If you liked the Marion Hobby hire for Tennessee football, expect more. Much more.
More former Vols. More former NFL coaches. More coaches altogether.
The recent legal stance by congress when it comes to payments directly from schools to (student) athletes should level the playing field for many who want divy out the dollars. That means an old recruiting tactic should be coming back en vogue: preparing high school football players for the NFL.
That can be accomplished in a few of ways. First, more coaches provide more instruction. Former Alabama coach Nick Saban was the first to add a boatload of analysts to a full coaching staff. That worked out pretty well. Then, there’s facilities and support. Great players are more likely to become great pros with a strong program around them. The Vols have that.
The other way to accomplish the goal of preparing football players for the NFL is to hire coaches with professional experience. Hobby, who played on the defensive line for the Vols, coached for four NFL teams. He knows what the next level is all about. That’s something Tennessee can sell to prospects that will soon find out that the money offered from school to school isn’t going to be that vastly different under the new set of rules.
Tennessee also likely gets a bargain by hiring Hobby, who would surely take a discount to coach for his alma mater. That should be a growing trend in Knoxville.
I’ve pointed out on several occasions that Tennessee football head coach Josh Heupel can be, well, guarded – if not downright paranoid. Hiring former Vols should put him more at ease even if he doesn’t know them. They’re less likely to share top secrets.
Hiring a former Vols doesn’t always work out. Former Tennessee football defensive lineman Chuck Smith only lasted one season under former head coach Derek Dooley. However, there’s always former championship coaches like Johnny Majors and Phillip Fulmer to point to as former Vols who excelled at UT.
Tennessee should be happy by the payment settlement IF it holds up, which it may not. It may, in fact, be illegal. Nevertheless, the new rules level the playing field so the Vols can’t be outspent when it comes to paying players.
Tennessee has the facilities, tradition and coaching to compete with anyone now that the money will supposedly be equal among schools. The Vols are also in the south and that’s something that money can’t buy. There’s just more to choose from when it comes to high school talent for Tennessee football and less reason for prospects to go elsewhere.
All that sounds good – if the law holds up.
