Do we not have the NIL to compete?

[OrangeBeachVol]

actually we have one of the best NIL programs in the country. We are going to spend our money in the transfer portal. We need at least 1-2 starting linemen and a top rated WR for next season

I just read an article this AM on Hypes recruiting strategy. Said that he intentionally likes to combine his recruiting classes with high school and portal transfers. So he does not use all schollys on HS recruits. We won't know how this class ranks until the transfers are included. This method seems to be working for him.

And TN most definitely has the NIL $ to compete with any school nationally.

 

[sjt18]

Oregon, Florida, Texas, Georgia, bama… they’re killing us in recruiting

Who says? Are you sure that UT isn't getting players they want and avoiding players they don't think will fit?

None of us outside of people close to Heupel really know that answer... but it is a possibility you should consider before declaring the sky is falling.

PS- There was a lot of expressed disappointment over the portal guys the Vols did and did not get heading into this season. How does the secondary with those 3 lowly rated DBs look? 247 ranked UT's portal class 31. They ranked Kitselman 3*, Moi 3*, McMurray 3*, Thomas 3*, McCoy 4* (played like a 5*),....

Some here believe the recruiting sites are precise and authoritative. They aren't. There are lots of talented guys who they underrate.

 

[Volinnooga]

Oregon, Florida, Texas, Georgia, bama… they’re killing us in recruiting

No one is killing us in recruiting. We have a great class.

 

[sjt18]

PS- yes. Those are programs with a lot of NIL money to spend. I'm not sure about more or whatever... but those are very rich programs.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

Oregon is heavily dependent on Phil Knight. Unfortunately for them, he's 86 years old. Their NIL will likely fall off a great deal once he's gone.

Like a lot of modern billionaires, Knight has pledged to give away most of his fortune when he dies. There's little doubt the Knight Foundation will take very, very good care of the University of Oregon Athletic Department upon his death. He could easily put $2B in a trust producing $60M or so each year for them.

 

[fossilfiction]

Oregon, Florida, Texas, Georgia, bama… they’re killing us in recruiting

Who cares in all honesty. The percentage fo those players that will be at those schools in two years is low. Swoop them up in the portal.

 

[dalton_vol]

Michigan has Larry Ellison now and is supposedly going to have $50 million a year to use for NIL. Since he's worth around $150B, it's not really an issue for him.

While Spyre has done great, the stakes are getting pretty steep to attract and keep the biggest talent. We need a mega-billionaire angel even wealthier than Thunder or Allan Jones or the Haslams in case anyone has Jeff Bezos or Elon's number.

We just need the fans to pay 25 30% more in ticket prices. We don't need a rich donor

 

[DukeDaisySam]

This.

Also the best LB class this year since the 90s. No BS. We landed 3 LBs that UGA and Bama begged and threw big $$$ at.

Same for the Dline haul in this class. We got 5 guys that will play and make a difference here. 3 of them in the top 150 recruits, including flipping a top40 recruit from Clemson that will be in the rotation at DTackle NEXT year.

Also landed 2 of the top 10 TEs in the nation in Brahme and VanD. A 5* QB that Coach Hype hand picked just like Nico.

This is a monster class. By total points (around 280?) It is the 2nd highest total ever at UT in the modern era. This 25 class is even better than the 24 class.

Oh...and from what I have read, we were able to redshirt EVERYONE from the 24 class except 6 guys. Think about that. So thats another 18 or so guys to ADD to this 2025 class that ALL have 4 more years eligibility left. ~43 or 44 guys that all still have 4 years to play at UT. The future is VERY bright. We have done an excellent job in the portal every season filling holes in both lines, and adding a proven WR like Bru and Brazzell.

This staff is killing it. Now lets go win this tournament.

G0 VOLS. BELIEVE 2024

7th ranked class in the SEC

 

[StuckInBamaVol]

this NIL thing will even out. These mega donors are going to stop contributing as much, if at all to NIL.

This why TN is ahead with the talent fee.

 

[SayUWantAreVOLution]

this NIL thing will even out. These mega donors are going to stop contributing as much, if at all to NIL.

This why TN is ahead with the talent fee.

