Recruiting Forum Football Talk VI

[Glitch]

So weird... My wife's grandmother, 98, suffering from dimentia, was moved in to transition at hospice yesterday after becoming unresponsive Sunday night and taken too the er. Also my wife's last grandparent, and she's taken it pretty hard as well. Prayers sent.

Prayers back at you for your family.

 

[WangoTango]

I was at a coaching clinic where Mike Leach was speaking. Afterwards, he hung around and was talking and mingling. A GA from a P5 school asked him about his "fat little girlfriends" take from his TTU days, even after being told it might make him mad. Leach immediately recited that entire bit almost word for word exactly as he did in that presser and everyone had a good laugh. He never forgot a name if he met you once, he never treated anyone as if they were beneath him. He didn't take himself any more seriously than he should have and he believed what he believed unapologetically. By all reports he was a great family man and I'm certain that they have a hurt that will never be filled in this life. RIP coach Leach.

 

[you]

I still support the young man, but are you surprised? He’s always going to be remembered for not traveling for the SC game.

heart and soul of our defense. it's a recognition that can't be measure, except I gotta believe we would win the USCe game if he played. Not because he's the best middle linebacker to ever play, or because he is the "defense QB", but because he has that "it" factor that can't be measured, and it makes others around him better. Check out his swagger in the Alabama game. He wasn't scared, and therefore the others playing around him weren't scared. No WAY we win against Alabama without Banks. He doesn't get the love he deserves...

 

[GVol1966]

Early signing day was one of the worst NCAA decisions ever. And that’s saying something

I have no problem with early signing day of high school kids. They can EE and get on campus.
The Transfer portal should be closed until all games of the year have been played.

 

[volbeast33]

Ummm that is Rodney Garner.

3 of them….. Garner was the primary, ekeler on two and Martinez/banks was on 3 of them.

 

[GVol1966]

If the current recruits are all we add, does anyone really believe our secondary takes a step forward next year? I'm just curious what the thought is? We spent almost the entire season talking about how talent deficient the secondary is, how Banks and Martinez were forced to work with what they had. That being the case, can we really expect significantly better if it's the same guys returning plus some freshmen?

I'm just curious on others' thoughts.

Well Taylor and Thompson started as freshman and I’d say they were better than what we had this year.

 

[gordonr24]

I hope our team wears a pirate patch or something to honor Mike Leach for the Orange Bowl and maybe even next season. He was a special person to Heupel as well. His loss is so surreal and difficult to process.

 

[SoilVol]

I sincerely hope the SEC wears pirate flag patches to honor Leach.

What a loss for the sport. What a character.

And to know his final gift was being an organ donor, saving the lives of others in Mississippi.

 

[therickbol]

View attachment 523238
No mustache but check out my nephew when he was younger….. They are the same age. LOL

Is that Ziegler standing next to Uros?

 

[SoilVol]

I hope our team wears a pirate patch or something to honor Mike Leach for the Orange Bowl and maybe even next season. He was a special person to Heupel as well. His loss is so surreal and difficult to process.

Someone get this in the ear of White.

 

[GVol1966]

F) Heupel is focused on his offense and ignoring the defense.

No one wants to consider that. I love Coach Heupel. I love his offense. But offense cannot be our sole focus. We have to improve our defense. And it's like many of you are forgetting that while lamenting that defense this year, the constant excuse was "we just don't have the talent yet". There are some talented guys in the portal. Could there be other reasons we're not pursuing them? Absolutely. But why aren't we pursuing ANY of them? And I'm talking defense, not offense.

I don’t believe that for a second. He doesn’t like to lose , and he knows exactly why we lost to SC and UGA.

 

[SoilVol]

On the lack of defensive portal recruiting:

-AP

Translation: They don't just want warm bodies filling roster spots unless they don't have a choice. They also probably feel very confident in the defensive class coming in so they're more selective.

 

[Girth Brooks]

Praying for peace and comfort that surpasses all understanding for the Leach and Mississippi State families. He was as much an innovator as he was a story teller. College football has lost a giant.

 

[MarcoVol]

F) Heupel is focused on his offense and ignoring the defense.

