'16 TN OL Bryce Mathews (Ole Miss commit)

#552
#552
JamesBenUT said:
I'd rather be able to back count in 2017 than "settle" on 2nd and 3rd options just to fill a certain number at each position
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I agree with you but I don't think it has to do with getting a certain number at each position other than maybe RB where we almost HAVE to have someone this class. With the '17 class loaded in our own state, this class was more about depth and elite playemakers where you can get them. I know the smaller class makes a difference but it just seems like we have been striking out on guys that we would have had in the last 2 classes. JMO.
 
#553
#553
BigOrange15 said:
I agree with you but I don't think it has to do with getting a certain number at each position other than maybe RB where we almost HAVE to have someone this class. With the '17 class loaded in our own state, this class was more about depth and elite playemakers where you can get them. I know the smaller class makes a difference but it just seems like we have been striking out on guys that we would have had in the last 2 classes. JMO.
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I think it's more we are passing on guys we would have taken in the last two classes. Guys like Mathews don't feel as much of a priority this year.
 
#555
#555
thetennlegend said:
I think it's more we are passing on guys we would have taken in the last two classes. Guys like Mathews don't feel as much of a priority this year.
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Fair point. Although, OL seems like a position to not pass over. Hopefully we can end with some quality RB, WR, DB, and OL.
 
#557
#557
BigOrange15 said:
Fair point. Although, OL seems like a position to not pass over. Hopefully we can end with some quality RB, WR, DB, and OL.
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OL really isn't a major need right now. I think we need quality rather than numbers. We currently have 16 scholarship O-linemen on the roster. Three will graduate, so 13 return (assuming no attrition). I think 15 is reasonable number to carry, so taking only 2-3 in this class has probably always been the plan. We have a good one in Johnson. We just need to add one or two more, and we will have met our needs. I think we'll be fine.

And we can load up next year with Stokes, McKenzie, and Smith being elite prospects we have a strong shot at already.
 
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#558
#558
highspeed said:
OL really isn't a major need right now. I think we need quality rather than numbers. We currently have 16 scholarship O-linemen on the roster. Three will graduate, so 13 return (assuming no attrition). I think 15 is reasonable number to carry, so taking only 2-3 in this class has probably always been the plan. We have a good one in Johnson. We just need to add one or two more, and we will have met our needs. I think we'll be fine.

And we can load up next year with Stokes, McKenzie, and Smith being elite prospects we have a strong shot at already.
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We have numbers on the OL as a whole, but as of right now we'll only have 5 OTs (counting Blair, who has been a complete nonfactor thus far and Johnson, who will be a true freshman) on our roster in 2016. We really need another true OT in this class.
 
#559
#559
This is why it's so important to have a good year. This year could make or break Butch. We have to win to continue getting these highly rated recruits.
 
#560
#560
Some of you guys need to relax a little. Look, facts are, and some of you aren't going to like this, we have greatly overachieved in recruiting. We've won 12 games under Butch in two years. We've put together back to back elite classes, we even out recruited teams that annihilated us in the past few years, aka Ole Mis, etc... At some point, that point being now IMO, Butch is going to have to win some close games against solid teams to prove his worth.

Now is not the time to worry about recruiting. The time to worry about recruiting is when we start losing multiple games the way we did last year against FL. The time to worry about recruiting is when Butch fails to close on the likes Warrior, Hardman, Davis, Dickerson, Joe Williams, Gooden (if he can qualify), Vaughn, etc. We can't get all of these guys, but we need a few of them.

Some of you also forget the advantages Ole Miss has on us in recruiting. Freeze has ties to West TN in recruiting. Freeze also has the ability to say he beat us 34-3 last year. Freeze also put his team in playoff contention last year by starting the season 7-0, which was the best start to a season for Ole Miss since 1962. Then, to top it off, Freeze, barring injury, has three players with top 10 draft potential in next year's NFL draft: Tunsil, Nkemdiche, and Treadwell.

All in all, I'd say Butch has done nothing short of miracle work since he's been here considering the negative recruiting teams like Ole Miss has on us. To steal players like Richmond from teams like Ole Miss, along with landing players like Bituli has really put us in a position to do great things on the field in the coming years. However, the window is closing on Butch in terms of using a watchword to fulfill a recruiting desire, such as a specific player. We must shift from rebuild mode to win mode if we want to recruit like we have the last two years. Butch has to prove his coaching abilities during live games. We know he can formulate game plans given the time, aka Iowa, but can he win games like the 2014 FL game when his game plan doesn't work? That's what we have to find out as fans, and that's what prospects want to find out as players. If Butch proves his in game coaching abilities, we will never have to worry about recruiting again.
 
