'19 CA LB Henry To'oto'o (Tennessee Signee)

[Jackcrevol]

That's fair.

Man how I wish Pruitt could pull in a 30+ class like Butch and flip this roster.

why in the hell does the signing limit exist? its basically stymied anyone who isnt good. correct me here, please.

this seems like a pointless rule.

 

[jakez4ut]

That's fair.

Man how I wish Pruitt could pull in a 30+ class like Butch and flip this roster.

eh, those big classes almost never work out. i did some lookin back at classes of that size some time ago, and what i found was when you sign classes at 30+, the attrition rate for those sized classes was 5 to 10% higher than normal.

as was the case with Butch's classes. experienced very high attrition rates, and not all for good reasons.

 

[LouderVol]

why in the hell does the signing limit exist? its basically stymied anyone who isnt good. correct me here, please.

this seems like a pointless rule.

not good for the kids.

 

[jakez4ut]

not good for the kids.

and it creates some parody, competitively speaking. tries to keep the playing field even. except for Bama, who can do whatever they want.

 

[LAVol1]

eh, those big classes almost never work out. i did some lookin back at classes of that size some time ago, and what i found was when you sign classes at 30+, the attrition rate for those sized classes was 5 to 10% higher than normal.
as was the case with Butch's classes. experienced very high attrition rates, and not all for good reasons.

I remember Fulmer telling new recruits something like: "Look at the guy to your left and look to then to the right. Chances are, by your Sr. year, they won't be here." Basically saying that by the Sr. year, close to 50% of a class will have moved on. The more players you sign, the more that will leave. The attrition in Butch's big class, on a % basis, probably wasn't an anomaly. Of the 32 that Butch signed, if I'm not mistaken, about 20, at some point, were starters. Some really good players were in that class. I would take that group today over this year's class.

 

[BigorangeBoy]

Schlabach was on ESPN as a guest a few minutes ago, and said if guys like Tate Martel or Justin Fields get waivers to play this Fall (without a legitimate argument) it will become wide open collegiate free agency.

 

[LibertyVol]

It’s all in alabubba

Auburn and Alabama are two of the biggest cheaters in college football history. I would throw in Florida State. I think Florida State has had to vacate more wins than anybody else. The truth of the matter is, this is just who Alabama is. They are cheaters. Their fans condone it and expect it. You talk to Alabama fans and they whine about Fulmer being a snitch. Well, if you don't cheat, then no one can snitch. It is like a bank robber crying because someone called the police.

 

[RikidyBones]

Schlabach was on ESPN as a guest a few minutes ago, and said if guys like Tate Martel or Justin Fields get waivers to play this Fall (without a legitimate argument) it will become wide open collegiate free agency.

Tate Martell will get denied. With Fields, it depends on if the NCAA wants to defend against the SJW headlines. I can understand either decision.

 

[jakez4ut]

I remember Fulmer telling new recruits something like: "Look at the guy to your left and look to then to the right. Chances are, by your Sr. year, they won't be here." Basically saying that by the Sr. year, close to 50% of a class will have moved on. The more players you sign, the more that will leave. The attrition in Butch's big class, on a % basis, probably wasn't an anomaly. Of the 32 that Butch signed, if I'm not mistaken, about 20, at some point, were starters. Some really good players were in that class. I would take that group today over this year's class.

i wouldn't. i'm going from memory, but all said and done, i think between those two classes of 30+, the total attrition rate was near 60%.

i know for the 15 class, it was 60%....and only 2 went early to the NFL. 2 retired from football all together. and the rest transferred or never really panned out in college at all.

i definitely think this staff is doing a much better job of identifying a) physical types of players they want at a particular position and b) overall evaluation of the player.

nothing is going to net a 100% certain projection on a prospect, but i never got the impression that Butch recruited for any other purpose than to make it "look good" first.....figure out the rest later.

anyway. the 30+ classses, not just for us, but across the league, just never really do what yhou think they will from an "instant" impact standpoint....and in our case, it didn't always have an impact later on either, but that's a discussion about development issues, which are fairly well chronicled at this point.

 

[shoney]

Schlabach was on ESPN as a guest a few minutes ago, and said if guys like Tate Martel or Justin Fields get waivers to play this Fall (without a legitimate argument) it will become wide open collegiate free agency.

Yep, if they make it that easy the transfer portal will look like this every rear.

 

[Devo182]

Schlabach was on ESPN as a guest a few minutes ago, and said if guys like Tate Martel or Justin Fields get waivers to play this Fall (without a legitimate argument) it will become wide open collegiate free agency.

Fields is certainly getting one
Martell definitely aint

Silly argument by Schlabach (re: Fields). Has to be a documented circumstance. I've never read of a similarly documented circumstance as that. Many witnesses and very public, not mere hearsay.

Though they have presented proposals to give waivers based on GPA. The whole reason the 1 year rule exists is for academics.

 

[Devo182]

The home visit back on? Maybe Pruitt has 1 final check, I mean trick, up his sleeve.

 

[jakez4ut]

The home visit back on? Maybe Pruitt has 1 final check, I mean trick, up his sleeve.

haven't heard one way or the other for sure. seemed doubtful it was going to happen by the p.m. yesterday. all attention on Russell.

guess we'll find out tomorrow, or later today?

