Guitar Shots to the Head: 2/5/08

As the world watched the Giants deliver an old school beat down that Lawrence Taylor would be proud of, I was delighted and a little sad all at the same time. I have been a Dolphins fan my entire life, but a little part of me wishes the champagne popping would stop. Not because I don’t relish what the Dolphins did in 1972, but because there is something desperate and pitiful about the irrelevant Mercury Morris and Don Shula spouting off at the mouth every time someone comes close to their beloved record. You would think that going undefeated as a team and being the winningest head coach in NFL history would be enough for one’s self esteem. If Don Shula had so much respect for the franchise and his records he would have retired three years before he did. Now the Dolphins as a franchise and team are so far behind the Pats, that they will be looking up for at least the next three years, even with Parcells at the helm.

For the record, I am no Patriots fan, and I never have been. That doesn’t mean that I don’t admire what they have accomplished since 2002. As a Dolphins man, it is really less about their accomplishments, and more about an admiration for how they have gotten it done. They have taken a group of relative unknowns (Bruschi, Vrabel, Brady, and Harrison) and created a dynasty. With the leadership offered by those four players, the Patriots have created a system where other parts of the team are interchangeable. It is well documented that the Patriots are much more interested in finding team players with a high football IQ than they are with finding the incredible athlete who doesn’t know how to line up when a play is called.

Why am I spending time talking about the losing Pats one day before signing day in the SEC? The answer is quite simple. In the next day or two we are going to see, hear and smell all the UT fans who say, “I would rather sign 22 players from Tennessee that bleed orange than I would some speedy athlete who might be from the west coast….or God forbid…was born on the wrong side of the Mason Dixon line.”

The fact of the matter is that it is nearly impossible to recruit intangibles for a college football team. I don’t mean to sound like a softy, but I would love a class full of five star athletes from Knoxville that go to church on Sunday, volunteer at Goodwill Monday through Friday, say their prayers and eat their vitamins, and that don’t cuss drink or chew or go with the girls that do. As the cold wood collapses against your skull and the strings rattle in your ears please understand the harsh reality. That athlete doesn’t exist. As you watch the Vol board on signing day keep that in mind.

Think about all the changes that took place in your life between the ages of 18 and 24. Most of us enter college as one person, and through education, beer, and other social factors we emerge as someone completely different. Most of the time the transformation is a good thing. We go from thinking like a child, to making our own decisions and thinking like adults. That doesn’t mean that we don’t make mistakes in the process. I don’t have enough hands and toes to count the mistakes that I made in college, and I am sure most of you have a similar tale. Never the less, the metamorphosis takes place whether we like it or not.

In my adult life I have actually learned that sometimes the guy that goes to church every Sunday and volunteers at the Goodwill is the one that I trust the least. That is another story altogether.

The New England Patriots can make calculated decisions on intangible qualities during draft days because they are hiring adults to play professional football. Phil Fulmer and company simply doesn’t have that luxury. They are choosing from athletes across the country that are entering college and undergo life changes under their watch. That is exactly why recruiting stars matter to most people on this board.

Have you seen the high school football in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Texas and California? It makes Tennessee high school football look like a bad Pop Warner game. A college football team full of “Tennessee Guys that Bleed Orange” would drop to the bottom of the SEC quicker than a Renee Zwellweger divorced Kenny Chesney.

Intangibles do not beat Florida, Georgia, and Alabama; speed, athleticism and skill do. In his prime, Fulmer recruited the necessary talent to compete (on most days) with the best in college football. In recent years, he has continued to recruit relatively well. According to scout here are the Vol’s national recruiting rankings since 2002: 5,7,9,1,24,4. This year UT has little hope of making the top 20.

Make no mistake about it. Everyone at this level has to recruit to win. I am not going to cry about this class, but I will leave you with this. UT absolutely has to make a splash on the football field in 2008. As a program it is now forced to shove its way back into the national consciousness. Until they earn the national respect and attention they will struggle on the recruiting trail. It is as simple as that.

A two star player with the intangibles is just too much of a gamble for this program right now. Until next time…Go Vols.