Reason we had bad recruiting this year.

#1
LittleDTO

LittleDTO

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#1
Ok, not sure I totally agree with this but here it is. I was listening to sports talk radio while I was in Memphis on Tuesday. One of the guys who has some connections to UT gave his explanation as to why UT had a bad year in recruiting.
1: Phil Fulmer during the year was really on the hot seat. He believes that Fulmer probably thought that he wouldnt be able to turn the season around would be asked to resign or get fired.
2: Thinking he might not be here, he didnt really care much about recruiting or just "went through the motions."
3: His justification for #2 is that UT has always been the hunt for A LOT more top talent guys than they were this year.
4: Felt like Fulmer thinks he can make it up in 08 if he was still the head coach.

We saw Tommy T. do this when he knew he was going to leave Ole Miss and go to Auburn. Houston Nutt didnt recruit well all year knowing he was going to resign at Arkansas.

Love to hear what others think about this.
 
#2
#2
Fulmer has been a Vol for a very, very long time. If he was planning on retiring he wouldn't just stop recruiting or stop doing his job. The University means way too much to him for him to do that.
 
#4
#4
It sounds plausible.

I'm not saying that he would intentionally harm his school but it takes a lot of energy to recruit and stay upbeat. If a person is worried that he may be fired, then it would be hard for that person to exude eternal energetic optimism to recruits, I would think.
 
#5
#5
Dawson said:
Ok, not sure I totally agree with this but here it is. I was listening to sports talk radio while I was in Memphis on Tuesday. One of the guys who has some connections to UT gave his explanation as to why UT had a bad year in recruiting.
1: Phil Fulmer during the year was really on the hot seat. He believes that Fulmer probably thought that he wouldnt be able to turn the season around would be asked to resign or get fired.
2: Thinking he might not be here, he didnt really care much about recruiting or just "went through the motions."
3: His justification for #2 is that UT has always been the hunt for A LOT more top talent guys than they were this year.
4: Felt like Fulmer thinks he can make it up in 08 if he was still the head coach.

We saw Tommy T. do this when he knew he was going to leave Ole Miss and go to Auburn. Houston Nutt didnt recruit well all year knowing he was going to resign at Arkansas.

Love to hear what others think about this.
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I don't think he necessarily quit. I do think that he was legitimately on the hotseat and that everyone he was recruiting knew it because competing coaches were willing to point it out for them. It was easier than ever to negatively recruit against UT last year. There is little doubt in my mind that this is why Hamilton started the extension and raise talk before the SEC championship game.

IMO number four is also true. I really think Fulmer was laying it all on the line because he thinks he can win with this team next year. Grand dellusion or reality? We will know in September.
 
#7
#7
it could be very true that Fulmer was so focused on the season.....but more then anything else was that fact that we had a offensive rehaul...plain and simple
 
#8
#8
Another possibility: He didn't want to tie up a lot of scholarships knowing he would need them over the next couple of years. Just throwing it out there, not sure exactly how the scholarship process works from year to year.
 
#9
#9
Dawson said:
Ok, not sure I totally agree with this but here it is. I was listening to sports talk radio while I was in Memphis on Tuesday. One of the guys who has some connections to UT gave his explanation as to why UT had a bad year in recruiting.
1: Phil Fulmer during the year was really on the hot seat. He believes that Fulmer probably thought that he wouldnt be able to turn the season around would be asked to resign or get fired.
2: Thinking he might not be here, he didnt really care much about recruiting or just "went through the motions."
3: His justification for #2 is that UT has always been the hunt for A LOT more top talent guys than they were this year.
4: Felt like Fulmer thinks he can make it up in 08 if he was still the head coach.

We saw Tommy T. do this when he knew he was going to leave Ole Miss and go to Auburn. Houston Nutt didnt recruit well all year knowing he was going to resign at Arkansas.

Love to hear what others think about this.
Click to expand...
#1. It wil be a cold day in _____ when I start listening to a person in Memphis give any kind of evaluation on the Vols.
#2. We did not have a bad recruitng year. All those words do is degrade the freshmen coming in.I don't think thats fair to them.
#3. Coach Fulmer could have all 5 star reruits and still finish outside of the top ten.
 
#10
#10
1. tilidie, I will not comment on Memphis as it has only led to trouble for me on this board in the past.

2. UTK did have a bad recruiting year based on the standard that Majors and Fulmer established. It does not degrade anyone to say that this was not a good class by UTK's recent standards. The guys who are coming in are fine. It's the highly rated prospects and the DTs that UTK did not get that make this a bad class on balance.

