HUGE DAY!!!
Tennessee could procure the services of their QB of the future today. It's been a whirlwind recruitment between Tennessee and Jarrett Guarantano. This is a credibility recruit that could help solidify the formation of another great class.
'X', presented by both Smoothie King and Fairways and Greens is bullish on this guy.
'X' Says
'By mid afternoon today, Tennessee is going to get an early Christmas present or a big lump of coal in the pre-Christmas stocking. Basilio is right.....This truly could be remembered as the day Tennessee’s 2016 recruiting class to a step from being “pretty good” being “special” or it could be the day Tennessee gets a big ole kick in the junk.
We all know college football season never stops. The way Tennessee’s 2014 season and 2015 recruiting cycle closed Butch Jones has folks whipped into a frenzy about the future of Tennessee football.
Today at 3pm, Tennessee’s Number 1 prospect on the recruiting board, regardless of position, Quarterback Jarrett Guarantano is set to make his college decision public.
Guarantano is a 6’4” 200 lb. dual threat quarterback who attends Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell New Jersey…. which is about 30 minutes from Rutgers University (more about this later).
Guarantano is a consensus 4 star quarterback. He is a top 150 prospect in the country. Honestly, not sure there are many better prospects in the country than this kid.
If a prospect ever had a can’t miss label on his helmet, Guarantano is that guy. He has a big time arm, he makes all the throws effortlessly, he is athletic, fast, poised and most of all seems very polished for a senior to be in high school.
Most importantly, he looks to have the one thing these recruiting analyst/evaluators can’t grade or stick a star on.
This kid appears to have "IT". I don’t know exactly what “IT”. All I can say is he seems to make other around him better and kids seem to be naturally drawn to him.
My personal opinion, which doesn’t mean much, is that he is as good a quarterback prospect Tennessee has recruited since the National Championship days.
Watch his film make your own decision. Here is a link to his video. Wow. Check this out.
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At a minimum , you will walk away saying this kid is as good a fit for Butch Jones’ offense as any other prospect they have recruited at quarterbacks in his 3 plus years on campus.
This kid could go anywhere in the country to play college football. He has whittled his choices to three schools. Rutgers, Ohio State and Tennessee.
Hometown school Rutgers where his dad played. He has been there 100 times and is comfortable there. If he chooses Rutgers, he is the Day 1 starter next season and will remain so for the next three years.
Ohio State. Like Tennessee, Guarantano is the Number 1 prospect on Ohio State’s board. Important enough a prospect that Urban Meyer has taken over the recruitment of this kid on Ohio State’s behalf. Honestly, it will be hard for anyone to turn down the National Champion who seems to have things rolling in Columbus.
Then there is Tennessee. Butch Jones and the Guarantano family have a tight relationship that goes well beyond the football field. I think it is important to note that regardless of where the kid chooses to attend school the relationship between the family and Coach Jones will not be impacted. Tennessee’s quarterback situation is in good hands for now. Josh Dobbs will have one year of eligibility remaining when Guarantano would get to campus. The backup quarterback spot at Tennessee is unproven.
Now let’s get to it. The tea leaves leading up the Guarantano’s commitment have been trending toward Tennessee. However, the family spent time in Columbus last week and the kid will have enormous local pressure to stay at home and play for Rutgers.
My thought. Ohio State isn’t that big a factor here. The Buckeye quarterback position is stacked up for the next 3 or 4 years plus Ohio State took 5 start quarterback Torrance Gibson during the 2015 cycle even with the backlog at the quarterback position.
Rutgers. Rutgers scares me a little because Guarantano to Rutgers just makes sense. Immediate playing time. 3 year starter there barring injury. The kid could be a legend there and as mentioned his father played there. There is a
but though.
I think the kid is looking for a bigger stage than Rutgers with all due respect to Rutgers.
And for the above reasons and even though Tennessee took 3 quarterback prospects in the last cycle, I think he steps up there tomorrow and picks Tennessee.
Whichever school he selects will undoubtedly get a bump in recruiting. If Guarantano pops for Tennessee, look for other New Jersey high school products, not otherwise interested in Tennessee, to give the VOLS serious consideration.
Would not surprise me if suddenly defensive tackle Rashan Gary from Paramus, New Jersey and Ohio State commitment running back Kareem Walker from DePaul Catholic started to pay more attention to Tennessee. Both of these kids are 5 star, top 100 type players in the country type of prospects.