 

[peaygolf]

Schlabach was on ESPN as a guest a few minutes ago, and said if guys like Tate Martel or Justin Fields get waivers to play this Fall (without a legitimate argument) it will become wide open collegiate free agency.

 

[Ron Swanson]

Schlabach was on ESPN as a guest a few minutes ago, and said if guys like Tate Martel or Justin Fields get waivers to play this Fall (without a legitimate argument) it will become wide open collegiate free agency.

247 article up this morning saying that with new rules and whatnot going on both Solomon AND Gibbs could be eligible this fall. More likely just Solomon but Gibbs could also get a waiver, it's possible.

 

[The Artful Dodger]

He will close the gap even more when we start winning. I honestly think we have over achieved on some of these guys. How many 5-7 teams can have a possible top 10-15 class that includes 3-5* recruits as well as several high 4*'s?

Bingo. People who are lamenting this class have yet to answer this question, because they can't. No other team that has had Tennessee's record the last two years has as good of a recruiting class as Tennessee will finish with. Just because you got your hopes up about a recruit that wasn't even seriously considering us till relatively recently, doesn't mean this class is in any way disappointing. The detractors of this class also overlook the fact that Pruitt and Co. won a lot of battles for players like Henry T. that we weren't expected to win. Bailey, Gray, Crouch, etc. Bottom line is this class is as good as can be expected with the results the team has had recently, some of yall just have unreasonable expectations.

 

[Bassmaster_Vol]

247 article up this morning saying that with new rules and whatnot going on both Solomon AND Gibbs could be eligible this fall. More likely just Solomon but Gibbs could also get a waiver, it's possible.

We need Gibbs to redshirt. He needs to learn the position and we need him more next year

 

[jakez4ut]

Bingo. People who are lamenting this class have yet to answer this question, because they can't. No other team that has had Tennessee's record the last two years has as good of a recruiting class as Tennessee will finish with. Just because you got your hopes up about a recruit that was even seriously considering us till relatively recently, doesn't mean this class is in any way disappointing. The detractors of this class also overlook the fact that Pruitt and Co. won a lot of battles for players like Henry T. that we weren't expected to win. Bailey, Gray, Crouch, etc. Bottom line is this class is as good as can be expected with the results the team has had recently, some of yall just have unreasonable expectations.

i agree with pretty much all this except the part about it not being realistic to expect more.

the reason you can/should expect more is because we have landed all those other guys, and we did put ourselves in a good position to land another guy like HT. it wasn't unrealistic to think we could/should land him. and it's ok to be disappointed if we don't get him, especially if he goes to Bama.

just like it was disappointing to watch Eboigbe and Bogle both commit to Bama. or Norton to GA.

that's ok. i think we're doing a good job of recruiting. we do need to do a better job of finishing with some of these types of guys. it's clear we're getting there, as evidenced by the names you've mentioned above....but getting all those kids...in addition to the eboigbe's, bogles, nortons, and To'oto'o's of the world is the difference between being middle of the pack to getting on the heels of Bama/GA sooner than later.

and it's ok to acknowledge that, while at the same time acknowledging that this class is still a very good one, and it addresses several big needs, and will be a good step forward in our rebuild.

but it's a step.....you start landing the "in addition to's"...then you're taking leaps.

 

[Ulysees E. McGill]

I think the biggest miss was not realizing potential pull The tag family would have here. Staff may have known this but I think fan bases and media didn't think about it. If Henry T family is moving with him then that personal connection of knowing you won't be on your own is huge. I didn't know they were considering moving before. Tag family would be there all 4 yrs they would there as son would be in same class.

Ummm...I thought about it, and said so quite loudly back in the summer, and was told repeatedly how stupid I was.

 

[jakez4ut]

not sure why it alwasy has to be an either/or prospect when discussing some of the topics we do here.
it is a good class, we should be happy.

and it could be better.

 

[JacketVol]

Schlabach was on ESPN as a guest a few minutes ago, and said if guys like Tate Martel or Justin Fields get waivers to play this Fall (without a legitimate argument) it will become wide open collegiate free agency.

I agree with this and as much as I want Solomon to play this year, I hope they don’t allow this.

 

[LA Vol]

HT said from the beginning that he wanted to win championships. That, Tua and Tosh were always going to factor into his decision. People got amped when Tosh left, but Bama still has two out of three. Saban's in-home with HT this week. Bama was never out of it.

 

[JacketVol]

Fields is certainly getting one
Martell definitely aint

Silly argument by Schlabach (re: Fields). Has to be a documented circumstance. I've never read of a similarly documented circumstance as that. Many witnesses and very public, not mere hearsay.

Though they have presented proposals to give waivers based on GPA. The whole reason the 1 year rule exists is for academics.

Like the gpa but the fields were so offended, they enrolled their daughter into the school two weeks after it happened. It’s BS.

 

[VinnieVOL]

and it creates some parody, competitively speaking. tries to keep the playing field even. except for Bama, who can do whatever they want.

Robin Hood: Men In Tights was a great parody.

 

[LA Vol]

Players that hire attorneys to game the system open the door for everyone. Once a strategy has been proven effective, other players will use it until the NCAA is forced to rewrite the rule to close the loophole.