Is it accurate not one high school OL signed by JH & staff…

#51
#51
Most folks do not acknowledge it takes a good 2-3 years of development to get a HS OL ready to play college ball. Rarely do you have a kid who is ready as a freshman. You have to be bulky enough to stop a 300 lb DT but fast enough to cover a blitzing 215 lb LB. That body development takes a long time. It will take even longer now that kids can play until they are 40.

Apples to oranges but look at UGA. The youngest guy starting on UGA’s line is a RS Sophomore (3 years in system). Every other starter is either RS Jr or Sr (4-5 years). Rotation players are a mixed bag, but the starters are pretty old.

Not defending Ellarbee or Heupel, because the OL played poorly this year, but I am not surprised we haven’t seen more recruits starting rather than leftover Pruitt and portal players. This is complicated even more by younger OL who want to start the second they get on campus and end up transferrin / recruited to schools that can promise that (Big 12 trash schools going against Truck Stop Tech).
 
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#52
#52
Nico ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va said:
Most folks do not acknowledge it takes a good 2-3 years of development to get a HS OL ready to play college ball. Rarely do you have a kid who is ready as a freshman. You have to be bulky enough to stop a 300 lb DT but fast enough to cover a blitzing 215 lb LB. That body development takes a long time. It will take even longer now that kids can play until they are 40.

Apples to oranges but look at UGA. The youngest guy starting on UGA’s line is a RS Sophomore (3 years in system). Every other starter is either RS Jr or Sr (4-5 years). Rotation players are a mixed bag, but the starters are pretty old.

Not defending Ellarbee or Heupel, because the OL played poorly this year, but I am not surprised we haven’t seen more recruits starting rather than leftover Pruitt and portal players. This is complicated even more by younger OL who want to start the second they get on campus and end up transferrin / recruited to schools that can promise that (Big 12 trash schools going against Truck Stop Tech).
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I completely agree with you that O-line is a developmental position. That's the argument here. Elarbee, for whatever reason, isn't developing and/or evaluating recruits effectively. Parker and Crawford in the 2021 class, Nichols, Reddick, Herring, Clipper, and Mincey in the 2022 class, Umarov, Lang, Johnson, Bussell, Campbell, and Karic in 2023. Karic, Campbell, and Mincey were transfers. Crawford, Herring, and Johnson were JUCOs. I won't mention the 2024 class because, to your point, they haven't been on campus long enough. So really none of the OL recruited by the current staff have yet to make an impact. Georgia is apples to oranges. They have recruited to a higher level and have the luxury of giving recruits time to develop, which they do, by the way.
 
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#53
#53
I think with all of these threads talking about how bad all our coaches are and never doing anything right that we should FIRE THEM ALL and start over. Maybe we can get another Dooley, Jones or Pruitt. It would be so much better then.
 
#54
#54
brockytop said:
has ever started a game during Huepel’s four year s at TN and all starters were either already here or came from the transfer portal? If so, is the greatest indictment of this poor talent evaluation or player development? I can for darn sure say it’s not been because we’ve been loaded across the offensive line.

My assumption is this trend will end with David Sanders, but geez Louise, folks from the recruiting office up to Elarbee should be held to account for such a pathetic lack of production.
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This has been discussed numerous times. And the topic really doesn't make sense. Who cares if they came here from HS or a transfer. Just play better
 
#56
#56
DaddyChad said:
Personally I’m good with a change or giving him another year. I can speak a little bit from what I heard when Heupel was hired Danny pretty much gave him five years to fix things or get stuff sorted out. I “think” a similar period was communicated to Banks by Heupel when he was hired. That time frame was given due to the uncertainty of the NCAA fiasco and the dire situation the football program was in. Now I say all that to point out I think Heupel wanted continuity of his coaching staff; possible he even communicated a similar time line to some assistants particularly I would guess Elarbee would be one due to their relationship.

Now things worked out better with the NCAA than they could have and we’re further along as a football team than most would’ve guessed four years ago. Statistically over the course of those four years we’ve had one of the most potent offenses in the country. Heupel has had potent offenses pretty much everywhere he has been and Glenn has been a big part of that. Heupel has promoted him to keep him on staff at other programs and I believe Elarbee was his first hire when he was hired here.

