In many ways former Vol quarterback and VFL Heath Shuler transcended the game of football. For Tennessee fans, he was the first recruit that the Big Orange faithful followed through the decision making process. He transcended the recruiting game as he got his first scholarship offer before he ever played a down of varsity football. And his game was one that was ahead of it's time as he would be thrive in today's spread offensive game. Volquest.com had a chance to catch up with Shuler who's now enjoying coaching as much as he did playing.

[rl]When you watch the college game today, what do you like about it, what do you dislike about it? Are there times where you watch it and say man that would have been tailor made for my game?

Heath Shuler - The most fun for me know is watching the games, looking at the plays and not having to decide what the coverage is. What front they are in and having to set the protections. I actually get to be a fan now. It's taken some time that for me but now I don't analyze every play like it's watching film. So that's been fun. Really how the game has changed these running quarterbacks like Josh (Dobbs) at Tennessee. Here's a guy that can throw the ball extremely well. He's big, physical and can run. I have always like that dual threat dimension that the quarterback can bring to the game. It makes the defense have to add a little extra to their preparations each week when you have a quarterback that can run like Dobbs can.

Shuler - When I went into the NFL you saw the Steve Youngs of the world were doing really well. Guys who threw the ball well and who scrambled well enough, but then as time went on that was kind of the era of guys like Troy Aikman where it was guys who dropped straight back as passing quarterbacks. So that era of football seemed to be trending to more of the prototypical tall, big strong armed quarterbacks. Certainly in the offense I was in (in the NFL) running was never an option. So it almost took half of my game away. But now we are starting to see the Russell Wilson's of the world who can not only throw the ball well but has the ability to scramble and scramble smart. It adds that dimension that the defensive ends and even the tackles have to account for. They are just not looking at a spot that's 7.5 yards deep and they are going to that certain spot where the quarterback will be. They are having to really account for that quarterback who can really move in the pocket, scramble and make plays. You look at what Russell Wilson does as a quarterback outside of the pocket. These guys are really making plays. You saw it obviously with (Jameis) Winston on the college level making those plays. Mariota at Oregon making plays with his legs. He is an incredible athlete who can scramble and throw, but his ability to run separates him from a lot of quarterbacks certainly in college and I think will have that opportunity to show it in the NFL.

Shuler - I think it's certainly more exciting and more fun. The game is fun regardless of the style of quarterback you have, but added that extra dimension is fun to watch. The hard part is that the second string quarterback has to be ready to play because he is one hit away from the starter. Your depth and the time you have to spent with your number two quarterback obviously increases because anytime a quarterback gets out and runs he's at higher risk of injury. We have seen that with multiple quarterbacks in the league. Robert Griffin at Washington is a perfect example of that.

Shuler - Well, I certainly saw his maturity. I don't miss a game. If I don't get a chance to come to the stadium, then I certainly watch it on TV. I'm like any other fan. I'm going to put my orange on and sit around the TV with my friends and watch the games. I have just seen a maturity level from him from his first year to last year and I saw him mature during the season last year which was incredible. I think he got really smart running with the football. One of the greatest plays I think he made all year long was right before halftime at South Carolina. I think it was the game changer when he scored on the scramble. He has that ability to recognize the coverage and make a play. They were in a cover 2 man which the linebackers and the corners had their backs to him. That gave him the ability to see the open space to run down the field. The receivers are running off the defensive backs. He had the opportunity to get us into the endzone. Those type of runs and his ability to recognize the coverages has truly been remarkable to see his maturity level on the field. Obviously, we know how smart of an individual he is and now he's using that quarterback smarts and his experience has increased his ability to be successful on the field.

Shuler - It's so hard not to. When you recognize it and he took off running, Navy, my son and I were actually at that game in South Carolina. We were actually sitting in the president of South Carolina's box. I was with some friends there and they were all Gamecock fans and when Josh starts running on that play, Navy and I were like go, go, go. We looked around and my son said you know we are the only two Tennessee fans here and I told him I think we are going to have to control our emotions a little bit, but you could really see it develop. He recognized it and he's getting to the point where he knows when to use his abilities and that becomes very difficult for defensive coordinators to defend a guy.

Shuler - I think the thing that I like about it is the whole entire fan support and family atmosphere. You have been around coach Jones and his staff. The welcoming of former players that are around the facility now and are involved. Vol for Life has truly taken on a dimension of including everyone. That's what I'm seeing. You look at it with Todd Kelly's son. I don't think that if that involvement from a coaches standpoint and fans standpoint wasn't at such a high level then I don't think we would be getting some of these former players' sons. That's the type of atmosphere I like to see and you saw how Todd Kelly Jr. performed this past year. He was incredible. We all want that to continue. You look at what I think is one of the best offensive linemen to ever play at Tennessee in Kevin Mays. His son Cade is going to be a sophomore in high school. He's 6-5, 300 pounds and is stuff and nastier than he daddy was. Those type of players we want to grow that family of Tennessee Volunteers. Coach Jones has really brought that to the forefront. You look at the additions to the facilities and the increase in the fan support and the recruiting they have done. I think we are off to a very bright future.

Shuler - I think the most important thing is to stay focused and stay together as a team. We went through adversity in 1992 with the coaching changes. So 1993 was kind of a clean slate and starting over for us. There was some division in 1992 with the team from a coaching standpoint. So 1993 was kind of a starting over. It was a new team and a new era. The greatest thing that happened was that so many of us stayed there all summer long. We didn't leave campus. We were working out everyday. The receivers, running backs and tight ends, we were all there. We were throwing at least 3-4 days a week. That's what brought us closer together. We knew we had to take responsibility for the expectations. What comes with those expectations is to work harder and stay focused and be accountable for one another. That is what will separate the good teams from the great teams. Who's going to be accountable? Are your grades going to be there? Are you making sure guys are getting out of bed and going to class? Make sure they are working out and eating healthy. That personal accountability from teammate to teammate will make you from a good team to a great team.

