*****2019 Early Signing Day Thread, updated as the commits sign

[livefaith]

Exactly. When we're getting curb-stomped by also-rans in the conference the pumpers tell us we have to be patient until we get the talent. Then when we don't get the talent we're told we don't need it because our coaching staff somehow finds three-stars that everyone else missed that are better than the five-stars. Still waiting for that philosophy to pan out...

Nothing earth shaking. We're just desperate around here.

 

[jasonvol18]

Pruitt seemed confident in the class during the press conference. I was worried that we hadn't signed a MLB but sounds like Roman is the guy 245 lbs and runs a 4.6!! If coach pulls in the big 3 we are all hoping for them this will be a great foundation class for Pruitt. Last season was a wash as he was working 2 jobs, commendable but a mistake looking back!!

Definitely wasn't a mistake in my opinion. It shows his character and love for the kids he coach's. It was a win win, especially as many times as his name and the Vols got mentioned during both playoff games. There was nothing better he or any other new coach could have done any better with the new early signing period happening for the first time. He totally won my and many other's respect for how he handled it. I would have questioned his character had he just up and left before the season ended. JMO..I felt the same about how Scott Frost handled his situation.

 

[JFBanicki]

Wow the negavols are out of force this evening. I get it we didn’t manage to steal every 5* from everyone else and our class isn’t the Top 25 recruits and nothing else but some people need to get a grip.
We need a solid core before we go and worry about filling the roster with the all stars. If you just bring in the all stars but don’t have the proper leadership and core of players that work and believe in the system you will end up with a roster full of primadonnas that will turn out like Lyles last few years or what Urban left at Florida.

I’ll take the 3-4*s that fit what the staff wants over the 4-5*s that would require retooling the playbook or only be useful situationally.

People need to get off the “Be Bama Now” crack and step back into reality and realize things aren’t gonna just suddenly change, it takes time.
I’m giving him til year 3 and I don’t mean that He has to win the east and make the playoff. I mean that year 3 we should be beating who we should always beat and the games against the Bamas, the Oklahoma’s, the UGAs, etc will be competitive and those teams will consider us a real threat to ruin their season and playoff hopes

 

[jasonvol18]

Dooley, with his first recruiting class - the one he had five minutes to put together and which came at the lowest point, at that juncture, in the history of the program - had the #7 class in the country. His second class, the equivalent of where Pruitt is right now, still ranked #14 - Derek Dooley. Jones' second class was #7 in the country. That class had more players signed, but it also had sixteen four-stars. We currently have seven.

I really wanted to believe in Pruitt, and he may yet prove to be the guy. But this is the person who said in no uncertain terms that we would be at the very top in recruiting, and at the moment we're a long, long way from that. If we have given up on being a national power and our new goal is just to beat Vandy every fourth year or so, we're right on track. If we still haven't given up on getting the program back to some semblance of what one would expect from the ninth-winningest program in D-1 history, #17 ain't gonna cut it.

I realize that this is just ESD. But it's ESD for all the teams ahead of us too, which means they'll also gain more players between now and NSD. We aren't going to make it back to where we want to be if we keep signing mostly three-stars.

I'll start with the Dooley comment you made. Yes his first class was #7 with 28 signee's. But 8 of those were Early Enrollees and 6 of the top 11 players of the class were already on campus. Kiffin had 1-5*,5-5* and 2-3* as EE. The 20 Dooley signed were 1-5*,4-4*,12-3*,2-2* and one NR. So Dooley's first class has had a total of 5--- 4*&5* guys that he signed and Pruitt had 8 total. Dooley signed 55 guys his first 2 classes. Dooley also had 8 players who transferred within their first 2 yrs or never even made it in. In which 1 was a 5*, 4 were *4 and 3 were *3. I would also say Pruitt walked into worst times in Vol Football history than Dooley did. The trainwreck JP inherited was much worse than Dooley's and neither Dooley nor Jones had early signing period's. So far this signing class player average is .8936, higher than any of Dooley's 3 class player average. Dooley's 3 year team ranking average was #13 and had classes of 28, 27 and 22. His highest #7 had 28 signee's. He also had 5-4* Players decommit on NSD.

On Butch his first class had a player average of .8586, ranked #25, had 23 signee's with 4-4*, 18-3* and 1-2*. Compared to Pruitt's first class that had an .8757 player average, #21, had 22 signee's with 8-4* and 14-3*. So based on players each of the 3 signed their first recruiting class , JP had the better numbers. JP didn't benefit from having Lane already having many highly rated guys enrolled when he arrived that Dooley did. Butch's 5 classes had a #17 average ranking while he was here and had class sizes of 23,32,30,23 and 28. Butch did have the #4 class and #7 class, but that's misleading. The #4 class had 30 committs and an .8948 player average while the #7 class had 32 committs an a player average of .8950. So far this class has an average of .8936 and will be even higher after tomorrow if Gray signs, who is a middle *4. Plus very good chances at adding Crouch and Wright. A high *4 and *5. Pruitt is a better recruiter, evaluator and developer than Dooley and Jones ever thought about being. We won't be #17 by NSD and most teams in front of us have many more signed than our 17. I pay more attention to the player average, especially right now. Take Ala, Ga and a few others out of the equation then everyone else in front of us has very similar player Averages and some are lower than what ours is. They just have more Players currently signed. Clemson had a few smaller classes the last 6 yrs and weren't ranked as high or even top 10-12, but look at their player average and it puts them easily in the top 10. We will end up close to the top 10 and considering we are off a 5-7 season and back to back losing season's that is pretty impressive. Atleast let this class play out before making not believing in Pruitt's recruiting ability. Not to mention not losing any offensive players because of not having an OC. This class is far from done.

 

[jasonvol18]

5-7....16th recruiting class? Didn't Pruitt say this year we would be "on top"? I know...who cares what he says right? I get not lambasting him cuz this wasn't the best situation...but we went from 10th Rivals class to 16th. Sorry...I can't get excited about that. Sick of pretending everything is wonderful with this guy.

Atleast let this class get finalized first. We add Gray tomorrow, Crouch hopefully on Fri, Wright in a few weeks. That's 2 high *4 and a *5. And Crouch was a *5 till he got hurt. Plus others we are in on. We very easily can be top 12 or close by time Friday is over. Atleast give the man till NSD and see where we are then. Arky is #12 but do you really think they finish close to there? Absolutely not.

 

[Titan&Volfan4life]

Here's the reality and the facts...

1...Every young man that gave his word that he would sign with us DID sign with us.

2...We did NOT lose even 1 of our recruits despite how hard many other schools tried to flip them, NONE!

3...Not having a OC in place did NOT hurt us one little bit.

4....2 years ago we Won 4 games and 0 in the SEC, this season with a totally new coaching staff that got a late start we Won 5 games and 2 in the SEC and both against ranked teams including the number 11 ranked team, that IS progress even if you hate to admit that.

5...Winning only 9 games in the last 2 seasons is bad, very bad and that makes recruiting top player VERY hard, MUCH harder than any school with a 6 win season or better that's going to a bowl game.

6...Despite all of that our coaches worked their butts off and DID bring in some very good players and they filled several or our biggest needs on the player roster.

We still have 2 more days this week and the NSD in Feb. for our coaches to keep working and to bring in more recruits.

This is NOT over yet my friends.

IMO our coaches did a very good job and CONGRATS to them and THANKS to them and their families for all they're doing and all the long hours and time they're putting in to try to rebuild our beloved footVol Team!

I look forward to seeing what other good players they bring in by the NSD in Feb.

VFL...GBO!!!

 

[Pepe]

Dooley, with his first recruiting class - the one he had five minutes to put together and which came at the lowest point, at that juncture, in the history of the program - had the #7 class in the country. His second class, the equivalent of where Pruitt is right now, still ranked #14 - Derek Dooley. Jones' second class was #7 in the country. That class had more players signed, but it also had sixteen four-stars. We currently have seven.

I really wanted to believe in Pruitt, and he may yet prove to be the guy. But this is the person who said in no uncertain terms that we would be at the very top in recruiting, and at the moment we're a long, long way from that. If we have given up on being a national power and our new goal is just to beat Vandy every fourth year or so, we're right on track. If we still haven't given up on getting the program back to some semblance of what one would expect from the ninth-winningest program in D-1 history, #17 ain't gonna cut it.

I realize that this is just ESD. But it's ESD for all the teams ahead of us too, which means they'll also gain more players between now and NSD. We aren't going to make it back to where we want to be if we keep signing mostly three-stars.

What you're saying might be a reason for concern if the ultimate goal was to be rated highest by the people at Rivals and 247. I think for us to get to the ultimate goal we are going to have to just wait it out and actually play the freaking games with the recruits that we get.

 

[wrangler]

What you're saying might be a reason for concern if the ultimate goal was to be rated highest by the people at Rivals and 247. I think for us to get to the ultimate goal we are going to have to just wait it out and actually play the freaking games with the recruits that we get.

Why? Just because everyone knows that you can't evaluate a recruiting haul until you've had a chance to condition and coach 'em up for a couple years before you can really tell what you got?

I'm gonna have to, uh, just go ahead and agree with you there.

 

[JohnD13]

Here's the reality and the facts...

1...Every young man that gave his word that he would sign with us DID sign with us.

2...We did NOT lose even 1 of our recruits despite how hard many other schools tried to flip them, NONE!

3...Not having a OC in place did NOT hurt us one little bit.

4....2 years ago we Won 4 games and 0 in the SEC, this season with a totally new coaching staff that got a late start we Won 5 games and 2 in the SEC and both against ranked teams including the number 11 ranked team, that IS progress even if you hate to admit that.

5...Winning only 9 games in the last 2 seasons is bad, very bad and that makes recruiting top player VERY hard, MUCH harder than any school with a 6 win season or better that's going to a bowl game.

6...Despite all of that our coaches worked their butts off and DID bring in some very good players and they filled several or our biggest needs on the player roster.

We still have 2 more days this week and the NSD in Feb. for our coaches to keep working and to bring in more recruits.

This is NOT over yet my friends.

IMO our coaches did a very good job and CONGRATS to them and THANKS to them and their families for all they're doing and all the long hours and time they're putting in to try to rebuild our beloved footVol Team!

I look forward to seeing what other good players they bring in by the NSD in Feb.

VFL...GBO!!!

Please don't be factual, it runs against the popular belief here...

 

[Roustabout]

Give Lampley a year in the strength and conditioning program with Fitz and I believe Lampley will be a very solid OG.

I hope so because his dad was soft as hell.

 

[Roustabout]

Here's the reality and the facts...

1...Every young man that gave his word that he would sign with us DID sign with us.

2...We did NOT lose even 1 of our recruits despite how hard many other schools tried to flip them, NONE!

3...Not having a OC in place did NOT hurt us one little bit.

4....2 years ago we Won 4 games and 0 in the SEC, this season with a totally new coaching staff that got a late start we Won 5 games and 2 in the SEC and both against ranked teams including the number 11 ranked team, that IS progress even if you hate to admit that.

5...Winning only 9 games in the last 2 seasons is bad, very bad and that makes recruiting top player VERY hard, MUCH harder than any school with a 6 win season or better that's going to a bowl game.

6...Despite all of that our coaches worked their butts off and DID bring in some very good players and they filled several or our biggest needs on the player roster.

We still have 2 more days this week and the NSD in Feb. for our coaches to keep working and to bring in more recruits.

This is NOT over yet my friends.

IMO our coaches did a very good job and CONGRATS to them and THANKS to them and their families for all they're doing and all the long hours and time they're putting in to try to rebuild our beloved footVol Team!

I look forward to seeing what other good players they bring in by the NSD in Feb.

VFL...GBO!!!

It is interesting and gives insight to why Saban is so successful. It really doesn’t matter who he hires. In fact, I’m 100% convinced he could hire two quality coordinators from HS and the results would not be any different.

Funny that we are struggling more on the defensive side when it comes to getting game changers. I can’t say they signed one.

It should also be pointed out that Pruitt did relatively well in the ESP last year but completely whiffed on NSD. It’s filling these last spots that will ultimately decide the quality of this class.

 

[volsfan_17]

I'll start with the Dooley comment you made. Yes his first class was #7 with 28 signee's. But 8 of those were Early Enrollees and 6 of the top 11 players of the class were already on campus. Kiffin had 1-5*,5-5* and 2-3* as EE. The 20 Dooley signed were 1-5*,4-4*,12-3*,2-2* and one NR. So Dooley's first class has had a total of 5--- 4*&5* guys that he signed and Pruitt had 8 total. Dooley signed 55 guys his first 2 classes. Dooley also had 8 players who transferred within their first 2 yrs or never even made it in. In which 1 was a 5*, 4 were *4 and 3 were *3. I would also say Pruitt walked into worst times in Vol Football history than Dooley did. The trainwreck JP inherited was much worse than Dooley's and neither Dooley nor Jones had early signing period's. So far this signing class player average is .8936, higher than any of Dooley's 3 class player average. Dooley's 3 year team ranking average was #13 and had classes of 28, 27 and 22. His highest #7 had 28 signee's. He also had 5-4* Players decommit on NSD.

On Butch his first class had a player average of .8586, ranked #25, had 23 signee's with 4-4*, 18-3* and 1-2*. Compared to Pruitt's first class that had an .8757 player average, #21, had 22 signee's with 8-4* and 14-3*. So based on players each of the 3 signed their first recruiting class , JP had the better numbers. JP didn't benefit from having Lane already having many highly rated guys enrolled when he arrived that Dooley did. Butch's 5 classes had a #17 average ranking while he was here and had class sizes of 23,32,30,23 and 28. Butch did have the #4 class and #7 class, but that's misleading. The #4 class had 30 committs and an .8948 player average while the #7 class had 32 committs an a player average of .8950. So far this class has an average of .8936 and will be even higher after tomorrow if Gray signs, who is a middle *4. Plus very good chances at adding Crouch and Wright. A high *4 and *5. Pruitt is a better recruiter, evaluator and developer than Dooley and Jones ever thought about being. We won't be #17 by NSD and most teams in front of us have many more signed than our 17. I pay more attention to the player average, especially right now. Take Ala, Ga and a few others out of the equation then everyone else in front of us has very similar player Averages and some are lower than what ours is. They just have more Players currently signed. Clemson had a few smaller classes the last 6 yrs and weren't ranked as high or even top 10-12, but look at their player average and it puts them easily in the top 10. We will end up close to the top 10 and considering we are off a 5-7 season and back to back losing season's that is pretty impressive. Atleast let this class play out before making not believing in Pruitt's recruiting ability. Not to mention not losing any offensive players because of not having an OC. This class is far from done.

I wish I could "like" this x1000 - Thank you for providing actual objective data in your argument. It's refreshing to see. I always forget how insane the boards get on signing day with uninformed, knee-jerk reactions that fail to properly represent our great fan base. I swear some posters would've complained about a class sitting at the top spot with 20 5 star recruits. Pruitt has already proven himself to me as a better pure football coach than either of his two predecessors, and his recruiting style will be only more appreciated as the years stack up.

If you're paying attention, he's addressed several needs in this class starting with the OL, building depth at DB, plugging big fellas in the middle of the DL, etc. Next season I fully expect we'll address more skill position players (WR) to go along with our already committed QB, and continue to add depth to DL, LB, OL. He's laying the groundwork of a firm foundation, without the stupid catch phases or clichés. I truly believe this class will have little attrition and the development of these players will be night and day compared to previous coaching staffs. Yesterday was a good day, today will be a good day (Gray), and NSD will be a good day!

 

[diehardvolsfan]

Dooley, with his first recruiting class - the one he had five minutes to put together and which came at the lowest point, at that juncture, in the history of the program - had the #7 class in the country. His second class, the equivalent of where Pruitt is right now, still ranked #14 - Derek Dooley. Jones' second class was #7 in the country. That class had more players signed, but it also had sixteen four-stars. We currently have seven.

I really wanted to believe in Pruitt, and he may yet prove to be the guy. But this is the person who said in no uncertain terms that we would be at the very top in recruiting, and at the moment we're a long, long way from that. If we have given up on being a national power and our new goal is just to beat Vandy every fourth year or so, we're right on track. If we still haven't given up on getting the program back to some semblance of what one would expect from the ninth-winningest program in D-1 history, #17 ain't gonna cut it.

I realize that this is just ESD. But it's ESD for all the teams ahead of us too, which means they'll also gain more players between now and NSD. We aren't going to make it back to where we want to be if we keep signing mostly three-stars.

very true. Idk if recruits trust Pruitt all that much yet..I’ve seen several 4 star guys sprinkled in the mix but it’s just 3 star after another. Next year we better get a TON of 4 stars and a few 5’s or he’s not gonna make it long here at TN. That’s just the honest truth...if he really wants to get this turned around he’s really gotta do ALOT of convincing...

 

[Vols_Life]

Here's the reality and the facts...

1...Every young man that gave his word that he would sign with us DID sign with us.

2...We did NOT lose even 1 of our recruits despite how hard many other schools tried to flip them, NONE!

3...Not having a OC in place did NOT hurt us one little bit.

4....2 years ago we Won 4 games and 0 in the SEC, this season with a totally new coaching staff that got a late start we Won 5 games and 2 in the SEC and both against ranked teams including the number 11 ranked team, that IS progress even if you hate to admit that.

5...Winning only 9 games in the last 2 seasons is bad, very bad and that makes recruiting top player VERY hard, MUCH harder than any school with a 6 win season or better that's going to a bowl game.

6...Despite all of that our coaches worked their butts off and DID bring in some very good players and they filled several or our biggest needs on the player roster.

We still have 2 more days this week and the NSD in Feb. for our coaches to keep working and to bring in more recruits.

This is NOT over yet my friends.

IMO our coaches did a very good job and CONGRATS to them and THANKS to them and their families for all they're doing and all the long hours and time they're putting in to try to rebuild our beloved footVol Team!

I look forward to seeing what other good players they bring in by the NSD in Feb.

VFL...GBO!!!

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Thinking out loud here, I think CJP is waiting on OC hire because he doesn't want it to overshadow the recruiting class & work being done here.

These young men deserve a bit of praise and attention because upon their backs will the success of the program moving forward be built!

 

[Rudy123]

I can guarantee that's not happening..It would have already been announced plus it's been said JP isn't hiring from within. My money is it being Sark.

I can't wait for this to be over with. I want to see how we all, including myself, missed on our predictions on who the new OC will be
We all had our predictions after Butch was fired and I don't recall anyone choosing Pruitt until it was obvious to everyone.

 

[Rudy123]

Cor

Although Clemson already has 26... so I guess there's an exception to the rule for a spot or 2. I don't know how that all works, I'm simply speculating since Clemson has over 25

Correct me if I am wrong. The 25 signed rule is an SEC rule not am NCAA rule, so Clemson is exempt from 25 rule

 

[3rdDegreeVol]

Cor


Correct me if I am wrong. The 25 signed rule is an SEC rule not am NCAA rule, so Clemson is exempt from 25 rule

NCAA rule

 

[MyBloodRunnethOrange]

Dooley, with his first recruiting class - the one he had five minutes to put together and which came at the lowest point in the history of the program - had the #7 class in the country.

The cornerstone of that class was 9 EEs who were already enrolled before Lane Kiffin left

His second class, the equivalent of where Pruitt is right now, still ranked #14 - Derek Dooley.

And this class isn't done yet

 

[GTBATV]

If anyone is interested, here is a link to Gray announcement.

 

[sjt18]

Recruiting is required to win. Recruiting rankings are "generally correct" for the players they give a 4/5* rating to... a significant % go pro unless injured. They are likely to start or play significant roles. That is especially true of 5* players. But for every recruit they hit with 4/5*… this miss several 3* or less than go on to play in the NFL. Even more play significant roles and even on winning teams.

The long and short of it is that Pruitt's survival or that of any other coach depends on getting talented players, developing them, coaching them up, avoiding injuries, avoiding other career hindering issues, and then coaching them to win in games. It may make us feel better if he's getting nice reviews on NSD... but it isn't a prerequisite for success if he's getting talent that he can win with.

 

[PulaskiVolFan]

Definitely wasn't a mistake in my opinion. It shows his character and love for the kids he coach's. It was a win win, especially as many times as his name and the Vols got mentioned during both playoff games. There was nothing better he or any other new coach could have done any better with the new early signing period happening for the first time. He totally won my and many other's respect for how he handled it. I would have questioned his character had he just up and left before the season ended. JMO..I felt the same about how Scott Frost handled his situation.

It's easy to tell that Coach Pruitt has great character without him having stayed and I respected him for staying, it's also evident that CJP took on too much too early and that carried over into the season causing some to think he was in over his head. Last year's class was a zero save 3-4 players and had he and staff worked last year like they did this year I believe recruiting would have been better in the 18 class.

 

[eVOLve]

 

[VolFan4life24]

Eric Gray to Tn

 

[mikepotts]

Time to add Mr Gray to the list of signees! Wooooo! Go Vols!