OT: Former top Michigan target Tennessee QB Harrison Bailey enters transfer portal
https://247sports.com/player/harrison-bailey-83301/
Bailey was a top 100 player in the 2020 class. We led for Bailey for a while until he ultimately chose Tennessee
October 27th, 2021 at 6:33 PM ^
If he can't beat out Joe Milton, would we even consider him?
October 27th, 2021 at 6:43 PM ^
General consensus among Tennessee fans seems to be that Bailey was just a terrible fit for Heupel's system, but is still pretty talented
October 27th, 2021 at 6:53 PM ^
Yup. Super interested in the judgement of Tennessee fans..
October 27th, 2021 at 8:11 PM ^
Lol fair enough
October 27th, 2021 at 10:35 PM ^
I mean, at least if they had some spiced mustards.....
October 27th, 2021 at 6:45 PM ^
Milton's physical tools make coaches delirious. And stubborn ("I can change him.")
Milton beat out McNamara early on last year too, even though Cade was a huge upgrade.
October 27th, 2021 at 9:44 PM ^
Milton beating out McNamara last year is exactly why "trust the coaches" should not be gospel.
I see that a bunch here in the McNamara - McCarthy debate, and whatever your opinion, "trust the coaches" is just a lazy, oversimplified argument. Fact is, nobody really knows.
OU fans were asking for a change from Rattler to Williams all year and only when Riley (a true QB whisperer) had his hand forced in the UT game after going down 3 scores, was the change made. OU's offense suddenly looks lethal again, after their early season issues were being blame on the O-line, not Rattler's play. If Riley could be that wrong about a QB situation, after coaching the likes of Mayfield, Hurts, and Murray, it's pretty obvious that players (specifically talented ones) need real run in games before you can truly assess their potential.
October 27th, 2021 at 11:01 PM ^
Trust the coaches doesn’t mean they are infallible gods of football who can’t ever be wrong. It means they have a lot more information that the average armchair coach who thinks the backup qb is always the best player on the team. It’s possible for guys to show out in camp, in the film room, and in practice, only to stink it up on game day. The inverse can be true too. But at least most of the coaches aren’t idiots who can’t find the nose on their face. They are subject to all the same flaws as any human, they just have better info and more expertise than you do. To me “trust the coaches” means by all means critique and criticize the coaches but also know that they know more than you and there may be reasons for their inexplicable decisions you don’t understand. Then again they may just be Scott Frost.
October 28th, 2021 at 7:46 AM ^
The issue here is what they do with "more information"...and sometimes more information is not necessarily a good thing. Each of us have personal preferences. Here, coaches can get too close to a matter such as this and are "informed" by subjective information that is incorrect. Scott Frost is mentioned here but it could just as well be Jim Harbaugh.
Coaches can only be informed a certain amount by what takes place in practice-and nowhere is this more true than in the play of a QB. Here, the fans get to be informed, in the most telling way...just like the coaches-by what happens on the field of play when the bright lights are on. The difference between delivering a good ball with a good read on time with accuracy in practice (where the QB knows he is not going to get rocked) and under the real time pressure of a game...are in different universes.
I've had plenty of world-beater practice players who weren't worth a damn in live, meaningful action. This is one of the most difficult, excruciating aspects of coaching-winnowing through the roster and discovering the players who can play best when it matters. This applies at this level of play as much as anywhere-because, here, the differences in physical talent from player to player are quite small.
October 27th, 2021 at 11:29 PM ^
The book is still open on Caleb Williams.
He did well against Texas (don't forget the 2pt conversion in which Rattler was put in the game....presumably because Caleb couldn't make the read/decision/throw to make the play...)
Crushed a TCU team that had a whole half-game of film on the new QB
Struggled against juggernaut Kansas for 3/4 of the game.
So, "trust the coaches" is not gospel - you're right there.
But the coaches of such a plethora of information that to dismiss their decisions as ignorant or naive, seems insane.
October 29th, 2021 at 12:30 AM ^
Williams did not struggle for 3/4 against Kansas. He played great all the second half. I saw the game.
October 28th, 2021 at 11:27 AM ^
You are making the assumption that Caleb Williams has arrived. Although he has looked impressive in a small sampling of games for about 3 quarters people were scratching their heads wondering what Rattler could have done against a 1-5 Kansas team. Let's see how the season plays out a DC begin to put a book together on Williams.
As for trusting the coaches, you could turn back to Speight and how see everyone was clamoring for O'Korn or Peters.
October 28th, 2021 at 11:13 AM ^
I'm pretty sure he is the player to be named later in the Milton trade. If he doesn't pan out, we can put him on waivers.
October 27th, 2021 at 6:34 PM ^
Can he throw it deep with touch? Can he beat out Joe Milton?
October 27th, 2021 at 6:34 PM ^
Probably not and no.
October 27th, 2021 at 6:34 PM ^
Second part:
October 27th, 2021 at 6:48 PM ^
Which bag Harrison? a. McDonald's b. BK c. Wendy's d. Chick-fil-A.
Now that bag is empty!!! Good news, all 4 are looking for help.
October 27th, 2021 at 9:32 PM ^
Zaxby's
October 27th, 2021 at 6:59 PM ^
I can understand why someone would prefer an Oklahoma or Bama or OSU or whatever to Michigan. I do not understand why someone would look at the last decade or so and think Tennessee is a better option than Michigan. Yes I know Happy Meal bags are nice but if Michigan and Tennessee are after you you'll be able to find bags elsewhere.
