Tennessee pulls scholly offer day before signing day.
4* and 12th ranked nationally TE commits to Pruitt. Stays committed after the Vols' dumpster fire of a season. Stays committed after the surfacing of recruiting violations. Stays committed after Pruitt gets fired.
Heupel (new coach) pulls offer day before signing day claiming (allegedly) that they aren't sure that the kid will be eligible for the 2021 season. One sided story at this point but I'm not sure how this can be seen as anything other than a dick move.
ESSS EEEE SEEE
February 3rd, 2021 at 5:28 PM ^
Familiar theme of bullshit in the SEC.
”What can we learn from this? How can we ‘bend’ the rules without getting caught like Ole Miss and Tennessee?”
February 3rd, 2021 at 7:08 PM ^
Hard to recruit the SEC and extend offers if your check bounces.
February 3rd, 2021 at 8:07 PM ^
McDonald's bags ain't filt wit checks, homie
February 3rd, 2021 at 5:30 PM ^
Does Michigan want him? Hopefully he finds a decent landing spot. What a heartless thing to do.
February 3rd, 2021 at 5:35 PM ^
He signed with Memphis which is probably a better program than Tennessee right now
February 3rd, 2021 at 5:38 PM ^
Appears he committed to Memphis. Honestly, I'd rather play there than Rocky Top. Better bowl games and Memphis BBQ.
February 3rd, 2021 at 5:35 PM ^
If they are saying he would not be eligible it makes me think he might have been involved in the recruiting violations.
February 3rd, 2021 at 5:37 PM ^
That...is a good call and may help make sense of this.
February 3rd, 2021 at 5:42 PM ^
Perhaps... it doesn't really explain why they waited until the day before signing day to inform the kid he should move on. What about the 4* recruits that sent in their LOI during the early signing period?
February 3rd, 2021 at 5:44 PM ^
Or character issues that Pruitt ignored. There are always 2 sides to the story.
February 3rd, 2021 at 6:14 PM ^
Not saying you're wrong, but I'm not sure how much bag the previous staff would be willing to pay for the #440 player (247 composite), if any at all. I thought these types of "benefits" were usually reserved for top-100 players or so. Tennessee is definitely one of the better schools on his offer list as well.
February 3rd, 2021 at 7:19 PM ^
I was thinking that there may be academic issues. IF (big I and big F) that is the case, isn't your scholarship offer based on the contingency that you qualify academically? Remember the school cannot comment so it will always paint the school in a bad light when these things happen.
February 3rd, 2021 at 8:33 PM ^
You know, you would think that they would be aware of his academic issues prior to THE DAY BEFORE SIGNING DAY.
If the kid doesn't make the grade academically (I honestly didn't mean to do that), then fine, but good grief, this is flat-out screwing the kid over.
February 3rd, 2021 at 5:46 PM ^
Less than a week after Heupel took over at Tennessee, Etheredge got a phone call. It wasn’t from Heupel begging him to stay committed and sign on the dotted line on February Signing Day. It was instead one of Heupel’s staffers, who reportedly told Etheredge that Taylor’s offer was off the table but that “he could tell people he decommitted if he wanted to handle it that way.”
Heupel is a piece of shit, didn't even have the balls to call himself. The Tennessee program just needs burned to the ground (again).
February 3rd, 2021 at 6:03 PM ^
The Tennessee program just needs burned to the ground (again).
Isn't that what they just did?
February 3rd, 2021 at 5:51 PM ^
Too many Happy Meals.
February 3rd, 2021 at 5:58 PM ^
From the HS coach Etheredge (linked in the original article):
“I just told them that Tennessee is to never come on our campus wherever I am,” Etheredge said. “They’ve got no shot at any kid I will coach. They’ve offered (2022 DB) Tre’Quon Fegans. They’ve offered (2023 OL) Bradyn Joiner. That orange has me seeing red.
“Let’s be honest. Roc Taylor can play at Tennessee. Anyone who has watched his film knows that. It’s a black eye for them. However many games they play next year – whether it is 11 or 12 or however many – I’ll be wearing the opposite jersey. My loyalty is to my kids. I’m going to do everything I can to protect them.”
This coach is (rightly) pissed. Burning bridges with HS coaches in Alabama, let alone doing this to a commit, doesn't seem like a winning strategy to me. But what do I know?
February 3rd, 2021 at 6:17 PM ^
If his loyalty is to the kids, he wouldn't actively prevent them from going to Tennessee if they want to.
This is like the dipshit Crowell from Belleville.
February 3rd, 2021 at 6:24 PM ^
Nah, this is nothing like the Crowell situation. That was based on a petty personal spat between Crowell and Harbaugh. This is about integrity. Heupel showed a complete lack of respect for a kid by ditching him at the last second. I think he's being loyal to his players by *not* sending a kid into a situation like this.
