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

#27
#27
VFL-82-JP said:
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!
Click to expand...
JP, you make a great point. I've said it here over and over. I've never bought into this "Peyton couldn't beat Florida" thing. Half the time he was on the sidelines watching Spurrier's offense put up numbers. WHY do people think ONE GUY is the make or break person for a team? And WHY do people want to assign that role to one player? It's both O and D (as you stated here).

Hey Bryce Young didn't beat UT last season. But where was he when that Bama guy decided to fall on that punt and make a turnover? Where was Bryce Young when the kick went wide? (I need to quit re-watching that game, but it never get's old).

We could lay it on one Person. Josh Heupel beat Bama. I can live with that. But it sounds better to say Nick Saban lost to Tennessee.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VOLSanon, NighthawkVol, SpookyAction and 5 others
#29
#29
Voltopia said:
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."
Click to expand...
Tennessee might not have won the championship in '98 if he was the QB, but Couch would have probably won the Heisman and after being coached by Cut would have had a much better NFL career.
 
#30
#30
OrangeTsar said:
My opinion of last last 25 years and us getting Heupel….
View attachment 568971
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!!!
Click to expand...

It does feel like we’ve been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years.
 
#32
#32
I was at the final UT @ KY game when Peyton beat his Dad's SEC record in passing (don't remember what it was). He just cemented the Heisman, we thought. Back at the motel all ESPN was bragging about was Woodson intercepting a pass & returning it for a TD. Which carried him to the Heisman. Not one mention on Peyton breaking his Dad's record that has stood since about 1971 or so. Have loved & respected espn ever since. Tim Couch did play a good game that day. PM was better!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 67Vol, SpookyAction, davethevol and 2 others
#33
#33
89 VOLS grad said:
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.
Click to expand...
This
T was average
That rb room deep
And o-line paved the way
And the elite D
 
  • Like
Reactions: EasternVol
#35
#35
tennrich1 said:
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.
Click to expand...
Am I in the wrong…
 
  • Like
Reactions: MemphisVol77
#36
#36
number1volfanfrom76 said:
I was at the final UT @ KY game when Peyton beat his Dad's SEC record in passing (don't remember what it was). He just cemented the Heisman, we thought. Back at the motel all ESPN was bragging about was Woodson intercepting a pass & returning it for a TD. Which carried him to the Heisman. Not one mention on Peyton breaking his Dad's record that has stood since about 1971 or so. Have loved & respected espn ever since. Tim Couch did play a good game that day. PM was better!
Click to expand...
That game was electric. Peyton put on a clinic that night.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Orange. and Zues1
#37
#37
89 VOLS grad said:
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.
Click to expand...

One thing is certain. We won a national championship with Tee Martin.

The rest is just speculation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Samthebam, VFL-82-JP, ENGRVOL and 1 other person
#38
#38
Pump Guy said:
I think everything worked out pretty well, we won a national championship in 1998 and now we have Josh Heupel.
Click to expand...

Great point. It also bears reinforcing that the Kentucky Mildcats are still the Kentucky Mildcats.

Side note/musing: do they get Kroger gas points with their season ticket package or concessions purchases?
 
  • Like
Reactions: LibertyVol and SpookyAction
#40
#40
TNbuc2 said:
Tennessee might not have won the championship in '98 if he was the QB, but Couch would have probably won the Heisman and after being coached by Cut would have had a much better NFL career.
Click to expand...
The way I look at it, Couch would have added a dimension to the 98-99 offenses that should have really worked.
Hard to believe a Vols fans thinks a Vols QB could ever win a Heisman. :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: EasternVol
#43
#43
Think it worked out well for both of us. Tennessee got a national championship and Kentucky got to play that air raid siren before the start of games. Win win
 
  • Like
Reactions: Orange.
#44
#44
I heard most of this story many years ago, I knew (know) Tim's Grandmother and aunts and uncles and cousins and his recruitment was epic! His Dad worked for the State of Kentucky and could not deal with the fact that his son was going to Tennessee and through his weight around to get him to Kentucky. Couch was a legendary partier and leaned to the crazy side! He left Kentucky several times during his career and the coach's spent lots of time going and getting him and bringing him back! His family is awesome and really good people and Tim married well! It is funny how things turn out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: davethevol
#45
#45
VFL-82-JP said:
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!
Click to expand...
Chemistry was a major factor in that team winning the NC. I talked with Darwin Walker at the Senior Bowl that year and you could tell how much he loved the players on that team. I asked him about Billy Ratliff and he actually choked up a little bit saying "I love Billy Ratliff". You have to give Fulmer a lot of credit for building that team chemistry.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 67Vol, SpookyAction, davethevol and 3 others
#46
#46
SpookyAction said:
Nick Saban would love Tee Martin. Tee ran the offense well and didn't lose the game, and won several with great QB play. Nothing to criticize.
Click to expand...
This is a good point. Saban won natty's with middle of the road, non NFL calibre QB's. McElroy is an example. My memory is foggy, but didn't John Parker Wilson also win a natty? So it goes to show, you don't really need a Peyton type qb, but if you just have a QB that can not turn the ball over, it goes a long way.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SpookyAction
#47
#47
OrangeTsar said:
My opinion of last last 25 years and us getting Heupel….
View attachment 568971
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!!!
Click to expand...

THIS, actually made me tear up with----JOY. Thank You!
 
  • Like
Reactions: OrangeTsar and LibertyVol
#49
#49
VFL-82-JP said:
Glad Kentucky got him.

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

Go Vols!
Click to expand...

Couch was a much better college QB than Martin. Stop saying Tee won us a NC. He didn’t. He was part of a loaded team that did. I mean why if instead of 57% completion. 2164 yards, 19 TDs and 6 INTs we would have had 72% completion, 4275 yards, 36 TDs and 15 INTs in 1998?
 
#50
#50
ptcarter said:
This is a good point. Saban won natty's with middle of the road, non NFL calibre QB's. McElroy is an example. My memory is foggy, but didn't John Parker Wilson also win a natty? So it goes to show, you don't really need a Peyton type qb, but if you just have a QB that can not turn the ball over, it goes a long way.
Click to expand...
No. Won his first one at Bama with McElroy.
 
New posts
You must log in or register to reply here.

VN Store



Back
Top