"I admit that my senior year I was a little distant, and I stayed away from people," said Foster,...

"I admit that my senior year I was a little distant, and I stayed away from people," said Foster, who's now projected to go during the latter rounds of the draft. "Last year was hard for everybody. We saw it all crumbling before us. There was finger-pointing in the locker room, and the morale was terrible.

"It was sad, because I knew what the program was and what it should be. I guess part of the reason I didn't say much is that I didn't want to add to the negative atmosphere. Everybody could feel it, and they would be lying if they said it wasn't negative. There was just so much arguing that I didn't want to make it worse."

From ESPN.com's Chris Low

7 months ago Getoffmyvols 19 comments 0 recs |

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Not sure why the link didn't show up.

Here

"The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it."

by Getoffmyvols on Apr 22, 2009 9:20 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It was just missing the text.

I added some for you; hope you don’t mind.

And thanks. I’ve been waiting to hear from him for a long, long time. Now I’m off to read the article.

by Hooper on Apr 22, 2009 9:31 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

But I really don’t blame him at all for speaking in pterodactyl. Last year sucked for everyone — players, fans, and coaches. If someone had asked me to speak about the Vols around mid-season, I would have spoken in giraffe.

by rblakeh on Apr 22, 2009 9:30 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

True.

Most of the anger directed toward him was a bit unfair. His fumbles came at the time when people are the most tense about the game, so they’re the most memorable. (Not that he should have fumbled.)

But I can’t imagine how that locker room felt after, say, the Auburn game – especially for an offensive player.

We’ll see. The scouts are insanely thorough when checking out these guys. If they find a solid argument to justify a lot of his problems last year, he might be a very highly coveted 3rd- to 4th-rounder. Most importantly, if he proves to be a high character guy (which is a very likely case), then he’ll be looked at more carefully by the kinds of teams that will be better fits for him (a/k/a not Dallas).

by Hooper on Apr 22, 2009 9:40 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I still think that loss is on Crompton

Both for the fumble as well as failing to get us a first down.

by rblakeh on Apr 22, 2009 9:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I love the guy for saying he was coming back

to win an SEC Championship, and for turning down second round money to do so. That’s what you want in your program.

I will say that Fulmer is engaging in a little revisionist history on Foster’s fumbles though.

Will - Rocky Top Talk

by Will on Apr 22, 2009 9:53 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

True on both.

by Hooper on Apr 22, 2009 9:59 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Last year he just seemed completely out of place in the "offense"

That shouldn’t be the case if you’re a senior tailback coming off of a 1000 yard season. Period. Not saying his reps should have dropped to get Creer and Hardesty on the field, but there is no way he should have been the non factor that he was.

I remember players last year during spring practice say that they would have gotten yelled at by Cutcliffe and his assitants for doing certain things that Clawson had them doing. In hindsight that should have been a huge red flag because in 07 we were scoring around 30 points a game.

Having that said I’d be curious to see how Foster would have fit in with the Kiffin Chimera.

"The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it."

by Getoffmyvols on Apr 22, 2009 10:25 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

**Not saying his reps shoudn’t have dropped

"The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it."

by Getoffmyvols on Apr 22, 2009 10:27 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Last year basically destroyed our ability to evaluate the offensive players, I think.

Without knowing a lot more of the behind-the-scenes stuff, I think it’s probably too difficult to fairly separate the stuff that was the scheme’s fault, the stuff that was coaching fault, and the stuff that was player fault. We can figure this, though:

+ The scheme was too hard and the offense never got it under control.

+ The players were highly frustrated and probably let it affect their performance in games and in practices.

+ The coaching staff did not have as tight of control on the team as what Cutcliffe would bring.

And here we are.

by Hooper on Apr 22, 2009 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cutcliffe could command respect on reputation alone.

One minute you have Peyton Manning call you up personally and say “do whatever he says”…. Then the next you’re sitting in a room watching film of the Richmond Spiders hearing the coach say “this is what the offense will look like in 2 years we promise!!”

"The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it."

by Getoffmyvols on Apr 22, 2009 11:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes.

Sometimes the book is indeed judged correctly by its cover.

I remember hearing the announcement of Clawson coming over and thinking, “Whaaa….?” Over time, I convinced myself that it was going to be far better than it initially sounded. But yes, the initial gut reaction turned out to be the right one, unfortunately.

by Hooper on Apr 22, 2009 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

And now...

…the guy is the Head Football Coach at a Division I-A school (?!?!).

by TheSandman on Apr 22, 2009 12:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oddly

He’s still wearing a Tennessee Orange tie as head coach at Bowling Green:
http://www.crescent-news.com/news/article/4571442

"Florida didnt win their first SEC title until 1991 and now they think they invented football."
-Ron Zook

by rustytanton on Apr 22, 2009 8:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Foster and the Clawson experiment

Arian Foster is an incredible athlete who has conducted himself as a gentleman. He sacrificed for the University by coming back. Little did he (or we) know that the hiring of Clawson would be the catalyst for the undoing of a season and Fulmer’s tenure. Clawson either chose not to utilize Foster’s proven talent or was unable to realize it. I’d love to read the book on the ’08 season if it is ever written.

Vinnie Testaverde is always remembered for Tennessee kicking his ass.

by RevOrange on Apr 22, 2009 12:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Clay Travis has one coming out in August

On Rocky Top: A Front-Row Seat to the End of an Era

"The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it."

by Getoffmyvols on Apr 22, 2009 12:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I saw his book Dixieland Delight on a store shelf the other day

I have you, or anyone else for that matter, read it and would you recommend it. Judging from a quick flip through it looked pretty entertaining, I’ve just never read any of his stuff before…

Give me a thousand Tennesseans, and I'll whip any other thousand men on the globe!-Andrew Jackson

by jimvols on Apr 22, 2009 4:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs