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

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#7,402
iWearOrange said:
I think the fact that he showed up fat and out of shape is the problem. Seems to indicate his work ethic is a little lacking. Hopefully what Hubbs is saying is true and he is in better shape and being around our strength and nutrition staff is motivation enough to get into playing shape. But I still have worries that he doesn't love hard work.. which is necessary to be elite.

IMO, you won't see To'oto'o showing up fat and out of shape. I bet that kid stays in the gym.
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JJ was having issues getting into school at the time and to automatically assume because he came in out of shape means he won't be a contributor is just nuts.
Its a classic example of VN having new toys Such as Crouch and To to talk about and toss aside last years prize recruit is typical for many on here..
A full year under Fits will rectify a lot of perceived shortcomings..
 
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barrylee said:
JJ was having issues getting into school at the time and to automatically assume because he came in out of shape means he won't be a contributor is just nuts.
Its a classic example of VN having new toys Such as Crouch and To to talk about and toss aside last years prize recruit is typical for many on here..
A full year under Fits will rectify a lot of perceived shortcomings..
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Not only was half his time focused on getting qualified; but, the other half of it was on his child. From what I understand, along with Propst and Propst's wife, JJ raises his daughter. Before enrolling, maybe getting in shape took a back seat to fatherhood and school; and, what obviously had to be a stressful time, maybe he had a bit too much to eat...give the kid a break.
 
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The final game Henry To'oto'o played in his high school career was painful, to say the least. The four-star Tennessee linebacker signee from Concord, Calif., injured his left foot during a walk-through on Dec. 7, the day before he and his De La Salle High School team played in California's Open Division state championship game. To’oto’o, a top-50 prospect nationally who signed with the Vols in February, felt a pop in his left foot at the time and knew something was wrong. It turned out to be a fractured fifth metatarsal. “I just made a cut and it just broke,” he said. The injury didn't prevent the 6-foot-2, 230-pound To’oto'o from playing the next day with a state title on the line, although he played a limited role in De La Salle’s 35-21 loss to Mater Dei High School of Santa Ana, Calif. But it forced him to sit out the All-American Bowl in San Antonio on Jan. 5 and has affected his offseason work.

With To’oto’o now set to arrive at Tennessee within the next three weeks, though, he said his foot no longer is an issue. He told GoVols247 that he’s “totally good now” and ready to get to work when he joins the Vols in early June. “I’m back full (strength), 100 percent,” said To’oto’o, who was ranked the No. 44 overall prospect and No. 3 outside linebacker in the industry-generated 247Sports Composite for the 2019 class. “My foot will get sore every now and then, but it’s totally good now.” He said he’s scheduled to graduate on May 26. And while the first session of summer classes at Tennessee is set to begin on May 30, he doesn’t plan to arrive in Knoxville until June 4.

To’oto’o, one of the stars of the Vols’ 2019 signing class, said his injury prevented him from running for about eight weeks after he had a screw inserted into his foot. He said he was cleared to resume jogging in March, and he has been “slowly progressing” since then. He’s hoping that he “soon” will “just be able to play through it with, like, no soreness or anything,” he said, but he doesn’t expect it to limit him during his first months with the Vols.

Now he’s counting down the days until he officially starts his college career. “I’m just trying to enjoy every single moment right now,” To’oto’o said. “But it kind of came on really fast. I feel like signing day was just yesterday. I’ve just got to enjoy these last weeks I have with my family and just get busy.” While there was plenty of late drama surrounding To’oto’o in the days leading up to his announcement, he admitted that he settled on Tennessee before signing day. “About a couple days before, I knew that Tennessee was going to be home,” he said. “I don’t even know how to explain it. We just sat down as a family and figured out that Tennessee was the place for me.”

To’oto’o said his “last home visit” with Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt and tight ends coach Brian Niedermeyer the week before signing day helped to convince him that he wanted to be at Tennessee. “They just felt right, and it felt like I should be there,” To’oto’o said. "Even my parents felt it.” He said it was “just the relationship I have with them” that helped the Vols beat out the rival Crimson Tide and Washington to land him. Niedermeyer and Kevin Simon, a former Tennessee linebacker and De La Salle standout who now works in player development for the Vols, both were heavily involved in recruiting To’oto’o.

“We built a relationship that me and my family were able to trust them, and then we were able to choose Tennessee,” To’oto’o said. “That was probably the biggest thing, was just having that relationship with Coach Pruitt, Coach Niedermeyer and Kevin Simon, obviously, so it all worked out.” While To’oto’o admitted he has “kind of mixed emotions” about finishing high school, leaving his family and starting his college career, he said he’s also “juiced to get up there” and start preparing for his first year with the Vols. “I can’t wait to get up there and get to work, meet new people, make connections, start school and just begin that college life,” To’oto’o said, adding that he believes he will be “keeping” jersey No. 11, the same number he wore in high school, when he suits up for Tennessee. “I’m just ready.”
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The 6-foot-2, 230-pound To’oto’o isn’t making any promises or expecting to be handed a starting job once he arrives on campus. But he’s setting his sights on seeing the field as soon as possible. “They’ve just been telling me I can step in and make an impact as soon as I can come in and learn the playbook, and, as long as I do that and just keep my head down and work hard, potentially fight for a starting position,” said To’oto’o, who chose Tennessee over Alabama and Washington on National Signing Day in February. “But I’ve just got to take it one day at a time.”

To’oto’o said he has stayed in frequent contact with Tennessee’s coaches over the past few months, and the message from them has been clear: The Vols need his help. “They’re just saying the same thing: ‘Come in and make an impact soon. We’ve got to turn this program around,’ especially with this recruiting class,” he said. “I feel like we have an awesome recruiting class.”

