I'm going to be critical for a moment

#101
#101
volfanstuckinga said:
That's the POINT! We should have those positions filled by now! If we hire Chuck Smith this week I will be TICKED because he has wanted to be here for the last 2 WEEKS! He could have helped seal the deal on Copeland....
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This is what I don't like. Until today, I kept trying to believe that maybe DD knew something we didn't and had been telling defensive recruits, and that we would end up with enough DLs...And now we don't, and it looks pretty incompetent to not have hired a DC or DL coach for the past two weeks. Maybe some of it lies at the feet of the great bozo Hamilton, but this is not a good start. And signing two 2-star LBs is not a good substitute. It's just inexcusable that we didn't sign Smith or a DC and now have lost our top DL in the class. If you think not having either one of those staff positions had nothing to do with losing him, you're O.D.'ed on kool-aid. I'm also not jumping up and down about the hiring of a DC from Boise State, especially considering they've never dominated in defense according to his own resume. That hire sure as heck won't impress any future recruits.

It seems to me something could have been said to X about the possibility of a lawsuit based on him using information on recruits he gained while working on UT's dime to bring those recruits to 'SC; maybe I'm ignorant of the law, but it seems clear he has harmed us, and acted in bad faith, and appropriated info belonging to UT for the use of USC. It makes me sick that they're in the top five, in no small part because of recruits he was able to steal from us, recruits that he recruited here on this university's dime.

Not impressed. Not happy.
 
#102
#102
Regulator said:
Here are the weights of the two-deep Boise St d-line: 263, 241, 288, 254, 296, 332, 271 (3rd string nose), 262, 259. Of those 9 players, 1 Jr, 5 So, 3 Fr.
And the 332 was second string and listed at 6' tall. They held up ok. Is it completely out of the question for the UT d-line to do the same? This is all assuming that Wilcox will be the next DC, hence the Boise State example.
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Yes, frankly it is out of the question that they will hold up. Boise is a great program for where they are and always seem well coached when I've watched them. But put them in our schedule and their record would not be good. Can they compete and even win one or two games a year against top 25 teams? Yes. Could they go through the meat grinder of the sec east with our schedule? No. Flat out no. How many teams in their own conference has Boise out recruited? Probably most. How many teams in the sec have we out recruited? Especially if you look at the lines after you factor in all our attrition.
 
#103
#103
Volunteeer said:
Yes, frankly it is out of the question that they will hold up. Boise is a great program for where they are and always seem well coached when I've watched them. But put them in our schedule and their record would not be good. Can they compete and even win one or two games a year against top 25 teams? Yes. Could they go through the meat grinder of the sec east with our schedule? No. Flat out no. How many teams in their own conference has Boise out recruited? Probably most. How many teams in the sec have we out recruited? Especially if you look at the lines after you factor in all our attrition.
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I never said they would run the table in the SEC, but let's all climb down off of our collective SEC high horse. Didn't fare so well in the bowls, or BCS non-conference this past season.
 
#104
#104
Sudden Impact said:
I agree. I also have faith. There is a major change in defense coming that maybe we do not know about. No hiring officially Chuch Smith had to be a factor with some of these recruits. The leak of the DC may have played into it also. 2nd biggest need there is no doubt. We are lucky we survived the K era.
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Not only survived, but we came out stronger on the other side!:clapping:
 
#105
#105
Sabanocchio said:
First off, no one said anything about the ability of the guys we have.

Arthur Jefferey is probably moving to guard.

Marlon Walls and Montori Hughes do not make a very good DT rotation.
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I agree, Sab. The DT rotation worries me.

Also, is V. Thomas still at the DT position and is Chase Nelson gonna be back next year (pending recovery from his injury)?

If Nelson doesn't come back and Brown doesn't qualify then we have essentially three DT's.
 
#107
#107
SpringBokVol said:
Looking back at the last 3 classes, UT has only taken 1 DT in each class. WOW!

If you look at the top teams in the country over the last 3 classes they have all taken at least 3 DT in each class. That is a rotation of at least 9 DTs.
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amazing stat.

3 different coaching staffs at UT, 3 different approaches, same result -- each landed only 1 DT.

easy to say "coach _____ is an idiot" but that doesn't explain all 3.

what does?
 
