'24 TN OL Ronan O’Connell (Clemson commit)

#482
#482
Didn’t realize he’s from NJ, makes more sense now.

It has been a tight battle, for starters, and I think he always coveted the Clemson offer — and valued it once he got it — a little more than people realized at first.

And I mentioned this in another thread, but he’s not a born-and-raised Tennessee kid. He’s originally from New Jersey, and while he has liked Tennessee all along — and has visited the Vols more than any other team — I think he was always a little more open to going elsewhere if he found a place he really liked.
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- Callahan
 
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#483
#483
I don't like the fact this kid got a legit offer from UT but is choosing Clemson, but are many upset because it's Clemson, he's an instate prospect, we need OL, he's good, we're not in on enough top prospects, or other? I'm just trying to understand the angst. Maybe it's more than one reason.
 
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#484
#484
BreatheUT said:
I don't like the fact this kid got a legit offer from UT but is choosing Clemson but are many upset because it's Clemson, he's an instate prospect, we need OL, he's good, we're not in on enough top prospects, or other? I'm just trying to understand the angst. Maybe it's more than one reason.
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It’s mostly because he’s instate and our coaches wanted him. But he’s certainly replaceable.
 
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#485
#485
BreatheUT said:
I don't like the fact this kid got a legit offer from UT but is choosing Clemson but are many upset because it's Clemson, he's an instate prospect, we need OL, he's good, we're not in on enough top prospects, or other? I'm just trying to understand the angst. Maybe it's more than one reason.
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I’m not sure either. However, I can tell you that reading that monstrosity of a run-on sentence increased my level of angst.
 
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#486
#486
volfan2022 said:
I’ve had a few
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I’d settle for ONE…that you posted beforehand. What player did you specify could or couldn’t play and it came true? Tall order, I know. It would have to be someone from this freshman class…yet to play a game. 😏
 
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#487
#487
Volfan39 said:
I don’t think it’s incorrect to say that OL recruiting is a little concerning? Why do people keep acting like it’s not even the slightest bit concerning?
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Be specific and tell us WHY it is a concern. Don't focus on the players they've pursued and haven't gotten. Focus on the ones they HAVE gotten and tell us in objective, factual terms how you arrive at the conclusion that they cannot turn those guys into a very good OL group.

Same question for you @matt_mccoy19

There are no guarantees in recruiting. Absolutely none. Some 5* recruits NEVER play to that level. Some take several years. A LOT of 4* OLs never play to that level.

But faced with a choice of your "concern" and the staff's choices... I'll take the latter until proven wrong. There are many reasons but Darnell Wright is one. He was rated a 5* but didn't play anywhere near that level until the current staff showed up. They seem to know talent and know what to do with it.
 
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#489
#489
Yeah I think for the most part the people that are torn up are people that are constantly looking for something, anything, to be torn up about. He looks like a good player. Our coaches pursued him and gave him a legit offer. He could end up being a good player in college. But it's difficult to project OL and it is very likely that "coming into college" he would have been the least regarded OL commitment in the UT class if he came here. If you get torn up about that then you need some better perspective.
 
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#491
#491
volfan2022 said:
Larry Johnson will not be a good player here. At 380 or 330.

Sorry to be a bummer to everyone
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Based on precisely WHAT? Your basic claim here is that Heupel did not know what he was doing when he signed him... but you DO know more than Heupel.

I'm not claiming to know how he will turn out... because I'm not foolish enough to make ironclad predictions about things I do not control or at least have thorough knowledge about. In recruiting, you get as many good players as you can knowing that some of them won't work out. That's what you and a few others ignore as you declare the sky is falling.
 
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#492
#492
LoudOrange said:
But Ronan isn't considered elite by anyone and that's what got the discussion going.
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I agree with that. Ronan commiting to Tennessee wouldn't improve or change the observation. I'm not down in the dumps or anything but it does need to improve
 
#493
#493
RikidyBones said:
I uh... Agree with @volfan2022

We have solid guys but we haven't landed elite guys. Need to start doing that. Don't @ me.
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How do YOU know that the guys they've landed won't develop into "elite" guys? Be specific and talk to us about the things the staff looks for in an OL recruit... not subjective recruit rankings.
 
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#494
#494
PS- the beauty of the portal is twofold in relation to this dire "concern". One, staffs tell guys that they're in the wrong place and encourage them to go elsewhere. It isn't publicized to save face for the player but this staff and every other staff has done it since the portal rule changed. Two, you can bring guys in who are already proven to some degree or another.
 
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#496
#496
sjt18 said:
Based on precisely WHAT? Your basic claim here is that Heupel did not know what he was doing when he signed him... but you DO know more than Heupel.

I'm not claiming to know how he will turn out... because I'm not foolish enough to make ironclad predictions about things I do not control or at least have thorough knowledge about. In recruiting, you get as many good players as you can knowing that some of them won't work out. That's what you and a few others ignore as you declare the sky is falling.
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No need to argue. This will play out. Taking him wasn’t consensus internally
 
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#497
#497
sjt18 said:
How do YOU know that the guys they've landed won't develop into "elite" guys? Be specific and talk to us about the things the staff looks for in an OL recruit... not subjective recruit rankings.
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Everything will be okay. No need to get worked up. We’re in great shape.. we just need to do a better job on the offensive line recruiting. This isn’t controversial internally or externally.
 
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#498
#498
I’ve got it under pretty good authority we weren’t pushing that hard and didn’t want anymore true Gs in the class. But hard to know as all the reporters act like we wanted him.
 
#499
#499
“I pretend to be a calming voice of reason. When I’m on break from pretending to know about football.”

- Ghost of LittleVol imposter prolly
 
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