3. Nobody could sign 18 five * recruits and finish outside the Top 10.

The problem as I see it is that everything having to do with UTK football reflects on Fulmer and is going to be used as a rationale for axing or keeping him at this point. The Fulmer defenders are put in the unenviable position of not being able to admit that there are any problems with the program. It can also work the other way, with people who want Fulmer gone being hard pressed to give him credit for doing anything right. IMO only there are only two ways this is going to change. Either Phil starts delivering championships immediately (I doubt it happens but will not be pissed-off if it does), or Phil hits the road. Something has to give. A house divided against itsself cannot stand.

Hey! It's snowing!!!:dance2:
 
#11
#11
VolunteerHillbilly said:
1. tilidie, I will not comment on Memphis as it has only led to trouble for me on this board in the past.

2. UTK did have a bad recruiting year based on the standard that Majors and Fulmer established. It does not degrade anyone to say that this was not a good class by UTK's recent standards. The guys who are coming in are fine. It's the highly rated prospects and the DTs that UTK did not get that make this a bad class on balance.

3. Nobody could sign 18 five * recruits and finish outside the Top 10.

The problem as I see it is that everything having to do with UTK football reflects on Fulmer and is going to be used as a rationale for axing or keeping him at this point. The Fulmer defenders are put in the unenviable position of not being able to admit that there are any problems with the program. It can also work the other way, with people who want Fulmer gone being hard pressed to give him credit for doing anything right. IMO only there are only two ways this is going to change. Either Phil starts develivering championships immediately (I doubt it happens but will not be pissed-off if it does), or Phil hits the road. Something has to give. A house divided against itsself cannot stand.

Hey! It's snowing!!!:dance2:
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100% truth.
 
#12
#12
Fulmer faced alot of distractions this year. This analysis could very well be valid. Who knows what happened? It's all speculation at this point...
 
#14
#14
KLayneUT8 said:
u got to love the fact that the recruit have tennessee football n their hearts though
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Yes. I do think that most of the 2008 class is guys who "bleed orange". That counts for something, but for those of use who remember or have studied the Bill Battle years we know what happens when you cannot/ do not get your share of elite prospects. Balance is needed. If the 2009 class turns out to be as good as the the 2007 class, and it can address needs, then maybe the program will be able to get past two down recruiting years out of three without a significant downturn. That's a lot to hope for though.
 
#15
#15
VolunteerHillbilly said:
Yes. I do think that most of the 2008 class is guys who "bleed orange". That counts for something, but for those of use who remember or have studied the Bill Battle years we know what happens when you cannot/ do not get your share of elite prospects. Balance is needed. If the 2009 class turns out to be as good as the the 2007 class, and it can address needs, then maybe the program will be able to get past two down recruiting years out of three without a significant downturn. That's a lot to hope for though.
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Its going to show up. It will and you know it will. All we can hope is that it isn't as bad as it seems right now.
 
#16
#16
There could be other reasons why we didnt do as well as usual

1. We didnt get anyone out of Florida because all 3 of the major programs did great in the state.

2. UGA put up a wall around their state and we couldnt get a star from Georgia like we did with Berry.

3. Bama:mad: took 3 really good players who were 4* from Tennessee

4. North Carolina took some players from NC who in previous years would have went to UT.

5. And having a great class the year before doesnt help. Schools like Notre Dame will have this problem next year.
 
#18
#18
I think the main problem is people recruiting against us were saying "They are a program in decline, with a head coach in the hot seat. We're on the way up, and I'm going to be here!" I'm sure that didn't help. I'm a firm believer that if we had managed to pull out a win the SEC Champ game, and went on to steam roll Hawaii, we wouldn't be sitting in this situation right now.
 
#19
#19
TreeGreen said:
I think the main problem is people recruiting against us were saying "They are a program in decline, with a head coach in the hot seat. We're on the way up, and I'm going to be here!" I'm sure that didn't help. I'm a firm believer that if we had managed to pull out a win the SEC Champ game, and went on to steam roll Hawaii, we wouldn't be sitting in this situation right now.
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I agree. People like winners and we haven't been doing enough of it here lately. I get the feeling kids don't look at phil in the same light as they used to. We still have a big stadium, most of our games are on tv,facility's second to none. But somthing's missing,championships. I believe most people out there in the circles that matter view phil as a coach who doesn't get the most out of his players. He can't seem to keep them out of trouble either. The bad press will absolutely kill recruiting. No mom is going to want to send her son off to a school that has had as many off field incidents as we've had.
 
#20
#20
Cartervol said:
I agree. People like winners and we haven't been doing enough of it here lately. I get the feeling kids don't look at phil in the same light as they used to. We still have a big stadium, most of our games are on tv,facility's second to none. But somthings missing,championships. I believe most people out there in the circles that matter view phil as a coach who doesn't get the most out of his players. He can't seem to keep them out of trouble either. The bad press will absolutely kill recruiting. No mom is going to want to send her son off to a school that has had as many off field incidents as we've had.[/QUOT

:lolabove:

Finally two rational, intelligent Vol fans right above me. I don't understand how the Fulmerites don't see this. It's freaking obvious that no one wants to come here anymore. People cite Cutcliffe and Taylor as reasons they came alot more than Fulmer. He used to be a good coach (I guess), but his time has come. Hell it came 3 years ago. Every second we continue to let this man steer the ship is one that dips us further and further into mediocrity. And I'm sick of it! I watch us play and almost feel embarrassed sometimes. It really is obvious that we are not as talented as the upper echelon of the SEC anymore. I've said this before, Do you guys who try to justify this recruiting class really think that players want to come to TN anymore? How sad is that! We have the opportunity for some of the best national TV exposure, top rate facilities, top rate funding, a historic past, and one of the top 2 or 3 stadiums in the country! And 2 of the past 3 years we have sucked a$$ at recruiting. If that's not a sign that Fulmer needs to go, I don't know what is. Even if he gets back to his best levels, he wouldn't be able to compete in the SEC this day and age. Too many coaches that are better than him now. Plain and simple. Too many coaches that can recruit him into the ground. Fulmer's not smart enough or daring enough to come up with a strategy for dealing with recruiting competition in the future. It's over! Now quit being part of the problem and help us in finding a solution.
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#21
#21
phi0129 said:
Cartervol said:
I agree. People like winners and we haven't been doing enough of it here lately. I get the feeling kids don't look at phil in the same light as they used to. We still have a big stadium, most of our games are on tv,facility's second to none. But somthings missing,championships. I believe most people out there in the circles that matter view phil as a coach who doesn't get the most out of his players. He can't seem to keep them out of trouble either. The bad press will absolutely kill recruiting. No mom is going to want to send her son off to a school that has had as many off field incidents as we've had.[/QUOT

:lolabove:

Finally two rational, intelligent Vol fans right above me. I don't understand how the Fulmerites don't see this. It's freaking obvious that no one wants to come here anymore. People cite Cutcliffe and Taylor as reasons they came alot more than Fulmer. He used to be a good coach (I guess), but his time has come. Hell it came 3 years ago. Every second we continue to let this man steer the ship is one that dips us further and further into mediocrity. And I'm sick of it! I watch us play and almost feel embarrassed sometimes. It really is obvious that we are not as talented as the upper echelon of the SEC anymore. I've said this before, Do you guys who try to justify this recruiting class really think that players want to come to TN anymore? How sad is that! We have the opportunity for some of the best national TV exposure, top rate facilities, top rate funding, a historic past, and one of the top 2 or 3 stadiums in the country! And 2 of the past 3 years we have sucked a$$ at recruiting. If that's not a sign that Fulmer needs to go, I don't know what is. Even if he gets back to his best levels, he wouldn't be able to compete in the SEC this day and age. Too many coaches that are better than him now. Plain and simple. Too many coaches that can recruit him into the ground. Fulmer's not smart enough or daring enough to come up with a strategy for dealing with recruiting competition in the future. It's over! Now quit being part of the problem and help us in finding a solution.
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(1)I must correct you on this phil needed to go around 2002. Thats more than three years ago.

(2)Yes the top teams are more talented. All you have to do is watch the youtube video of last years game with the gators. Watch as harvin and their offense runs circles around our defense.

(3)No matter how good a coach you are if you don't have the horses to get the job done you won't. Need proof just look at all the success steve spurrier is having at south carolina. At one time he was viewed as the best coach in college football. Might still be,but not having the A list players has brought him back down from his pedestal. The scary thing is phil is heading to the same place but he is half the coach.
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#22
#22
I think basically the 2009 recruiting class is all we need to be concerned with now. This year is done and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
If we signed a great class next year in 2009 then 2008 will just go down as one of those things and all will be good again.
However, if the 2009 class ends up like 2008 or worse, then it is seriously time to worry, because the program is in trouble.
So, the 2009 class is really what matters at this point. IMO...
 
#23
#23
tennisguy said:
I think basically the 2009 recruiting class is all we need to be concerned with now. This year is done and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
If we signed a great class next year in 2009 then 2008 will just go down as one of those things and all will be good again.
However, if the 2009 class ends up like 2008 or worse, then it is seriously time to worry, because the program is in trouble.
So, the 2009 class is really what matters at this point. IMO...
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Well all this off field crap can't be helping the cause any. It really boils down to what we do on the field. This year is going to be a pressure cooker for phil. Can he stand the heat. Tune in this sept. to find out. I don't envy phil. He seems to have pressure on him every year now. Times have changed drastically.
 
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