Quote:Cincinnati running back Ralph David Abernathy IV — the older brother of Top247 Tennessee cornerback commitment Micah Abernathy — will transfer to UT and play for the Vols next season as a fifth-year senior, the father of both players confirmed to 247Sports on Saturday night.
(Photo: Paul Frederiksen, USA TODAY Sports)
Ralph David Abernathy IV, a former star at Westminster School in Atlanta, signed with Cincinnati out of high school, when Vols coach Butch Jones coached the Bearcats. He started as a return specialist for the Bearcats as a true freshman in 2011 and has been a mainstay in the Cincinnati offense ever since.
The running back has missed most of this season — his true senior season — but is eligible for a redshirt and plans to exercise that option and play for the Vols.
A 5-foot-7, 161-pound running back and return specialist, Abernathy IV has collected 917 rushing yards, 540 receiving yards, 2,186 return yards and 13 touchdowns the past four seasons for the Bearcats.
Abernathy IV was on the Tennessee campus Saturday for the Vols’ 50-16 win over Kentucky and has been cleared to transfer to UT and practice for the Vols in spring practice, his father told 247Sports. The running back is scheduled to receive his degree from Cincinnati in finance in December — which is less than four years from the time he enrolled.
He wants to play alongside his brother like Kevin Mouhon did when he switched commitments from Tennessee to come here. I can support that and appreciate what RDAIV did while here.
Had some big plays while here, felt current staff never really knew how to use him.(i.e. trying to run him between tackles.) Had some great plays while here, I'll always remember that return at the liberty bowl.
(11-16-2014 08:30 AM)BearcatJerry Wrote: He's really the last of the Butch regime.
Tuberville has really cleaned house.
Or not. Witty, Ehinger, Murray, Bond, Morrison, Moore, Shaq, Mouhon, Payne, Casseus, Chisum, Cole, Mitchell, Pace...just off the top of my head. I would expect these guys have roles on the team next season.
Quote:Cincinnati running back Ralph David Abernathy IV — the older brother of Top247 Tennessee cornerback commitment Micah Abernathy — will transfer to UT and play for the Vols next season as a fifth-year senior, the father of both players confirmed to 247Sports on Saturday night.
(Photo: Paul Frederiksen, USA TODAY Sports)
Ralph David Abernathy IV, a former star at Westminster School in Atlanta, signed with Cincinnati out of high school, when Vols coach Butch Jones coached the Bearcats. He started as a return specialist for the Bearcats as a true freshman in 2011 and has been a mainstay in the Cincinnati offense ever since.
The running back has missed most of this season — his true senior season — but is eligible for a redshirt and plans to exercise that option and play for the Vols.
A 5-foot-7, 161-pound running back and return specialist, Abernathy IV has collected 917 rushing yards, 540 receiving yards, 2,186 return yards and 13 touchdowns the past four seasons for the Bearcats.
Abernathy IV was on the Tennessee campus Saturday for the Vols’ 50-16 win over Kentucky and has been cleared to transfer to UT and practice for the Vols in spring practice, his father told 247Sports. The running back is scheduled to receive his degree from Cincinnati in finance in December — which is less than four years from the time he enrolled.
(11-16-2014 08:30 AM)BearcatJerry Wrote: He's really the last of the Butch regime.
Tuberville has really cleaned house.
Or not. Witty, Ehinger, Murray, Bond, Morrison, Moore, Shaq, Mouhon, Payne, Casseus, Chisum, Cole, Mitchell, Pace...just off the top of my head. I would expect these guys have roles on the team next season.
With the exception of Ehringer, Silverberry and Chisum none of those guys were a part of the plans with the Butch Jones staff. The perfect example of this is Shaq who has never a part of the offense in the Jones era outside of a few games as a freshman. Butch and Bajakian move on and Shaq becomes a monster in a way that he wouldn't have been with Jones. There are a lot of guys recruited by Butch who are still on the team, but there aren't many guys left who are considered Butch's guys, and almost all of them are gone after this year.
(11-16-2014 08:30 AM)BearcatJerry Wrote: He's really the last of the Butch regime.
Tuberville has really cleaned house.
Or not. Witty, Ehinger, Murray, Bond, Morrison, Moore, Shaq, Mouhon, Payne, Casseus, Chisum, Cole, Mitchell, Pace...just off the top of my head. I would expect these guys have roles on the team next season.
