Recruitment of Tim Couch back in the day! He wanted to be a Vol

[Vols&Vettes]

Tim Couch's dad walked out of his recruiting visit with Tennessee

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Glad Kentucky got him.

Because the guy who DID follow Peyton just, well, you know ... won us a national championship.

Go Vols!

 

[PEPPERJAX]

No to the sofa!

 

[WillisWG]

You chose poorly, Elbert

 

[Pump Guy]

Interesting read, some interesting comments in the comments section to say the least. You have to wonder if Peyton would have stayed for his senior year with Couch here, and if he had stayed, would Couch have transferred to Kentucky (of course back then, he would have had to sit a season).

Taking the whole hypothetical to another level; without Couch at Kentucky, would the "Air Raid" offense under Mumme and Mike Leach made such a big splash? Would Mike Leach then be offered the job at Oklahoma, where he recruited a junior college quarterback with a bad knee named Josh Heupel?

Without Mike Leach, would Heupel have ever ended up at Oklahoma?

Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel on Mike Leach: 'He saw something in me when no one else did' (yahoo.com)

I think everything worked out pretty well, we won a national championship in 1998 and now we have Josh Heupel.

 

[OrangeTsar]

Interesting read, some interesting comments in the comments section to say the least. You have to wonder if Peyton would have stayed for his senior year with Couch here, and if he had stayed, would Couch have transferred to Kentucky (of course back then, he would have had to sit a season).

Taking the whole hypothetical to another level; without Couch at Kentucky, would the "Air Raid" offense under Mumme and Mike Leach made such a big splash? Would Mike Leach then be offered the job at Oklahoma, where he recruited a junior college quarterback with a bad knee named Josh Heupel?

Without Mike Leach, would Heupel have ever ended up at Oklahoma?

Tennessee football coach Josh Heupel on Mike Leach: 'He saw something in me when no one else did' (yahoo.com)

I think everything worked out pretty well, we won a national championship in 1998 and now we have Josh Heupel.

My opinion of last last 25 years and us getting Heupel….

In my opinion, we have the best coach in the country and there’s no way he ends up here without each and every one of our mistakes as a program since 1998. We served our time in the Wilderness, but now like the Children of Israel, it’s our time to enter the promised land. We are about to cross the Jordan people!!!

 

[BruisedOrange]

Pump Guy and Orange Tsar --- two great posts!

 

[Voltopia]

Tim Couch's dad walked out of his recruiting visit with Tennessee

I wonder just when his poor ol' dad woke up, rolled out of bed, quietly went to the bathroom so as not to wake anyone, stared in the mirror for a good long while, and finally thought - "I dun effed up."

 

[LadyVolette]

I wonder just when his poor ol' dad woke up, rolled out of bed, quietly went to the bathroom so as not to wake anyone, stared in the mirror for a good long while, and finally thought - "I dun effed up."

Kentucky fans are a special kind of special.. their blind hatred of Tennessee is downright hilarious

 

[tennrich1]

Tim Couch was a prolific college QB for sure. But to read a story of “narcissistic mental abuse” (who runs their child out of the house over which college to attend) by his father is nauseating at best. I can understand loving your team like the father did the Cats…but my goodness. Want to ruin a father/son relationship? I’d say that’s one of the best ways to do it. Glad he was successful at UK.

 

[volfanhill]

What a selfish father

 

[butchna]

So Kentucky fans thought playing the option his true freshman season and a GIMMICK OFFENSE the remaining seasons was the right choice?

 

[89 VOLS grad]

Glad Kentucky got him.

Because the guy who DID follow Peyton just, well, you know ... won us a national championship.

Go Vols!

I am not taking anything away from Tee. But, don't fool yourself into thinking UT wouldn't have won the NC with Couch or another great QB at the helm. I would say Tee was a very good SEC QB, not elite. The D lead by Big Al won the NC for UT that year. Billy Ratliff knocking the center into Stoerner also played a huge role. The OL and 'THE CHEESE' was more of an impact on the season outcome than Tee. Although, Tee's scramble to set up a winning FG vs Syracuse definitely played a huge part.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I am not taking anything away from Tee. But, don't fool yourself into thinking UT wouldn't have won the NC with Couch or another great QB at the helm. I would say Tee was a very good SEC QB, not elite. The D lead by Big Al won the NC for UT that year. Billy Ratliff knocking the center into Stoerner also played a huge role. The OL and 'THE CHEESE' was more of an impact on the season outcome than Tee. Although, Tee's scramble to set up a FG vs Syracuse definitely played a huge part.

Friend, you miss a key point: team chemistry is everything. It is worth far more than any single player, even one as important as the QB.

And you mistake another key point: the entire team won that championship. Not the D, not the O, not the Special Teams. All of them together did that.

In short: change the dynamics, change the outcome.

If anyone other than Tee had been our QB, there is NO guarantee we'd have a 1998 National Championship banner hanging inside Neyland Stadium.

Go Vols!

 

[89 VOLS grad]

Friend, you miss a key point: team chemistry is everything. It is worth far more than any single player, even one as important as the QB.

Change the dynamics, change the outcome.

If anyone other than Tee had been our QB, there is NO guarantee we'd have a 1998 National Championship banner hanging inside Neyland Stadium.

