David Oku is used to debunking rumors.
First there was the rumor that he was committed to Tennessee long before he made his announcement in mid-October. Now there’s a full-fledged report that Oku has de-committed from UT.
“No I didn’t,” the 5-foot-10, 185-pound tailback from Carl Albert High School in Midwest City, Okla., said on Monday evening. “The people took it and ran with it. I’ve been dealing with it all day. I’m still committed.”
That doesn’t mean other coaches aren’t testing Oku’s conviction, even some that have been reported as candidates for UT’s vacant coaching position.
Oku never considered North Carolina, until he first talked to Tar Heel head coach Butch Davis on Monday.
“He said he’s not leaving (UNC) period,” Oku wrote in a text message to the News Sentinel.
That would seem to make the Davis-to-UT possibility that much more unlikely. Not only is Davis still actively recruiting for North Carolina; he’s also apparently trying to benefit from UT’s tumultuous situation. Davis has publicly denied interest in the UT job.
Oku’s UT commitment certainly seemed in doubt on Monday afternoon according to a story by an online recruiting service.
“I’ve been good, just about to start looking at other schools,” Oku reportedly told Rivals.com. “I don’t think Tennessee will get the right coach for me. I’m going to send tape out to 15 different schools that don’t run (the) spread. I’m just not really buying into Tennessee’s coaching search.”
As for that report, Oku said, “People do what they want to do and try to make stories.”
While Oku maintained he is still committed to UT, he said he would indeed play elsewhere if the Vols hire a coach who runs a spread offense, such as Texas Tech’s Mike Leach or Cincinnati’s Brian Kelly.
“I’m for run and pass, not just pass,” Oku said. “An offense like that takes away from a running back. I don’t want to be catching screen passes for four years in college.”
Leach and Kelly have been prominent names in UT’s search to replace coach Phillip Fulmer who will step down following Saturday’s Kentucky game.
“If Tennessee gets a coach that doesn’t run a spread offense, then I’ll stay with Tennessee,” Oku said simply.
Oku said he has no visits planned to other schools and declined to specify which schools he would look at if he decides against playing for UT.
Oku said he didn’t know if he would consider North Carolina if he decided to de-commit from UT.
“It will be a whole different list of schools,” said Oku, who considered Clemson, Florida State, Louisville and Michigan before his UT commitment.
Oku plans to enroll in in college January.
“The quicker I know,” Oku said, “the better it will be from me.”
Oku was long thought to be a silent commitment to UT this fall despite frequent denials. Eventually the pledge became public in mid-October.
Oku even had a press conference scheduled weeks earlier but cancelled the announcement days before so that his father, who was serving in Iraq, could be in attendance.
Losing Oku would be a devastating blow to an already battered 2009 recruiting class. The Vols have lost four commitments since announcing Fulmer’s ouster.
Oku, who is considered a top 100 prospect in the nation, is UT’s highest-rated remaining commitment.
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Comments » 99
rockitwithrespect writes:
there. everybody calm down....for now
hotrodvol writes:
Sounds like Davis is out, maybe Kiffin is the man.
kbart4033#247331 writes:
Oku's Dream Team:
Offensive Co-ordinator: Major Applewhite
Defensive Co-ordinator: Kevin Steele
Head Coach: Bill Cowher
jturne44 writes:
Is that Jarvis Giles? Or is it David Oku? If Tajh starts pulling this then we definitely are screwed for a few years....
Freshly_Cut_Grass writes:
What style of offense does Kiffin run?
caskew#218608 writes:
If Kiffin is hired and keeps Drayton, as rumored, maybe we can get Giles back too....
knucklehead_vol writes:
pro style
hotrodvol writes:
Applewhite as OC does sound good and Texas has just about ran him off.
zqvol writes:
He's gone because Hamilton is so foolish that he is listening to the fans clamor for a spread offense just like last year when he hired Clawsen.
Another one bites the dust.
FWBVol writes:
I know the spread is all the rage right now, but it's just another fad offense that will run its course and in several years just be a memory.
While quarterbacks and wide receivers might love the spread, I think it's important to take a look at what Oku and some of the other top running backs we, and everyone else, clamour for consider in the recruiting process. A running back wants to run the football, and I believe that's why having a balanced attack is so important.
