Former Alabama QB takes weird shot at high school football talent in the state of Tennessee and immediately gets called out
Former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback and current college football analyst Greg McElroy is no stranger to pissing off fans in the Volunteer state. It's been less than a year since McElroy took a bizarre shot at Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello. McElroy apologized last summer for calling Vitello's reaction to winning the College World […]
Former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback and current college football analyst Greg McElroy is no stranger to pissing off fans in the Volunteer state.
It's been less than a year since McElroy took a bizarre shot at Tennessee Vols baseball coach Tony Vitello.
McElroy apologized last summer for calling Vitello's reaction to winning the College World Series "embarrassing".
"He's like a WWE character and it's embarrassing, seriously," said McElroy last June. "To be an adult, I'd be appalled. I really would. I know he wins and he's great and the kids love him and all that stuff. That's awesome, but if that was a leader of my organization I would have to have a little talking to him. I just would. It's unbelievable."
McElroy made some comments on Thursday during his radio show "McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning" that will once again draw the ire of fans in Tennessee, though I'm not sure a public apology will be required this time around.
During Thursday morning's show, amid a discussion about high school football talent in the state of Connecticut, McElroy took a weird shot at high school talent in the state of Tennessee.
"If I need to find a player, I'm probably not going to Connecticut," said McElroy. "If I gotta find one, I'm not going there. I'm just not….I can name more notable players in one class of Tennessee than I can in 25 years of Connecticut. And Tennessee doesn't even have good players, as far as quantity."
"You can't just say Tennessee doesn't have good players," responded co-host Cole Cubelic.
"I didn't say Texas, I didn't say Georgia, I didn't say California, I said Tennessee," continued McElroy. "So as far as quantity, much much less players that are high level in Tennessee than there are in those three states….I'm not saying there's not good players in Tennessee, I'm saying there's not as many."
(The entire exchange begins around the 26 minute mark below.)
McElroy isn't wrong that there aren't as many elite recruits in the state of Tennessee as there are in Texas, California, and Georgia. That's not exactly a big secret.
But while that's true, it's also true that there's more talent than ever in the state of Tennessee — especially in the Nashville and Memphis areas.
Oddly enough, 104.5 The Zone's Will Boling, co-host of "Ramon, Kayla, and Will" tweeted out an "All-Tennessee" team on Thursday morning that's made up entirely of players who played high school football in Tennessee.
McElroy could've made his point about high school football in Connecticut by singling out a number of other southern-ish states — Mississippi, Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Kentucky, etc.
But instead, the former Alabama quarterback went with…..Tennessee. And after the way McElroy talked about Vitello last year, I don't think it's a coincidence or random that he went with Tennessee. He's still a former Alabama quarterback, after all.
I think McElroy is one of the best college football analysts in the business. I really do. He typically offers great insight on the sport. And he's often right (he nailed his Tennessee vs Ohio State prediction in the College Football Playoff after I said the Vols should use it as motivation), but this shot at high school football talent in Tennessee missed the mark.
Comments from Vols WR appear to confirm that NFL teams have questions about how Tennessee’s offense prepares players for the NFL
It’s a narrative that won’t go away