With the exception of Ehringer, Silverberry and Chisum none of those guys were a part of the plans with the Butch Jones staff. The perfect example of this is Shaq who has never a part of the offense in the Jones era outside of a few games as a freshman. Butch and Bajakian move on and Shaq becomes a monster in a way that he wouldn't have been with Jones. There are a lot of guys recruited by Butch who are still on the team, but there aren't many guys left who are considered Butch's guys, and almost all of them are gone after this year.
Sure, everybody theoretically starts with a clean slate when there's a coaching change, but unless you were sitting in on Butch's staff meetings, not sure how you can say definitively that none of those guys (who he recruited) were or were not included in future plans. The original post made it sound like TT actively ran off all of Butch's recruits which is far from the case, as you pointed out with the example of Shaq who has flourished with the current staff.
(11-16-2014 08:30 AM)BearcatJerry Wrote: He's really the last of the Butch regime.
Tuberville has really cleaned house.
Or not. Witty, Ehinger, Murray, Bond, Morrison, Moore, Shaq, Mouhon, Payne, Casseus, Chisum, Cole, Mitchell, Pace...just off the top of my head. I would expect these guys have roles on the team next season.
With the exception of Ehringer, Silverberry and Chisum none of those guys were a part of the plans with the Butch Jones staff. The perfect example of this is Shaq who has never a part of the offense in the Jones era outside of a few games as a freshman. Butch and Bajakian move on and Shaq becomes a monster in a way that he wouldn't have been with Jones. There are a lot of guys recruited by Butch who are still on the team, but there aren't many guys left who are considered Butch's guys, and almost all of them are gone after this year.
Sure, everybody theoretically starts with a clean slate when there's a coaching change, but unless you were sitting in on Butch's staff meetings, not sure how you can say definitively that none of those guys (who he recruited) were or were not included in future plans. The original post made it sound like TT actively ran off all of Butch's recruits which is far from the case, as you pointed out with the example of Shaq who has flourished with the current staff.
There's certainly no one size fits all answer to that. On the one hand, a Butch Jones recruit Abernathy disappeared when the Tuberville staff arrived. On the other, Shaq Washington from the same class as Abernathy thrived in Tuberville/Gran's offense.
Every recruit, player, and situation is different. One thing's absolute, when Tuberville and his staff arrived, they wiped the slate clean from the previous season and staff. Effectively every player on the roster was given an opportunity to earn a spot at the top of the depth chart. This is likely why a dynamic receiver such as Shaq was able to experience a resurgence in his career.
(11-16-2014 08:30 AM)BearcatJerry Wrote: He's really the last of the Butch regime.
Tuberville has really cleaned house.
Or not. Witty, Ehinger, Murray, Bond, Morrison, Moore, Shaq, Mouhon, Payne, Casseus, Chisum, Cole, Mitchell, Pace...just off the top of my head. I would expect these guys have roles on the team next season.
With the exception of Ehringer, Silverberry and Chisum none of those guys were a part of the plans with the Butch Jones staff. The perfect example of this is Shaq who has never a part of the offense in the Jones era outside of a few games as a freshman. Butch and Bajakian move on and Shaq becomes a monster in a way that he wouldn't have been with Jones. There are a lot of guys recruited by Butch who are still on the team, but there aren't many guys left who are considered Butch's guys, and almost all of them are gone after this year.
Sure, everybody theoretically starts with a clean slate when there's a coaching change, but unless you were sitting in on Butch's staff meetings, not sure how you can say definitively that none of those guys (who he recruited) were or were not included in future plans. The original post made it sound like TT actively ran off all of Butch's recruits which is far from the case, as you pointed out with the example of Shaq who has flourished with the current staff.
There's certainly no one size fits all answer to that. On the one hand, a Butch Jones recruit Abernathy disappeared when the Tuberville staff arrived. On the other, Shaq Washington from the same class as Abernathy thrived in Tuberville/Gran's offense.
Every recruit, player, and situation is different. One thing's absolute, when Tuberville and his staff arrived, they wiped the slate clean from the previous season and staff. Effectively every player on the roster was given an opportunity to earn a spot at the top of the depth chart. This is likely why a dynamic receiver such as Shaq was able to experience a resurgence in his career.
He got a ton of carries last year, and was the starter. Hosey started to get more later in the season and more so in the second half of games.
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RDA IV to Tennessee...
