Deep Breaths....

[JohnnyJava]

Maybe Pruitt can surprise by pulling a Rick Barnes--coaching up a relatively unimpressive group of recruits to make an outstanding team. Today is a day for optimism. Lyle Jones can no longer hurt this program. We will get better.

 

[UTwild82]

Taking into account today, the East looks as follows:

Georgia

Florida / South Carolina

The rest.

It looks to me like it's going to take a couple of years just to claw up into that second group. Mizzou and Kentucky are no longer gimmes.

If we go bowling next year, that is success. It stinks that we are back here, but here we are nonetheless.

At least we're killing it in hoops.

 

[VFL92]

A lot of you need to quit hanging on every word on twitter and quit getting excited about crystal balls

Yes, and many should be eating crow for the way Hubbs has been trashed on here for the last few weeks. Every day we heard about how disconnected Hubbs was and how behind he was all these other guys putting in crystal balls. Hubbs is the best in the business. He just isn't a sunshine pumper who hangs on every tweet.

 

[GUNTERSVOL]

No one should be freaking out too much and I'll tell ya why, recruiting ranks are great and all but they don't mean much if the coaching is crap

Rivals.com - Rivals' top 50 recruiting teams of the past five years

Our past five classes put us just behind Clemson in average rankings, and do you know the difference between is and Clemson?

Coaching, plain and simple, a good coach can take any player and beat you. I think this staff will show this, we might not set the world on fire next season but I'm going to be we'll see drastic improvements

So let's just chill and see what happens

I would love to have had some of those star blessed guys that picked up other hats and wore other shirts today, but we all have seen too many 5 star guys play like 3's and vice versa, not all 5's are created equal either... some are a great mix of mental and physical ability, some more mental and some nearly all physical... it is far easier to see how 3 guys can be under rated based on later maturation, playing behind older blessed guys, and playing on poor teams or simply not seen.... they usually have some ground to make up... this year I really like our sleeper QB, the DE from the same school where the WR spurned us after we found him, and both of those guys with great baseball skills and have a good vibe about the WR out of Nevada... and I am sure these are some of the guys that have some of our fellow Vols ready to leap off bridges all over the country....

On top of that some of our misses appeared to be addition by subtraction based on their public displays... others were just big legitimate misses.... just like every year...

 

[NCVOL327]

Where did the last coach get us with all his highly ranked classes? Let's follow the Rick Barnes coach um up and build chemistry.

 

[checkerboards09]

This will be the lowest ranked class he signs and given the circumstances I couldn’t be more pleased. We will have a top 5 class next year considering the state of Tennessee is loaded.

 

[VFL92]

This will be the lowest ranked class he signs and given the circumstances I couldn’t be more pleased. We will have a top 5 class next year considering the state of Tennessee is loaded.

You couldn't be more pleased with this class? I've heard some ridiculous things today but that may take the cake. There's NOTHING that could've been added to this class that would've made you more pleased? Flowers and Norwood are just as pleasing to you as Griffin and ITS would've been? You're just as pleased with Jordan Young at FSU as you would've been with him at UT?

 

[checkerboards09]

You couldn't be more pleased with this class? I've heard some ridiculous things today but that may take the cake. There's NOTHING that could've been added to this class that would've made you more pleased? Flowers and Norwood are just as pleasing to you as Griffin and ITS would've been? You're just as pleased with Jordan Young at FSU as you would've been with him at UT?

Yes, of course, but given the circumstances I’m not at all displeased with this class. We just didn’t have enough time established when we swung for the fences with the majority of the top recruits. I think we did pretty damn good all things considered is what I’m getting at.

 

[orangebloodgmc]

I feel like we were pretty successful recruiting to fill specific needs, other than cornerback where we would like to have gotten more help, but we did get some.

But a better example is in the trenches, where we signed some hosses. To be honest, I was in a bad mood mid-afternoon-ish today, until those last couple DE's then we signed Emmit Gooden, the big DT ... I think we might be a'ight.

 

[jakez4ut]

Where did the last coach get us with all his highly ranked classes? Let's follow the Rick Barnes coach um up and build chemistry.

I get that sentiment.

But I'd be ok with the Kirby smart fast track program as well... I mean if we're choosing....😜

 

[UTK]

Epic fail. But it’s aight

 

[dan4vols]

Yes, of course, but given the circumstances I’m not at all displeased with this class. We just didn’t have enough time established when we swung for the fences with the majority of the top recruits. I think we did pretty damn good all things considered is what I’m getting at.

Couldn't agree more

 

[PowerT4me]

Class could have much better. Could have been much worse. This year we need to win the games we should win and survive the ones we can't. And things will pick up drastically.

 

[TexasVolfan1]

Where did the last coach get us with all his highly ranked classes? Let's follow the Rick Barnes coach um up and build chemistry.

It doesn’t work the same with football unfortunately. Coaching matter for sure but if you wanna compete for championships you’ve gotta be towards the top of the recruiting ranking every year.

