'11 TN OL Matthew Dalton Key

#1
governmentmule

governmentmule

as always Go Lady Vols :clapping:
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#1


6'4" weighs 280, max bench 365, max squat 535, 4.09 GPA,He has scored a 26 on his first ACT,Matt is currently in the top 10% of his class


He is a Jr at Macon County High School in Lafayette, TN

Matt attended the NUC combine in Nashville the last 2 years and has attended a Tony Franklin System offensive camp twice to learn a new offense.

Matt has signed up with the D1 Training facility in Nashville to work 1 on 1 with Ryan Carl (former UT linebacker) they will be working mainly on agility, speed, footwork and explosiveness every Saturday

Matt does have the title of the strongest man on the team. He is the only team member currently in the 1,100 lb club

Matt has also received a E Mail from Kyle Strongin,the Football Operations Coordinator at Knoxville and was given a phone number to call to sign Matt up for the Jr Day at UT

Matt has his heart set on the SEC and UT. He said he would rather walk on at UT rather than take a full ride at a lesser college

here is some film of Matt

YouTube - Matt Key high school football highlights very muddy game #75

here is some more film of young Mr Key,there are several vids of him playing

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=MaconTiger75#p/u/5/pLhX-d-vTJ0
 
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#3
#3
This must be who big guy was talking about. Maybe he makes it to Jr day. Seems to have the work ethic & smarts needed to succeed at the next level.
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#4
#4
Kinfolk Vol said:
This must be who big guy was talking about. Maybe he makes it to Jr day. Seems to have the smarts & the power needed to succeed at the next level.
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Click to expand...


it is,I really like his comment on playing at UT
 
#5
#5
governmentmule said:
it is,I really like his comment on playing at UT
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Yea I like that. Kid seems to bleed orange. Maybe he continues to work hard & if he has to walk on, hopefully he can earn a scholly someday. Seems like he could get a academic scholly for the time being with that ACT score.
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#6
#6
I believe he is going to retake the ACT to get his score up,it would be great if he can get an academic scholly
 
#8
#8
Looks really stiff but weather may have a big part of that. Need to get him into some of the big camps going on this summer and see how he does against top level talent. Westmoreland isnt exactly great talent. They have had one good player from there that I can remember in the past 20 years.
 
#9
#9
I went back and looked at the film again,it seems like all the OL were upright too,it could be coaching
 
#10
#10
governmentmule said:
I went back and looked at the film again,it seems like all the OL were upright too,it could be coaching
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The whole OL is upright....never line down. It's a very pass oriented offense. They back up immediately. Takes some getting used to when watching it that's for sure!

I just don't like seeing a lineman back up. I want to see them man up but I always did like a good brawl.
 
#12
#12
I know that there is a DVD on the way to Kyle Strongin of Matt,does anybody know what the dead and quite periods there are between now and Jr day? and what the rules are ? hopefully young Mr Key will get an invite
 
#15
#15
governmentmule said:
I know that there is a DVD on the way to Kyle Strongin of Matt,does anybody know what the dead and quite periods there are between now and Jr day? and what the rules are ? hopefully young Mr Key will get an invite
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There is a Quiet Period from February 5th through April 14th...then from April 15th through May 31st, 2010, there is the Evaluation Period...hope this helps...GBO!
 
#16
#16
rote said:
There is a Quiet Period from February 5th through April 14th...then from April 15th through May 31st, 2010, there is the Evaluation Period...hope this helps...GBO!
Click to expand...

Call Hiestand up. Matt can call coaches - they just can't call him right now.
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#17
#17
thanks for the info rote and knoxsingle,what does the Evaluation Period mean or do ? I just posted some more vids of Matt and I do have to say that the way they are coached is just plain ugly looking to me,I'd rather see Matt and his teammates get in a good stance and blow people off the line,which I'm pretty sure he can do
 
#18
#18
If I ever had a line that looked like that, I'd bend over and kick myself in the ass.

What Matt has going for him is strength.

What he doesn't have going for him is pretty much everything else. I'm inclined to agree with those who say that it seems to be a coaching issue rather than a talent issue...a high school coach in a pass-heavy offense is more likely to say "Just get in the way and don't allow the sack" rather than going step-by-step through all the proper fundamentals of pass and run blocking. Looking at the way that the rest of the linemen are playing, it appears that that's exactly the way that they're taught.

I'm not going to sell the kid short and tell him to look at 1-AA or D-3 or anything like that. But he's definitely a project type of player; basically he'd have to unlearn everything that he's been taught and re-learn it. That's always a risky proposition. And with all due respect to Ryan Karl, I don't see speed, explosiveness, or quickness being the biggest issue...I see the most basic fundamentals of offensive line play being the issue. I don't think that's on Matt, I think that's on whoever's doing the coaching.

What works for Matt in the case of the current coaching staff is the fact that Harry Hiestand is the line coach; I have a great deal of respect for the way that he coaches from the ground up. I don't think Cregg would have honestly taken much of a look, and I'm certain that Adkins wouldn't have.

I'd encourage Matt to continue pursuing an academic scholarship; I had an old friend who was recruited by the MAC who instead took an academic scholarship, walked on (free) at Miami, and ended up with a couple national championships. The academic scholarship kids can write their own ticket.
 
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#19
#19
Ohio Vol said:
If I ever had a line that looked like that, I'd bend over and kick myself in the ass.

What Matt has going for him is strength.

What he doesn't have going for him is pretty much everything else. I'm inclined to agree with those who say that it seems to be a coaching issue rather than a talent issue...a high school coach in a pass-heavy offense is more likely to say "Just get in the way and don't allow the sack" rather than going step-by-step through all the proper fundamentals of pass and run blocking. Looking at the way that the rest of the linemen are playing, it appears that that's exactly the way that they're taught.

I'm not going to sell the kid short and tell him to look at 1-AA or D-3 or anything like that. But he's definitely a project type of player; basically he'd have to unlearn everything that he's been taught and re-learn it. That's always a risky proposition. And with all due respect to Ryan Karl, I don't see speed, explosiveness, or quickness being the biggest issue...I see the most basic fundamentals of offensive line play being the issue. I don't think that's on Matt, I think that's on whoever's doing the coaching.

What works for Matt in the case of the current coaching staff is the fact that Harry Hiestand is the line coach; I have a great deal of respect for the way that he coaches from the ground up. I don't think Cregg would have honestly taken much of a look, and I'm certain that Adkins wouldn't have.

I'd encourage Matt to continue pursuing an academic scholarship; I had an old friend who was recruited by the MAC who instead took an academic scholarship, walked on (free) at Miami, and ended up with a couple national championships. The academic scholarship kids can write their own ticket.
Click to expand...

Thanks so much for the assessment OhioVol. That gives Matt some encouragement and a lot to think about.

He's smart and he knows that the offense they are currently running in HS is not doing him any favors. It is one of the reasons he is going to D1, combines and camps everywhere he can.

Things have changed drastically over the last 10 years in college sports. Used to be college coaches really didn't care about grades, as long as you could play. That is not the case anymore. The better a player is academically, the better they look to these coaches.

Matt has the smarts and the strength. Now the question is if those things can just get him the opportunity to show those coaches that he is coachable, he can adapt, he can learn and he can become an asset to their team? That's no easy task.
 
#21
#21
Hey, I watched those vids of the high school plays. Thanks for that. First HS stuff I've watched in a long time. You can really see the leap one takes from HS to college looking at that. I'm no talent judge or I'd be doing it for a living. The kid's size and heart is certainly something we could use. Looks like he's aggressive enough in trying to find the path he needs to take to improve. That's big, to me. I could see him taking care of business with the right weight training and coaching. I would keep that contact line open that he has established with the staff. Maybe expand it with more guidance questions. He'll get some notice if he keeps making enough noise. I applaud him for walking on, if necessary, and for looking at outside training opportunities on his own.
 
#22
#22
Getting some interest now. Letters come in almost daily, from schools you never heard of all the way to the Ivy League schools.
 
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