2015 Newsletters

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News from the Knoxville Quarterback Club                                        November 30, 2015

Dear Quarterbacker,

The meeting this week will not begin until 12:15 instead of 12:00 due to the press conference with Coach Butch Jones, our featured speaker.  Come hear what Coach Jones has to say regarding the Vanderbilt game, current state of the program, and his vision for the future.

This is our final meeting for the Knoxville Quarterback Club.  We have had a fantastic year with many great speakers.  Thank you to Jeff Hagood for his leadership through another successful season.  We encourage you to get involved with the Big Orange Tip Off Club as well.

Yesterday’s Hero:  Alan Duncan

Go Vols!

Jonathan Johnson

News from the Knoxville Quarterback Club                                        November 23, 2015

Dear Quarterbacker,

New UT basketball coach, Rick Barnes, will be our featured speaker this week.  Barnes previously coached at Texas from 1998-2015.  While at Texas, Barnes led the Longhorns to 17 NCAA tournament appearances and a final four.  He has a career coaching record of 604-314 and is responsible for energizing the Texas basketball program.  Come hear from our new basketball coach.

 

Our Yesterday’s Hero:  Hank Walter

Line-up for November 23rd:

Speaker:  Head Coach Butch Jones

Assistant Coach:  None

Yesterday’s Hero:  Alan Duncan

Go Vols!

Jonathan Johnson

News from the Knoxville Quarterback Club                                        November 16, 2015

Dear Quarterbacker,

New UT basketball coach, Rick Barnes, will be our featured speaker this week.  Barnes previously coached at Texas from 1998-2015.  While at Texas, Barnes led the Longhorns to 17 NCAA tournament appearances and a final four.  He has a career coaching record of 604-314 and is responsible for energizing the Texas basketball program.

Lady Vol coach, Holly Warlick, will also attend Monday’s meeting.  She played under Pat Summit and was a three time All-American.  She is the first player in Tennessee sports history to have her jersey retired, she was named to the 1980 Olympic team, and was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1981.  She has coached at Tennessee for 29 years.  In her three seasons at Tennessee, she has either one the regular season or tournament championship.  Despite significant injuries to key players, Warlick led the Lady Vols to the Elite 8 last year.

Our Yesterday’s Hero this week is John Boynton.

Assistant Coach:  None

Line-up for November 23rd:

Speaker:  Carl Torbush/Dr. Brian Noland:  ETSU Head Football Coach/President

Assistant Coach:  Steve Stripling-Defensive Line Coach

Yesterday’s Hero:  Will be revealed at meeting

Go Vols!

Jonathan Johnson

News from the Knoxville Quarterback Club                                        November 09, 2015

Dear Quarterbacker,

Current CBS college football analyst on College Football Today, Rick Neuheisal, will be our speaker this week.  During his time as a quarterback for UCLA, Neuheisal was the MVP of the Rose Bowl, set the NCAA completion percentage record for a single game (25 of 27 passes), won a PAC-10 Championship, and set a UCLA completion percentage record for a season that still stands.  After graduation, he spent a few seasons in the USFL and then a few games in the NFL during the strike season.

Neuheisal then went to law school at USC, but was a grad assistant at UCLA.  He became a full-time assistant at UCLA and then in 1994 went to Colorado.  After the 1994 season, Colorado coach, Bill McCartney, retired and Neuheisal became the head coach at 34.  After four seasons there, he left to become Washington’s head coach.  He led the Huskies to an 11-1 record in 2000 and a number three ranking in the final poll.  Neuheisal overlooked discipline issues on the team and was targeted by the NCAA for an NCAA basketball tournament bracket and was fired.  He sued the school and the NCAA and settled for 4.5 million.

After Neuheisal left Washington, he coached at a high school and then he was an assistant coach for the Baltimore Ravens.  In 2008, he was hired by UCLA as their head coach.  From 2008-2011, Neuheisal went 21-29 and never beat rival USC.  Neuheisal was fired in 2011.  Come hear Neuheisal as he should be an entertaining and knowledgeable speaker.

Our Yesterday’s Hero this week is Herman Weaver.

Assistant Coach:  Mike DeBord-Offensive Coordinator

Line-up for November 16th:

Speaker:  Rick Barnes/Holly Warlick

Assistant Coach:

Yesterday’s Hero:  John Boynton

Go Vols!

