Shuler has advice for hyped Vols
The expectations for this year's Tennessee football team are as high as they've been in a decade.
No player or coach on the roster know what it's like during a Knoxville Fall when the Volunteers are thought to be in the hunt for an Southeastern Conference Championship.
Former UT quarterback Heath Shuler does and he had some words of advice for this year's team when he spoke Tuesday at the Greater Knoxville Sports Hall of Fame Dinner & Induction Ceremony.
“You've got to take it one day at a time,” said Shuler, who was on hand as the guest speaker at the Boys and Girls Club event inducting new members into the Knoxville Hall of Fame and honoring prep athletes. “It's one play at a time and it's your responsibility to get your assignment completed and make sure you're prepared.
“If you execute assignments, you're going to have a chance to be successful in your games and not only win a conference championship but you can win a national championship.”
Shuler saw minimal time as a freshman backing up Any Kelly when the Vols went to the Fiesta Bowl before taking over the starting job in 1992 and guiding Tennessee to a 9-3 record in Johnny Majors' final season with the program.
The eventual NFL first-round pick then took the Vols to the next level, helping the Vols win 10 games his impressive junior season. Shuler finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting behind Florida State's Charlie Ward and set new standards for passing and rushing for Tennessee signal callers before declaring for the draft as a junior.
“It takes an entire team doing the right thing to be successful,” he said. “That's hard to do week in and week out. That's why there are so few great teams.
“I really think David Cutcliffe and Phillip Fulmer, they truly understood the game so well they were ahead of themselves,” Shuler added about dual-threat quarterbacks. “That coaching staff was doing those type of things at the time and now everyone is trying to run the run-pass options. They were doing it two decades ago.”
Shuler believes this year's Tennessee team can meet the lofty expectations, in part because he has faith in Joshua Dobbs, a quarterback that reminds him a little of himself.
From being thrown into important conference games early in their careers to their dual-threat ability — Dobbs tied Shuler's single-single rushing touchdown record for quarterbacks last season with 11 — Shuler said Dobbs is as solid a field general the Vols have had in awhile.
“He's done a phenomenal job and there's no bigger fan than I am of Josh Dobbs,” Shuler said. “He's an incredible player. I'm hoping this year he'll break everybody's passing records and my rushing record, as well.
“You want to see those records broken because that means your school is doing extremely well and there's that next generation of quarterbacks that are following in the footsteps of the Peyton Manning's, the Andy Kelly's.”