Posted by KingsportVol on January 5, 2008 at 5:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)

We have a better chance getting Richard Pryor than this guy.Richard would be a better fit for our offense.Go Big Orange!!!

Posted by Homermoosevols on January 5, 2008 at 5:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Man, I watched him play today. Wow, exciting player. The best athlete I have seen in a long time. On the off chance he comes here, I will be the first to buy his jersey and welcome him to the VOL family. PRYOR? COME HERE, we put players in the NFL, too.

Posted by andy112382 on January 5, 2008 at 5:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Should be interesting how the recruiting takes off once our offensice staff is in place. I remember last year, Butch Davis was able to snatch players on the final days before signing day despite his late start, so should be a very interesting few weeks coming up with the headlines on here.

GO VOLS!!!

Posted by PLEASEGETRIDOFTHENOTSOSLIMONE on January 5, 2008 at 5:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Tennessee has about as much of a chance of landing Pryor as Fulmer does seeing sub 300 lbs.

Posted by Kwitcherbellyachin on January 5, 2008 at 5:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Aaaaaand, we have the predictable, obligatory Fulmer girth joke.

Posted by Hunter on January 5, 2008 at 5:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Just because you're overweight doesn't mean you can't be effective in football. Heck, John Goodman caught a 25 yard TD today (see paragraph #2 above)........

Posted by snowvol on January 5, 2008 at 5:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)

From Andy: "Should be interesting how the recruiting takes off once our offensice staff is in place." Oh boy.

In case no one has told you, we're being turned down left and right by all the so-called interested OC candidates. Hate to break it to you, but others outside of Tennessee -- in other words, those who bleed orange but see things with a bit more clarity -- see a program that is a shell of what it once was just 10 years ago. If the job and working for Fulmer was as attractive as you think it is, we'd have a new OC in place by now. Guaranteed. If Mike Hamilton came up to you and told you, face-to-face, the reality of what's going on inside the UTAD and BOT, you still wouldn't believe it, Andy. We finished nicely this year with the win over UW. But the reality is that we are currently ranked #44 by Rivals for recruiting, we've lost and may continue to lose coaches, are being turned down by second tier coaches...things won't be taking off this year my friend. Mark it down. If you needed even one more example of that, consider this: The University of Minnesota -- the Golden Gophers for Heaven's sake -- have a much higher-ranked recruiting class than ours. They sit at #21. Did you see their record this year? 1-11. A 1-11 team has a vastly superior recruiting class, under renowned head coach Tim Brewster, than do the Vols under Fulmer. Draw your own conclusions. Of course, you'll just view this post as doom and gloom from a negative Vols fan. In truth, as I've told you before, it's a post from a Vols fan who's been going to games for more than 40 years. I've seen this pattern before and hoped it wouldn't happen again. Sadly, this program is spiraling and so many Vols fans simply don't want to see it for what it is.

Posted by KingsportVol on January 5, 2008 at 6 p.m. (Suggest removal)

snowvol alot of us dont have the orange blinders on.We have been feeling the same way you do for years.In your opinion what is the problem?What is the solution?Good post by the way.Go Big Orange!!!

Posted by chrisw2967 on January 5, 2008 at 6 p.m. (Suggest removal)

One would think that Fulmer would be beating this kids door down to get him here.
Fulmer will keep playing the interview game until its too late. I am really wondering if he is having problems finding a OC ?
But I wouldnt come and work for him if he is going to put a leash around my neck. If your going to hire someone to do a job then let them do the job he is hired to do.

Posted by GreerVol22 on January 5, 2008 at 6:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Had we beaten LSU we might have still ad a shot even wo Cutt. This kid is Michigan bound and playing for the hot name that will be installing an offense suited just for him. I agree, the OC thing needs to happen very quickly.

Posted by andy112382 on January 5, 2008 at 6:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)

snowvol, you are leaving so much out of the story there and spinning it how you want it to sound, that is the only reason 'use with orange shaded glasses' might say that is typical of a doom'n'gloom naysayer to post.

You say we are being turned down left and right from so-called OC candidates. Do you have a super secret inside word or bugged the phones of Fulmer and Hamilton? All I have had to go on are two or three articles on here about Kippy Brown and Rob Spence and mention of the interview of Cignetti.....please, by all means share with us your source if you know more, but there really weren't all that many details provided in those articles. Spence has elected to stay at Clemson before, no real huge suprise there, heck, the naysayers groaned when they heard his name to begin with, same with Kippy Brown, most of the naysayers made fun of his name rather than take him seriously, complained about staying in the family, maybe Fulmer said 'well thanks but no thanks' after talking to him, we just do not know that, none of us do.