Tennessee did crown themselves "Champions of Life" a few years ago so maybe that counts for something?
October 27th, 2021 at 7:43 PM ^
Man, I really hate when people do this and just make 18 year old kid's recruiting decisions black and white just because they didnt pick the school they root for.
Those decisions are tough and layered and kids have a lot of reasons for going somewhere rather than another school. Location, weather, campus life, family connections, friends on the team, how they get along with the staff, positional depth, their own personal fandom, its not just if one team is or has been better than the other.
Bailey grew up three hours from Knoxville. Maybe he didnt want to go to school far away. Maybe he wanted his family to close by to see him play or just to see them. Its not hard to imagine that growing up in SEC country, having a chance to play in the SEC might mean more to him than the BIG or Pac12. Maybe he grew up a vols fan and wanted to try to lead them back. Tennessee has a huge stadium to play in front of as well.
October 27th, 2021 at 8:17 PM ^
Maybe he was an early riser and liked to pack in the morning. And maybe he didn't have any friends. I'm an educated man, but I'm afraid I can't speak intelligently about the travel habits of William Santiago.
October 27th, 2021 at 9:12 PM ^
I haven't finished my examination yet. Sit down.
October 27th, 2021 at 9:48 PM ^
You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall -- you need me on that wall.
October 27th, 2021 at 10:20 PM ^
He was a simple, country boy - some might say, a cockeyed optimist - who caught got up in the dirty game of world diplomacy and international intrigue … er, football recruiting.
October 28th, 2021 at 9:20 AM ^
UNBRIDLED ENTHUSIASM!!!
October 28th, 2021 at 1:29 AM ^
Logged in to say this was pure gold, bravo.
October 28th, 2021 at 2:42 AM ^
I strenuously object!
Sorry references to this movie always bring me to Demi Moore. It's a pleasant thought.
October 28th, 2021 at 4:53 AM ^
Striptease for me. The acting in that film was top notch.
October 28th, 2021 at 1:38 PM ^
"'I STRENUOUSLY object'. Is that how it's done? Hmmm. I object, your honor"
'Over ruled'
"No. No. I strenuously object"
'Oh, you strenuously object? Ok. I'll take some time and reconsider'
October 28th, 2021 at 7:36 AM ^
What do you want to discuss next? My favorite color?
October 28th, 2021 at 12:35 AM ^
That’s fair
October 27th, 2021 at 7:02 PM ^
With McNamara, McCarthy, and if they can land Dante Moore then he would probably be transferring out of here as well.
October 27th, 2021 at 7:04 PM ^
We HAVE to get this QB and start him NOW! His rating in that one pass he threw in live action places him OFF THE CHARTS!
It’s the only way we beat MSU. Or PSU. Or OSU,
Am I doing this right?
October 27th, 2021 at 9:11 PM ^
Honestly, yea. Pretty spot on
October 28th, 2021 at 3:25 AM ^
Mgoblog has a minimum of 5 good passes to be the sure bet QB.
October 28th, 2021 at 5:50 AM ^
Standards
October 28th, 2021 at 10:00 AM ^
Don't forget the other pass he threw that was out of bounds but, you know, was thrown with a lot of velocity behind it.
October 27th, 2021 at 7:10 PM ^
Two separate staffs decided he wasn’t a starter at that point, and this one decided to take two transfers at the position and put them ahead of him.
Let him go to the Fun Belt.
October 27th, 2021 at 10:30 PM ^
This is so important. He didn't just lose to Joe Milton. He also lost to another guy who lost to Joe Milton. I hope he turns it around but right now M is fine without him.
October 27th, 2021 at 7:49 PM ^
This sort of thing (3rd string QB moving on or someone passed up on the depth chart by underclassman) will probably just increase in the years to come. QB and place kicker are the two positions that come immediately to mind that you have to have logged a lot of tape if there is any hope of playing in the NFL.
He is 6'5", Milton is the same height, and the current QB for UT, Hendon Hooker, is 6'4" so it seems that UT was looking for a certain size and style - both Hooker and Milton can run and throw (at least in practice) but in a game, Milton had problems with sorting out coverages and hitting the deep ball.
October 27th, 2021 at 8:25 PM ^
Milton can’t run
October 27th, 2021 at 9:23 PM ^
Milton averaged 3.1 yards per carry (which includes sacks) in his career at Michigan with a long of 23. He was actually doing much better this year at Tennessee, with 156 yards on 23 carries and a long of 54.
So he was clearly no Denard but enough of a threat to run to keep defenses honest. At least if he could have thrown the ball consistently.
October 27th, 2021 at 10:23 PM ^
Milton improved his YPC with that run to end the game against Ole Miss. Gained a first down!
October 27th, 2021 at 8:16 PM ^
Can he run a read option? If not, do not care
October 27th, 2021 at 8:16 PM ^
OK, but I'd rather go after 5* OT Kingsley Suamataia who just entered the portal out of Oregon.
October 27th, 2021 at 8:27 PM ^
Him and Conerly would be nice additions for next year
October 27th, 2021 at 8:36 PM ^
Agreed! We would be set for awhile for sure.
October 27th, 2021 at 8:32 PM ^
Basically a lock to Utah or BYU.
He's homesick and wants to transfer closer to where he's from.
October 27th, 2021 at 8:19 PM ^
We should take him, and then when he ends up not playing very well we can say he just hasn’t had enough time in the system. Then, the following season when he still isn’t good, we can look for someone else and do this again.