I think the one area we really haven’t recruited well at has been Oline at least most years since Heupel got here. It is one of the hardest positions to accumulate talent at bc it’s harder to come by imo than any other position. First two years were kind of burdened by the dumpster fire Heupel walked into and the ncaa investigation. We were right there at landing Francis Maugioa, then Seaton, then we finally break through and land Sanders this year but then lose out on Utu. But recruiting is trending the right way.

I know this sounds like a lot of excuse making, maybe it is but it’s pretty much what’s been the issue. This year sucked, no excusing it. It’s not just a failure of recruiting; it’s also a failure of coaching and development. But it’s one year. We won ten games and had a record breaking RB; Heupel is going to bare minimum give it another year to evaluate the position.

Again I don’t care if they make a change or not but maybe that kind of informs you of a few things maybe you hadn’t considered.
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Are you saying CJH is on the hot seat if the OL isn't great next year?
 
#57
#57
brockytop said:
Darnell Wright hasn’t been here for two years.

Even if I give you Mays and Spraggins that’s six spots over two years that a high school signee was unable to win. Campbell, Heard and Mincey? LOL. Campbell & Heard were mostly garbage this year and Mincey was last seen at the concession stand buying M&Ms as TN dragged UK.

Thing is, as I noted in the OP, this is an indictment on evaluation as well as development. Who’s responsible there?
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You are still missing the point I was making. In first 3 years only one transfer kid was a full time starter (John Campbell, a senior transfer). Mincey was not a full time starter. All TN recruited kids started and most of them will be or are in the NFL (Wright, Cade Mays, Spraggings, Jerome Carvin, Crawford).
In 2024, we added a RS freshman transfer Heard. So essentially two spots were really transfers in 4 years.
Huepel/Elarbee developed most these kids who were Freshmen/sophomore when they arrived. It lead to historic passing offense in 2022, great rushing offense in 2023 and historic rushing offense in 2024.
Yes, there have been protection issues in last two years but lets not act like there were no positives. You dont win 10 games in 2 out of last 3 years in this league without good OLine.
 
#58
#58
RockyTopTommy said:
This has been discussed numerous times. And the topic really doesn't make sense. Who cares if they came here from HS or a transfer. Just play better
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It matters if you’re wasting scholarships and NIL money on guys that aren’t contributing at a high level. Hello?

Is there another offensive or defensive position where this same scenario has played out? If not, then isn’t that another indication something has been amiss with OL high school recruiting?
 
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#60
#60
KnoxToTheBoro93 said:
I’ll make sure to relay the message to Danny white… Heup legacy Is already in the top 5 all time as a Tennessee head coach… nobody inherited the program at a lower point then Heup so wild how yall microwave era fans forget that… we are coming off a playoff appearance as a top 10 team just 4 years removed from a 3 win season… yall must think real life is a video game…
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This obviously needs to be read again and understood before posting anything else on this board. Step back and ask yourself how much you truly miss Dools or Lyle or Beldar? Then try again
 
#61
#61
How much of this is due to players being able to "take their ball and run"? In most cases, it takes linemen a few years to develop. In this transfer portal era players aren't patiently sticking around anymore. It's another downside to college football today. So unless you get a first year starter that risk exists more than ever before that they are victims of something called impatience and immaturity.
 
#62
#62
OP is not wrong. Facts check out.

You can choose to view this topic as negative.

I choose to see the discussion of this as a positive thing. The more this is put under a microscope the potential for change/improvement/coach upgrade can happen.
 
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#64
#64
Jxn Vol said:
OP is not wrong. Facts check out.

You can choose to view this topic as negative.