I'm more of an old school guy, but I like smash mouth football where the strong survive. When I want to watch a bunch of guys run up and down the field or court throwing and catching a ball I'll watch Bruce Pearl's boys on the basketball floor. When I watch football I want hitting, and lots of it.
dehvols writes:
It was inevitable that we were going to lose recruits because of this situation. I dont know if Oku is gone, its up in the air. The more important thing is to get a coach that will hopefully keep our committed recruits committed and possibly bring in some new guys. If we keep losing recruits then it comes with what we all wanted to happen, firing Fulmer. Lets get a coach in here that can get the best out of the players we have, and whatever recruiting class we end up with. Go Vols!
orangesox writes:
I'm not in favor of pandering to recruits when it comes to a decision as important as who the next football coach will be. However, I think in the long run he has a valid point. One thing this program has been built upon over the last 25 years is top-notch talent. Kids like to come to a program that they know can get them into the NFL if they perform. The spread offense casts doubt amongst NFL scouts about a player's ability to progress to the next level. (Can you say Alex Smith?) I really hope we go with a coach with a more pro-style offense rather than a spread for the good of the program in the long run, not just for the sake of a couple of recruits this year.
BigVolinCarolina writes:
Calm down! Relax. With the coaching change & all, odds are we will lose a few recruits and, too, pick up one or two we might not have otherwise.
Regardless, this is a transition time for UT football. The reality is that people need to prepare themselves for the fact that things will likely get worse before they get better. Not trying to damper any hopes, but just speaking the truth of what's likely to come.
hotrodvol writes:
It would be good if we could name a coach right after the ky game. Then we could get on some of these recruits that want to sign in Jan., because they do need to know soon what direction UT is going, or type of offense they will run.
JBruce writes:
Tennessee will lose either or posibbly both Boyd and Oku before this is over. Oku wants to be in a prostyle offense. Boyd wants to play in a spread. I was actually very surprised when Oku committed to Tennessee, knowing that Clawsen wanted to gravitate toward a spread offense.
Personally, I would rather have Oku in a prostyle offense myself, because I have never been a fan of the spread. We will see what happens.
knucklehead_vol writes:
maybe nunes? will come back oku.
IBleedOrange444 writes:
Stick with us Oku. The Big Orange is gonna be on top again and you can play a key role in that success.
govols87 writes:
tahj just wants to throw the ball he said...I don't think he cares which formations he throws out of...the kid's tired of being a "running QB" at Pheobusn High
OhioVol3 writes:
Why worry about individual recruits at this point? My gosh, we have the best defensive player in the country and one of the top 5 players overall (Berry) and we're still terrible. A bad coach can screw up good players (see FULMER) and a good coach can develop lesser players. We should be focused on the coach, not the recruits. With the right coach, the all-americans will filter in eventually. Tennessee is prime-time enough that it should get a coach that can recruit great players AND develop them.
bobbyutvol writes:
NICE job again HAMILTON... you should have waited untill the year was over. we have lost 3 recruits and now maybe 4. you need to go with Fulmer complete idiot
hotrodvol writes:
If we get a good recruiting coach then maybe we get another good QB to compete with Boyd. There is not a good QB at UT now.
govols87 writes:
we need to name this coach and end this speculation and get on the road to a new exciting program where players and coaches are fired up to where the orange
JBruce writes:
It won't be too much longer. I expect the next coach will be announced next week.
hotrodvol writes:
Hamilton will name a coach after the ky game, it makes since to wait. The way he caught slack for Fulmers firing midweek, there is no way he will screw up again. I don't blame him for firing him when he did just the way he did, he should have had a private meeting with the coachs and players first.
JBruce writes:
Let the Kiffin era begin!!
hotrodvol writes:
Before I get busted, COACHES.
theutvolunteers writes:
Boyd does not want to run the spread. He left his commitment with WV does not want to be a runner. That could mean does not want to run the spread option. My opinion is pro style is the way to go.
VolunteerMan writes:
Boyd is on record as wanting to play in a pro-style offense as well. That's one of the reasons he chose UT in the first place. Clawson doesn't run the spread either. He's a west coast ofefnse guy.
JBruce writes:
I haven't seen any film on Boyd, but Tom Lemming says he doesn't have the arm strength or accuracy to be a drop back passer.
Maybe Lemming is wrong, but he usually knows what he is talking about.
Lemming had Crompton pegged as the most overrated QB in the country. (I think he was right!)
utchris writes:
Correct. He said the WV coach told him that they were moving away from the spread system they have to get him to commit, but he left after seeing no evidence they will move away from it.
I would personally love to see a pro style attack because it has stood the test of time. However, I think that you could incorporate some spread packages within it. More like Arkansas did with McFadden, the Dolphins are doing, Ole Miss is now doing.
burntorangeVOLffle writes:
Re: Kiffen
I said this last year when most on here were whinning about how "bad" our offense that was avg 35 points a game was. USC runs the same offense. They just out horse other teams. The system isn't broke but the talant level , and thus the execution, isn't what it once was.
That's not to say I think we don't have the level of talent to compete. But to compete at the SEC level week in and week out we have to execute to near perfection.