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#561
#561
Ole Miss....lol.... the school that gives its players rings for getting stomped by 30+ points in a bowl game. Exactly like the "participation" ribbon you get in elementary school when you don't place in anything during field day.
 
#562
#562
keckjm said:
Some of you guys need to relax a little. Look, facts are, and some of you aren't going to like this, we have greatly overachieved in recruiting. We've won 12 games under Butch in two years. We've put together back to back elite classes, we even out recruited teams that annihilated us in the past few years, aka Ole Mis, etc... At some point, that point being now IMO, Butch is going to have to win some close games against solid teams to prove his worth.

Now is not the time to worry about recruiting. The time to worry about recruiting is when we start losing multiple games the way we did last year against FL. The time to worry about recruiting is when Butch fails to close on the likes Warrior, Hardman, Davis, Dickerson, Joe Williams, Gooden (if he can qualify), Vaughn, etc. We can't get all of these guys, but we need a few of them.

Some of you also forget the advantages Ole Miss has on us in recruiting. Freeze has ties to West TN in recruiting. Freeze also has the ability to say he beat us 34-3 last year. Freeze also put his team in playoff contention last year by starting the season 7-0, which was the best start to a season for Ole Miss since 1962. Then, to top it off, Freeze, barring injury, has three players with top 10 draft potential in next year's NFL draft: Tunsil, Nkemdiche, and Treadwell.

All in all, I'd say Butch has done nothing short of miracle work since he's been here considering the negative recruiting teams like Ole Miss has on us. To steal players like Richmond from teams like Ole Miss, along with landing players like Bituli has really put us in a position to do great things on the field in the coming years. However, the window is closing on Butch in terms of using a watchword to fulfill a recruiting desire, such as a specific player. We must shift from rebuild mode to win mode if we want to recruit like we have the last two years. Butch has to prove his coaching abilities during live games. We know he can formulate game plans given the time, aka Iowa, but can he win games like the 2014 FL game when his game plan doesn't work? That's what we have to find out as fans, and that's what prospects want to find out as players. If Butch proves his in game coaching abilities, we will never have to worry about recruiting again.
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Is that a banana in your pants or are you just happy to talk about Ole Miss?
 
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#563
#563
keckjm said:
Some of you guys need to relax a little. Look, facts are, and some of you aren't going to like this, we have greatly overachieved in recruiting. We've won 12 games under Butch in two years. We've put together back to back elite classes, we even out recruited teams that annihilated us in the past few years, aka Ole Mis, etc... At some point, that point being now IMO, Butch is going to have to win some close games against solid teams to prove his worth.

Now is not the time to worry about recruiting. The time to worry about recruiting is when we start losing multiple games the way we did last year against FL. The time to worry about recruiting is when Butch fails to close on the likes Warrior, Hardman, Davis, Dickerson, Joe Williams, Gooden (if he can qualify), Vaughn, etc. We can't get all of these guys, but we need a few of them.

Some of you also forget the advantages Ole Miss has on us in recruiting. Freeze has ties to West TN in recruiting. Freeze also has the ability to say he beat us 34-3 last year. Freeze also put his team in playoff contention last year by starting the season 7-0, which was the best start to a season for Ole Miss since 1962. Then, to top it off, Freeze, barring injury, has three players with top 10 draft potential in next year's NFL draft: Tunsil, Nkemdiche, and Treadwell.

All in all, I'd say Butch has done nothing short of miracle work since he's been here considering the negative recruiting teams like Ole Miss has on us. To steal players like Richmond from teams like Ole Miss, along with landing players like Bituli has really put us in a position to do great things on the field in the coming years. However, the window is closing on Butch in terms of using a watchword to fulfill a recruiting desire, such as a specific player. We must shift from rebuild mode to win mode if we want to recruit like we have the last two years. Butch has to prove his coaching abilities during live games. We know he can formulate game plans given the time, aka Iowa, but can he win games like the 2014 FL game when his game plan doesn't work? That's what we have to find out as fans, and that's what prospects want to find out as players. If Butch proves his in game coaching abilities, we will never have to worry about recruiting again.
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No....just no.
 
#564
#564
Ole Miss will be an afterthought in the West after this season.

Freeze struck gold by landing three 1st round picks in a single class, but he's not recruiting well enough to keep up with the likes of Bama, Auburn, A&M, and LSU in his division.
 
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#566
#566
bignewt said:
You guys have short memories. Not like I am going to dig through threads but yes it is said by someone every year.
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By the end of July? Look at who was committed in the classes by then. If anybody worried, there was no helping them. Fairly certain both classes were securely in the top 10.
 
