's a sin to admit that.

Sorry but if you think Nico will ball out at UCLA then you really don't know football. UCLA allowed almost 3 sacks per game last year (one of the worst OLs in the Big 10) and they are having to completely rebuild their OL via the portal and now have the statue back there who is terrible at taking sacks. Also Nico won't be able to rely on the running game since they were only two teams in D1 that had a worse running game. TWO! UCLA was 131/133. Have fun with that Nico!

 

[JacketVol]

Why not push him out the door if he was such a huge problem, as others are saying? Heupel knows the most important thing is winning. If he mis-evaluated Nico, why not fix the problem?


Again, if Nico was such a problem, why not push him into the winter portal and find your new QB then? There were better options then, plus it would have allowed a new QB to go through Spring practice. And no reason to keep Nico around on a crazy NIL deal if he couldn't get it done.


My personal opinion, I'm not sure Nico was the problem people say he was. I thought he played tough in the bowl game and was looking forward to his growth this season. I think the real problem was the family, not the kid. But the kid didn't have the backbone to stand up to his family. As such, I hope he sucks at UCLA, but my fear is he has a spectacular season and makes us look dumb. Why? Because if UCLA can unlock his potential whereas we could not, that's gonna hurt on the recruiting trail. And as for Joey A., I hope he comes here and balls out, but I need to see it. Having great numbers at Appy State isn't the same as playing in the SEC. And we have a lot of question marks going into next season. People seem to think it's a sin to admit that.

The sin is continually harping on it. We were stuck with Nico and his stupid family. It became too much and he was kicked to the curb because it was hurting the team.

 

[JacketVol]

Every head coach in college football is involved in the money stuff.

It’s naive to think differently. 1000 percent this