No one wants to consider that. I love Coach Heupel. I love his offense. But offense cannot be our sole focus. We have to improve our defense. And it's like many of you are forgetting that while lamenting that defense this year, the constant excuse was "we just don't have the talent yet". There are some talented guys in the portal. Could there be other reasons we're not pursuing them? Absolutely. But why aren't we pursuing ANY of them? And I'm talking defense, not offense.

If he’s solely focused on offense then yes, yes offense can be our sole focus.

Are y’all high or have you already forgotten that we were 1 win away from the 4 team playoff? In Y2. When nobody expected it. By putting up video game numbers on offense.

 

[GVol1966]

If true, that’s a shame after his fall from Grace a few years ago and to make the comeback he did just to let the wheels fall off at the end due to lack of discipline in the classroom. With all the resources that are made available to help these guys with their classes, if he did nothing else besides showing up to class, he should at least be able to scrape by and pass. I don’t know his situation, but it sounds like he may be throwing away two great opportunities by missing the last game of his career as a Vol and missing out on his degree. He might be kicking himself for a long time over that.

Glad to see him go. You might not want to admit it, but we all knew we hadn’t seen the last of his troubles when he got re-instated.
We all knew there was more coming, we just didn’t know when.

 

[Pridedad]

Getting a Portal guy is like getting a used car. Very hit or miss and you'd better do your research. Gurus and hand wringers freaking out over lack of interest in Defensive players when all you know are names. What's not listed are grades, work ethic, locker room impact. Coaches know more than we do and do not feel the need to share everything. Good for them. May is probably when we'll really know much.

That's why you need a car fax.

 

[volinokc]

McGill... The only goal for all that is too get people like you riled up. Simplest solution, ignore it, don't read it. Then, it's like it didn't exist.... Works for me anyways. Besides, whatever is put out there that falls in this category is rarely an accurate depiction of reality.

There's been plenty of hit pieces put out on other programs too that never come to fruition.

Hell after Clemson lost that blow out bowl game to West Virginia you'd of thought it was all but certain Dabo was fine get fired and Clemson was never gonna be back.

And we haven't played the game yet...

I stopped clicking on News Sentinel articles years ago. The media is not as much biased as it is filled with fallible individuals who are bad at their job.

 

[jave36]

If that is true then he needs a better lawyer. If you take a high profile coach like that and he can clear himself fast then that is the route you take and not let it drag out and clear your name and not get fired. jmo

No lawyer in his right mind would ever tell his client to turn something over to the cops before he himself could see it first.

 

[engineerVOL]

Hope he has a tribute on our helmet in mind for the bowl game.

 

[GVol1966]

How many "reasonable" folks do you think are out there...that people will actually listen to? I have zero faith in a reasonable narrative happening...absolute zero.

Who cares. We all know we had a great season and are on the right track. The bowl games are practically meaningless for the obvious reasons.

 

[volbeast33]

Recruiting news keeps getter better….. Wiltfong is reporting that we are trending for Carter….. that will be a huge upset/win versus Alabama on the recruiting trail at a huge position of need. (LB)

 

[Paper_Towel]

 

[SoilVol]

This. The current class is really strong on defensive players. I've heard that they don't want to take a CB in the portal because they are very happy with their CB recruits. I could see them bringing in a linebacker and a d-lineman, but I'm not sure they see the roster in as bad of shape in the secondary as many fans do.

We also must consider that we'd like to wait until our high school recruits actually sign before we pick up transfer depth at their positions...

 

[SweetasSoda]

Your post made me tear up.
My Mom dwindled with Alzheimers.
The last time I saw her, I had this strange compulsion to read her some of our favorite children’s books that she read to me when I was little.
Green Eggs and Ham, Come Over to My House, and Are You My Mother.
At the end of the 3rd book, I bowed my head and told her that she was my Mother and I loved her very much. She squeezed my hand and said “I love you too, Joey.” She looked into my eyes and smiled. My Mother was there for just a little bit.

Oh my goodness! Green Eggs and Ham and Are You My Mother were two of my son’s favorite books! Along with Love You Forever.

 

[RiseToTheTop]

Leach was such a gem. Genuinely himself, always.

Keep swinging that sword Pirate!

damn, what a sad day