University of Tennessee Athletics
Earning Their Keep
November 02, 2007 | Football
Most of the Tennessee football players experience the feeling in their senior year of high school. It often happens in gymnasiums full of adoring coaches, friends and family.
It???s the feeling they get from signing a letter of intent, the feeling that they???ve earned a college scholarship because of their athletic abilities.
Two Tennessee players, holder Casey Woods and backup center Michael Frogg, experienced that feeling later than normal. They pursued their dreams on their own dime at first, but were awarded scholarships after several seasons on campus.
???It was a great feeling,??? Frogg said. ???It was like I had won the lottery. To work that hard for that long with such a small payoff can be hard. Getting the scholarship gave me a sense of accomplishment completely independent of the game itself.???
A walk-on earning a scholarship at Tennessee is not a rare occurrence, though the extra scholarships that open in some years are reserved by the coaching staff for the players who work the hardest on and off the field to become an integral part of the Volunteer team. In the last five seasons, Tennessee has awarded scholarships to more than 10 walk-ons.
???There is a lot that goes into that decision for us,??? Fulmer said. ???For Casey, he not only plays an important role on special teams, but he has taken a leadership role among the group of kickers. Michael was a starter here at one time and he worked as hard or harder than anybody out here to get there.???
Woods, a native of Starkville, Miss., was invited to walk on as a quarterback by Fulmer before the 2003 season. The son of former South Carolina head coach and Tennessee assistant Sparky Woods saw coming to Tennessee as a chance to blaze his own path.
???It was a situation that kind of fit for Tennessee and for me,??? Woods said. ???There was some uncertainty at quarterback here, and I was available to come in during the spring. My whole life had been dependent on what my dad was doing, and this was a chance to do something for me.???
Woods started as an unidentifiable scout team member just like the other walk-ons. He moved to wide receiver and set small goals for himself each season, trying to absorb as much of the mental aspect of the game as he could.
He made the travel roster and took over holding duties on field goal attempts in 2005.?? By his junior season in 2006, he was close enough to earning a scholarship that Fulmer mentioned the possibility to him. But in the end, the numbers didn???t work out.
???Last year got me really excited about it,??? Woods said. ???I felt like there was a real opportunity for me there, but it didn???t happen. I told myself to keep working at it and maybe it would happen this year.???
Woods did keep working at it, and it did happen this year. He was awarded a scholarship for his senior season in August.
???Coach Fulmer told me he was going to do everything he could to get me on scholarship this year,??? Woods said. ???The numbers did finally work themselves out. I got a call from (Director of Football Operations) Bruce Warwick and he told me to come up to his office and sign the papers.???
Woods??? path to playing time and a scholarship started as a quarterback and ended on special teams. Frogg traveled in the opposite direction.
The Kingston, Tenn., native turned down opportunities at several small schools to give long snapping a try at Tennessee. After just one week of practice, he was competing for playing time on the offensive line.
Frogg redshirted the 2003 campaign and played sparingly in 2004 and 2005. In the offseason following that year, he earned a scholarship for his remaining two seasons of eligibility. By the opening game of 2006, he was the starting center.
Just like Woods, Frogg suggested that a positive attitude is the best way to deal with the struggles on the long, often thankless road a walk-on travels.
???I made my way by continuing to see the light at the end of the tunnel,??? Frogg said. ???It made it easier, though every day was a challenge to keep going.???
Woods and Frogg have a lot to be proud of, and a lot they can take from the experience. Both were asked to name the best part of their experience, and they simply said that the experience itself was what made it worth their while.
Frogg recalled scholarship players complaining about practice and playing time when he would have happily trade places with them for a chance to compete on Saturday. Woods mentioned the endless hours of practice during the week of a road game only to watch the team buses depart without him on Friday.
But Woods and Frogg persevered and were rewarded. They learned about hard work, dedication and the fact that the game of football, like life, isn???t always fair. Both will surely take those lessons with them once they leave the playing field behind.
???There is so much you can take from this experience,??? Woods said. ???Having to earn everything you get is not a bad experience to go through in the end.?? There is a stigma associated with being a walk-on sometimes, and having to fight through that teaches you a lot.???
Frogg will graduate in December with a degree in criminal justice and venture into the business world. Woods will complete his master???s degree in sport management at the same time and stay on the Tennessee football staff as a graduate assistant beginning in 2008.
No matter what lies ahead for the two student-athletes, it is a safe bet that they will be prepared for it.??
Both men, after all, have learned exactly what it takes to earn their keep.
