Willis wanted to be a Vol and Got snubbed.

#51
#51
GLDunlap said:
Patrick Willis was a 3 star player with offers from Memphis, Arkansas State and Mississippi. It's not like he was a highly rated player that Tennessee decided not to take. Every school in the SEC except Mississippi passed on him to. He did great for himself but for anyone to go back and play the blame game is senseless.
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He was a 2 star until after signing day.
 
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#53
#53
Hopefully all the "star gazers" out there will see this, and realize "recruiting services" are by no means experts! They are paid "scouts and regional observers" that have way too many fans buying what they're selling! I hate that our old staff missed on him, but the reality is...........it happens.
 
#54
#54
1truevol said:
Hopefully all the "star gazers" out there will see this, and realize "recruiting services" are by no means experts! They are paid "scouts and regional observers" that have way too many fans buying what they're selling! I hate that our old staff missed on him, but the reality is...........it happens.
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Bama just completed a dynasty because of highly ranked recruiting classes. Stars do tend to matter.
 
#55
#55
W.TN.Orange Blood said:
Fulmer passed on this guy. Fulmer wanted a kid named Daniel Brooks from JCM in Jackson cause he , at the time, was a 5*LB & was rated the #1 LB in the nation. Plus Brooks was the #1 player instate. We all know how that played out don't we? If Willis wanted to be a Vol so bad he could have been a walk-on & proved his worth & made a liar out of Fulmer.
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Wasn't that Chris Donald from Humbolt?
 
#56
#56
checkerboards09 said:
Bama just completed a dynasty because of highly ranked recruiting classes. Stars do tend to matter.
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I'm not saying "stars" don't matter. I'm saying that a recruiting service can not measure a kids intangibles....character,work ethic, competitive drive, and heart. It's a lot easier to assess raw talent and athleticism....but it takes more than that to be a special player.
 
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#59
#59
tennrich1 said:
Wasn't that Chris Donald from Humbolt?
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nope...Daniel Brooks from JCM. Your thinking of a different time. Chris Donald was another bust for TN Vols just like Daniel Brooks was. But in this case it was Brooks that Fulmer was after not Willis. Chris Donald couldn't get on the field to play because he had trouble learning the defensive playbook. He ended up transferring to Jackson State in Miss. & was never heard from again.
 
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#60
#60
Fulmer did the same thing with the Olineman that went to Auburn and was all-SEC and NFL. McNeil? I have first hand info from Coach McCorvey, who was recruiting him, that he was begging to come to UT. Fulmer wanted some 5 star who dropped football before he even made it through his freshman year. Now, how big of an idiot do you have to be to figure out one kids eats and breathes football, and the other one is que sara sara?

I thought Brooks and Donald were in the same class. Either way, Fulmer was lazy and if had to do with his personal evaluations forget it.
 
#62
#62
GLDunlap said:
Patrick Willis wasn't a "local" guy from East Tennessee he was from Bruceton which is between Memphis and Nashville. Something about this article smells bad anyway. I remember reading a story on Willis a few years ago that his father was an alcoholic and he was forced to live with his high school coach. That being the case I find it hard to believe him and his dad jumped in the car after every game to drive to Knoxville. Sounds like the writer is embellishing to get more clicks or Patrick is being a little less then truthful about all those trips to Knoxville if you ask me. It does make for a good story though which is all that really matters to these bloggers.
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I think the article explains that it was his foster father, not his biological dad.
 
#64
#64
wtorange said:
This is totally untrue. Steve was recruited but had no interest in them because we were running the single wing. I have heard Steve tell the story several times about how he knew he wasn't going anywhere where he was going to be featured running the football. Former Vol Ray Graves was at Florida and got him as a result. I think Steve's Dad was a Methodist minister in Johnson City but they had lived in Florida for several years prior to coming to Tennessee.
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He lived in Athens, TN prior to J City and his dad was a Presbyterian minister.
 
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