Jonathan Johnson

News from the Knoxville Quarterback Club                                        November 02, 2015

Dear Quarterbacker,

Our speaker this week is former Ohio State coach and Powell native, John Cooper.  After graduating Powell High School in 1955, Cooper spent two years in the army and then went on to play at Iowa State.  After graduation, Cooper worked himself through the coaching ranks until he became a head coach at Tulsa in 1977.  After head coaching stints at Tulsa and Arizona State, Cooper spent the final 13 years of his career at Ohio State.  He compiled a record at Ohio State of 111-43-4 and won 3 shared Big Ten titles.  With an overall career record of 192-84-6, Cooper was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2008.  He currently works for the Cincinnati Bengals as a scouting consultant and for ESPN as a college football analyst. He is the coach Emeritus at Ohio State.

Our Yesterday’s Hero this week is Anthony Hancock.

Assistant Coach:  Robert Gillespie- Running Back Coach

Line-up for November 9th:

Speaker:  Rick Neuheisal:  UCLA/CBS

Assistant Coach:  Mike DeBord-Offensive Coordinator

Yesterday’s Hero:  Herman Weaver

Go Vols!

Jonathan Johnson

News from the Knoxville Quarterback Club                                        October 26, 2015

Dear Quarterbacker,

We are excited to have former NFL Coach of the Year, Mike Smith, as our speaker.  After serving as the defensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Smith was hired in 2008 as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons.  He held that position until 2014.  Smith had an overall record of 67-49 and led the Falcons to their first ever back-to-back winning record.  Some of the other accomplishments were making the playoffs four times, third fastest coach to win 50 games since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, and winningest coach in Falcons history.

Smith played Linebacker at East Tennessee State.  He coached at San Diego State, Morehead State, and Tennessee Tech before joining the coaching staff of the Baltimore Ravens.  We look forward to hearing from Coach Mike Smith.

Our Yesterday’s Hero this week is Bill Emendorfer.

Assistant Coach:  Zach Azzanni- Wide Receiver’s Coach

Line-up for November 2nd:

Speaker:  John Cooper:  Head Coach Emeritus Ohio State

Assistant Coach:  Robert Gillespie- Running Back Coach

Yesterday’s Hero:  Anthony Hancock

Go Vols!

Jonathan Johnson

News from the Knoxville Quarterback Club                                        October 19, 2015

Dear Quarterbacker,

Ivan Maisel will be our speaker this Monday instead of Gene Wojciechowski.  Maisel is the senior writer for ESPN covering college football.  He has the longest unbroken run of covering college football of any writer in the country.  His college football beat includes seven years with the Dallas Morning News, three years with Newsday, five years with Sports Illustrated, and the rest with ESPN for a total of 23 years.

Maisel was raised in Alabama, but attended Stanford University.  He is an authority on college football and will be a fantastic program.

Our Yesterday’s Hero this week is Bobby Majors

Assistant Coach:  Tommy Thigpen-Line Backer’s Coach

Line-up for the 26th:

Speaker:  Mike Smith-NFL Coach of the Year from the Atlanta Falcons

Assistant Coach:  Zach Azzanni- Wide Receiver’s Coach

Yesterday’s Hero:  Bill Emendorfer

Go Vols!

Jonathan Johnson

News from the Knoxville Quarterback Club                                        October 12, 2015

Dear Quarterbacker,

This week Bobby Johnson will be our featured speaker.  Johnson was most recently head coach of the Vanderbilt Commodores.  He was at Vanderbilt from 2001-2010.  In 2008, he led Vanderbilt to its first winning season since 1982 and its first bowl victory since 1955.  Prior to Vanderbilt, he was the head coach of Division I AA Furman Paladins from 1994-2001.  In his last season with Furman, he led them to the IAA National Championship game.

Johnson is now a member of the College Football Playoff Committee.  He took Archie Manning’s place.  Johnson is sure to have some good insight into the committee and be able to answer questions about any team in the country.

Our Yesterday’s Hero this week is Craig Faulkner

Assistant Coach:  Jon Janeck-Defensive Coordinator

Line-up for the 19th:

Speaker:  Gene Wojciechowski/ESPN

Assistant Coach:  Tommy Thigpen-Line Backer’s Coach

Yesterday’s Hero:  Bobby Majors

Go Vols!

Jonathan Johnson

News from the Knoxville Quarterback Club                                        October 05, 2015

Dear Quarterbacker,

Former Georgia All-American, Matt Stinchcomb, will be our speaker on Monday.  Stinchcomb played at Georgia from 1995-1998 and earned All-American honors in 1997 and 1998.  He also won the Draddy award in 1998 that is the “Academic Heisman” award in addition to the Jim Parker Award given to college footballs’ best offensive lineman.

