Special exemptions: aka why Tennessee will always be at a disadvantage

[Biopsyman]

Who cares? He will be a top 5 pick. Top 10 at the lowest. I don't care if he has to do assignments in crayon if he can play. We need an even playing field.

Exactly.. he will make money his 1st year than 100% of the college grads

 

[Sub Par SUPERSTAR]

Sorry. As long as the sign out front says "University of ..." or "... University", then the same academic requirements should apply to all students.

Absolutely this...Much as we like to treat these schools we're fans of as mini professional teams, they're not, they're universities where STUDENTS go to complete their education...Some of these starry eyed "blue chippers" might not see it that way, but they are still in SCHOOL, like it or not...And they should be treated like any other student, academically at least.

 

[Roustabout]

Our football players must meet minimum NCAA standards...a non-football player wouldn't get into UT just meeting the minimum...that's advantage enough...

Wrong. Athletes are given ATHLETIC scholarships. Thats because athletics is a huge part and complement to academics. Athletes have a tremendous amount of additional responsibility and are part of a huge revenue stream that benefits the university.

 

[k-town_king]

This is what so many fans completely miss.

They expect the student athletes lo be able to give up a minimum of 20 hours per week preparing to entertain them on the weekend and still perform at the same level academically.

What I've noticed is the posters most likely to think it should be this way see the ones who most likely didn't attend college and almost assuredly didn't compete in athletics in college.

A company i previously worked with would hire an athlete with a 3.7 gpa in college over a 4.0 non athlete. The athletes were typically more well rounded and likely had worked as hard as the 4.0 applicant

I was thinking the same thing. Its obvious most of the holier than thou posters have never attended college or played sports. If someone had experienced those things and knew the work it took they would feel differently.


Its a huge commitment. That is why it was so special what Dobbs was doing. Yes their were other engineering students, but they didn't have the public scrutiny or time commitments Dobbs had.

 

[wtmvol]

Absolutely this...Much as we like to treat these schools we're fans of as mini professional teams, they're not, they're universities where STUDENTS go to complete their education...Some of these starry eyed "blue chippers" might not see it that way, but they are still in SCHOOL, like it or not...And they should be treated like any other student, academically at least.

Do you realize the full impact of what you're saying? That's fine if that's your opinion. However, even Vanderbilt relaxes its standards for athletes - sometimes by a lot. I'd be curious to know what percentage of FBS players would have gotten into their respective schools had it not been for football? 10%?

 

[ducej11]

Ummm no, it's a big reason we cannot compete. Look at how often other schools especially Bama make use of it.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I look at this issue as just an excuse and I don't accept excuses from the people within the division I manage at work and wouldn't accept it here.

So we have to get more creative in recruiting and broaden our network to recruit from. Ok, so what. Maybe we should just cry in the fetal position because we can't lower the standards at Tennessee like other programs do. I take a little pride in that actually. Other programs pay for players, we better do the same right! Otherwise we can't get the players and if you can't get the players, you can't win!

The problem we have had over the past few years hasn't been the lack of talent. It's been the lack of development and scheme. Pretty sure the academic standards at Tennessee didn't lose us the South Carolina and Vanderbilt games last year. And if we had won EITHER one of those games we would have been in the Sugar Bowl for the first time in a long time.

So please stop with the woe is me, feel bad for us because we can't lower our standards. That isn't the problem with our program over the last few years.

/off my soapbox now

 

[DaddyChad]

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I look at this issue as just an excuse and I don't accept excuses from the people within the division I manage at work and wouldn't accept it here.

So we have to get more creative in recruiting and broaden our network to recruit from. Ok, so what. Maybe we should just cry in the fetal position because we can't lower the standards at Tennessee like other programs do. I take a little pride in that actually. Other programs pay for players, we better do the same right! Otherwise we can't get the players and if you can't get the players, you can't win!

The problem we have had over the past few years hasn't been the lack of talent. It's been the lack of development and scheme. Pretty sure the academic standards at Tennessee didn't lose us the South Carolina and Vanderbilt games last year. And if we had won EITHER one of those games we would have been in the Sugar Bowl for the first time in a long time.

So please stop with the woe is me, feel bad for us because we can't lower our standards. That isn't the problem with our program over the last few years.

/off my soapbox now

Why can't it be both?

I'm not going to argue that the coaching was good or anything. Development and coaching have sucked. All I'm saying is that if other SEC schools are using this loophole regularly and Tennessee isn't then we're hurting ourselves and that needs to change. If Bama used 19 instances of this in a three year peroid and schools like South Carolina have as many as 25 special admits allowed for football yearly and 55 allowed for athletics.

 

[Sarms58]

I have seen two names on this thread that supposedly couldn't get into UT and went somewhere else. Could it be that they actually hadn't made it through the clearinghouse and UT went cold because they didn't think they would make it and eventually did? I remember us having students that were waiting on their ACT scores in the fall to see if they would be passed by the clearinghouse.

Travis Henry comes to mind...Florida and others dropped him because it was gonna take a miracle for him to qualify. But somehow we got him in...