In closing, if you know love conspiracies. So here is my conspiracy theory about this recruitment.
Until a few weeks ago, Tennessee already had its quarterback for the 2016 cycle committed. That being Austin Kendall from North Carolina. Kendall is pretty good. Top 10 dual threat quarterback in the country It was no secret our former offensive coordinator was awfully fond of the kid even when others on the staff felt there were prospects that were better fits for the Tennessee offense than Kendall.
I am not breaking new ground here by saying our Head Football Coach and the former Offensive coordinator did not see eye to eye on a lot of things during the last few weeks of the season. I believe the Head Football Coach as well as others on the staff felt strongly about Guarantano and maybe not so much about Kendall. You step back and watch their film and it is fairly clear Guarantamo fits what Tennessee wants to do on offense more so than Kendall.
I have been steadfast in saying the former Offensive Coordinator may have been encouraged to look around. If that is too strong a word, then maybe let's put it like this Coach Jones certainly wasn’t going to stand in his way if he found another opportunity.
It is not a coincidence at all that once Coach DeBord assumed the Offensive Coordinator's position Tennessee’s public recruitment of Guarantano intensified and became more public.
So here is hoping this one goes Tennessee’s way on Wednesday afternoon.
'X'
Thinking about this one after reading that X-cellent analysis, I will be able to accept Guarantano deciding to stay at home and play at his pop's alma mater. I think we all get that. If he picks Ohio State, I'm going to puke immaculate on Broadway in Maryville today. Please...No Ohio State. Urban Meyer is sickening. How does he do it?
FWIW: Most seem to think UT has done enough with Gurantano. I don't know about you, but I've got my hopes up that we're about to land a real, live, living, breathing franchise QB. Today could be really fun.
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I talked with Rick Barnes yesterday on the show (
Listen here). Good times are really ahead with this guy. You can just feel it coming. He's really bright and measured. What a pro. We touched on many subjects, including the current state of college hoops. I appreciate that unlike many others in his profession, Barnes believes college basketball has issues that it must address. I'm telling you, we had a dead level, honest, adult conversation. He didn't blink at the line of questioning I threw at him. It was interesting to hear him compare Texas to Tennessee facility wise and talk about the real UT's (my term, not his) advantage.
I also thought it was telling that Barnes said he hopes to sign four players this spring but he's not going to waste a scholarship on any one he doesn't believe can't play long term here. Barnes did admit that this is a conundrum to be caught with a short stacked roster at this late date. You have to get players but you can't fall in love with the first thing you see.
One thing I told Barnes is that he will tell me in one year or less how surprised he is with the level of interest in hoops here. How do I know this? Because it's the truth. I told Barnes about our Smartway/Dalton Bearing and Hydraulic postgame call in shows that went at times 2+ hours and he said 'that brings me chills just thinking about it.'
This guy is going to love coaching here. I hope he's got some recruiting chops left in the tank. If he does, we could be in the money here.
Losing Romello White is no surprise to me. There will be plenty of Romello White's in this staff's future. Here's his announcement on Twitter last night. I wish this kid well.
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The Baseball Vols lost to a middling MTSU team last night down in Murphreesboro. What's up with that? Tennessee is now 15-17 on the year. What's up with THAT? The Vols non-conference record is now only 10-7 on the year. Poor Dave Serrano. He's 3.5 years into his tenure here and doesn't seem to be gaining traction. Honestly, I'm really surprised by this. What else can you say? Tennessee baseball should be better than this. Can it get there under Serrano? Going to be interesting to see how this turns out.
Amen to this. I've never got excited about Spring Football. NEVER. I think it's almost silly to draw conclusions from the spring.
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If you watched ESPN2 last night, that really was UT's own VFL Scotty Hopson playing in the D-League semi's. If Hopson had a little more dawg in him, he could easily be a fine player in the NBA. Guy has all the skills you need.
12th men in the NBA. I don't care what this says...12th man goes to the best UNC, Dukie, UCLA, Kentucky or Kansas player available. It's called taking care of your own.
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We don't talk about this much as football fans, but it's lurking.
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Jameis Winston's Wonderlick score is one less point than Peyton Manning's. Impressive.
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Today on the show I'm joined by Dr. Sean Sinclair and we welcome Danny Parker of insidetennessee.com along with Jerry Meyer who covers college hoops recruiting for 24/7. Going to be slam jammed today. Hope you'll join us.
Tony
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