#567
#567
Aesius said:
Ole Miss will be an afterthought in the West after this season.

Freeze struck gold by landing three 1st round picks in a single class, but he's not recruiting well enough to keep up with the likes of Bama, Auburn, A&M, and LSU in his division.
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There are three teams in the SEC with no chance of ever making the SECCG and Ole Miss is definitely one of them.
 
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#568
#568
SouthKnoxVOL said:
Is that a banana in your pants or are you just happy to talk about Ole Miss?
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I'm sorry some of you guys can't take off the orange shades for a few moments and look around. The SEC West, outside maybe Miss St, isn't going down anytime soon. Every SEC West team has a great coach, and all of them can recruit at a high level year in and year out outside Miss St and Arky. If things go south this year, and we don't have injuries that caused it such as Dobbs going down, then we are going to lose guys to teams like Ole Miss, AU, and Bama. Right now, Butch has control over most of West TN, but we have to win 8-9 games this year.

You don't think having multiple first rounders in a draft isn't a recruiting advatage? You don't think winning 9 and 10 games a year isn't a recruiting advantage? Guys I hate to piss on your parade, but the fun is over. The slogans are over. UT fans are ready to see the wins start rolling in. Come September, when we are all in Nashville, the truth beigns. We are about to find out what are future holds. If Butch doesn't get this done, I don't know how anyone will be able to come here right away and out recruit the likes of UGA, Bama, AU, etc. Butch has done as good as job as you can without having the wins to back it up.

In the end, we are in a position where we are going to claw ourselves out of a 7-8 year slump, or we are going to dig ourselves into a much deeper hole. Recruiting should be the least of any Vol fan's worry right now.
 
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#569
#569
Wondering just how hard we pushed here honestly. I think Mathews will be a great player for someone but it doesn't seem we pushed as hard as we should have if we wanted to get him.
 
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#574
#574
BigOrange15 said:
I'm beginning to worry as well. I wonder if we have been a little TOO cautious because of the limited spots and it hasn't allowed Butch and staff to go all out like they have the last two classes. Just thinking out loud.
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This is not a personal attack on you but your worry speaks volumes about the standards Butch has set.

But step back and examine what he's done. We had Div II talent when he got here. Now, he has repleted the secondary. We're not hurting for options at LB or WR. The D line is stacked, as is QB. Basically, RB and OT are the only lingering concerns and they're still FAR improved than when Butch got here.

We have 6 months until NSD...Butch got this.
 
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#575
#575
keckjm said:
Some of you guys need to relax a little. Look, facts are, and some of you aren't going to like this, we have greatly overachieved in recruiting. We've won 12 games under Butch in two years. We've put together back to back elite classes, we even out recruited teams that annihilated us in the past few years, aka Ole Mis, etc... At some point, that point being now IMO, Butch is going to have to win some close games against solid teams to prove his worth.

Now is not the time to worry about recruiting. The time to worry about recruiting is when we start losing multiple games the way we did last year against FL. The time to worry about recruiting is when Butch fails to close on the likes Warrior, Hardman, Davis, Dickerson, Joe Williams, Gooden (if he can qualify), Vaughn, etc. We can't get all of these guys, but we need a few of them.

Some of you also forget the advantages Ole Miss has on us in recruiting. Freeze has ties to West TN in recruiting. Freeze also has the ability to say he beat us 34-3 last year. Freeze also put his team in playoff contention last year by starting the season 7-0, which was the best start to a season for Ole Miss since 1962. Then, to top it off, Freeze, barring injury, has three players with top 10 draft potential in next year's NFL draft: Tunsil, Nkemdiche, and Treadwell.

All in all, I'd say Butch has done nothing short of miracle work since he's been here considering the negative recruiting teams like Ole Miss has on us. To steal players like Richmond from teams like Ole Miss, along with landing players like Bituli has really put us in a position to do great things on the field in the coming years. However, the window is closing on Butch in terms of using a watchword to fulfill a recruiting desire, such as a specific player. We must shift from rebuild mode to win mode if we want to recruit like we have the last two years. Butch has to prove his coaching abilities during live games. We know he can formulate game plans given the time, aka Iowa, but can he win games like the 2014 FL game when his game plan doesn't work? That's what we have to find out as fans, and that's what prospects want to find out as players. If Butch proves his in game coaching abilities, we will never have to worry about recruiting again.
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No way bro. I'm in full panic here. I just sold everything I own and am building a bunker in Canada. Stocking up on oats if any of you can make it up here in the next 6 hours. After that, you jokers can fend for yourself.

Gotta peace out. There's a "recruiting is bad" thread I've been meaning to start up :hi:
 
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