I choose to see the discussion of this as a positive thing. The more this is put under a microscope the potential for change/improvement/coach upgrade can happen.
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I would bet a newly minted dime our head coach has checked out this specific analytic
 
#65
#65
volmandu said:
You have to look things in correct perspective: Darnell Wright played for 3 years (is in NFL), Spraggins started all 4 years and will play in NFL, Cooper Mays played all 4 years and was all SEC center.
Thats 3 spots. Jerome Carvin donned a spot 2 years , Crawford started 3 years, was JUCO recruited first year of Huepel.
So basically most spots were taken up by TN kids who he gave chance to play and flourish under him (unlike most other coaches)
Only transfers to start: John Campbell (2 years)
Lance Heard: This year
Gerald Mincey: Shared job for 2 years.

Thats not bad at all for 4 years !!
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Please don't screw up the "well thought out" narrative with actual facts. I don't think the OP does any real investigation into any post they put on here. In reality, transfers are the worst performing of the bunch.
 
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#67
#67
Fatman Photos said:
I think with all of these threads talking about how bad all our coaches are and never doing anything right that we should FIRE THEM ALL and start over. Maybe we can get another Dooley, Jones or Pruitt. It would be so much better then.
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Yeah, their saying he's on a hot seat and White just extended his contract to 2029 he's 4th highest paid coach in SEC and he got 100K bonus for making playoff.
 
#68
#68
OL recruiting from 2021-2023 was really bad. Considering the level of talent and the fact that UT was a playoff team, one could actually make a case in the positive for Elarbee. The highest rated OL recruit in that span was A. Nichols, who transferred before ever getting starting snaps. The most productive OL to this point from that span was Crawford, who was the lowest rated recruit in 2021.

2023 has Sham/L.Johnson/Bussell. If any of those three develop into a starter then I would consider that a win for Elarbee. Let's see if one or two of the OL from the 2024 class develops into quality starters. 2025 looks promising.

Full circle - recruiting is more of the culprit than it is development. And I can assure you that doesn't fall solely on Elarbee's shoulders.
 
#69
#69
Slow clumsy footwork by our tackles in pass blocking has been the worst thing on our offense and young quarterback this season. Couple that with all the false starts and holding by our tackles and look at who is responsible for coaching that or the lack there of . That’s where something has to change.
 
#72
#72
Nico ee-ah-MAH-LAY-ah-va said:
Most folks do not acknowledge it takes a good 2-3 years of development to get a HS OL ready to play college ball. Rarely do you have a kid who is ready as a freshman. You have to be bulky enough to stop a 300 lb DT but fast enough to cover a blitzing 215 lb LB. That body development takes a long time. It will take even longer now that kids can play until they are 40.

Apples to oranges but look at UGA. The youngest guy starting on UGA’s line is a RS Sophomore (3 years in system). Every other starter is either RS Jr or Sr (4-5 years). Rotation players are a mixed bag, but the starters are pretty old.

Not defending Ellarbee or Heupel, because the OL played poorly this year, but I am not surprised we haven’t seen more recruits starting rather than leftover Pruitt and portal players. This is complicated even more by younger OL who want to start the second they get on campus and end up transferrin / recruited to schools that can promise that (Big 12 trash schools going against Truck Stop Tech).
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In response to your first paragraph, if you're using UGA as an example they've had true freshman tackles start and play in their rotations. Alabama has had several. Those are normally the top rated lineman out of HS. Vols have had some freshman lineman that went on to start all 4 years. The issue I had with the line is that they were upper class and often were the cause of stalled drives. They were so undisciplined as a unit. If we see the same undisciplined play from the line over the next couple seasons we wont be seeing any championships.
 
#73
#73
Probably unpopular opinion here but Offensive Line improved as season progress (with exception of Ohio State). The penalties were eliminated and tackles held up well (event at Georgia).

We had a great run blocking game but the pass blocking is something to be desired. I am curious to see what things look like next year with this unit. I am probably more optimistic than others.

I am panicking about WR room right now and probably will until we land a solid transfer to replace what we are losing (or at least hold onto Mike Mathews).
 
#75
#75
brockytop said:
It matters if you’re wasting scholarships and NIL money on guys that aren’t contributing at a high level. Hello?

Is there another offensive or defensive position where this same scenario has played out? If not, then isn’t that another indication something has been amiss with OL high school recruiting?
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The point is it doesn't matter if they come from HS or transfers, as long as they play good. Reading must be hard for you
 
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