Not sure if this is a debate you have over here. But i know on TOS, people are always complaining about how TN is so backwards, because the coaches and prospects dont like the in-state school. People say it is a just something that exists, and fell that the prospects are snobs for feeling disrespected. People also say that the reason HS coaches here dont like Tennessee is because we didnt take their fringe prospects. Here was my response, and i thought i would share it.
It really starts with the HS coaches. Here is what happened during the Fulmer era that made it bad.He never went to a HS. People say that coaches had an issue with Fulmer not recruiting their mid-level prospects. But that is not accurate. The issue is not that Fulmer did not take the kids, it is that he never looked at them. Every state school has to turn down prospects, and you dont see HS coaches becoming this upset. What Fulmer would do was literally only go to a school if they had a prospect that everybody was all over. If a school did not have a no-brainer that year, you would not see Fulmer or generally any UT staff member. Then he would show up years later when the school had a big-time player and act like he was going to come in and pick him away. The reaction was, where were you for the last ten years. Literally schools would go 10 years without seeing a Ut assistant, and then they would waltz in and try to land a national recruit. This rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, and i really dont blame them. It made Fulmer look like a user. The idea that if a school does not have a player that is very well known we are not even going to show up, is elitist. Then when they finally have a player you just show up and we may be Tennessee fans, but it is elitist.
Why the hell do you think we found out about Montori Hughes through an opposing coach? If they would have evaluated all the siegel kids, and watched him play, they would have seen what is obvious. What other school finds out about Haynesworth-esque in-state talent through SR all-star games? and it is not like Siegel is a football no-mans land either, you can get kids from there.
Look at what this staff does. They go to High Schools. Even if they dont have a kid that year who is good enough to play here. They go to the High Schools. They shake the hands of the coaches, and who knows, maybe they discover a kid who just got called up from JV who can play. All this Tennessee hate, it did not just appear out of nowhere. It trickles down from the coaches to the players, and they are right. Nobody was asking Fulmer to sign their player. All any of them were asking him to do is come watch, evaluate him and then tell em that he cant play. That is all they really wanted. It is recruiting 101 and he could not do it. Ask Tennstud, he had coaches tell him how weird it was seeing Tennessee apparel watching practice, heck some had never seen it. Dont act like the Tennessee hate is inherent . It is not, there is a reason for it, and it is a pretty good one. This staff knows how to recruit, you wont find a smart person who is one the inside of college football who will tell you they dont. So just look at how differently they are treating this matter. That alone should let you know who was wrong.
All they had to do was watch a practice, and most times they would not. As a prospect i would feel disrespected if i felt they were short changing my HS and my teammates. No coach felt that their kid automatically deserved a schollie because he was from TN, but he does deserve a look. As an in-state school you have the responsibility to go and evaluate in-state kids, we didnt do it. In short, you wanna know why kids and coaches feel disrespected? Because they were...and for many years.
It really starts with the HS coaches. Here is what happened during the Fulmer era that made it bad.He never went to a HS. People say that coaches had an issue with Fulmer not recruiting their mid-level prospects. But that is not accurate. The issue is not that Fulmer did not take the kids, it is that he never looked at them. Every state school has to turn down prospects, and you dont see HS coaches becoming this upset. What Fulmer would do was literally only go to a school if they had a prospect that everybody was all over. If a school did not have a no-brainer that year, you would not see Fulmer or generally any UT staff member. Then he would show up years later when the school had a big-time player and act like he was going to come in and pick him away. The reaction was, where were you for the last ten years. Literally schools would go 10 years without seeing a Ut assistant, and then they would waltz in and try to land a national recruit. This rubbed a lot of people the wrong way, and i really dont blame them. It made Fulmer look like a user. The idea that if a school does not have a player that is very well known we are not even going to show up, is elitist. Then when they finally have a player you just show up and we may be Tennessee fans, but it is elitist.
Why the hell do you think we found out about Montori Hughes through an opposing coach? If they would have evaluated all the siegel kids, and watched him play, they would have seen what is obvious. What other school finds out about Haynesworth-esque in-state talent through SR all-star games? and it is not like Siegel is a football no-mans land either, you can get kids from there.
Look at what this staff does. They go to High Schools. Even if they dont have a kid that year who is good enough to play here. They go to the High Schools. They shake the hands of the coaches, and who knows, maybe they discover a kid who just got called up from JV who can play. All this Tennessee hate, it did not just appear out of nowhere. It trickles down from the coaches to the players, and they are right. Nobody was asking Fulmer to sign their player. All any of them were asking him to do is come watch, evaluate him and then tell em that he cant play. That is all they really wanted. It is recruiting 101 and he could not do it. Ask Tennstud, he had coaches tell him how weird it was seeing Tennessee apparel watching practice, heck some had never seen it. Dont act like the Tennessee hate is inherent . It is not, there is a reason for it, and it is a pretty good one. This staff knows how to recruit, you wont find a smart person who is one the inside of college football who will tell you they dont. So just look at how differently they are treating this matter. That alone should let you know who was wrong.
All they had to do was watch a practice, and most times they would not. As a prospect i would feel disrespected if i felt they were short changing my HS and my teammates. No coach felt that their kid automatically deserved a schollie because he was from TN, but he does deserve a look. As an in-state school you have the responsibility to go and evaluate in-state kids, we didnt do it. In short, you wanna know why kids and coaches feel disrespected? Because they were...and for many years.
