I agree for the most part but looking at this class in particular, going by average star rating and not total, it's 6th or 7th nationally. There's been some misses but for the most part they had this class finished in August. The majority are in bowl practice right now. The transfer portal is going to change recruiting a lot too
of course he has to win. Every coach seems to have 3-5 years or they are run off. We have one of if not the best on paper classes we have had if you just go by rating, so it’s just odd at this time to see so many fans talk about recruiting issues, especially when we have to go into the best programs back yards to get players. No other teams raiding Knoxville and 2 hour radius for SEC players. We have to hit the road for every recruit.
Jakobe mentioned he was a Vol fan “even in the years with Pruitt and Guarantano.” And that’s mainly because he’s a TN kid in a UT fan area. For many of these, in middle school and early HS, we sucked and were put down on their lists while they developed relationships with others.
I don’t disagree with you it’s a strong class. If like you say they’re good fits and everything maybe it turns out to be a top 5 class. End of the day though all else being equal, star power = wins and I think people hoped for a little more after 2022. For what it’s worth I don’t buy the geography challenge as much as many people do. That’s just my opinion and willing to consider that I’m flat wrong, but I don’t think crossing a state line matters quite as much as people think.
It isn't the state line that matters, it is the cultural perception and familiarity. It is the passive pressure.
That’s the only reason I said I don’t buy it as much as many do. I’m not saying it isn’t real, just that I don’t believe the impact is as significant as many do. With some obvious exceptions (Tuscaloosa vs Huntsville, South GA vs Metro Atlanta, Charlotte vs Columbia, etc).
Next year the expectations should be higher for the class. No longer recruiting against the negative recruiting and it is a very strong instate year. Get Macintyre committed early and use that momentum.
Actually they’ve fallen a bit in the average star rank as well. Tennessee is 11th as of this morning.
Woulda liked 1 more RB, 1DT, 1wr, 2 db, 1 lb. Maybe we aren’t done in portal and can fill some of those We got a qb, speed at rb, 2 wrs, 5 OL which is bit and they get a year to get stronger, 2 TEs basically on offense. DL kindof hard to figure out as I still don’t know what defense we play.
It's a very good class. It falls a bit short of great class, but, overall, there's some really solid pieces and probably our best class since the Butch Jones legacy class.
Neyland recruited by [uck fay]ing train, Tennessee has always recruited nationally and done well at it
My NCAA 14 experience has taught me that while it would be nice to recruit 2 of nearly every position, you can't sign anywhere close to 44 players a year and it make any [dadgum] sense. It is funny to read people say "I wish we had recruiting another x" or more "y". That means taking someone away somewhere else. I don't think how tight numbers are when you consider all positions is appreciated.
I was being polite, even though I’m a barner I’m a hardliner on calling out stupidity when people say geography limits Tennessee’s recruiting. What has limited Tennessee’s recruiting is an unwillingness to just do it. Pre-NIL it was a very ugly business and not many schools consistently had the stomach for it. It drives me up a freaking wall that people now act like Georgia’s recruiting success is a birthright or somehow the natural order of things. Kirby showed up and they finally decided to play the game. That’s all it is. Obviously NIL has changed the game but that really works in Tennessee’s favor (as compared to Alabama and Georgia).
