A long time ago, six years ago to be exact, I opined on this board that Tennessee's then struggles under Fulmer had less to do with Fulmer than with the rest of the SEC. If you looked back at the 1990s, Tennessee had two tremendous recruiting advatnages: (1) Peyton Manning; and (2) other SEC programs were bottoming out. Alabama, LSU, Georgia, and South Carolina were all struggling and it allowed Tennessee to recruit well throughout the region and overcome some local lack of talent. With Saban's arrival at LSU, Richt to GA, and Spurrier to SC, a lot of those recruits were staying home and all the sudden our recruiting dropped off. Now, Jadaveon Clowney goes to SC when Albert Haynesworth went to Tennessee.
When Fulmer started to lose those players, those programs rose and Tennessee fell. Tennessee has always had to have a particular kind of coach to win. He must either be an outstanding recruiter or have a system that can overcome talent deficiencies. Fulmer could recruit but the talent drain became too much to overcome. Kiffin could recruit. Dooley could kind-of recruit but not overcome a host of internal problems.
It is natural for fans to view their players as better than they are. But a lot of Dooley's players had offers from Tennessee, East Carolina and Western Kentucky. If anyone questioned why such a player was being taken when no other SEC team thought them worthy of a scholarship, they were brutalized. Now, those diamonds in the rough have in some instances shown what other schools saw. Don't get me wrong, Tennessee has talent, but not enough of it across the board to consistently win against Top 25 schools. And let's not forget that is a real problem. Tennessee could be the 30th best team in the nation and go 4-8.
So Jones is basically where we should expect him to be in Year 1. He is losing because his players just aren't consistently better than the Top 25 teams he is playing. But next year's class is littered with players with offers from most of the SEC, including Bama, Florida and LSU.
Things are turning around. Jones can recruit. But he has to not only overcome the malaise of the last five years, but also the inherent difficulty in recruiting to Tennessee. I think when he gets on a roll and some of the other teams start the descent from the mountaintop, we'll be very pleased.
At least those of us who can stay off the ledge that long will be.
When Fulmer started to lose those players, those programs rose and Tennessee fell. Tennessee has always had to have a particular kind of coach to win. He must either be an outstanding recruiter or have a system that can overcome talent deficiencies. Fulmer could recruit but the talent drain became too much to overcome. Kiffin could recruit. Dooley could kind-of recruit but not overcome a host of internal problems.
It is natural for fans to view their players as better than they are. But a lot of Dooley's players had offers from Tennessee, East Carolina and Western Kentucky. If anyone questioned why such a player was being taken when no other SEC team thought them worthy of a scholarship, they were brutalized. Now, those diamonds in the rough have in some instances shown what other schools saw. Don't get me wrong, Tennessee has talent, but not enough of it across the board to consistently win against Top 25 schools. And let's not forget that is a real problem. Tennessee could be the 30th best team in the nation and go 4-8.
So Jones is basically where we should expect him to be in Year 1. He is losing because his players just aren't consistently better than the Top 25 teams he is playing. But next year's class is littered with players with offers from most of the SEC, including Bama, Florida and LSU.
Things are turning around. Jones can recruit. But he has to not only overcome the malaise of the last five years, but also the inherent difficulty in recruiting to Tennessee. I think when he gets on a roll and some of the other teams start the descent from the mountaintop, we'll be very pleased.
At least those of us who can stay off the ledge that long will be.