February 3rd, 2021 at 6:23 PM ^
Yeah I’m not a fan of saying he isn’t sending any kids to the Vols. If that’s what they want (but why would you want to?) then he should support them. I’m sure Ron Bellamy didn’t like other schools picking up West Bloomfield kids but he wasn’t going to be a hinderance if that’s what they felt was best for them
February 3rd, 2021 at 6:32 PM ^
If one of Bellamy's kids was dumped at the last second like this, I'd completely respect his decision to steer kids away from that coach. Heupel's behavior showed a complete lack of respect for the players in the HS coach's care.
Of course, the player can always make the choice. But I would expect a HS coach to make them well informed of previous dealings so they know what they're getting into.
February 3rd, 2021 at 6:44 PM ^
Vols in a position where they can turn down 4*'s?
I know our program gets some, well deserved, shit for being at times out of touch with reality but this is next level
February 3rd, 2021 at 6:45 PM ^
Kids flip on coaches all the time. Why are we so mad when coaches do it to kids? Both sides know how the game works.
Sure seems the whole process could use some changing but as it is I see no issue with it.
February 3rd, 2021 at 6:56 PM ^
Yep. Coaches should get to reveal their side of the story in this.
Swineson can go cry to the media like a bitch, and every believes his narrative. Even though he was told to get off his lazy ass and work out for the coaches multiple times.
Bad form
Then Otis Reese can be committed for a year and a half and screw us over and say absolutely nothing and go to Georgia.
Kid has to do what's best for himself. Bullshit.
February 3rd, 2021 at 7:06 PM ^
I know, right. Why on earth should we hold adults to higher standards than 17-18 year olds?
Edit: I hope "Swineson" was a typo and you just misspelled Swenson.
February 3rd, 2021 at 7:08 PM ^
They do. The coaches have to deal with fake narratives while the recruit can run to Twitter and cry.
February 3rd, 2021 at 7:20 PM ^
They are, and they *should* be, held to a higher standard.
And come on, how many recruits "run to Twitter and cry"? In any event, the truth usually comes out like the Swenson situation. If it didn't, you wouldn't have known the real reason, which you obviously do.
February 3rd, 2021 at 7:46 PM ^
Well said.
February 3rd, 2021 at 8:15 PM ^
Because coaches are adults paid millions of dollars to do their jobs. They should be held to a higher standard than a high school student.
Next question.
February 3rd, 2021 at 6:54 PM ^
Sounds like an academic problem to me.
From the article,
"Alex Golesh talked with Taylor following the call Etheredge received. Taylor said Golesh told him Tennessee was afraid he would not be eligible if they signed him. Etheredge, however, said Taylor is well on track to quality (RGard: should be qualify in context) and will be eligible."
My bet is he may not have completed the required HS classes to graduate.
February 3rd, 2021 at 7:16 PM ^
Then how will he attend Memphis? It’s a mystery!
February 3rd, 2021 at 8:01 PM ^
UT wants 1 unit more of math and 1 more unit of science. Could that be the difference, assuming student athletes have to have taken the same classes as everybody else?
UT requires:
- 4 English
- 4 Math (algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, statistics, or other advanced math)
- 3 Science (biology, chemistry, physics, or other science)
- 1 American history
- 1 European history, world history, or world geography
- 2 Single foreign language (or ASL)
- 1 Visual or performing arts
Memphis requires:
- English (4 units)
- Visual and/or Performing Arts (1 unit)
- Mathematics (3 units: Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II at least)
- Natural and Physical Science (2 units: at least one unit of Biology, Chemistry or Physics)
- Social Studies (2 units: 1 unit must be US History)
- Foreign Language (2 units: of the same language)
February 3rd, 2021 at 7:54 PM ^
Assuming the kid is on the up and up, this is a real crappy thing but typical SEC.
February 3rd, 2021 at 7:58 PM ^
Won’t be eligible? At Tennessee? Lol, yeah right.
February 3rd, 2021 at 8:19 PM ^
I think that what we may be able to gather from this is that Heupel is definitely a Burger King guy and there will be no McDonald's bags - none whatsoever - on his watch.
February 3rd, 2021 at 8:28 PM ^
I guess they found out the kid doesn't like McDonalds.
February 3rd, 2021 at 8:55 PM ^
Dang. Was hoping he would be ranked high enough on 247 to move Memphis ahead of Michigan State. Alas he's just a moderate three-star to them and to the composite. Still the highest ranked Memphis recruit.
Remember a LOI protects the school's rights to the player; it doesn't guarantee a scholarship. If they don't want him, what good does it do them to have him sign an LOI? It could have been as shitty as they say--not absolving Tennessee here. I don't think it's gospel however that Heupel did this kid dirty.
February 3rd, 2021 at 11:36 PM ^
Looks like he signed with Memphis, and that's a way better spot right now than Tennessee.
February 4th, 2021 at 9:07 AM ^
Heupel is making major changes. From now on, cash payments can only be made in Chick-fil-A, Burger King or 5 Guys bags. Better, just use Venmo.
February 4th, 2021 at 10:29 AM ^
Will he be allowed to keep his Happy Meal toy?