It’s not any big secret that the big gap in Junior’s master plan to conquer the great unwashed of the SEC is the situation at quarterback. You’d have to assume that whatever he had in mind in the course of running off Fulmer’s two recruits at the position as well as B. J. Coleman hasn’t played out. Right now, he’s left with Crompton, Stephens, a washed up former minor league baseball player and whatever kid playing intramural football at UT he can talk into suiting up in an emergency.
What is a little surprising, given the black hole at QB and the greatest bunch of recruiters EVAH, is the complete lack of success UT has had so far signing a quarterback in the 2010 class.
Which is why the reported verbal from an obscure 6’2″, 200-pound juco kid named Nick Lamaison was greeted with, if not outright rejoicing, at least sighs of relief in Urnge Country. Except it turns out there’s a catch. Lamaison hasn’t exactly committed.
Now you can think this is a bit of a setback, if you’re a dispassionate observer of the UT program. Or you can presume a scenario that plugs right back into that master plan mindset, if you’re something more than a dispassionate observer. Even if hooper’s right about what’s going on, that’s an awful lot of effort the Laner’s expending on talking a B-lister and C-lister (and I’m not even sure a kid who wasn’t recruited by a D-1 program out of high school deserves that high a grade) into playing in Knoxville.
Of course, that’s due to the hand Junior’s dealt himself. Which, sadly, pokes a hole in the Junior-knows-what-he’s-doing, he’s-a-great-recruiter balloon.
Even sadder, what does it say about where the program is right now? If all that’s true, isn’t the message we’re getting about Scroggins is that duking it out with all that talent at Southern Cal may be a more attractive option for him than having to compete with a juco transfer at Tennessee? Otherwise, why even bother to hide the Lamaison commitment in the first place?
Get The Picture 
Okay, let me get this straight. Scroggins is interested in USC… a place where he will have to compete with several elite quarterbacks for a shot to see any playing time. Not only is he interested, but he is rumored to commit there.
And, Kiffin and Co. believe that the commitment of a JUCO who would only have two years of eligibility when Scroggins stepped on campus would deter him from committing to Tennessee because, presumably, he would not want to compete for playing time.
The logical next step in the Kiffin Recruiting Master Plan: begging.
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I’m not sure this is a knock against where the program is right now. It’s not like we’ve sunk into the depths of continual worthlessness. We’ve had one bad season. We’re a year removed from an SECCG appearance, even if it wasn’t the greatest season.
One thing that needs to be said is Lamaison was ALWAYS coming if he qualified. He will be in this year’s class. Next year, he would have had several offers, but he’s trying to qualify for this year. I can’t recall the kid’s name, but there was a defensive tackle this year who already had a 2010 offer from Oklahoma, but he graduated JUCO early and is headed to Arkansas. This is something new that happens.
You’re right about the hopefulness part. We have no idea what to expect from Lamaison, and Kiffin’s decision to tell Tajh Boyd to hit the road is questionable at best. But the bottom line is, sans Scroggins, Lamaison is simply as big (or small) a gamble as any quarterback left on the board likely the same amount of gamble as Hendrix, Rees or Rettig.
Development is the MOST important aspect of making a good quarterback. Not talent. Ask Danny Wuerffel. But, there comes a point in time where a measure of talent is necessary. I just hope A) The coaching staff will be good at developing quarterbacks and B) Lamaison is an intelligent winner who’s a diamond in the rough.
I’m skeptical, to say the least.
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Ghost, you’re right – my rhetorical question was more about the reasoning behind the other blog post than about the actual state of the program currently.
I’ve got to tell you, though, if you’d have asked me in January where Kiffin might have problems, this wouldn’t have been what I would have picked.
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