Catholic High School offensive/defensive lineman Conor Irwin has committed to Duke University, his father Tim confirmed Friday.
Irwin, a 6-foot-5, 245-pound senior, turned down offers from Ivy League schools Harvard, Penn, Brown and Cornell.
Tim Irwin said Tennessee recruited his son and wanted him to walk on. But Conor, who played in a wing-T offense at Catholic, jumped at the opportunity to play for Duke and its new head coach David Cutcliffe, Tennessee's former offensive coordinator.
Irwin was an offensive tackle at UT from 1978-80 and played in the NFL from 1981-94 for the Minnesota, Tampa Bay and Miami.
© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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Comments » 27
givehim6 writes:
Recruiting takes another hit!
nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:
Read a little more carefully. They wanted him to walk on. Not necessarily a huge loss. It may have been little more than a courtesy offer for a former player's son as well.
southernACmavs writes:
wonder if judge will prop up ol phill like he did last year.. (remember this team has no NFL tallent} remember how every loss was the team ,every lucky play was coaching. Gess judge got played allso
nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:
southernACmavs: Are you typing in tongues or am I just not catchin what you're throwin?
AllVol writes:
Yawn . . .
volsrock54 writes:
What the hell is a Conor Irwin? I can't even find him on scout.com. I really don't think we are missing anything by him going to Duke. Have fun watching their basketball program young man cause their football team is still gonna be a bunch of losers. Go Vols!
vol88 writes:
Good luck to the Irwins.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Good luck, young man. Good choice of Dook.
GerryOP writes:
Based on the schools recruiting him, must be a pretty intelligent fella'. Good luck young man.
hfbuckles#530060 writes:
Offered scholarships by Harvard,Brown,Penn,Cornell,and Duke. This is truly a young man who has his priorities in order:scholarship first, football second. Mr. Irwin appears to be someone who has his act together. Best of wishes, sir. You will make all of us proud.
WYLOVER writes:
not news worthy
Gustoly writes:
Conor will get a great education and that is what Tim wants I'm sure. Great place to start a law or medical career. Ole Cut knows what he is doing.
Guess Tim will not be on with Hymee on Sun mornings talking about TN FB any more. Ha! Ha!
CatScratchFever writes:
STUDENT/athlete. If my son were to be offered a scholarship to an Ivy League School, a Duke or Vandy kind of school....I would definately encourage him to take it over anything else. This young man certainly must be intelligent and I am sure his parents are more proud of his academic success than anything he could do on the football field.
It sounds like Conor has the scales balanced just right between student and athlete. Good luck young man...your gonna go a long way.
mtnvol writes:
I've told my son (no football hero) he can go anywhere he wants, except Duke or Vandy. A Vol HAS to have standards! ;-)
pj_volnindy writes:
I graduated from Central High with Tim and it would've been fun to see his son play for us. But what's best for him is what's important. God bless, Conor.
byobbio writes:
I wish I could say that i turned down scholarship offers to Harvard, Penn, Brown and Cornell to go to Duke. I don't care what any of you say, that guy has his act together.
arkyvol writes:
amen, byobbio
cjraney writes:
Glad to see AllVol has embraced the ever-popular 'Yawn' post. That one's always hilarious.
tngeoff-
I have to politely disagree with you on this one. They offered him a spot but just not a scholarship. I'd say that's because he doesn't quite have UT talent and his family can most likely afford instate tuition. I wouldn't take it as an insult or lack of loyalty.
cjraney writes:
But I do agree there's absolutely no reason to post negative things about the kid.
TommyJack writes:
Can we all stipulate that the "yawn" rejoinder is cutesy. And then move along without it.
VolsorCat writes:
Probably a great young man, but I don't think he is what we need in the recruiting class. He was a legacy, so CPF was being polite and inviting him to walk on. With 85 scholarships, you can't waste any of them.
agentorange writes:
who cares.
iowavol writes:
Can't say much about the son, but the father was the real deal. We were in school at the same time. I was tending bar at Desparados and Tim worked as a bouncer for a summer. Great guy, fun to be around and easy going.
Colliervol writes:
TJ, the "yawn" is simply used by some folks when they've run out of intelligent conversation or meaningful comment. Most of 'em can only repeat the same old tired junk they've been spouting for years and have nothing new to contribute. Easy to ignore.
As far as this kid goes, the schools recruiting him tell me all I need to know. He has a lot on the ball academically but isn't SEC caliber talent-wise. Two entirely different things especially in the world that UT plays in. I don't take it as anything other than it's just the real world. Can't waste scholarships knowing a kid doesn't have the talent to contribute at this level.
But how one could say that UT's recruiting took a hit is beyond me. That's just somebody stretching to criticize the program. I mean let's get real here. Folks want us to compete with Florida and Georgia and, yet, don't mind blowing a scholarship on a kid whose only offers are Duke, Harvard, Yale and Penn. Big disconnect there.
dukecommenter writes:
Posted by knoxsingle on January 20, 2008 at 11:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It's tough for kids. Duke is an awful place where a bunch of faculty unfairly convicted the lacrosse kids in the court of public opinion, and that would frighten me as a parent. But Coach Cutcliffe is there, and kids would be interested in playing for him. I really wish he'd have waited for a different job at a better university, so kids wouldn't have to be so conflicted.
________________________________
Yes, the Group of 88 faculty should be terminated, some have left already. Many students avoid their classes. Duke's President should also have been fired for aiding and abetting the lax hoax. On the plus side, Duke retains some fun student life (on campus and off, as well as Chapel Hill which is 8 miles away), 10% of its undergrads are recruited student athletes (by defintion, well-rounded), it is ranked higher academically than half of the Ivy League, and Connor will be able to play in a BCS conference, leaving open the possibility of being well-prepared for the NFL should he have that potential. RE the Duke job, Cut is being paid top dollar. From a comp. perspective, it is one of the better jobs out there (top 15). Let's see what happens. I think Cut wins at Duke.
BallantyneVol writes:
who cares this is a site for UT football and nothing else!!!
mparker writes:
what in the heck is wrong with this kid??? I mean, the chance to walk on at UT?? and he turns it down for a shclarhsip to some podunk 'education school'???? Sheesh.
This'll souond even more stupid: I understand why he'd go to Duke, but man, if he's a ballplayer, he still might have a better shot at Harvard or one of those places. Go scan an NFL roster and see how many kids are from small-time colleg programs. The snswerr is 'a lot'.
The key is getting on the field. Heck, a kid coming to UT or Bama or Ohio State of even Duke is much more limited in their chance to get on the field.
JMHO, hope the kid does well, his Dad was a great lineman.
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