KNOXVILLE - Quavaris Crouch believes history can repeat itself.
During his first two football seasons at Harding University High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, the team won a combined six games, including just one his freshman year. When he was a junior, the Rams won the 2017 Class 4A state championship.
Crouch is now a freshman linebacker at the University of Tennessee, and with the Volunteers off to a 1-3 start this season, he hopes to help lead a similar turnaround.
"In high school we lost all the time," Crouch said Wednesday. "I'm used to having adversity, so this right now is not bothering me because I'm used to being able to build something. We'll get everybody to buy in.
"I'm used to starting and building something and it becoming big."
Associated Press photo by John Raoux / Florida running back Lamical Perine, center, tries to escape Tennessee linebacker Quavaris Crouch, left, and defensive back Warren Burrell during the first half of last Saturday's SEC East matchup in Gainesville, Fla.After being among the Vols' 2019 signees who enrolled early in January, he has appeared in all four games for them this season, tallying seven tackles, three quarterback hurries and a pair of pass breakups. The 6-foot-1 Crouch also contributed on offense with a 4-yard carry that resulted in a first down during last Saturday's 34-3 loss at ninth-ranked Florida, which was Tennessee's Southeastern Conference opener and came in advance of this week's open date.
He came in as a highly touted prospect on both sides of the ball, having rushed for 3,246 yards and 33 touchdowns as a junior while also racking up 48 tackles and 14 sacks while leading his high school program to its first state title since the 1950s. A three-time all-state player, he chose to play linebacker when he signed with the Vols, but Crouch had talked with Tennessee coaches about being part of some offensive packages, too.
"The first thing is, he weighs 248 pounds and the other running backs weigh 205 pounds," Tennessee coach Jeremy Pruitt said Wednesday. "When its third-and-1 or fourth-and-1, that would be an option. It's something that we talked about doing when we recruited him. He rushed for 3,000 yards during his junior year of high school, so the guy can play running back.
"He came here to play linebacker with the thought that he'd have an opportunity on short-yardage and goal-line (situations for Tennessee's offense). He got a little banged up in fall camp, so we didn't have an opportunity to work on that package because you worry about ball security. It took us a little bit of time to get it in there, but hopefully moving forward we can do that."
The season hasn't started off exactly how he would have liked, but Crouch and his fellow freshmen are taking a long-term approach with the belief they can be the group that ultimately ends the Vols' recent struggles, which this decade include just three winning records through nine completed seasons.
The Vols' next opportunity at victory comes Oct. 5, when they host third-ranked Georgia (4-0, 1-0) at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs are off this week, too, with their rest following a 23-17 victory against top-10 foe Notre Dame.
Associated Press photo by Wade Payne / UTC running back Ailym Ford is gang-tackled by Tennessee's Henry To'o To'o, bottom, Nigel Warrior, right, Quavaris Crouch (27) and Jeremy Banks (33) on Sept. 14 in Knoxville."I'm still having fun," Crouch said. "Obviously, I'm disappointed in the losses we took, but I'm here to get better and get all our team on the same page and keep the family aspect about everything. I'm just trying to get better each and every day and I'm learning a lot, so I'm happy because I feel like every time I go out and put cleats on, I'm getting better at something every day, so I'm going to keep going."
Crouch said building the program is a regular topic for the freshmen, and he believes that should be attractive to prospects making decisions about their college future.
"For any other recruit thinking Tennessee is taking a step back, I would say don't, because you can come here and get ready to play with us - we're building something," Crouch said. "It takes time to build stuff. The world wasn't built in one day, either. Everything takes time, so as long as we keep working with a good mindset and a good attitude, success will come along the way."
Crouch would know. He has experience building something.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3 or at Facebook.com/VolsUpdate.