 

[Sarms58]

Wrong. Athletes are given ATHLETIC scholarships. Thats because athletics is a huge part and complement to academics. Athletes have a tremendous amount of additional responsibility and are part of a huge revenue stream that benefits the university.

You said wrong but then failed to address any facts. Schools like UT have many more apply for admission than they have room each year. They use ACT/SAT scores and gpa scores to rank applicants. While the minimum ACT score for entry may be 18, in reality you may need a 26 to get in depending on the scores of all other applicants, the overall number of applicants and the number of slots. UNLESS you are an athelete and then you just need to meet the minimum required scores.

 

[Advol]

 

[Snapper58]

Travis Henry comes to mind...Florida and others dropped him because it was gonna take a miracle for him to qualify. But somehow we got him in...

That is what I meant, I have only heard of students that were not qualified under the NCAA clearinghouse that could not enter Tennessee. There are times that a student gets grades changed, Jump their ACT scores (which is usually flagged and they have to re-take), etc. I have been involved in the recruiting process and the only question is can they get through the clearinghouse.

 

[sanefan]

You said wrong but then failed to address any facts. Schools like UT have many more apply for admission than they have room each year. They use ACT/SAT scores and gpa scores to rank applicants. While the minimum ACT score for entry may be 18, in reality you may need a 26 to get in depending on the scores of all other applicants, the overall number of applicants and the number of slots. UNLESS you are an athelete and then you just need to meet the minimum required scores.

Or your parents are rich, or political, or legacy, or out of state and pay a huge premium, or......

Basically, if you have a financial advantage the school can take advantage of, you can get in with lower test scores or GPA. It is not JUST athletes.

 

[Elhanan]

We need all the help we can get and in this case play by the same rules as everyone else in the SEC.

I don’t have any confidence that the dumba$$es over there will actually fix this though.

 

[Nocleats]

We need all the help we can get and in this case play by the same rules as everyone else in the SEC.

I don’t have any confidence that the dumba$$es over there will actually fix this though.

THIS,, Regardless of your feelings on athletes being accepted, the facts are that a hs player, who meets NCAA And SEC requirements for admission and is allowed entrance into every SEC school except Tennessee, This started about 3 years before CPF
was let go.. ASK yourself how Sports teams have faired over the last 13 years?
The point is IMO why should Tennesseee up against players who meet NCAA requirements, and are on basically every team in the SEC while not allowing themselves the same opportunity?.. Why not compete on a level Field. Jimmy Cheeks gift that keeps giving..

Ever wonder if some of these 4 and 5 star recruits that get away from Tenn and sign elsewhere where these qualifiers who Tenn wouldn't allow in, and coaches got scorched for it? Especially the ones who said Tenn didn't recruit them..

 

[VOLINVONORE]

Do you realize the full impact of what you're saying? That's fine if that's your opinion. However, even Vanderbilt relaxes its standards for athletes - sometimes by a lot. I'd be curious to know what percentage of FBS players would have gotten into their respective schools had it not been for football? 10%?

Classes at Austin "Pee" ?

 

[Cartervol]

Well the proof is in the pudding. They put this in place in what? 2005? Haven't exactly been blazing a trail of excellence since then, not even in the classroom, ranked like 103rd or something. It's like i said. You can't be Harvard in the classroom and Alabama on the football field. Doesn't work , will never work.

 

[djohnnyg]

I'm surprised at the number of posters that don't see this as a problem. We need to be on even footing with the other schools.

I agree...it IS a problem. If it loses you good/ great players then its an issue. Seems obvious.

 

[Sarms58]

THIS,, Regardless of your feelings on athletes being accepted, the facts are that a hs player, who meets NCAA And SEC requirements for admission and is allowed entrance into every SEC school except Tennessee,

If they meet NCAA and SEC requirements they can get into Tennessee.

Unless you know of some Tennessee specific requirement. For example, the state of Alabama used to require all state students entering their state 4 year schools to pass the HS exit exam. We (UT) actually benefited from this because a 4 star OL from Huntsville didn’t pass the exit exam but had the test scores. He was qualified to enter every SEC school except Alabama and Auburn. SO what’s rules do we have that put us at s disadvantage?

How many of the 19 kids admitted to Bama back in 2004-2006 were state kids who didn’t pass the state exit exam?

 

[Snapper58]

If they meet NCAA and SEC requirements they can get into Tennessee.

Unless you know of some Tennessee specific requirement. For example, the state of Alabama used to require all state students entering their state 4 year schools to pass the HS exit exam. We (UT) actually benefited from this because a 4 star OL from Huntsville didn’t pass the exit exam but had the test scores. He was qualified to enter every SEC school except Alabama and Auburn. SO what’s rules do we have that put us at s disadvantage?

How many of the 19 kids admitted to Bama back in 2004-2006 were state kids who didn’t pass the state exit exam?

This is exactly correct! How can we use an exemption when the minimum requirement is the NCAA/SEC requirements. My how people cry wolf and there is no reason. There are a few SEC rules that are stricter than the NCAA requirements.