#108
#108
Regulator said:
I never said they would run the table in the SEC, but let's all climb down off of our collective SEC high horse. Didn't fare so well in the bowls, or BCS non-conference this past season.
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Boise is a good program and I'm not saying they would go 0-12. But realistically, I don't think they would be much more than 6-6 or 7-5 against our schedule next year. There is a big difference between going through a less challenging regular season and staying relatively health and preparing for one big bowl game where you are out to prove in one game that you can play with the big conferences and playing arguably all the best sec teams and Oregon, probably a top five team. No high horse here, i think what I'm saying is fairly accurate.
 
#110
#110
Of course, it's part PR spin, part truth, but the UT staff is pleased with their class. That's good enough for me. Bring on spring practice!
 
#111
#111
Sabanocchio said:
I'm not complaining about who we lost. Not complaining about Copeland. And I'm also not saying that there should have been a rush to hire a DC or a DL. I think we will be happy there.

I'm simply saying that if he could find "gems" like Crump and Sapp and think they were deserving of a scholarship then surely there were DTs out there willing to come here.
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Great point. At least one.
 
#112
#112
Is it perhaps possible that UT wound up with no HS DT prospects because Kiffin was only aiming for the blue chips (striking out) and not even considering some of these 3* guys everyone is clamoring for now? Too many bridges to rebuild in 2+ weeks for Coach Dooley. I'd also be willing to bet that if Kiffin were still the coach, and this commitment list was the same, everyone would be singing his praises. I probably would have been, and I applaud Coach Dooley for it now.
 
#114
#114
I have to wonder as well....I thought McNeil would be in the picture if we had some room. Copeland's loss was a gut kick, IMHO, and I do think it boiled down to the fact that LSU was more of a known quantity than we were...as we had no DC or DL in place. I think he may have held out as long as he did to see if we were going to name a DC.

The report of Wilcox may have underwhelmed him a bit, too. I personally think Wilcox is a mixed bag of Pros and Cons. I still would've liked to see Travis Jones as DC and Chuck Smith as DL coach. That combination would supercharge our defensive recruiting for years to come. More and more teams now are picking off NFL coaches and hey, it works....they are showing, for the most part, to make a difference on the field and in recruiting.

Overall, not having a more complete defensive staff put a critical hurt on that side of the ball in this class. On offense, Baggett being in place so early, was a major factor in us getting Hunter and Rogers.
We'll just have to try and coach our roster up and try to clean up next year.
 
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#115
#115
Sabanocchio said:
I don't see how in the heck we can spend scholarships on guys like Crump and Sapp, but we can't get more than 1 (and not a definite qualifier) defensive tackle to commit. The second biggest need on the team.
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Thompson seems high on them
 
#116
#116
The only thing I can think of is that the coaches believe JUCO's they can pull next year will be better than guys they might bring in as Fr this year.
 
#118
#118
volfanstuckinga said:
I'm big enough to admit when I am wrong and I truly hope I am on Crump. But for NO SEC school to be recruiting him...and NO ACC school...and NO OTHER MAJOR DIVISION 1 schools....that says SOMETHING doesn't it? Can they ALL be wrong? Maybe...
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Go to the Crump recruit Thread.. I got killed last week for saying the same thing... Crump-4-Heisman... GBO
 
#119
#119
volfanstuckinga said:
I agree 1000%. There is NO excuse for not being able to at LEAST get Chuck Smith on board. He would have solidified a couple recruits we lost. He is engaging and good at what he does. I think Crump is a wasted scholarship IMO. His offers were from some weak A$$ programs.
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Crump definitely has the talent...we may have gotten a real steal with him. Give the kid a chance.
 
#121
#121
Volunteeer said:
Correct. And eaten up scholarships for four years.
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We could honestly live with the scholarships being eaten up. Going through another coaching change (players washing out as a result) and with the signing limits, we're going to be under the scholarship limit for a reasonable amount of time.
 
#122
#122
This is sad. Signing day is barely over and all of you are crying over this class. We have 5 dt on the roster. We have stud de's. Let's wait until they atleast get on the field before we say they won't cut it.
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#124
#124
Sabanocchio said:
I don't see how in the heck we can spend scholarships on guys like Crump and Sapp, but we can't get more than 1 (and not a definite qualifier) defensive tackle to commit. The second biggest need on the team.
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It's called a change of heart resulting in some going to another school ... and 2 weeks to try and change a new kids mind who has been recruited for a year, possibly 2 or 3 already by other schools. Really not a hard concept to grasp if you think about it.
 
#125
#125
It is really simple. We have had trouble signing DTs because Tennessee has no history of developing successful DTs.

[...being currently beaten up by John Henderson, Albert Haynesworth, Darwin Walker, Aubrayo Franklin, Tony McDaniel, Dan Williams...]
 
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