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Michigan. What was it that clued
you in to Fisher’Äôs potential?
BJ:
We are very proud and excited
for Eric Fisher. I think he is probably
the greatest evidence that when we
are recruiting we are not looking at
the [recruiting services] stars next
to a player’Äôs name. We look for the
best fit for our football program. Eric
was the 48th ranked player’Äînot
in the country, but in the state of
Michigan! There was only one other
program to offer him a scholar-
ship, but we did our due diligence.
First and foremost is character.
Eric was a great student. He had the
inner drive to want to be the best
that he could possibly be, and he had
great potential. He had the size, he
was athletic, he was tough, he was
physical, and he came from a great
family. All the intangibles were
there. We knew he could be as good
as he wanted to be’Äîand that night,
when he walked across the stage as
the number one pick in the National
Football League draft, was evidence
that you can accomplish anything.
But you have to have drive’Äîand Eric
wants to be the best at anything he
does. I told the reporters in Kan-
sas City and I told the Kansas City
Chiefs’Äô administration: Once Eric
is signed, he will want to be a Pro
Bowl player and be the best that he
can be. That’Äôs how he’Äôs wired.
CV:
What are you looking for
when you are recruiting? Players
today are bigger, stronger, and
faster’Äîbut they also seem to play
offense with less precision and
defense with a lot less discipline.
BJ:
That won’Äôt be us.
CV:
Tell me about that.
BJ:
We have a recruiting profile. We
had 31 days to assemble a recruiting
class, and we weren’Äôt going to com-
promise on the type of players we are
looking for. So we signed 21 individu-
als who we thought would be the
foundation of our football program
moving forward. There were a couple
of great players that were out there
that we thought had some character
flaws, and we did not recruit them.
There are a lot of different cat-
egories in our recruiting profile. It
starts offwith character. We want
individuals playing for us who
understand it’Äôs an honor and a privi-
lege to represent the University of
Tennessee. We also look at academic
achievement; is the recruit passion-
ate about getting a college degree?
Generally, we look at size, the
ability to learn, and the ability to
persevere. We also look at techni-
cal details by position. There is a
very detailed formula that we apply.
Can the recruit handle the grind
of the day-to-day rigors of college
football? And then there is all the
media attention in Knoxville. Can
the recruit hand that scrutiny?
CV:
What disqualifies someone
from playing at Tennessee?
BJ:
I don’Äôt know if there is any one
thing. We want people who have
the ability to make good decisions
and good choices. We all understand
we’Äôre dealing with 17- and 18-year-
olds. But I want to know: What is in
their soul? Do they have drive and a
strong work ethic? Right now, we are
developing portfolios on high school
players who we will watch develop
over two or three years. It’Äôs an ongo-
ing’Äîand challenging’Äîprocess.
CV:
You moved three times in five
years. How challenging has that
been for you and your family?
BJ:
I think that’Äôs a great question.
Lost in the whole coaching transi-
tion is that there are a lot of fami-
lies affected. To uproot children is
very, very difficult. That’Äôs one of
the things that attracted me to this
position: this great area of Knoxville.
When I was younger, my wife and
I would just pick up and move. Now
we have three children, one who is
16, one who is 12, and one who is 6.
Everything that I do is based on their
best interests. Within our organiza-
tion, our football family has proba-
bly 175 people that are affected in one
way or another by a move like this.
The time commitments and the
demands in this job are very chal-
lenging. This not a hobby to us’Äîthis
is our livelihood, our passion. Our
families live and die on Game Day.
We’Äôre not just fans. Our families
become an extended family to all of
our players. I always say my wife has
108 children’Äîthree of our own and
105 other young males. It all goes
hand in hand. And there’Äôs noth-
ing more challenging than coming
home after a hard day at the office,
such as a hard-fought loss, and your
three children are crying at the door.
CV:
Central Michigan and Cincin-
nati were on the uptick when you
took over as coach of those teams.
Tennessee, on the other hand, had
the worst defense last year since
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