Why so few NFL prospects?

[almostavol]

From the Chattanooga Times Free Press (05/03/06)........

Vols’ star dimming with NFL
Darren Epps Commentary

As I waited for the selections of Tennessee players in the NFL draft — which is a little like staring at the sky in hopes Halley’s Comet will zip by — I realized what’s wrong with the Vols.
The issue isn’t talent or injuries or bad luck or tough scheduling or poor off-thefield discipline, though Marvin Mitchell’s arrest and disorderly conduct charge certainly signals the start of the dreaded offseason.
Almost every year, the Vols haul in one of the nation’s best recruiting classes. They ranked second in 2000, eighth in 2001 and second again in 2002. Bringing in talent, thanks to the maniacal recruiting efforts of head coach Phillip Fulmer, is not a problem.
Lately, when draft time comes around, those same players sit next to silent cell phones and watch virtual unknowns go ahead of them in the later rounds.
Developing players is a problem.
Yeah, the issue is coaching.
"And there’s your reason for Tennessee not having success," NFL draft analyst Mike Detillier said. "They aren’t developing players, particularly on offense, at Tennessee like you used to see. Those players aren’t getting much better. And it boils down to coaching."
Fast-forward four years from Tennessee’s highly regarded 2002 class to last weekend. That class produced the same number of draft picks on the offensive side of the ball as Southern Adventist University.
Zero.
To find a Tennessee offensive player picked higher than the sixth round, you have to go back to the 2003 draft.
Fulmer pleaded with high school offensive stars such as Casey Clausen, Jason Respert, Sean Young, Jabari Davis, C.J. Fayton, Derrick Tinsley and Gerald Riggs Jr. to give Tennessee a chance. After their four years in orange and white, those players, all undrafted, were pleading with the NFL to give them a chance.
I realize that suggesting coaches such as Pat Washington, Randy Sanders and Jimmy Ray Stephens did a poor job of developing players won’t make the breaking news section of this Web site, but the effects of their presence is staggering. From 1992-2001, when the Vols were pretty good, they boasted 11 first-round picks from those teams. From 2002-2006, when the Vols were not so good, only Jason Allen cracked the opening round.
There’s a reason Southern Cal and Ohio State are winning lots of football games. As last weekend showed, they are developing the best NFL talent. Meanwhile, the Vols are becoming irrelevant in the NFL draft. "I’ve been doing this for many years, and there’s a strong correlation between the teams at the top of the mountain in college football and the number of NFL players they produce," Detillier said. "It’s obvious that those teams recruit the best talent."
But so does Tennessee. And sometime between high school graduation ceremonies and the NFL draft, Tennessee’s highly rated prospects are falling behind their peers at other schools.
Injuries play a role. Recruiting rankings aren’t always accurate, though such a large sample set certainly reduces the margin of error. And every time John Chavis inserts a linebacker into the starting lineup, he’s almost guaranteeing him a spot in the NFL.
In most instances, however, the Vols aren’t developing their wealth of talent. And Fulmer knows it. Look at the offensive coaching staff this year. None of them coached the same position at Tennessee the year before. Fulmer also latched on to offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe, whose former offensive players at UT are still stars in the NFL, and dragged him back to Knoxville.
The Vols better hope he makes them more visible in the NFL draft than a Halley’s Comet sighting.
It won’t appear again until 2061. E-mail Darren Epps at depps@timesfreepress.com

 

[GAVol]

That all sounds good until you realize that solid NFL guys like Shawn Bryson, Travis Henry, Jamal Lewis, James Stewart, Charlie Garner somehow made it to the NFL with Randy Sanders as their position coach.

Not saying there might not be some truth in there, but if he's going to rip Randy Sanders for player development post 2001, he also has to give him credit for player development pre 2001.

 

[mattvols]

no one ever said Sanders couldnt coach RBs. It think more of the blame comes with the staff he put in place. Alot of coaches that werent good stayed in their jobs way too long.

 

[OWB]

It's GaVol's fault.

 

[GAVol]

It's GaVol's fault.

Do I need to go start a "Blame it on GAVol Offtopic post thread"?

 

[OWB]

Do I need to go start a "Blame it on GAVol Offtopic post thread"?

Might as well. :birgits_giggle:

 

[vols2345]

haha this is dumb... Isn't tennessee in second or third with most guys drafted and in the nfl??? what the hell do they expect? 5 or 6 first rounders every year?? Some people really need to get off their high horse..

 

[milohimself]

Tennessee is like 5th or 6th with # of players in the NFL. Miami and Florida State are way ahead of everybody else, I think LSU has more players than we do, and maybe Georgia, Michigan or somebody else. We're somewhere around 5th.

 

[hatvol96]

Tennessee is like 5th or 6th with # of players in the NFL. Miami and Florida State are way ahead of everybody else, I think LSU has more players than we do, and maybe Georgia, Michigan or somebody else. We're somewhere around 5th.

And falling.

 

[volfan2024]

Tennessee is like 5th or 6th with # of players in the NFL. Miami and Florida State are way ahead of everybody else, I think LSU has more players than we do, and maybe Georgia, Michigan or somebody else. We're somewhere around 5th.