“Definitely, (I want to) just contribute in the way the coaches want me to contribute. I just want to have the best season we can as a whole team. Whatever it takes for me to do, I’m willing to do. “But my personal goals, honestly, I will just let it happen. As a freshman, I’m going to just let things happen and let God work in his ways.”

To’oto’o said he expects to play inside linebacker, the same position he played in high school, in the Vols’ 3-4 base defense. “I’ll be staying inside, like I usually am,” he said. He’s versatile enough, though, that he eventually might be capable of lining up at outside linebacker in some situations. “Hopefully I stay inside so I can learn everything more,” To’oto’o said. “And then, once I get comfortable, I’m pretty sure I’ll be moving outside the box a lot.” To’oto’o said he expects to wear jersey No. 11, the same number he wore in high school, at Tennessee.

He’s one of just two possible inside linebackers in Tennessee’s 2019 recruiting class, along with former four-star athlete Quavaris Crouch, who enrolled in January and primarily worked at inside linebacker during spring practice. To’oto’o said he has talked with Crouch since the Charlotte, N.C., native arrived in Knoxville. “He’s there already, and just being able to talk to him and see how he’s doing is great,” To’oto’o said of Crouch, a fellow 2019 All-American Bowl selection. “He just tells me about how practice was and how he likes it, and how much he went through and how he’s trying to adjust still. He’s just trying to prepare me to have a better transition than he did.”

It won’t be long before To’oto’o gets started at Tennessee. He said he expects to arrive in Knoxville by June 4 after graduating from De La Salle on May 26. He‘s looking forward to helping the Vols turn around their program coming off back-to-back losing seasons. “The next four years at Tennessee, with our recruiting class, I just want to bring that tradition back to Tennessee and be able to become a dominant program again,” To’oto’o said. “Obviously, it’s going to take time. But just to be able to go out there and compete every day and not just let anybody stomp over us, and earn our respect from every single team and all the players around. I just feel like, put our heads down and just work and we’ll be good.”
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SugarCC said:
Not only was half his time focused on getting qualified; but, the other half of it was on his child. From what I understand, along with Propst and Propst's wife, JJ raises his daughter. Before enrolling, maybe getting in shape took a back seat to fatherhood and school; and, what obviously had to be a stressful time, maybe he had a bit too much to eat...give the kid a break.
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call me old fashioned but when I was a high schooler typically having a kid meant giving up on living the college life and instead your ass went to work. You could go to night school. But moving away and going to college was a no go. These days these high schoolers will have their kids (plural) with them at their signing ceremony and everyone is celebrating. Where did our sense of responsibility go? I guess these athletes just assume they’re going to go pro and get rich. And signing to go play college ball is like a job. But it should’t be that way. If you have a child I believe you should live with them and raise them. You can’t go off to college and still be raising and living with them.
 
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chattavol420 said:
call me old fashioned but when I was a high schooler typically having a kid meant giving up on living the college life and instead your ass went to work. You could go to night school. But moving away and going to college was a no go. These days these high schoolers will have their kids (plural) with them at their signing ceremony and everyone is celebrating. Where did our sense of responsibility go? I guess these athletes just assume they’re going to go pro and get rich. And signing to go play college ball is like a job. But it should’t be that way. If you have a child I believe you should live with them and raise them. You can’t go off to college and still be raising and living with them.
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I get what your saying... but we pay these athletes not officially but they get paid.
 
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jakez4ut said:
Can't wait
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It's exciting to think about the talent that's being assembled on the defense. Guys like Thompson, Taylor, Burrell, Fields, McCollough, Harrison, JJP, Crouch, To'oTo'o, Simmons, Solomon, Williams...Looking forward to seeing these guys get coached and developed by our staff. Really need to add some stud DL in this upcoming class and the future is bright on defense for sure.
 
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unfrozencvmanvol said:
"To'oto'o has been in frequent contact with the coaches the last several months and the message is clear. The Vols need help."

The coaches sound like negas who belong in the FF.
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Or coaches that want to keep his intensity up and focused so he isn’t waisting a training rep with his eyes on possibly starting... what are they supposed to say... “hey kid strain really hard but you won’t see the field in two to three years”

Lol but I see what you did there 😂👀
 
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DefenseWins said:
Or coaches that want to keep his intensity up and focused so he isn’t waisting a training rep with his eyes on possibly starting... what are they supposed to say... “hey kid strain really hard but you won’t see the field in two to three years”

Lol but I see what you did there 😂👀
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Ha, yeah, I'm excited to see what HT can do.
 
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Ron Swanson said:
It's exciting to think about the talent that's being assembled on the defense. Guys like Thompson, Taylor, Burrell, Fields, McCollough, Harrison, JJP, Crouch, To'oTo'o, Simmons, Solomon, Williams...Looking forward to seeing these guys get coached and developed by our staff. Really need to add some stud DL in this upcoming class and the future is bright on defense for sure.
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Correct ron Tennessee need stud DL to help with that side of the ball. We need more kids like crouch and to'oTo'o.
 
#7,424
#7,424
Ron Swanson said:
It's exciting to think about the talent that's being assembled on the defense. Guys like Thompson, Taylor, Burrell, Fields, McCollough, Harrison, JJP, Crouch, To'oTo'o, Simmons, Solomon, Williams...Looking forward to seeing these guys get coached and developed by our staff. Really need to add some stud DL in this upcoming class and the future is bright on defense for sure.
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I was just thinking the same thing. I'm especially excited to see how Harrison does... for some reason I've built him up in my mind into one of the best recruits in the class, which is probably unfair...
 
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