One Player Drafted: How Did the Once Mighty Tennessee Volunteers Fall This Far?

Tennessee had as many players drafted this year as McNeese State, Monmouth, Nicholls State, and Tennessee State.

One.

Robert Ayers.

He was a first-round pick and considered by some to be the best defensive player in the draft. But for a program to have only one player drafted hurts.

Tennessee has had 320 players selected in the NFL draft since the draft's inception in the 1930's—that's seventh-best.

To see only one go in this year’s draft confirms that Mike Hamilton made the right decision in November 2008 in changing coaches.

I argued against the naysayers who proclaimed that Phillip Fulmer was no longer recruiting talented players. He was still getting top-notch talent at Tennessee, I thought. It’s just the whole development thing that wasn’t happening.

Recruiting great players is only half the battle. The other half is development. That’s where the big money is earned.

Fulmer and Co. simply weren't doing that during the last few years.

Players like RB Arian Foster in '08 and DB Jonathan Hefney in '06 completely bottomed out in their senior seasons. They went from being top juniors in the SEC to not even being drafted.

What happened to Erik Ainge between his freshman and sophomore seasons? He went from being one of the best young quarterbacks in the country to being sent to the bench in favor of Rick Clausen...Rick Clausen!

The sad thing is, Clausen was actually better in 2005 than Ainge. Ainge hit rock bottom that season with a 45 percent completion rate and threw for only 727 yards.

Then, in 2006, long-time offensive coordinator David Cutcliffe came back, and Ainge was the starter again. Ainge went on to great junior and senior seasons and became a late-round draft pick last season.

Another example: Jonathan Crompton.

How did he go from being a highly touted, five-star QB in high school to what we had last year? Crompton was recruited by USC, Miami, Georgia, and a host of ACC teams!

Tennessee fans were longing for the days of Joey Mathews and A.J. Suggs, while Crompton was throwing INTs and incomplete passes all over the field in 2008.

So here we are. It’s a new day in Tennessee.

For all of my on-again, off-again infatuation with Lane Kiffin and his remarkable staff, I just do not know where we stand as a college football program.

As bad as Jonathan Crompton was in 2008, with B.J. Coleman’s departure things may get worse before they get better.

Fulmer’s regime may have irreparably ruined Compton's potential for an NFL career. Something happened between his recruitment and his junior season.

Can Kiffin prove in one offseason that he can develop players? He’s demonstrated half of the equation with his recruiting ability.

We’ve all heard that Kiffin’s main selling point in recruiting is, “We’ll get you ready for the NFL!” And with the diamond-studded thick wallet he has on that sideline he’d better make good on that promise.

It's a near certainty that if the Vols end up with only one drafted player anytime in the next four or five years, we’ll be looking at another change at the top.