'19 CA LB Henry To'oto'o (Tennessee Signee)

[Dogbone]

If the Vols fans on VN aren't interested in Saban or Alabama, then why do they post so much about them?

Well, we’re on a Tennessee board.

 

[T Dog]

Yeah I’ve been in my fair share. I agree most fights end that way. I can deal with it for the most part but watching a match where thier on the ground from the start is imo boring. But for instance Forrest griffin vs Stephan bonnar 1 was much more enjoyable over say Silva vs sonnan 1.

I’m not a big fan of the ground and pound. I’d rather see a stand up fight with both guys throwing haymakers.

Since you seem to have an interest in it, I can hopefully assume you've been in a nasty fight or two. I certainly know I have. But most fights end on the ground. Even MMA ones. A pure boxing match is just unheard of in a street fight. It usually ends with a few broken teeth and maybe some broken bones. And some bruised pride for sure.

I will agree that a fight with a bunch of haymakers is much more fun. But ground and pound is usually how it ends. Which is why the wrestling experience helps me a ton. Although, I hope my fighting days are behind me. I'm too old for that s*** haha. I don't fight now unless I have to.

UFC better watch for Ben Askren now that he is finally with them. Thanks Dana.

 

[PassedOutAwake]

UFC better watch for Ben Askren now that he is finally with them. Thanks Dana.View attachment 192437

Why, have people.... Ben Askren.... for him to join the UFC?

 

[wrangler]

Not bashing Pruitt and hated the Butch hire. Fact is he couldn't close on HT, but what's worse is not recruiting the dline well. He missed on several dline targets and pass rushers this year. Slow played to many.

You may want to find out exactly what went on behind the curtain before saying Pruitt "missed" and "couldn't close". What we do know is the top players UT did "close", and that contradicts such cavalier criticism. On players we didn't get, pointing fingers to assign blame is pretty tough when you're not in the room when decisions are made by kids who can be unpredictable and indecisive, and when you don't know what was done and said by all the recuiters involved. And the more top players you go after, the more you won't get, but also the more you will get. And more wins will only help.

Further, the recruiting class is a package, with simultaneous recruiting of many prospects, and should be looked at as a whole. And the only real evaluation is how that package works out for the team in the next few years, meshing with current players and future recruiting classes.

 

[T Dog]

Why, have people.... Ben Askren.... for him to join the UFC?

He good, dont let him get his arms around you, world class wrestling with power. Good ground game too.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Did I say Georgia turned him away? No. Their depth chart scared him, and Tn and Auburn were his easiest to early playing time.

More BS. But keep on steppin in it.

 

[PYSCHO]

Please stop using 5-7 as an excuse. Butch went 5-7 and had no problem with a top 10 class. Wayna is a Vol because of Georgia's depth chart, Georgia didn't show any love to Keyton early enough, and I bet Crouch lost his spot as Clemson. For Pruitt to be some defensive guru, he sure is having a hard time recruiting the front 7.

When are you all going to figure out that butch jones top 10 class was a joke. God some of you are not real shsrp. You can have all the stars you want but if you can not coach anybody you have nothing and stars are based off camping so butch had a lot of campers that were not good especially with that jack wad st the helm.

 

[SugarCC]

.

 

[Type Orange+]

Post as much as you want to, I like looking at your avatar.

He can take his Gump ass on down the road, but leave the avatar.

 

[Paper_Towel]

Well, we’re on a Tennessee board.

 

[Devo182]

Completely different vantage points.

Except oversized classes have been shown to have a higher %of attrition.

 

[barrylee]

So by your stands, we field the best or nothing at all. Gotcha.

Add 1 more to my ignore list! Have a hard time figuring why some of u come here..

 

[IndianaVolunteer]

Don’t complain about trolls if you feed them

 

[Volzfan38024]

You may want to find out exactly what went on behind the curtain before saying Pruitt "missed" and "couldn't close". What we do know is the top players UT did "close", and that contradicts such cavalier criticism. On players we didn't get, pointing fingers to assign blame is pretty tough when you're not in the room when decisions are made by kids who can be unpredictable and indecisive, and when you don't know what was done and said by all the recuiters involved. And the more top players you go after, the more you won't get, but also the more you will get. And more wins will only help.

Further, the recruiting class is a package, with simultaneous recruiting of many prospects, and should be looked at as a whole. And the only real evaluation is how that package works out for the team in the next few years, meshing with current players and future recruiting classes.

I totally agree, but our pass rush last year was terrible. Pruitt didnt address this in recruiting this year, or he's happy with what he has, and thinks he can develop Butler, Mincy, etc. Plus another year in the strength program will help.

 

[Volzfan38024]

When are you all going to figure out that butch jones top 10 class was a joke. God some of you are not real shsrp. You can have all the stars you want but if you can not coach anybody you have nothing and stars are based off camping so butch had a lot of campers that were not good especially with that jack wad st the helm.

I wouldnt say Butch's top classes were a joke, but definitely not coached up. There were a few of his kids that came in as freshman and had a great season, then regressed under Butch.

 

[Kinglberry]

I wouldnt say Butch's top classes were a joke, but definitely not coached up. There were a few of his kids that came in as freshman and had a great season, then regressed under Butch.

Butch's top classes had a few things going for them. Legacies, lies, large classes. There were more legacies in those first couple of years than I can ever remember having in such a short span, Butch was a big salesman at that time with everyone believing in his tonic that could cure cancer, remove stains from suits and be used as seasoning on BBQ, an class size made things appear much better than they were.

 

[Kinglberry]

I totally agree, but our pass rush last year was terrible. Pruitt didnt address this in recruiting this year, or he's happy with what he has, and thinks he can develop Butler, Mincy, etc. Plus another year in the strength program will help.

Our pass rush was sketchy due to lack of understanding the defense, standard in year one of the transition from base 43 to 34. Pruitt doesn't have a reputation for his defense capabilities because he did it at Alabama for one year, he's that rare coordinator these days who has been multiple places, it provides no guarantee, but it does provide more confidence. This isn't a one year rebuild, he is a first time coach, couple that together, there will be missteps along the way to success. The best thing is he is driven internally for success.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

When are you all going to figure out that butch jones top 10 class was a joke. God some of you are not real shsrp. You can have all the stars you want but if you can not coach anybody you have nothing and stars are based off camping so butch had a lot of campers that were not good especially with that jack wad st the helm.

A lot of th fans/posters who are complaining about the "Stars " need to look at where Barns has his basketball team with one 4* and zero 5* players. Longest winning streak in school history and they will be ranked #1 for the third straight week. His S&C program and coaching abilities of him and his assistants are examples of what coaching is all about. Recognizing talent, desire, and attitued are the most important basics of recruitment. I believe Pruitt has a good possibility of putting together a very good football in the future. We will know in a couple of more years. Barns has not landed a lot of players he really wanted but I am not complaining about his results so far. Maybe we can soon say the same things about our football team.

 

[Volzfan38024]

Our pass rush was sketchy due to lack of understanding the defense, standard in year one of the transition from base 43 to 34. Pruitt doesn't have a reputation for his defense capabilities because he did it at Alabama for one year, he's that rare coordinator these days who has been multiple places, it provides no guarantee, but it does provide more confidence. This isn't a one year rebuild, he is a first time coach, couple that together, there will be missteps along the way to success. The best thing is he is driven internally for success.

I wouldn't call it lack of understanding the scheme. Definitely lack of strength and conditioning from Butch. Base defenses will get a push in the backfield often. QBs had all day to pass on us last year. Hopefully a year stronger under Pruitt helps.

 

[bicenTENNial]

When are you all going to figure out that butch jones top 10 class was a joke. God some of you are not real shsrp. You can have all the stars you want but if you can not coach anybody you have nothing and stars are based off camping so butch had a lot of campers that were not good especially with that jack wad st the helm.

May have ended up a joke but those players were highly regarded by the people who rated them... they had the offers to go where they wanted and still chose a 5-7 Tennessee

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

A lot of th fans/posters who are complaining about the "Stars " need to look at where Barns has his basketball team with one 4* and zero 5* players. Longest winning streak in school history and they will be ranked #1 for the third straight week. His S&C program and coaching abilities of him and his assistants are examples of what coaching is all about. Recognizing talent, desire, and attitued are the most important basics of recruitment. I believe Pruitt has a good possibility of putting together a very good football in the future. We will know in a couple of more years. Barns has not landed a lot of players he really wanted but I am not complaining about his results so far. Maybe we can soon say the same things about our football team.

