We signed TWO - 2026 Recruiting Classes

[LittleVol]

I know Tennessee isn’t alone in this.
I know we had a bunch of portal guys leave out.
24 HS kids. 21 College Kids.
Does anyone remember when Dooley signed 19 kids….period?

It’s so different now.
1) Not nearly as excited about HS recruiting. Still believe we absolutely need it, but I’m not nearly as drawn in.

2) I watch college games names now even more attentively because, maybe we can sign that guy on the offseason!??haha. That’s amazing? Frustrating. Absolutely.

Can anyone imagine if NIL existed in 1999 and Florida State put 200K on Michael Vick to play with Peter Warrick?
How about…
Fulmer gets Javon Kearse in 1997 to play with Leonard Little and Al Wilson?

If some kind of regulation gets onboarded I think College could be GREAT AGAIN.
Right now it’s…I don’t know. Not great.

 

[Oldvoldad]

I know Tennessee isn’t alone in this.
I know we had a bunch of portal guys leave out.
24 HS kids. 21 College Kids.
Does anyone remember when Dooley signed 19 kids….period?

It’s so different now.
1) Not nearly as excited about HS recruiting. Still believe we absolutely need it, but I’m not nearly as drawn in.

2) I watch college games names now even more attentively because, maybe we can sign that guy on the offseason!??haha. That’s amazing? Frustrating. Absolutely.

Can anyone imagine if NIL existed in 1999 and Florida State put 200K on Michael Vick to play with Peter Warrick?
How about…
Fulmer gets Javon Kearse in 1997 to play with Leonard Little and Al Wilson?

If some kind of regulation gets onboarded I think College could be GREAT AGAIN.
Right now it’s…I don’t know. Not great.

I keep reading this nonsense about how bad college football is now. We just witnessed Indiana win a national title. I guess it was better when only bubba and uga had a chance.

 

[rocketskates]

I keep reading this nonsense about how bad college football is now. We just witnessed Indiana win a national title. I guess it was better when only bubba and uga had a chance.

This is a great point. While I HATE the transfer portal rules, the positive to all of this chaos is that it effectively retired Saban and knocked two of our rivals off of the pedestal.

 

[LittleVol]

I keep reading this nonsense about how bad college football is now. We just witnessed Indiana win a national title. I guess it was better when only bubba and uga had a chance.

I wouldn’t call it bad. It’s just not great.
This 2026 year coming up was supposed to be Nico year 3. With all of our WRs and Herring, Ross spearheading a very good defense. Title contention year.

None of those guys are here now:

Instead we have a super young QB room.
Former walkon that had 1,000 yards last season.
And a totally new defense VETERAN led by guys that weren’t even in Knoxville in 2025.

That’s absolutely insane when you consider how college football has been. We have college veterans at every level of defense….that wasn’t even in Knoxville last season. Not freshman that came in last week that we intend to start and take their lumps. 4 years college veterans ….plug and play all across the board on defense

 

[Delmar]

Indiana is certainly an interesting exception to what we’ve been used to. I was pulling for them. But let’s see what it looks like after 3 or 4 more years of no rules, unbridled tampering, and the schools asking fans for more and more money to fund this mess. Or when it goes to player contracts, collective bargaining and no connection to the school. I want to see how excited folks are going to be then.

 

[Hairy Vols]

Indiana is certainly an interesting exception to what we’ve been used to. I was pulling for them. But let’s see what it looks like after 3 or 4 more years of no rules, unbridled tampering, and the schools asking fans for more and more money to fund this mess. Or when it goes to player contracts, collective bargaining and no connection to the school. I want to see how excited folks are going to be then.

The no connection to the school will never, ever happen. That will be tied into the CBA. I will continue to love the Vols, watch the games, and stay excited.

 

[LittleVol]

Indiana is certainly an interesting exception to what we’ve been used to. I was pulling for them. But let’s see what it looks like after 3 or 4 more years of no rules, unbridled tampering, and the schools asking fans for more and more money to fund this mess. Or when it goes to player contracts, collective bargaining and no connection to the school. I want to see how excited folks are going to be then.

Cignetti came at a strange time. With the 20 million $ that Michigan won their championship with. Then Ohio State the same thing. Everyone assumed that was the new name of the game. Whoever spends the most wins.

Indiana absolutely destroyed that model.
Now theirs a bigger emphasis on scouting and analytics in production. Coaching really matters more in this age. I still like Heupel. Despite what his offense ranks as, it’s still has holes, but it’s improving. He really needs a true OC.

Texas Tech and LSU were all the rage the past 2 months. LSU might be there in the end, but Texas Tech will not imo.

I like this Tennessee team.

 

[EastTNVol6240]

I keep reading this nonsense about how bad college football is now. We just witnessed Indiana win a national title. I guess it was better when only bubba and uga had a chance.

I don’t think anyone’s mad about talent being spread out. But some further regulation would be nice. It’s currently the Wild West.

 

[ftsandersvol]

The no connection to the school will never, ever happen. That will be tied into the CBA. I will continue to love the Vols, watch the games, and stay excited.

Any negotiated CBA will have to give the players an out to pursue another destination if they so choose. Without that clause the players will not ratify the contract. The only connection to the school will be the contract, not the players.

 

[ptcarter]

I know Tennessee isn’t alone in this.
I know we had a bunch of portal guys leave out.
24 HS kids. 21 College Kids.
Does anyone remember when Dooley signed 19 kids….period?

It’s so different now.
1) Not nearly as excited about HS recruiting. Still believe we absolutely need it, but I’m not nearly as drawn in.

2) I watch college games names now even more attentively because, maybe we can sign that guy on the offseason!??haha. That’s amazing? Frustrating. Absolutely.

Can anyone imagine if NIL existed in 1999 and Florida State put 200K on Michael Vick to play with Peter Warrick?
How about…
Fulmer gets Javon Kearse in 1997 to play with Leonard Little and Al Wilson?

If some kind of regulation gets onboarded I think College could be GREAT AGAIN.
Right now it’s…I don’t know. Not great.

Triggered a tad of PTSD. Remember when Dooley said "Woops, I forgot to sign any offensive linemen"?

 

[ftsandersvol]

Texas Tech and LSU were all the rage the past 2 months. LSU might be there in the end, but Texas Tech will not imo.

Don’t underestimate how much oil money Texas Tech has.

 

[#1fulmerite]

It just means that more teams have a chance to win now. Sort of like the NFL.