Week 9 of the NFL season provided reminder of a big mistake that the Tennessee Vols made during the Jeremy Pruitt era
Week 9 of the 2024 NFL season provided a reminder of one of the biggest mistakes that the Tennessee Vols made during the Jeremy Pruitt era. Los Angeles Chargers rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey had a breakout game against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, catching six passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns. McConkey […]
Week 9 of the 2024 NFL season provided a reminder of one of the biggest mistakes that the Tennessee Vols made during the Jeremy Pruitt era.
Los Angeles Chargers rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey had a breakout game against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, catching six passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
McConkey is a former three-star recruit who played for the Georgia Bulldogs from 2020 to 2023.
McConkey should've been a Vol. And if the Pruitt staff at Tennessee had made McConkey a priority, he almost certainly would've been a Vol.
The 2024 second round draft pick grew up rooting for Tennessee.
McConkey still wanted to go to Tennessee even after he received an offer from Georgia. The Vols, however, viewed McConkey only as a backup option in case they didn't land one of their top wide receiver targets.
"When I got the offer from Georgia, Tennessee came like a couple of days later," explained McConkey last year. "And they were like 'hey, we want you to come up this weekend'. So I was like oh yeah, it's about to happen…they're about to offer me. I [was] going to commit right then. Really, I probably would've committed right then if they would've let me. But I got up there and they were like 'it's so late in the process, we've already offered all the receivers and we think we're going to get them, so we can't really give you anything'. They were like 'but if anything changes on signing day, we'll call you'. And I [didn't] really like that. So I woke up right before school, at like 7 AM, and signed my papers with Georgia. I didn't even want to be put in the position of one of them not signing and them (Tennessee) calling."
From Dawg Nation: The Vols were his team. McConkey said back then if they were to offer, it would be “something special” that he’d have to think long and hard about. “He probably would have gone to Tennessee if they would have offered him,” (Preston) Poag said. “He sure loved Tennessee growing up.” Jim Chaney, the UT offensive coordinator at the time, came down to Chatsworth to see him. Yet he was in and out and 30 minutes. Tops. He didn’t take any pictures or see the UT stuff in the McConkey home.
The Vols signed Jalin Hyatt, Malachi Wideman, Jimmy Holiday, and Jimmy Calloway during that recruiting cycle. Hyatt is the only of those players that panned out for the Vols.
McConkey is obviously a player that could've helped Tennessee. Every program has recruiting misses, but this one hurts for the Vols a little more because McConkey grew up rooting for Tennessee, yet ended up starring for Georgia.