Shuler - He always ask me great questions. Any video that's out on Tennessee history and tradition, he's watched them from the time he was 4 years old. When we went traveling he would put on headsets and watch videos of Tennessee football. He always has come up with unique questions. Like dad why did you fumble that football in the South Carolina game in 1992? I'm like did you not see that linebacker he was a pretty big guy and that's where you have to learn not to cut it back and keep it outside. So we have those conversations now. And I tell him when he makes a mistake, don't you remember you saw me throw an interception under a similar set of circumstances, never throw a ball back across your body. I try to teach him those things.

But my biggest memories ironically aren't on the field. Now I love the game stuff, but you think back and it's those times like a summertime workout that you remember. It was a time together as a team. We used to always go to the movies as a team the night before a game. In the middle of one of the Jean-claude Van Damme movies, Mose Phillips gets up and leaves and the whole entire team leaves behind him to get on the bus to come back to the dorms because the movie was so bad. Those type of things are the incredible memories that you will never forget. The personalities of players on the team. Even the practices, I wasn't one of those guys who really liked practice but you remember so much of it. The great thing is when my son asks me about my time at Tennessee it brings back incredible memories of my time there.

Shuler - I think I enjoy it more than I did when I played because I'm able to watch him and see his maturity level growing year to year on the field. Watch him make decisions going from a quarterback throwing to one selected receiver to reading defenses and making decisions. He comes back to the huddle and says dad they went man to man so I hit the under route. Or he says hey dad what did the safety do that time. Not only him but other quarterbacks their knowledge of the game is far exceeding what mine was in high school. Here he is a seventh grader and his understanding of the difference in man and zone and the coverages bracket coverages and stuff is stuff that I wasn't taught till I was in college. So it's really great to be able to talk at a very high level to a young quarterback that's growing and maturing. He dedicates himself and that's the things you like to see. It's not that dad's there pushing him. I don't care what he chooses to do. Football is his love. Not just because it was mine. It's something that he truly loves to do. He wants to get better and improve every time he goes out. It's been an incredible joy to watch him.

Shuler - I feel so sorry for some of these athletes that are coming out of high school. I always say this you graduate and a couple of weeks later you are on campus on Tennessee and you never really experience a college life because at that point it truly becomes a job. It's your focus. It's classwork and athletics takes up so much of your time, there wasn't really a college life. With social media with the way it is today, it's taking up their high school lives. Everything they do is under a microscope. Everyone is watching everything they do. They are tweeting out their activities, their workouts, their commitments, what coach is contacting them. All their highlight tapes are on one film. Using all these social media outlets to highlight their game and it's happening at such an early age. It's amazing how many people call us wanting to get our son in this camp or that camp. You get all this information about you gotta get out there early. As a matter of fact, Brad Johnson and I were talking on Tuesday and he has a son that's a 7th grader as well and we were talking about how it's so amazing that people are starting to recruit kids at such an early age and they are talking about who's the 7th grade All-Americans. I think the focus has to be that you parent really tough at that time because kids can go on line and see themselves and see comments about their game. I think you have to shield them from it and let them know it's people's opinions whether it's good or bad. Like my old coach in Swain County said, stop reading a lot of things and listening to a lot of things because you are as never as good or bad as people may think. I don't want some of these kids to get a false impression that they don't need to work at it just because they had a great season as a 7th grader. No one cares what you did as a 7th grader when you are a senior in high school and you're signing a National Letter of Intent. I think it's tough and a struggle. So the parents have a real difficult job at hand to have them focus on their schoolwork and their athletics and not focused on the hype.

Heath - I don't know probably not. I enjoyed the phone calls from coaches. You had different nights of the week that they could call you and I would just sit by the phone. I remember my dad and I and my mom we would have conversations and say who's going to call this week. You would be on the phone with one coach and believe it or not even at that point in time we had call waiting. It was funny because the phone would beep and you would think 'oh who did I just miss a call from'. I think at that point in time the coaches would keep you on the phone as long as possible because they knew that another coach would be calling. A lot of times you had to be polite and say coach I have another call I gotta go. That was some great times. I kind of feel sorry for the parents and the athletes now because there is just so much activity that goes on that they have to control. From a fans standpoint it makes it awesome though.

Heath - We took a team camp to NC State going into my sophomore year. I had just came off of a JV season. Ken Pettus was the coach there at that time and we went there for just a team camp. My dad and one of our coaches, coach White, took us. After the first day, the coach called us over and invited us to walk through the facility and at that point in time they offered me a scholarship. I remember looking over and coach White and he told the NC State coaches, 'you guys know he has never played high school varsity ball and is only going to be a sophomore?' At that point in time, I was like that's pretty cool. I guess that was the time that I realized that I could play college ball. That's when it all started. It was a special moment."

Heath - Of course the plays get much better and we were much better as time goes on. It's going to be incredible. Coach Fulmer called me up and asked me if I wanted to participate and of course I was thrilled to death to be a part of it with him and some other former coaches and players from the SEC. Coach Stallings is going to be there. Danny Wuerffel is going to be there and he's a guy that I obviously competed against, but more importantly he and I played together with the New Orleans Saints. He's a person that I have the up most respect for not only as a leader on the field, but off the field he's given back to the community beyond belief both in New Orleans and in Atlanta now. Being able to reconnect with so many guys from the past and to give the fans the opportunity to share those moments and talk football on a cruise and enjoy it is going to be great.