I think we are ahead of Michigan still.

 

[hatvol96]

Simply counting guys on NFL rosters distorts the issue. I look at the number of impact players a school produces. We haven't produced a Pro Bowl caliber player in some time.

 

[volfan2024]

Simply counting guys on NFL rosters distorts the issue. I look at the number of impact players a school produces. We haven't produced a Pro Bowl caliber player in some time.

True.We do have some impact players no doubt, Wittten was pro bowl, right?

 

[hatvol96]

True.We do have some impact players no doubt, Wittten was pro bowl, right?

Yes. Manning, Jamal Lewis, Witten, Al Wilson, and Leonard Little are big time impact players. John Henderson is getting there. 2002 is the last time any of those guys put on a Tennessee jersey.

 

[volfan2024]

Look at it this way.I will put those impact UT guys playing up against any other college for most impact players in the game today.I'm not saying they are the best, but they are good.I know Michigan has Brady,Law,Woodson to name a few.

 

[gonygonygo]

Yes. Manning, Jamal Lewis, Witten, Al Wilson, and Leonard Little are big time impact players. John Henderson is getting there. 2002 is the last time any of those guys put on a Tennessee jersey.

Dont forget Gibril Wilson!!!! He plays for my G-men!! Even though, their secondary left much to be desired... At least he was starting, and having somewhat of an impact. He'll have a decent career. Then there's Kevin Burnett, but we'll have to wait a couple of years to see how he does. Then look at Dustin Colquitt. He's still a stud punter for the Cheifs. Watch a KC game and see how many return yards the other team gets... probably very few. Scott Wells is another. Eric Parker is also one of the most underrated AND overachieving receivers to play here. It just goes to show the talent that comes through here, and doesn't get properly used by UT's coaching staff. Of course there is Dante Stallworth and Kelly Washington as well. Neither is on the pro bowl level, but they are solid contributors and will have above average length careers. AND dont forget about Travis Henry and Troy Flemming. And there's Cedric Wilson too, who just won a super bowl. And Albert Haynesworth, who can be dominating inside when he's not injured or in trouble.

I think Julian Battle is still in the league as a reserve/special teamer, but he's barely making it. But barely is STILL making it. Also, dont forget about Jabari Greer and Rashad Baker, both who have solid roster spots in Buffalo (well, Greer's spot is more solid than Baker's IMO).

 

[vols2345]

Hatvol, I think that JA will erase the whole "no impact player since 2002' nonsense in 2 years.

 

[gonygonygo]

Another note...

Even though we haven't had as many HIGH round draft picks as usual the last couple of years, we are still having 5 or more guys get drafted each year, which is still better than the majority of Division 1 teams. Unfortunately, we'll see if this keeps up in the next two years or so (which is when most players from the 5-6 team will have moved on).

 

[hatvol96]

Hatvol, I think that JA will erase the whole "no impact player since 2002' nonsense in 2 years.

I hope he has a good career. However, it's not nonsense, it's fact.

 

[VolunteerHillbilly]

I hope he has a good career. However, it's not nonsense, it's fact.

Don't you know the 11th Commandment of Volboard? Anything that can be percieved as critical of the team and staff is dirty, rotten lie no matter how true it is.

 

[OrangePappy]

IMO Darren Epps is a terrible writer. His articles are typically a day later than other stories that appear on line. Makes me wonder, is he doing research on line or with the team he supposedly covers? :bad:

 

[GAVol]

Don't you know the 11th Commandment of Volboard? Anything that can be percieved as critical of the team and staff is dirty, rotten lie no matter how true it is.

This is complete BS and you know it.

 

[jakez4ut]

i posted in another thread not too long ago the 2006 draft picks by conf. and schools....and it was just a total draft pick count....not by round etc....TN had 5, only 1 on day one though....that put them at 15th in the Nation for total draft picks....we were 3rd or 4th in the SEC behind UGA, LSU and tied with Bama at 5.

combine that with the lack of 1st day talent over the past 3 years, and the only conclusion you can draw is that either we're not getting the type of talent we used to or we're not developing the talent like we used to.

I'd like to think it's the latter. We still get highly ranked players coming in to this program out of HS. but the one thing that has always been in the back of my mind, is what do we do when we get them? it's been proven out over the years that it's not too often that these guys get that much better while at UT, at least based on recent history anyway.

John Pennington on govolsxtra poste in his blog the other day some stats by year that kind of back this up....

Basically all it says is that based on a number of categories, Record vs. Top 10 opponents, Record vs. top 25 opponents, appearances in BCS level bowls, Home losses of 17 pts or more, losses of 13 pts or more,1st round draft choices, SEC titles and top 10 fnishes, when you compare those categories in 3 era's of TN football, 1985-1992, 1992-2001, 2002-present....there is a definite correlation in when the downward trend started, 2002 is the year it started to go down hill....

 

[milohimself]

College football is a sport in which history rarely repeats itself. There is no fate this program is resigned to. Fulmer still has plenty of decent talent with which to put together a good season and a nice bowl win, if he can get it done.

 

[jakez4ut]

i agree....i don't think the book is already written at all....just pointing out where the last few chapters started....