Go Vols!

One, I am not your friend. I don't know you. Two, the team chemistry was as much or MORE PREVALENT on the D side of the ball which is the reason UT won the NC, not the O lead by Martin. Third point, NO TEAM WINS A NC with JUST GREAT TEAM CHEMISTRY. TEAM CHEMISTRY IS DEFINITELY IMPORTANT, NOT EVERYTHING. You can have all the team chemistry in the world with a bunch of average athletes that can not win a NC no matter how close they are.

 

[butchna]

Friend, you miss a key point: team chemistry is everything. It is worth far more than any single player, even one as important as the QB.

And you mistake another key point: the entire team won that championship. Not the D, not the O, not the Special Teams. All of them together did that.

In short: change the dynamics, change the outcome.

If anyone other than Tee had been our QB, there is NO guarantee we'd have a 1998 National Championship banner hanging inside Neyland Stadium.

Go Vols!

Maybe if Tee isn’t legging some 3rd down conversions out, we don’t beat out Donovan McNabb at the Carrier Dome. Maybe if Couch is converting more scoring opportunities throughout the game, we don’t come down to needing a defensive PI call to even have a chance to win…we do so going away? Swing to the Arkansas game. Maybe we don’t come down to needing Stoerner fumbling to pull it out…or without Tee’s rushing yards, we’re not in the game in the first place? No guarantees in ANYTHING.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

One, I am not your friend. I don't know you. Two, the team chemistry was as much or MORE PREVALENT on the D side of the ball which is the reason UT won the NC, not the O lead by Martin. Third point, NO TEAM WINS A NC with JUST GREAT TEAM CHEMISTRY. TEAM CHEMISTRY IS DEFINITELY IMPORTANT, NOT EVERYTHING. You can have all the team chemistry in the world with a bunch of average athletes that can not win a NC no matter how close they are.

Hmm.

Some people would say all Tennessee fans are friends. Even family. We're one big community.

You don't roll that way. Got it.

You're wrong, and you're not experienced enough with teams (of all types, sports, military, whatever) to understand what I'm saying.

Team chemistry never stands alone. It is always built to bind together the parts. And those parts can be strong or weak. But no matter how strong they are, they'll fall apart at the first sign of pressure unless the chemistry binding them together is solid.

Tell you what: build a house out of really good, high quality bricks. Name them after your defensive players, if you wish. Then stack them together with play-dough as your grout. Then see how strong the house stands, and for how long.

An example closer to home: bad team chemistry is what cost us vs South Carolina last fall. It wasn't a problem all season, but it was a problem that week. And we paid for it, big-time.

Team chemistry is not the only thing, no. It is the most important single thing, though. Otherwise "team" devolves into just a bunch of "me"s.

Go Vols!

 

[VFL-82-JP]

Maybe if Tee isn’t legging some 3rd down conversions out, we don’t beat out Donovan McNabb at the Carrier Dome. Maybe if Couch is converting more scoring opportunities throughout the game, we don’t come down to needing a defensive PI call to even have a chance to win…we do so going away? Swing to the Arkansas game. Maybe we don’t come down to needing Stoerner fumbling to pull it out…or without Tee’s rushing yards, we’re not in the game in the first place? No guarantees in ANYTHING.

There is one guarantee: what already happened.

We're guaranteed to have won a national title with Tee. Because that's what happened.

Any other course, any other combination of people and events, and there's no telling how things would turn out.

So no. Don't change a thing. Tee was part of bringing us a national title. He's who I roll with.

Go Vols!

 

[butchna]

There is one guarantee: what already happened.

We're guaranteed to have won a national title with Tee. Because that's what happened.

Any other course, any other combination of people and events, and there's no telling how things would turn out.

So no. Don't change a thing. Tee was part of bringing us a national title. He's who I roll with.

Go Vols!

I didn’t think going back in time was possible, much less on the table. This was a game of “what if”. Don’t play if you can’t hang.

 

[VFL-82-JP]

I didn’t think going back in time was possible, much less on the table. This was a game of “what if”. Don’t play if you can’t hang.

I'm doing a better job of hanging than you, brother. I get the limitations of hypotheticals and how they can be disproven.

Meanwhile, you're going back in time with hypotheticals in one post, then arguing that one can't go back in time with hypotheticals in your next. A bit confused?

 

[joevol33]

Kentucky fans are a special kind of special.. their blind hatred of Tennessee is downright hilarious

You should see them on the SEC super conference Facebook page

 

[butchna]

I'm doing a better job of hanging than you, brother. I get the limitations of hypotheticals and how they can be disproven.

Meanwhile, you're going back in time with hypotheticals in one post, then arguing that one can't go back in time with hypotheticals in your next. A bit confused?

Just saying “who knows” in the spirit of the subject of this thread. You’re a bit touchy and getting personal. Let’s stop talking to each other.

 

[cherokeeeVOL]

Wasn’t Tee a 5 star coming out of high school? I remember him being pretty elite once he got in there too.

 

[davethevol]

It would have been interesting for sure to see what he could have done here.

 

[butchna]

Wasn’t Tee a 5 star coming out of high school? I remember him being pretty elite once he got in there too.

We didn’t have the star rating system established. He was a blue chip prospect.