Strange: Slow-town boy McNeil at home with UT

Josh McNeil, the top high-school center prospect in the country, was on the line.

But he wasn't calling from home in Mississippi.

Far from it. He was in Los Angeles, on his official visit to Southern Cal. The No. 1-ranked Trojans were playing Notre Dame. Big weekend.

"He actually called us while he was out there,'' Fulmer recalled Tuesday. "He said, 'This is terrible. This is not me.'

"I felt like we had a good chance then, him calling us.''

It's a long way from Collins, Miss., to downtown Los Angeles -- literally and figuratively.

In either sense, it was way too far for McNeil, who had a laugh Tuesday, reliving that USC visit:

"I'm from a town that doesn't even have a stoplight. I go out there and the hotel is across the street from the Staples Center.

"It just didn't fit my personality. I threw in a dip out there and half the players acted like I was crazy.''

The Staples Center is Showtime. Collins, Miss., is slow time.

"There's absolutely nothing to do,'' McNeil said. "Hang out at the gas station.''

This week, McNeil is hanging out with Tennessee's No. 1 offensive line. The redshirt freshman gets his first start Saturday at Memphis.

As much as Southern California wasn't a good fit for a country boy from southern Mississippi, UT was near perfect.

McNeil had to first say no to LSU and to Mississippi State. The latter was tough. He could have inherited the starting job vacated by his brother Chris, four years older.

Saying yes to Fulmer, an old offensive line coach, made sense to a player with McNeil's hefty credentials.

But credentials are merely excess baggage once you arrive on campus. The journey from prep All-American to starting on an SEC offensive line is generally about as far as, well, from Mississippi to Malibu.

"My brother told me the SEC is a different world,'' McNeil said. "He said, 'You're gonna go out there and get your butt kicked for a while so go ahead and get ready for it.' I didn't really believe him.''

Once McNeil got on the practice field he had an epiphany.

"I'm out there the first day with Justin Harrell and them, getting blew up,'' said McNeil, "so I called him (Chris) and said, 'You're right.'

"I've got to figure out what I'm doing here.''

McNeil's first season was pretty much a waste as far as figuring anything out. He had arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder one year ago this week. No games. No practice.

"Watching last season,'' he said, "I felt terrible.''

So the ballyhooed prospect wasn't far past Square One when preseason camp commenced in August. Consequently, his good buddy, junior walk-on Michael Frogg, won the battle to start at center on opening day.

McNeil has played 20-25 snaps in every game but Florida. Now it's time to play the first snap.

As head coach at Ole Miss, David Cutcliffe never got to first base recruiting McNeil.

As UT's offensive coordinator, Cutcliffe relishes his second chance.

"He's quick and athletic and he's also physically aggressive,'' said Cutcliffe. "That always helps at center.

"He's a work in progress. We'll just have to see.''

See if McNeil's ready yet, he means.

"When you look at it,'' said offensive line coach Greg Adkins, "he's not even half a year into playing football here at Tennessee.

"But he certainly has the tools to be a very good one.''

Fulmer thinks McNeil has the tools to be a great one:

"Physically tough and mentally tough, he is both of those.''

And a little stubborn.

"You're not going to muscle everybody around that you might have muscled in high school or (against) the scout team in practice,'' Fulmer said.

"That's just a maturing process, understanding that fundamentals are just as important.''

McNeil is understanding more with each passing week. But that Tennessee was a better fit for a Mississippi country boy he understood from the start.

If he throws in a dip here, half his teammates won't think he's crazy. They'll ask to borrow one for themselves.