Bama total of 14 5* to UT's 2 5* which are no longer with UT. Then Bama's 53 4* to UT's 25. All I've heard all week long is that if UT just wins the recruiting classes will come. But it's kinda like the chicken and the egg. Which came first? Sabans first year they had 0 5* and 5 4*'s and their 2007 record was 7-6. The next recruiting class they had 3 5*'s and 14 4*'s and went 12-2. So people are telling me that if Dooley had won two more game in 2012 then our 2013 recruiting class would have had 3 5* and 14 4*'s? No, I don't believe that. Talented kids come to a program that has coaches with established reputations of developing players for the NFL. Butch Jones could win 10 games next year and we wouldn't get 3 5* and 14 4* in the next signing class. Wouldn't happen. That's what happens when you hire an underwhelming coach.
I've not followed Bama football close enough to know who has left. I know of at least one Phil Simms 5* QB from Virginia but I don't know how many of the others. Sorry.
If only someone would put this on a plaque outside Neyland. It's obviously that it's the way they approach running the AD.
Not sure what you're trying to get at? Stars matter and Bama has us outclassed, who here has denied either?
That's all I'm hearing all over VolNation that we should be able to compete just by coaching them up and we didn't want those pre-madona's anyway and those dang 5* never work out. What I am getting at is we aren't going to be competitive for at least three years and that's "if" Butch can actually recruit in the SEC and I know it's early but coming in second in a two horse race ain't gonna cut it.
Not saying your posts are unwelcome. Just clarifying that we are all going to say "yep," and "preach it" on those points. Welcome!
Serious question: people keep referring to other coaches that signed top ten classes their first offseason. I can't think of any that actually inherited a class in the low forties and pulled that off. Most of them (Kiffin, Dooley, Malzahn, etc.) inherited top ten classes and salvaged them. Are there any coaches that inherited a class in the low forties that turned it into a top ten class in a month? I honestly can't think of any.
Mora's first class at ucla went from the low 40s to 50s to top 15. Meyer took his first class at OSU from top 20 to top 5. it happens.
I don't claim any genius nor attempt to educate anyone on here, and you know it. And, no, life will somehow go on for me despite BPv's negative feelings toward me. I'll survive. As for Jones stumbling upon us, somehow, I don't recall implying anything of the sort. And, my take on the recruiting class was in light of the hire and in light of the circumstances he inherited. But, ill quit my derailment of the thread with this single post.
If Jones is a future Spurrier level coach, which IMO 99% on here would take at least in the first few years, he should be able to take the current roster talent over the last 4 classes and win 11 games and finish in the Top 10 at least once. Spurrier has done it the last two seasons with an average class ranking of 8th in the SEC. If Jones is even a Petrino level coach minus the trainwrecks, he should be able to do it once because Petrino did it with average ranked classes of 10th in the SEC. In both cases they had teams competing for the division title and in the Top 10 in the country with lesser rated rosters than UT - which averaged 6th in the SEC. Jones' first class is Arky level - but his roster is still at 10-11 win level if he is as good as either of those two coaches. If he does well and wins 8-10 games this first season with a very experienced and reasonably talented roster, he should move up the rating of the 2014 recruiting class like Sumlin did. If he doesn't do both of those things we most likely have our answer. I do not see evidence in advance with his hiring that he is capable of doing that at the SEC level. If anything the recruiting he did in this class lowers my expectation he will succeed. Other than Dobbs and lucking into Brown (who is just OK)- he got the actual players and level of players he and the former Auburn coaches had been recruiting before coming to UT. That 31 days to recruit crap is overplayed for the masses. Jay held together the class they got. Without him they are around #40 or worse.
Probably. Look at the premise. If Jones was at the level of Spurrier. Which is the point. He is being paid to be a top 13 coach with a similar level of staff compensation allowance without ever having proven he could win at that level even with a superior roster to Spurrier. Just setting the stage. Spurrier and Petrino did it with lesser talent than is on the roster heading into this next season.