Dream chasing is an occupation, those with the job understand the process of manifestation. Committed pic.twitter.com/C4fWJPxuuQ— Hendon Hooker (@henhook2) January 7, 2021
Best of luck to him, I hope he tears it up out there
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That hurts. I'll be rooting for him, but I wish it wasn't Tennessee
I justify it as I hope he personally does well, I don't care what their record ends up though
Wishing the Best of luck for HH - but i just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
I hope for the best for the guy, but this is also going on at Tennessee right now:
EDIT: And Pruitt has officially been fired. With cause.
That seems...not ideal
HH walking into Tennessee like
What's the rule on decommitting here? Is he allowed to withdraw his commitment and reconsider?
He's free to go wherever he wants unless he signs an NLI or enrolls.
Best of luck, Hendon!
Not what I was expecting at all, but best of luck to Hendon!
I wish him the best. That is all I can say at this time.
Of all the schools he could've transferred to, that is certainly one of them. Good luck HH2
This is the most disgusting timeline.
Good Luck Double H, I hope you do great...
Can we get Guaranano? It'll be like a trade.
A really bad trade. JG is about the last QB I'd take out of the portal. I live in East Tennessee and follow UT football and basketball (not like I follow VT, like 50% of that). This will definitely boost my interest in UT football, expect I will watch all the games now (well, not the games like Alabama where it's over before halftime).
Pretty sure UT is standing by Pruitt and sticking with him, especially given that last most entertaining coach search.
Having UT family I've had to watch this kid play more than I care to. Not that it matters much now since he's on his way to Washington State, but he would be a step down from Hooker.
To be fair
Sure as God wears sandals, it beats fighting guys with treasure trails.
...
We've probably never interacted on this site before, but you were the first person "here" that I thought of when I read this headline. Lol
At least it's not UVA?
To be fair.... he is the only VT QB that hasn't beat UVA since before social media existed...#IfYouCantBeatThemJoinThem?
But can he catch the snap? Too soon?
In all seriousness, I will be interested to see how he performs with a new system. He had limitations here, but they may have been more of the system's limitations. Regardless, I hope he succeeds.
Which means FU failed!
Are we chalking up the TWO dropped snaps (that were perfect if memory serves me well) to poor qb development by Fuente and Co..?
Nah. He was good when the running game was cooking and play action effective. Teams that figured that out were able to neutralize him. See uva last year. And others. Granted he provided a hell of a spark.
Not at all. They were all on HH. Thus far, qbs have performed better in our offense than they did where they came from or went. This will be another data point. But, my guess is that he will struggle in the passing game and do Hooker things in the running game.
Hilarious tweet. Also, those are some fugly ass jerseys.
Don't go throwing stones at other peoples' fugly jerseys. We're 19-18 in our fugly jerseys.
I didn't think Bucky Hodges had any eligibility left
I can't imagine a better pairing next season than Hooker and Freeze
Is Robert Kraft a Vols booster?
Jimmy Haslam of the Pilot Flying J money
Jimmy is going to have to dig into his pockets for a new coach. At least he won't have to pay for a buyout.
Another "net" portal win.. oh wait.
If only we've ever had a good portal QB or anyone else come our way recently, like Herbert or Jerod Evans. No one is thrilled by this move, but I wish HH the best, even tho it is Tennessee. Living in TN, I hope he at least tears it up while UT continues its stay in mediocrity.
I blame Butch Jones.
From the frying pan to the fire. Good luck to HH, but SEC defenses and the Pruitt mess, or post Pruitt mess, don't look real inviting.
At least it's a bit warmer in Knoxville. 😀
Ahhhh.. don't they have a 5 star commit form 2020 that played this year? Not good Bob.
He's transferring if I remember correctly
It'll be interesting to see what HH could do in the SEC but I must admit not quite as entertaining as the thought of QP smashing JMU
I don't hate Tennessee like the rest of Hokie nation it seems. I don't know a single Tennessee fan and have never even been in the state, even just passing through. With that being said, I don't like this. Not for my own selfish reasons but because I don't think it will be good for Hendon (or anyone who decides to play QB there for that matter).
Tennessee's fanbase is hellbent on returning to greatness. They cannot accept a rebuild. Someone plays a few bad games and the entire fanbase is calling for that player to be benched and probably the entire coaching staff to be fired. Most players don't respond to that very well, and I don't think Hendon will be any different. I hope I'm wrong because, like I said, I don't dislike Tennessee.
