Tennessee Vols: Harrison Bailey's high school film won't help him climb the ladder at UT
Tennessee Vols offensive coordinator Jim Chaney loves incoming freshman Harrison Bailey's potential at the quarterback position. And why shouldn't he? Bailey was a monster in high school, finishing his career with the fourth most passing yards in Georgia high school history (behind Trevor Lawrence, Deshaun Watson and Jake Fromm, pretty good company). But while Chaney […]
Tennessee Vols offensive coordinator Jim Chaney loves incoming freshman Harrison Bailey's potential at the quarterback position.
And why shouldn't he?
Bailey was a monster in high school, finishing his career with the fourth most passing yards in Georgia high school history (behind Trevor Lawrence, Deshaun Watson and Jake Fromm, pretty good company).
But while Chaney loves the potential that Bailey showed on film, none of that matters now that he's enrolled at Tennessee.
At UT's recruiting celebration in Nashville earlier this month, Chaney made it clear that it doesn't matter what Bailey (or fellow incoming freshman quarterback Jimmy Holiday) put on film in high school, saying "you watch the video tape and it says one thing…let’s get them on the field and see what they’re capable of".
Bailey won't receive preferential treatment just because he's a five-star recruit with a high ceiling. The Georgia native is going to have to prove himself at Tennessee.
Essentially, Bailey has to completely rebuild his reputation as a football player. He has to prove he can be the leader in college that he was in high school. He has to prove he can be the savvy decision maker at the next level that he was in high school.
And that's the way it should be.
All bets are off once you get to the SEC. Recruiting rankings don't matter. When the game's on the line, it doesn't matter if it's a five-star player or a walk-on on that makes the game winning play — all that matters is that the play is made.
It's clear that Chaney is a big fan of Bailey and Holiday, noting that they're both "hungry to learn".
But neither one of them is going to unseat Jarrett Guarantano just by showing up — they're going to have to prove themselves before they're even considered for the starting job.
The Vols finally have some nice depth at quarterback. It should be a fun battle to watch this spring.
Featured image via Randy Sartin-USA TODAY Sports