Now, the recruiting class.....first, it is not as if we do not have talent already in place, we haven't even seen all of that top-3 recruiting class from last year, and those who played have plenty of room to get even better and more consistent. The biggest area for improvement is the DLine, outside of that, I feel pretty darn good about what we have. Recruiting has consistently been a strong point under Fulmer, with the exception of the abysmal season a couple of years ago, we turn out more than OK by signing day. As far as the rankings, first of all it is very early still to be basing your support for the program and the direction it is headed in to be worrying about that.....and second, while the rankings do act as a good guideline to where recruiting is going, it is far from a perfect system to say how good a team is going to be for any given amount of time, there are plenty of teams in the top 20 right now that were not ranked highly at all in these recruiting rankings.

Tell me, where was Kansas ranked in recruiting the past 3-4 years? Just an example.

You have some interesting points in your post and I can see where you are coming from, but I just feel as if you are reading into it the wrong way, only time will tell, though, which one of us turns out to be on the money with our observations.

GO VOLS!!! I still see a very bright (near) future!

Posted by TurboFan on January 5, 2008 at 6:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)

“I’m looking for a spread offense, and I don’t know who’s telling the truth or not."

Interesting statement. Who would be lying? Not Mich or Fla or Oregon. Penn St hasn't been kind to QBs for decades. JoePa lying?

Not sure why Pryor ever considered UT, even when Cut was here if he was looking for a spread offense.

Won't cry if we don't get him, more pressing positions to fill (OL and DL), will cry if he goes to Fla.

Snow, can you list who has "turned down" the OC position. No one has been offered and several have made the trips to see Phil for an interview. Only Spence withdrew his nomination.

Posted by creepykev on January 5, 2008 at 6:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I watched some of that game and it was depressing to watch all of these good players and none of them were coming to TN. It's hard for me to be very optimistic about the future when we aren't getting some of the best players in the nation.

Posted by stroker on January 5, 2008 at 6:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)

andy112382 you said it well bud.In addition in response to PLEASEGETRIDOFTHENOTSOSLIMONE it appeared the Kansas coach outweighed Beamer by 1/2 ton. Could weight possibly be an advantage to the coach, or is it just ability that counts?

Posted by andy112382 on January 5, 2008 at 6:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)

One last note........first of all sorry for the long post, I usually yawn at long posts, but I just wanted to respond to everything that was brought at me by snowvol.

But just keep this is mind.....45, 33, 57, 83.

Not tonights lottery numbers but the rankings from the 2005 recruiting standings for four BCS bowl teams. Illinois (45), WVU (33), Kansas (57), and Hawaii (83). Some other notable teams that had great years were Boston College (73) who played in the ACC title game, Boise St (73) who beat OU in the fiesta bowl last year, Air Foce (99) who played in a bowl against Cal despite their near the bottom ranking, and Kentucky (62) who beat FSU in their bowl game and was a top scoring team despite playing in the SEC.

Don't get me wrong, the rankings do give some indication like Ohio State, USC, name-an-sec-school, etc but it is very far from a science and is nothing to base your hope and outlook on outside of a tiny bit, heck Miami is always top 10-15, 3rd a couple of years ago and look at them! Two years in a row with no bowl game. South Carolina has been in the top 20 as of late and is still so-so.

Point being, you can base your points and arguments about a program on many things, but recruiting rankings is pretty darn weak.

Posted by andy112382 on January 5, 2008 at 6:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)

stroker, thanks.....lol......nice response to pleasegetridofthefreakinglongscreenname, oops, I mean pleasgetridofthenotsoslimone.

Hey, pleasgetridofthenotsoslimone, did it ever occur to you that Fulmer is an ex-offensive lineman? Of course not, you have to know something about football and apply facts to your arguments to be able to make that connection.

Posted by TurboFan on January 5, 2008 at 7:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Speaking of not-so-slim people, who is that guy that shadows Phil on the sidelines at every game? He has no chin and carries alot of baggage below the ribcage. Looks like he carries Phil's headset cord. Anybody know?

Posted by BleedsOrangeinMO on January 5, 2008 at 7:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I know that we a talking football here but. . . Look at UT's Men's BB team. Pearl is proud of the fact that when he got here there were know McDonald All Americans or for that matter even many players who had been "heavily recruited". Even Lofton was NOT "heavily recruited". My point is GET those recruits that want to be here and coach'em up it has worked many times. Look at Missouri and Kansas. Do any of those players names ring any bells from 2, 3, or 4 years ago. No!! Because they were not heavily recruited. Is it nice to get a couple of 3, 4 or 5 star players abvsolutely but that does not mean that they can play at the college division 1 level.

Posted by pdhuff on January 5, 2008 at 7:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)

wd40 - he's gone to Duke.

Posted by sidwalkvol on January 5, 2008 at 8:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)

if we are such a shell, snowvol, why DID we have the #3 class last year? I understand that we have several slots avaiable, PF is a late and always strong finisher in recruiting, and if the SF or a similar caliber guy comes (hardly second-tier) then we could be in very good shape. But like the polls, the recruiting analyses are always very subjective, and even 5 stars can be misleading. Heart, drive, focus, resilience...those are huge factors and characteristics our team showed in abundance. Again, if we were such a shell we would have collapsed, and instead we rebounded and played well down the stretch. Yeah, you can qualify it and say the teams were weaker, the games were closer, etc, but wins are wins and a good, good effort against WU in the OB showed something to new fans, old fans, and recruits alike. Will it pay immediate dividends? Hard to say, but I hardly think the season can in anyway be construed as proof of a "downward spiral."

Posted by TrueVolFan on January 5, 2008 at 8:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

His name is Gerald Harris and he will no longer be carrying Phils headset since he is leaving for Duke with Cutt.

Posted by BigOrangeinClev on January 5, 2008 at 8:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I have read the posts on GoVolsExtra for some time now and I can't stand it anymore, I had to say something. There are people that post on this website that have absolutely no clue what is going on inside the Athletic Department at the University of Tennessee yet they make statements like....
"In case no one has told you, we're being turned down left and right by all the so-called interested OC candidates." and

"If the job and working for Fulmer was as attractive as you think it is, we'd have a new OC in place by now. Guaranteed."

snowvol if you know so much about inner workings of the UT Athletic Dept. why don't you tell us the names of the people Coach Fulmer has offered the job to and been turned down, you can't because he hasn't made an offer to anyone. Get a life snowvol.

Posted by andy112382 on January 5, 2008 at 8:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Amen, BleedsOrangeinMO.

Posted by marc_ash on January 5, 2008 at 8:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Why even bother writing an article about this guy? Seriously. Does the KSN staff really enjoy letting us know about the best recruit at QB in the nation that isn't coming to Knoxville? I grow tired of reading stories about Alabama or recruits that aren't coming to UT or how well Duke or OK State are recruiting. Who cares.

Posted by burntorangeVOLffle on January 5, 2008 at 8:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)

The headless chickens on this site are fun to watch run around........ sometimes.

Posted by txvolsfan on January 5, 2008 at 8:56 p.m. (Suggest removal)

according to ESPN Luginbil this kid was UT bound untill Coach Cut left!!!
GO VOLS
TXVOLSFAN

Posted by Plasticman on January 5, 2008 at 9:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Our recruiting class will be just fine in the end. THe reason we are so low now is because of numbers, we only have 12 committments while some teams have 20 or more. I hear we have some "silent" committments that just haven't gone public yet. I bet we end up in the Top 20 when it's over. No reason to get too caught up in the ratings game when it comes to recruiting. What really matters is how these guys perform 2-3 years from now.

Posted by waterskier3 on January 5, 2008 at 9:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)

bottom line look at the top teams year after year and those are the teams that are recruiting the 5 and 4 stars.... so say what you want but if you get the best talent year after year your odds of winning a championship is much higher than gettting average talent and wishing we win one...

10 win season is like a 8 win season in the 90's... very average and johnny got ran out of town for it... but we keep this average coach that had great recruiters in the 90's... no great recruiters and we've been average ever since..

that's a fact...

Posted by movol77 on January 5, 2008 at 10:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)

"10 win season is like 8 win season in the 90's...very average."

That is ridiculous. A 10 win season is a 10 win season. And if 10 wins is so "average", why are there only 18 out of 120 schools with 10 or more wins this year?

Posted by Plasticman on January 5, 2008 at 10:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Waterskier, let's not forget Coach Fulmer is the reason our expectations have risen. In the 80's and 90's, we were happy with 9 to 9 wins and an SEC CHampionship every now and then. SInce Fulmer took this program to the pinnacle in the mid to late 90's, everyone's expectations changed and some people expect us to win an SEC Championship every year or so. It ain't gonna happen! As a longtime fan and alumnus, I would like to see another SEC Championship in the next 2-3 years. I am one that thinks this will happen, however, I do not think we will get back to winning over 80% of our games for an extended period of time, regardless of who the coach is. Just being a realist.

Posted by PLEASEGETRIDOFTHENOTSOSLIMONE on January 5, 2008 at 10:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Plasticman........... You're a clown.

Posted by andy112382 on January 5, 2008 at 10:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)

"....you get the best talent year after year your odds of winning a championship is much higher..."