College basketball and college football are apples and oranges, especially in the one and done era. If all college basketball players had to stay 3 years, and the five stars from 3 years ago were currently juniors at Duke, Kentucky, and elsewhere instead of second year NBA players then we wouldn't be #1. I am taking nothing away from Coach Barnes, he has built a great team the way we, as Tennessee, had to, by building experience and playing as a team, which several years in is able to compete and hopefully beat out the 1 and done schools.

Second, football requires much more depth, if you can't win or at least hold your own on the line of scrimmage in our league, you are dead. That can't be faked or schemed around, you've got to recruit well or recruit guys with unrealized potential like Stoops has done at Kentucky that you hope you can rely on 4-5 years down the road as redshirt juniors and seniors. You can't gadget around poor line play though and it takes time to build that back. In basketball all you need is basically a handful of good players and everyone else play as a team and play sound fundamental defense and you can go far. Hell, Larry Bird's college team went to the finals way back when with pretty much just him.

 

[KBVol]

lolwut? Dooley's classes topped out at 88.5 averages. Nor were they as good by ranking. 2014-2016 classes well ahead of Dooley's.

No lol. Dooley’s 3 classes averaged a 13th national ranking....Jones’ classes average over 5 years?.....13th nationally.

Oh yeah......Jones’ average player rating? 88.24. Dooley’s? 88.45.

 

[ScottishVol]

College basketball and college football are apples and oranges, especially in the one and done era. If all college basketball players had to stay 3 years, and the five stars from 3 years ago were currently juniors at Duke, Kentucky, and elsewhere instead of second year NBA players then we wouldn't be #1. I am taking nothing away from Coach Barnes, he has built a great team the way we, as Tennessee, had to, by building experience and playing as a team, which several years in is able to compete and hopefully beat out the 1 and done schools.

Second, football requires much more depth, if you can't win or at least hold your own on the line of scrimmage in our league, you are dead. That can't be faked or schemed around, you've got to recruit well or recruit guys with unrealized potential like Stoops has done at Kentucky that you hope you can rely on 4-5 years down the road as redshirt juniors and seniors. You can't gadget around poor line play though and it takes time to build that back. In basketball all you need is basically a handful of good players and everyone else play as a team and play sound fundamental defense and you can go far. Hell, Larry Bird's college team went to the finals way back when with pretty much just him.

Zackly!

 

[901LookAlive]

May have ended up a joke but those players were highly regarded by the people who rated them... they had the offers to go where they wanted and still chose a 5-7 Tennessee

They were a lot like Florida’s current class. A bunch of kids that are 4 stars, rated right outside the top200 that shows offers from top programs. But couldn’t commit to any of them if they wanted to.

 

[VOLINVONORE]

College basketball and college football are apples and oranges, especially in the one and done era. If all college basketball players had to stay 3 years, and the five stars from 3 years ago were currently juniors at Duke, Kentucky, and elsewhere instead of second year NBA players then we wouldn't be #1. I am taking nothing away from Coach Barnes, he has built a great team the way we, as Tennessee, had to, by building experience and playing as a team, which several years in is able to compete and hopefully beat out the 1 and done schools.

Second, football requires much more depth, if you can't win or at least hold your own on the line of scrimmage in our league, you are dead. That can't be faked or schemed around, you've got to recruit well or recruit guys with unrealized potential like Stoops has done at Kentucky that you hope you can rely on 4-5 years down the road as redshirt juniors and seniors. You can't gadget around poor line play though and it takes time to build that back. In basketball all you need is basically a handful of good players and everyone else play as a team and play sound fundamental defense and you can go far. Hell, Larry Bird's college team went to the finals way back when with pretty much just him.

So coaching has little or nothing to do with the success of a sports team. Kentucky Kansas, Duke etc all have 4-5 star teams with a lot of them still are playing in year two and three of their college years. I am not saying that talent dos not matter, just that you don't have to have all 4-5 star players to be very good. Basketball also requires depth. Basketball players are injured and they can not play 40 minutes agame every game without some rest. I am also saying recruiting talent who are not 4-5 star players can be done and the team can be successful. I realize that players who are bigger, faster, and stronger makes coaching a lot easier. To me in football, speed is the most important physical trait-requirement that is most difficult to teach, followed by attitude. Even the Bear learned that he needed bigger players to win and he won a lot of football games and titles. If you recruit a bunch of 4-5 star football players, it makes it easier for you to win football and basketball games. However, it does not mean you will win titles in either sport. Coaching does matter.