The CheckerBoard

Nice piece, Ryan. Interesting perspective from a kid living amongst the rants and ruckus over CDD.

I wish all of Vol Nation could get this article and understand there are more constructive ways to voice displeasure with the current state of the program. A lower character kid would not hesitate to change his commitment if they were hearing all of the vitriol remarks of their future coach.

Don't get me wrong with this comment. I'm sure Josh Smith is a great football player and a great young man.

This is the entire problem with TN football right now. This type of player would have had to walk on 10 years ago. If TN wants to be competitve, they have to do better than this in recruiting. Especially with a coaching staff that has shown ZERO ability to coach kids up. Just sayin

I wouldn't say "zero". AJ has gotten a lot better. Neal has gotten a lot better. Our offensive line has gotten a lot better. QBs, WRs, DBs? Not so much.

On Smith, of course he loves Dooley! Isn't he the only D1 coach to offer Smith a scholarship? Not hating on Dooley at all.. just a question.

Agreed on O-line and RB's

I never post and this is the reason why. You guys need to go look at the recruiting rankings. It doesnt matter if we are 20th, because everybody we are losing to is ranked above that. Get heads out of the sand.

Last post ever. Thanks for reassuring my opinion that anybody that posts actual facts gets berated...

You are wrong on two points and neither are directly related to the article. First, the 90s and early 2000s were really good to UT football and until we get back to having the same level of talent we probably aren't going to get to where everyone, including Dooley, wants to be. It's just one of the many measuring sticks folks are using to judge how far away we are from the goal of competing for championships again. Second, fans don't get upset when local recruits aren't recruited. There are alot of local recruits that go elsewhere, and fans aren't mad with the staff, and at the same time happy for the kid(s). Fans get mad when either UT loses out on elite local talent or don't recruit local talent, like Cobb, or don't recruit those kids hard enough and the kids go elsewhere and become All-Americans or all-conference or players that would have started at UT over the out-of-state or non-local kids UT recruited and signed.

Rankings only measure potential. It's still up to the player to improve, no amount of coaching can force a player to get better. Look at Bryce Brown, 5star stud, bombed in college because he didn't want to work on improving. Attitudes can kill potential faster than anything. Look at Da'Rick, Terril Owens, Randy Moss. Great talents, huge potential, but they worked to improve.

Bryce Brown is also on a NFL roster getting carries.

True, but he nearly went undrafted too. Wasn't it like 6th round? Can't remember. A lot easier to motivate when your getting paid.

No down vote. It's your opinion and that's all it is...just like the rest of us.

Remember when this kid named Blanc showed up in spring after being an incredible reach and apparently had a good spring. Well even with our lack of quality depth and injuries to other WRs he hasn't played. Smith is gunna be the same. These 2 kids wouldn't stand out and get attention if they played in a state that was worth a darn in HS football. They wouldnt get a second look in FLA, GA or TX. Why our staff feels the need to get avg local products idk but like a previous poster said, Blanc, Smith, Bullock all would've been walk on when we were an elite program. We won't get back to elite if we still sign avg players. I'd rather not use the scholly and wait then jus handin it out to kids who will never play. P