 

[a vol n tears]

I'm not saying whether I'm happy or disappointed in this class. I will say it is close to what I expected. I don't think it will make next year's team any better or worse. It may hurt to have this small of a class in year 2 or 3 down the road. I am not up on the new 25 recruit limit, but if we can sign some EE next year and back count, it should work out.
I hope CJP learned a lot about being the head man when recruiting.
I don't think throwing out offers to every 5* in the country is the best strategy at TENN. Being in the top 3 or 4 for those guys means nothing. Signing is what matters. Recruiting at TENN is a lot different than recruiting at FSU, Ga, or Ala. TENN does not auto recruit itself like those schools.
My hope is fans will stop saying, the last staff wouldn't have even offered that player (he actually offered players the last staff would have passed on). Also hope that Pruitt can coach them up. At this time we have no idea how good this staff will be as a new HC, OC, and DC. All have been where the talent level was better than they have here.
I have heard the same comments for the past 4 HC hires. Time actually will tell. I'm not negative. Hope CJP kills it.

 

[VolunteerHillbilly]

Yes, of course, but given the circumstances I’m not at all displeased with this class. We just didn’t have enough time established when we swung for the fences with the majority of the top recruits. I think we did pretty damn good all things considered is what I’m getting at.

Coach should've been here instead of padding his future resume with another ring to wave under some other AD's nose in a few years. Fulmer got hoodwinked.

 

[HalfullVol]

I've read lots today about our Recruiting.

We have a very good class based on avg star rating per player - probably as good if not better than we've had in recent years.

Coach got the biggest names in here and swung for the fences. We came up really good in some instances and short in some others.

We're not far behind the pack. Better coaching and preparation will make us a better team next year than many here expect.

 

[a vol n tears]

I sincerely hope the juco guys live up to their ranking. They will make or break this class. Even if they are contributors it seems like in 2 years our roster will be under scholarship numbers without being able to sign more than 25. This 25 per year has me confused on how a roster ever catches up if players leave early for any reason. I guess if no more than 15 leave every 4 years it works out.

 

[FirstAndGoal]

All things considered (post Butch Jones train wreck and Pruitt with less than two months to recruit) we pulled off a very respectable class. It is nauseating to see how well Georgia did, but it is what it is for this recruiting cycle. The main thing we need to do to rebuild and win is establish a nasty defense. Pruitt will get it done. Our recruiting class will advance next year. :good!:

 

[bolvols]

The 2018 class may not have the star rating we dreamed of. IMO the disrespect shown by these high profile recruits name Walker and Mays will be the fuel that will burn deep in the gut of CJP and staff. This fire will spread to our players as well. I want to thank the young men who WANT to play for Tennessee. These young men need our support as well as our coaching staff. We are a starved fan base who want our Vols back on top. The facts are our coaching staff didn’t shy away from top recruits but their choice was we weren’t good enough for them. Hope they enjoy riding the pine while our commitments see the field and bring us back to the top. GBO and let’s fill the stadium for our O/W game. Be loud and be proud !!!!!!!

 

[MyBloodRunnethOrange]

Taking into account today, the East looks as follows:

Georgia

Florida / South Carolina

The rest.

How do you figure that? We finished in a virtual tie with south Carolina. They finished one spot ahead of us because they ended up with one more 4*. That's hardly enough to put them in a category above "the rest".

Add to that the fact that we entered the 2017 season with a sizeable talent advantage over both Florida and South Carolina. This past season was a clinic on poor player development, piss poor roster management, and a team just flat out quitting on their coach.

If CJP is a good coach then we should be back to at least second in the East by year 2. If not it'll be same ole same ole.

 

[tnvols72]

No one is freaking out, but let's be honest....we lost ground today. The road back to contending is quite long and uphill. Folks can hang their hopes on better coaching, but it always comes down to the jimmys and joes. Our rivals got the better of us today.

Blame the University for all of it. They are the ones who hired Dooley and Jones. This is the mess they created for being cheap for the last 8 years.

 

[UTwild82]

How do you figure that? We finished in a virtual tie with south Carolina. They finished one spot ahead of us because they ended up with one more 4*. That's hardly enough to put them in a category above "the rest".

Add to that the fact that we entered the 2017 season with a sizeable talent advantage over both Florida and South Carolina. This past season was a clinic on poor player development, piss poor roster management, and a team just flat out quitting on their coach.

If CJP is a good coach then we should be back to at least second in the East by year 2. If not it'll be same ole same ole.

South Carolina looked like a much better team than us last year. Coaching for sure played a part of that, but I also believe we missed on our talent evaluations as well. South Carolina, on the other hand, looks to have grabbed quite a few underrated guys. By the end of the year, that was a solid team.

So taking that into account and the fact their class was Slightly better than ours, I'd say we are definitely behind them at the moment.

 

[m1al]

In limited time, I think he did ok. Next recruiting cycle will be more telling.

This.. The focus now is on the staff's ability to develop and in game coaching.. If we win one maybe two we're not favored in and don't lose any we shouldn't, we will be just fine..

 

[crparker21]

I'm more interested in next year's recruiting and seeing how the play is for the last 3 or 4 games. The first few will probably be a little sloppy, but hopefully by the end of the year players are catching on. We have great recruiters. They just need to show recruits there is a clear direction of the program with on field results.