Mich decided to go the spread option route and the are worse than us. Hopefully Hamilton will learn from there mistake.
hotrodvol writes:
Clawsen has what kind of offense? Did you say west coast or did you mean flag football. :)
theutvolunteers writes:
I totally think the mobility with the pro style mindset is great. The pocket breaks down and we gain seven yards for 2nd and three. We all know recruiting info is not always spot on but here is one opinion.
Scout.com Player Evaluation:
STRENGTHS
Arm Strength
Intangibles
Poise and Leadership
AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT
Decision-making
jturne44 writes:
okay so let me put in a more serious statement: David Oku if you could somehow read this: YOU ARE THE NUMBER ONE ALL PURPOSE BACK IN THE NATION!!! REGGIE BUSH WAS THE SAME DAMN THING!!! WHY WOULD YOU NOT CATCH A SCREEN AND RUN TO THE END ZONE?!?!?!?!?!?! YOU MAKE PEOPLE MISS OR RUN THEM OVER!!! AND THAT IS TENNESSEE FOOTBALL, IS IT NOT??? I'M PRETTY TIRED OF OUR COACHES RECRUITING THE MOST SELFISH and BABY A55 RECRUITS!! If you can't handle helping a team that is down and scoring touchdowns you should probably play ultimate frisbee somewhere out in cali bro.
jacksfacts writes:
Anyone else notice how UNC tanked once Davis was named our number 1 target. Makes you wonder if his head is elsewhere. Would be happy with him or Kiffin. Don't think you can win championships with Leach's offense. Brian Kelly may be in over his head. Kiffin has enough connections to surround himself with an excellent staff and Davis may be the best evaluator of talent in the country. Either way the Fulmer era will be over in less than a week.
newtonrail writes:
No way, especially if it's Kelly. He won't talk until season's over, and they have a game with Hawaii next week. I don't really call that a spread that Kelly runs. He puts in some spread principles as many schools do, but it's closer to pro set most plays.
wyomingvol writes:
Burt Reynolds....
JBruce writes:
Clawson's offense (or lack thereof) contains components of the Pro-Style, Spread and Power Running attacks.
From my understanding he ran more spread at Richmond. I could be wrong about that.
hotrodvol writes:
Kelly does run a spread, it is just a different variation. TT runs a passing spread, while WV runs a running spread.
JBruce writes:
I guess that makes sense. Good thing, Kelly will not be the coach that they will announce next week.
andy112382#209793 writes:
From everything I am reading and the more I think about it, I do not want a spread offense to Tennessee. If Brian Kelly runs the spread, which I was unsure of before, then I would have to say Lane Kiffin is at the top of the list with the exception of any unknowns out there, like Chip Kelly or Jimbo Fisher or someone that is an OC that no one has mentioned....once again I do not know what offenses Chip or Fisher would run, either......I could see great things with a Kiffin led team, especially if he kept Chavis and surrounded himself with a solid staff on offense.
GrandNorthFace48 writes:
How many times in the last 10 years has Tenn. been National Champs? Wait, go back a little further, the last 20 years? Is it once?
Leach walked on water for a good many of UT ISF until he lost this past weekend, now it is Kiffin, or some dream coaching staff that only exists in Peter Pan land. Why? Because you want something you will never have. A team like the GATORS!!!!!!!!!!!!
ZR writes:
Does Randy Sanders use the spread?
nicksjuzunk#646117 writes:
As a man of the disc, I take exception to that comment.
Otherwise, yeah, catch it and run, score, celebrate.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Interesting, but I can assure you that Fulmer is also capable of losing to Ole Miss.
Just check the coachless Wyoming score this season.
WeLoveTennesseeVols writes:
You see now what people really think about the Tennessee Vols, just a carcass to pick over. Just like our country was to the Clinton's and to th e left. Where the carcass is there you will find the buzzards. That's why I get so gosh darn teed off when all of our fans lament over each loss and wanted Fulmer's hide. You people just couldn't see the forest for the trees.
iwilbeafan writes:
And one more time now, your title on the "we Team" is???????
iwilbeafan writes:
There's that "we" again.
iwilbeafan writes:
Listen if you insist on speaking for everone, please don't include me in your "we".
WeLoveTennesseeVols writes:
Maybe Fulmer wasn't so bad after all, huh? You are finally figuring this out? Watch out for your country too, Obama is on the loose also. Maybe after 4 years we will return to basics. Fulmer believed in basics, not spread offenses and all of the fancy frills. Oki Doki evidentily is that kind of a guy, and I respect that. Fulmer put a lot of people in the pros and has a heck of a lot of connections also. Yes, my friends, we are screwed. Are you just figuring it out. Go out with your other buddy John Adams, don't bring your problems to us. We just won't feel sorry for you. W've got problems of our own, you know. Like living life, football is a game, but you guys treat it like a science. And winning is eveything to you.
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