Remember class of 2014 5-star running back Nick Chubb? Butch Jones tried to woo him away from Georgia last year, but to no avail. Chubb recently interviewed with the Atlanta Journal Constitution and Michael Carvell asked: Which college coach was the hardest to turn down?
Chubb answered: “Probably Coach (Butch) Jones from Tennessee. He just really believed in me. We had a good relationship. He was always calling me and talking, not even about football. He would ask me about my day. He was really into me, you know. Being that close to him, it was pretty hard telling him I wasn’t going to Tennessee. He was like ‘I’m sorry you’re not coming, but I’ll still be keeping up with you.”
Keep in mind the other schools who offered him: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, FSU, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Texas, among others. Those are some of the top programs in the country.
Finishing anything other than first in recruiting means nothing. But as a coach, maybe it’s a slight consolation knowing you made a lasting impression on a kid like Chubb.