In the 1999 NFL draft, Stinchcomb was drafted 18th overall by the Oakland Raiders.  He played professionally from 1999 to 2005 for the Raiders and Tampa Bay.  Stinchcomb now is a football analyst for ESPNU and the SEC network.  Please come out and welcome Matt Stinchcomb for Georgia week.

Our Yesterday’s Hero this week is Gary Theiler.

Assistant Coach:  Willie Martinez-Secondary

Line-up for the 12th:

Speaker:  Bobby Johnson-Former Vanderbilt coach and current College Playoffs Committee Member

Assistant Coach:  Jon Janeck-Defensive Coordinator

Yesterday’s Hero:  Craig Faulkner

Go Vols!

Jonathan Johnson

News from the Knoxville Quarterback Club                                        September 28, 2015

Dear Quarterbacker,

We look forward to seeing you on Monday as we hear from SEC Network/ESPN host, Dari Nowkhah.  He has hosted SportsCenter, Baseball Tonight, and College Football Live for ESPN.  He has also provided play-by-play for ESPN’s college football, college basketball, and college baseball.  Nowkhah should be able to provide great insight into the landscape of SEC football.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Our Yesterday’s Hero this week is Charles Rosenfelder.

Assistant Coach:  Don Mahoney-Offensive Line

Line-up for the 5th:

Speaker:  Dari Nowkhah-SEC Network Host

Assistant Coach:  Willie Martinez-Secondary

Yesterday’s Hero:  Gary Theiler

Go Vols!

Jonathan Johnson

News from the Knoxville Quarterback Club                                        September 21, 2015

Dear Quarterbacker,

We look forward to seeing you on Monday for our second meeting of the season.  The speaker this week will be Neyland Award winner and Appalachian State coach, Jerry Moore.  Moore coached at Appalachian State for 24 years and compiled a record of 242-134-2.  His teams were the first to win three consecutive National Championships in FCS/1-AA history.  They won the title in 2005, 2006, 2007.

In 2007, Moore led his team to an historic victory over then fifth-ranked Michigan.  It was Michigan’s first loss to an FCS team and the first time a ranked team from the higher subdivision had lost to a team from the lower subdivision.  ESPN recently had some of the 10 biggest sports upsets of all time and Appalachian State’s victory over Michigan made the list.  Moore was inducted in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014.  We look forward to hearing from Coach Moore.

Our Yesterday’s Hero this week is Dale Jones.

Assistant Coach:  Mark Elder-Tight Ends

Line-up for the 28th:

Speaker:  Dari Nowkhah-SEC Network Host

Assistant Coach:  Don Mahoney-Offensive Line

Yesterday’s Hero:  Charles Rosenfelder

Go Vols!

Jonathan Johnson

News from the Knoxville Quarterback Club                                        September 14, 2015

Dear Quarterbacker,

Welcome back to football season!  This is a reminder that the 64th year of the Knoxville Quarterback Club will be kicking off its first meeting on Monday, September the 14th at Calhoun’s on the River.  Come be a part of the club as we honor a yesterday’s hero, a high school athlete of the week, and an outstanding official of the week.  Jeff Hagood has done an excellent job again this year of booking some outstanding speakers.  We will have Butch Jones, Rick Neuheisal, John Cooper, Mike Smith and other great speakers this year.  We will also have assistant coaches speak for a few minutes every week.  If you don’t like the speakers, then you will sure to be entertained by Jeff’s introductions, and Tim Bush’s pick-of-the-week.

Please visit the website at www.knoxqbclub.com to see a full list of speakers and to complete your membership application.  There is a printable version that you can print off and mail or bring in to the first meeting as well.  Johnny Durden has done a fantastic job on the site.  You can also follow the club on Facebook and Twitter and thank you to Michael Greene for heading that up.

Head coach, Butch Jones, will be our featured speaker on Monday September 14th.  Jones has re-energized the fan base and has brought in another tremendous recruiting class.  We look forward to hearing what he has to say.

ATTENTION:  This week only, the meeting will not start until 12:15 to allow Coach Jones to arrive from his press conference.

14 September

Speaker:  Butch Jones

Yesterday’s Hero:  Honoring the Deceased Vols

Next week:

Speaker:  Jerry Moore-Appalachian State/Neyland Award Winner

Yesterday’s Hero:  Dale Jones

Assistant Coach:  Mark Elder-Tight Ends

Go Vols!

Jonathan Johnson