🏈 Tennessee is hiring UCF’s Josh Heupel as its next head football coach,

[UAgrad93]

Tough for a kid to be frozen out just before a deadline. By this account, he wasn't treated well, but I guess he should've signed earlier when he could.

I've read a few times that his grades might be a question and that Pruitt asked him to wait and not sign in December. I think @mando mentioned that maybe UT felt he was looking elsewhere, I think he was simply looking at his GPA and he stayed true to UT, while they bailed on him. Keith Ethridge, the HC there at Oxford High was pissed!!! He said that someone told him to tell the kid that "he could tell everyone he de-committed from UT to save face" and Ethridge told them "Hell No! Y'all are owning this shit!! You aren't putting it on the kid!" Very bad look for Heupel and staff.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Is that what stinks so bad around 75 where it crosses the Hiwassee River?

No, that's the Bowater paper mill. At least it used to be Bowater, might have changed hands. Smells like Childersburg. Growing up in Westover, on a damp day when the wind was blowing right, we'd get a whiff of Childersburg.

EDIT: The paper mill is also why the fog warning system is on that part of 75. The emissions from the plant are warm and they create fog under certain conditions. Maybe 20-25 years ago there was a huge pile-up in the fog, and the company agreed to pay for the warning system.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Yes, it's beautiful country with, on the whole, good people. I hit most every small town, including the four I mentioned, Jefferson City, Morristown, Sneedville, Niota, Athens, Cookeville, Crossville, Maynardville, Sevierville, Gatlinburg, Elizabethton, Newport, Benton, Oak Ridge, Oneida along with the cities of East TN Chattanooga, Knoxville and Tri-cities. Probably missing a few.

When I was in Ducktown there were still major gashes in the land from the smelting operation. They had just closed the last mine. It was in October '87. I remember because we stayed in some condos over in Murphy, NC, and the first day I was there was the market crash.

And the Cherokee National Forest....
Give me a little hit here...lol

 

[UAgrad93]

Smells like Childersburg. Growing up in Westover, on a damp day when the wind was blowing right, we'd get a whiff of Childersburg.

That smell gets me EVERY time!!!! I'd rather skin a gut shot deer than smell Bowater/Kimberly Clark any time!!!!!

 

[It Takes Eleven]

That smell gets me EVERY time!!!! I'd rather skin a gut shot deer than smell Bowater/Kimberly Clark any time!!!!!

Yeah, that stretch of 280 between Harpersville and the river used to stink all the time. They built that golf course on 280 right in the middle of the stink, and it went belly up. I think they've reduced the emissions because the smell doesn't seem to drift as far any more. I've heard they reopened the course, too.

I had an uncle who worked at the mill, and when we'd be together he'd always ask, you know what that smell is? Money.

 

[50+yeartidefan]

That smell gets me EVERY time!!!! I'd rather skin a gut shot deer than smell Bowater/Kimberly Clark any time!!!!!

@It Takes Eleven

but. Smells like bacon n eggs to people working there

 

[mando]

I've read a few times that his grades might be a question and that Pruitt asked him to wait and not sign in December. I think @mando mentioned that maybe UT felt he was looking elsewhere, I think he was simply looking at his GPA and he stayed true to UT, while they bailed on him. Keith Ethridge, the HC there at Oxford High was pissed!!! He said that someone told him to tell the kid that "he could tell everyone he de-committed from UT to save face" and Ethridge told them "Hell No! Y'all are owning this shit!! You aren't putting it on the kid!" Very bad look for Heupel and staff.

I was replying to a post from 50+. I think the implications is that the Viles side of the story was trying to make it look like he was looking so they were looking when that does not appear to be the case. This was the Viles trying to do damage control.

 

[UAgrad93]

Agreed @mando. I was just adding a little more to the story.