'15 FL DE Marques Ford (FORMER UT commit)

#1,152
#1,152
I really liked this guy. This sucks! If this really was a case of making room for greater needs, I wonder if Ford will be the last?
 
#1,153
#1,153
nicksjuzunk said:
Odd conversations...

Hey Mark how's it going? Hey I've got a kid who could be a pretty good player for you you should give him a look. See you in Knoxville next year.
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Im guessing those calls are going to ACC schools (FSU, Louisville, and NC State) and big 12 schools(WVU).
 
#1,156
#1,156
NotoriousRPP said:
Im guessing those calls are going to ACC schools (FSU, Louisville, and NC State) and big 12 schools(WVU).
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Yeah, I'm certain no SEC schools. Still odd, given you go up against these same schools in recruiting.

Regarding Duke, he certainly has the academics, and Butch may be in touch with Cutcliffe, but I think Ford may have higher football aspirations .

I mean, you've seen Neyland, and then to Duke?

He will land at a very good program, and hopefully have a great career. As others have said, I hate this. Especially at this point in the recruiting cycle
 
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#1,158
#1,158
It's hard to imagine you stand a guy up this good at the end!
But that's also what makes it better. Kid's so good he will jump to a strong program! Just take a few days to figure that out!
At least it's better than cutting a marginal guy at the end who winds up going to a vandy or austin peay! (Sorry had to throw that dig in there for candy!)
 
#1,159
#1,159
Ok, I found this...DE Ford parts ways with Tennessee. Honestly it almost sounds like we have someone better already secretly commited. It sound like Butch told him very politely to look elsewhere to play college football.

Best of luck to Ford.

What do you guys think? Sound right?
 
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#1,162
#1,162
I don't like this, 2 weeks before national signing day and we tell a young kid that has been committed to us since July 'sorry we don't have room for you'. Now he just might have to settle for a school instead of going some place he really wanted to go. This smells and I hate that we are doing business like this.
 
#1,163
#1,163
Vol in Perry Ga said:
I don't like this, 2 weeks before national signing day and we tell a young kid that has been committed to us since July 'sorry we don't have room for you'. Now he just might have to settle for a school instead of going some place he really wanted to go. This smells and I hate that we are doing business like this.
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He is clearly going to go to a school that is not the "place he really wanted to go," that is, if we really pulled the offer. I don't like it either. But what makes you think he is going to have settle for a lesser school? He's hardly in dire straits. He's a highly rated recruit that will end up going to another prominent school, probably even a national contender within his own home state. If we no longer have the room and have greater needs at other positions, so be it. Looks like we gave an offer to a recruit from our previous signing class that was contingent on him successfully fulfilling his academic requirements on the JUCO level. Unfortunate? Yes. Ethically wrong? Wouldn't it have been just as bad to tell Camion Patrick, "Sorry you did the work, but we don't have room now." We still need room for a few more offers for greater needs like OT and LB. Our coaching staff has to make tough decisions. But overall they have to be the right decisions for a successful football program.
 
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#1,164
#1,164
You have to build the best class you can, and that isn't based off of stars. The first thing any class has to address is needs. You have to fill your positions of need. If you don't, having the number one class in the nation wouldn't mean squat if you don't have every position covered. So I understand when a cut needed to be made, DE was the position we could most afford to lose a recruit at. It's absolutely part of recruiting, but it's a very dirty part of recruiting.

Here's the rub to me. The staff sold this kid on UT and he fell hard. Everything suggests he was absolutely in love with UT. A big part of Butch's sales pitch is the "brick by brick" family foundation he wants to establish here. There's no way Butch and staff went into this recruiting cycle not knowing their needs. So why pull in commits just to pull in commits when you know there are still need positions and those promised schollies are going to be needed elsewhere? At the very least, you make the schollies conditional, and nothing in any of Ford's comments has suggested he thought his scholly was conditional. You can tell by his comments he thought it was firm. And he bought into UT heart and soul. Kid probably feels like he was just left at the altar. And for more Vol fans not to be able to empathize with that surprises me considering we've been left at that altar by a recruit on more than one occassion. This shiz works both ways. If KMac suddenly decommitted tomorrow, I'd be mad as hell. My words wouldn't be nice. So I'm not going to defend us doing the exact same thing to a recruit. It sucks, and like it or not, intentional or not, Butch screwed this kid over.

I'll go back to what I said earlier. I understand this shiz happens, and it's ugly, but let's call it ugly and not try to dismiss it as "everyone does it". That doesn't magically make it right. I'm not screaming for heads to fly, I'm simply saying maybe the coaches need to reevaluate how they accept commits from these kids. Especially their approach of "if you commit to us we really don't want you taking other visits." Without looking it up, did Ford take any other visits? Did he have the chance to form relationships with other coaches as a back up plan? Butch is a damn good recruiter. I won't take that away from him in the least. But if he's gonna demand loyalty, he needs to return that loyalty. Sure, Ford will land somewhere, but he had built up this dream of playing for UT. He was told he was going to get to live that dream. Now, two weeks before NSD, that dream was ripped from him. Butch did that. I understand the whys, but it still doesn't make it right or excusable.
 
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#1,165
#1,165
I'm just throwing this out there and it may not be the case but what if they pulled his scholarship offer because Hendrix told them he was actually going to stay on the football team?
 
#1,166
#1,166
jordan4vols said:
I'm just throwing this out there and it may not be the case but what if they pulled his scholarship offer because Hendrix told them he was actually going to stay on the football team?
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I would rather get Ford over Hendrix. Hendrix is waaaaay overrated and was owned at his all star camps.
 
#1,168
#1,168
If he was encouraged to look elsewhere, it's because of Pat Allen or possibly Van Jefferson.

If it was Ford's decision, then this is normal "recruiting attrition" and another team swooped in and stole one. Sucky reality either way, but that's the name of the game unfortunately...

I think signing day is going to be a roller coaster. We will lose some like WTF but will also flip some.

At least that's common........
 
#1,170
#1,170
madbamahater said:
If he was encouraged to look elsewhere, it's because of Pat Allen or possibly Van Jefferson.

If it was Ford's decision, then this is normal "recruiting attrition" and another team swooped in and stole one. Sucky reality either way, but that's the name of the game unfortunately...

I think signing day is going to be a roller coaster. We will lose some like WTF but will also flip some.

At least that common........
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Have you even checked Van Jeffersons thread? That is dead as a doornail
 
#1,174
#1,174
Wickman said:
What are you talking about? He dominated. He had a sack and a couple TFL in the Simpler Fi game. Know what you speak on before you speak it
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I wouldn't call that domination. Maybe if he had multiple sacks and several tfl. Okay, he played decent in game.

He was owned all week in drills...
 
#1,175
#1,175
JMO - I don't think the staff ever felt confident that they were getting Kyle Phillips. When Kyle signed up at the last minute, that is when the problem at DE was created. This is why they couldn't tell Ford earlier in the process.
 
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