You don't hate Tennessee? This guy needs a word with you
I hate Tennessee
best video ever, was hoping this was what the link was for
My fav line "Neyland Stadium looks like a garbage truck worker convention"
if you did and had, you would. They're like WVU minus the lack of pretense
Oh, WVU fans are pretentious. If you ask any of them, they have never lost a game fairly since joining the Big 12. They have only been screwed over by the Big 12 officials. I mean how else could they go from winning all those BCS bowl games and going to the Final Four in the Big Least?
hilarious since they've been boat raced numerous times in B12 games, but that was more a comment on who they are as people. UT fans and WVU fans may both occupy a trailer park, but only one of the two is convinced they're royalty. In my experience at least
I'm gonna assume that's the hunington response, cause the WVU fans I know don't think like that ... they realize the BCS bowls were under DickRod and haven't liked their coach since, though are coming around to the new guy and they hope DickRod burns in hell.
It's not just the Huntington ones. I think it's mostly the ones who didn't go to the school and have lived in the same town their whole lives.
I'm assuming you didn't go to Battle at Bristol...
I did not.
Can I wish him well and hope Georgia beats his team by 7 touchdowns in the same comment?
Photoshopping the helmet and jersey onto HH and...just...leaving the VT orange pants, thinking they look the same as the Vols' creamsicle crap (which aside from being the wrong color have always had a leg stripe) is absolutely fucking hilarious. Peak Tennessee.
#SmokeyEdits
Now I cant unsee this....
And I've dabbled in Photoshop before. It is not hard at all to alter the orange to be the correct creamsickle shade. That is just lazy.
I think it's worse - it looks like they left all the oranges the VT orange in the lower image, just changed the jersey to white.
.
Interesting move for multiple reasons.
#1 Pruitt appears to be firmly on the hotseat at UT...without a winning record in '21 he may be gone. Leaving one Hotseat coach for another is a bit puzzling.
#2 despite multiple transfers (Guarantano, Shrout, Hill) UT still has 2 QBs coming back with game experience, including Bailey who was a 5* and presumably "the future." I think its very presumptuous to think HH is the clear leader for QB1
#3 admittedly haven't watched a ton of UT games, but it seems that they run a much more Pro-Style offense which would not seem to be a natural fit for HH's skills
He is transferring to be a TE? But seriously, best of luck to him.
Honestly it strikes me as a weird fit. Hooker isn't a guy that is going to drop back on third down and sling the ball all over the place and that seems to be the MO for Tennessee. Run first and second down and then have the QB make a play on third down. Think they were close to the bottom in FBS in first and second down pass rates.
Great points add up to I still don't get it. Not really in a better position relative to playing time. The real idea here is he needs to improve if he wants to be the man anywhere in P5.
Would love to know the real story as to why after all he went through this year.
It hurts to see him on another team but I'll be hoping for his success.
Bummed. I really believe he is the most talented QB Fuente has recruited. I can't logically describe his career arc so far.
i dont think its an arc... i think it looks more like an EKG
I think I can describe it aptly...
Brad Cornelsen
I think he is the best they have recruited amongst a bad pool.
That's a bit of an overstatement.
Both HH and QP were 4☆ QBs, if you want to include Burmeister thats another 4☆.
While I would agree that many of us, including me, had unrealistic expectations for QP after the comments surrounding his E11 performance, he didn't really even become more than a minimal passing threat in 3+ yrs at VT. And Hooker, while he had moments of brilliance, was never consistent especially in crunch time, and has had substandard mechanics that have never been improved. That's basic QB coaching stuff.
Literally not a single QB has shown consistent improvement or development under Cornelson and Fuente. Not one. Sure, it could be that every single one of them had flaws that were irreparable, but I would tend to find the common denimintor here--Cornelson.
You can't ignore that circumstances have made it difficult to gauge development. Injuries and then COVID aren't exactly inconsequential.
There was little improvement the others years before Covid. Covid is not an excuse. Using it as one is lazy.
I wont argue. The number of quarterbacks that haven't excelled is a bad look for coaching. But, JJ did worse at MD. And, I dont think you can coach accuracy but to a degree. Is this staff incapable of developing a quarterback or have they had some bad luck with the ceiling of their 4 star recruits? We will see. If Hooker improves at Tennessee, we will know for sure.
Nice use of the ☆ character. I might steal that, i like it
I can... "dynamic athlete behind center who made a huge splash when taking over starting duties for Virginia Tech but eventually his limitations, particularly accuracy in the passing game, were exposed by ACC defenses"
I dont hate the move, but I do hate UT. From what I understand UT does have a pretty good MBA program, so good on him for going if that's what he's after, and to get the chance to go head to head with some SEC defenses.
It sucks to lose a QB, but I'm in the camp of this is a wash move for us. We lose a lot of depth, but I have faith in BB and Kadum to keep us competitive.
I hope Hendon has a Heisman-worthy season. I also hope Tennessee never wins another football game as long as I'm alive. Possible? Probably not. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hendon finishes with a Heisman-worthy season, QP wins a Natty.....we roll to .500
Quote from Hendon, featured in The Athletic piece by David Ubben:
I hope he makes it. But he has a lot of ground to make up if he wants to make it to the next level. The communication aspect is a bit concerning though.
Very concerning. Not a good look at all.
I wouldn't make a meal out of the quote. He was asked about what he was looking for, not what he didn't have at VT.
Remember, Hooker tried transferring once before. I don't doubt his commitment to VT and playing his nuts off, but maybe the fire wasn't as bright as fans and himself would have liked.
EDIT: Ubben is a great Twitter follow. Initially a B12 reporter, but now on the beat for Tennessee. Second favorite Athletic writer.
I think that's quite an optimistic view. The assumption is that he didn't have (at least one of) these things at VT, so he had to go somewhere else to get it.
Also worth noting he was offered by Ohio State.
Man, idk why he would pick Tennessee over OSU.
Much better path to starting IMO, and closer to home could be a factor.
Even though tOSU is almost certainly losing Fields, freshman CJ Stroud was a coveted recruit (5* by 247), and they are bringing in a composite 5*, Kyle McCord, in this 2021 class. Perhaps not a factor for Hooker at all, but in an even more insane development, they have another 5* QB already committed for the 2022 class, Quinn Ewers, who is currently rocking a perfect 1.0000 composite ranking. Though I think Sark could maybe steal Ewers back to Texas if his offense flashes next season.
Must be all the NFL success OSU has had \s
Too cold in Columbus? 👀
Jeremy Pruitt officially fired at Tennessee.
For cause to try to not pay him the $12.8M left on the contract, not that it doesn't sound deserved at this point
Tennessee hired a law firm to investigate their own head coach so they could fire him with cause. I'm sure they will find someone to replace Pruitt with, but after the last hiring process and now this, what coach that's worth anything will want to coach there?
is it wishful thinking to say Fuente?
Depends if Clay Travis feels the need to submarine bomb the first leaked name that comes out, like he did Schiano.
I mean, I wouldn't want Greg Schiano coaching my team lol
Anyone that can make hay at Rutgers, plus NFL stops, and national championship caliber stops at Penn St and Ohio St, yeah, I'd want that guy.
As for the Sandusky tie in, Clay took the one sentence in the full FBI report that had Schiano's name, and ran with it to defame his character. Schiano did what he was supposed to do, report the crime to his superiors. They in turn covered it all up.
So, yeah, I'd take Schiano as my head coach.
I agree the Sandusky tie in was a below the belt shot, but I still don't think he's a great coach. I think he's better than any coach UT has had since Fulmer, but that's a low bar.
I see they're looking for an AD too, could be a package deal. Whit and Fu could roll on down to Knoxville, dehumanize the Vols, and kick off Year -4 of the Fu era at Tennessee. /s
Rumor is that Fulmer could be out as well. Possibly forced retirement. Seen multiple places that they "don't expect Fulmer to be involved in hiring the next coach."
Given the lack of coaching choices at this weird time for a school with unknown NCAA sanctions coming, probably ought to just make Fulmer the interim coach since that would make him the best coach they have had since, well since Fulmer.
An offseason isnt complete without a Tennessee coaching search bonfire! All rejoice and pull up the popcorn this gon be good.
Everything that happened to VT football this past year has happened so all of college football can enjoy Hugh Freeze having a Hooker as his starting quarterback.
I am there with you on the boosters at Tennessee thinking this gives them a clear path to Freeze. Saw a Tennessee fan speculating that they were going to steal Ryan Day from OSU. Had me near tears realizing he was serious.
Ryan Day would get one of those Auburn buyouts if he made the jump.
Hmmm....methinks if Freeze goes to Tennessee, Malik Willis will come right along with him. That would NOT be a good thing for Hendon. But this kind of thing happens when you are 100% committed to a dumpster fire. Wish the best for Hendon, but he may want to try to keep his options open to move somewhere else........
Soooo what's Pruitt doing? Didn't he used to be a DC at Bama?
Rumor was he and Saban didn't get along, but just rumors.
Weren't there also some rumors of he and Richt almost getting into it at GA? May be a hot head.
I think it's largely known that Pruitt is good at his job, but no one likes working with him (not unlike Matt Canada). I don't think anyone has fun working for Saban, so I imagine he works there.
All day today Bama fans have been clamoring for him to come home on Twitter
Saylor usually has a pretty good feel for things going on at Bama
Supposedly Saban and Kiffin didn't like each other either, but they made it work. So here I sit in my fan seat and all i think is, "I want a top flight DC to come back, Saban and Pruitt can put on their big boy pants and work it out for wins"
Biggest problem with this is Bama would actually have to pay him if he came home. No buyout for Pruitt so one of those $25k a year analyst jobs doesn't really seem like an option and Saban seems to really like those former head coaches working for peanuts.
Please take Fuente back to Tennessee