Yes, obviously talent is important, but you have team chemistry, WHY they are there - did they just want an NFL launching pad or do they really love the school, are they troublemakers or team leader, so much more to consider than how many stars are next to their name on any of the hundred or so recruiting sites.

Top classes only mean so much, what have been the odds of FSU, Miami, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Pittsburgh, Arizona, Nebraska, North Carolina, or South Carolina winning a national title been?

By the way, what those schools have in common are top 15 classes at some point over the past 3 years. Some of those schools you'd never guess.

Posted by andy112382 on January 5, 2008 at 10:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)

And if anyone was in hibernation during this past season, as it seems from the posts from some on here, in case you didn't notice, college football is much more balanced than it was 5-10 years ago, no one was safe any given saturday this season, so if anything, a 10 win season should have a higher value than in the past. Come on, Kentucky made a bowl and beat FSU??? If I had predicted that 7 years ago, I would have been run out of town!

Posted by nicksjuzunk on January 6, 2008 at 2:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Guys,

He never REALLY considered TN. He was just saying what kids say. He said it all right here. He is looking for some spread offense. We don't do that here. He wasn't coming with or without Cut. Let's shed our tears and move on.

And Terelle, Rodriquez and Meyer were lying. Just not about the spread offense.

Posted by pdhuff on January 6, 2008 at 9:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Man, we don't need someone like Pryor. All that running around, darting, setting sail down the field. You what might happen with a QB like that?

What's that? We had one, named Tee Martin, wore the ring. Oh well.. Rainy day outside.. better go....

Posted by Plasticman on January 6, 2008 at 10:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)

PDhuff, while I agree Tee MArtin created alot of plays with his legs, he was not and we did not run the "spread" offense with him. When Brent Schaeffer was a freshman, we all thought he was the next "running, scrambling" QB that was the cure all. He turned out to be a real flop. Just becasue a QB can run does not mean he is a great QB. How many of those type QB's have won a National Championship in the past 5 years? THe only one that comes to mind is Vince Young. Other than him, most have been drop back passing QB's.

Pleasegetridof- better to be clown and be happy than a miserable "I-Can't-stand-my-life" type person you must be....

Posted by grvol on January 6, 2008 at 10:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Two disasterous recruiting years out of three. While FL, GA, LSU, now AL in top ten each and every year. Stay the course.

Posted by dgb63 on January 6, 2008 at 10:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Here we are worring about getting players when we can't get an OC. We need to get that done then hit the road for the kids. I'm thinking this waiting is hurting us. Everybody knew Cutcliff was going to take a head job at one time. Fulmer should have been ready for it.

Posted by PLEASEGETRIDOFTHENOTSOSLIMONE on January 6, 2008 at 11:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Plasticman- I like my life. I just don't like UT football under Fulmer. I have that right just as you have the right to support the underachiever.

Posted by pdhuff on January 6, 2008 at 12:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)

dgd63 - don't sweat the small stuff. whomever we get, 9* or 2*, we'll coach 'em up. I'm surprised Phil didn't want Cut and Trooper to stay thru spring practice. It wouldn't have mattered at Dook, but T. Boone probably wouldn't have been happy at OSU.

Adkins is currently the best coach at Tenn, he should be promoted to OC and keep it in the family. 10 wins really wasn't bad with no d-linemen. Oh, Phil stays ready.

Posted by pdhuff on January 6, 2008 at 12:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)

errrr......Plasticman I never said we ran the spread with Tee. Nicks above me was discussing the spread, however.

Posted by vol4good on January 6, 2008 at 10:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Worry not my volfan bretheren!! Just give us the BEEF on the O line and The D line and the Speedsters will follow!! I have been very disapointed and very excited about this past years TN team. But, that was last years team. I am now fired up about a new begining and a new opportunity. Take your time Phil--Pick a good en!

Posted by sjt18 on January 7, 2008 at 6:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

UT's recruiting has been better than tOSU, Mizzou, KU, WVU, VaTech, Hawaii, etc.

The simple fact is that UT plays in the nation's most competitive conference.

Just a reminder... while alot of you were talking about how sorry Cut was as an OC... I was saying that they should ante up whatever it took financially to keep him. If Cut is still in orange, UT probably lands Pryor whose ranking pushes them into the top 10 for recruiting classes.

Posted by nicksjuzunk on January 8, 2008 at 5:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Common misconception is that Tee was a running QB. He was a pocket passer who sometimes took off... just like anyone else does. He had decent but not spectacular legs that occasionally picked up a few more yards than the average bear.

I am feverishly trying to back up my comments with statistics but am not having a lot of luck yet.