A huge donor like Ellison or Knight simply tosses a few billion in a trust and the interest supports the NIL. They don't have to keep giving and if you're worth 150B like Ellison, it's not a stretch to drop 2B in an account for a school so they draw 40-50-60 million every year without touching the principal.

 

[ButchPlz]

Who says? Are you sure that UT isn't getting players they want and avoiding players they don't think will fit?

None of us outside of people close to Heupel really know that answer... but it is a possibility you should consider before declaring the sky is falling.

PS- There was a lot of expressed disappointment over the portal guys the Vols did and did not get heading into this season. How does the secondary with those 3 lowly rated DBs look? 247 ranked UT's portal class 31. They ranked Kitselman 3*, Moi 3*, McMurray 3*, Thomas 3*, McCoy 4* (played like a 5*),....

Some here believe the recruiting sites are precise and authoritative. They aren't. There are lots of talented guys who they underrate.

First team all SEC, no?

It's as if a lot of these recruiting services also don't know **** and largely (lazily) depend on "X coach at X place recruited this person, and this person came to our camp, so here are the stars!"

 

[volbound1700]

They aren’t “killing us” in any way, shape, form or rational metric. In fact we beat those teams for some seriously elite recruits today - most importantly - at least to me- on the DLine- something we haven’t done since Fulmer was doing the fishing. And we got the number LT in the entire nation. And a bunch of other studs those programs wanted desperately.
Could we have done better ? Absolutely.

Does generating an elite recruiting machine take about five years of relationship building and on- field success? Yep. It certainly does - especially when you have to recruit out of state as much as we do.

In sum- are we recruiting at a NC level ? Yep.

We are not recruiting at a National Title level.

Going off On3 (you can use any of them), we are at 90.65.

Alabama, Oregon, and Texas are all at 92

Georgia is at a 91.63.

Heupel has done a GREAT JOB recruiting but don't kid ourselves, we are still behind.

It showed on in results like this:




To blow it off is a little silly. We clearly still have a talent gap against Georgia and Alabama (although Heupel has outcoached Alabama the past 3 years, yes I said 3 years. We were in the game in 2023 for most of it).

That being said, Tennessee is recruiting the BEST it has recruited since the Fulmer era.

 

[volbound1700]

The transfer portal does change things as people are pointing out in this thread. 3-4 years ago, perhaps the lower ranking would be more alarming than it is now.

Players had less chance to transfer. Now, if they are not playing, they will leave Alabama, Georgia, or Oregon and come, perhaps, to Tennessee.

Better to get a player that has actually played College Ball than a High School recruit that isn't quite proven yet.

I think what has gotten people wound up right now is the drama David Sanders is putting us through and why he is the only top 25 athlete in our class.

 

[Vawlz]

Love the mouthbreathers who don't follow recruiting and are clueless jump on here on signing day crying about why all 35 5* aren't signing at TN

It helps pad my ignore list for sure.

 

[PEPPERJAX]

Oregon, Florida, Texas, Georgia, bama… they’re killing us in recruiting

Do you even follow recruiting at all?

 

[tn4elvis]

I just read an article this AM on Hypes recruiting strategy. Said that he intentionally likes to combine his recruiting classes with high school and portal transfers. So he does not use all schollys on HS recruits. We won't know how this class ranks until the transfers are included. This method seems to be working for him.

And TN most definitely has the NIL $ to compete with any school nationally.

Friend of mine is a significant UGA booster, He told me Ohio State spent 18 to 20 million in Nil this year. He also said that Tennessee spent 14 million and UGA spent 12 million and was broke. I don’t think that is sustainable year in year out for any of the schools

 

[Sudden Impact]

Recruit to Needs vs stars. Some positions in reality have a cap on a star rating.
For example, a 5* OL is rare as most OL rate out at 3*. It is where coaching and recruiting comes to play, some positions will have to be developed and maybe it is an easier faster development for a 5* than a 3* but the coaches know what they need to do.
IOW, we don't know what we got as a fan but coaches know and know a recruit's potential once onboard.

 

[sjt18]

First team all SEC, no?

It's as if a lot of these recruiting services also don't know **** and largely (lazily) depend on "X coach at X place recruited this person, and this person came to our camp, so here are the stars!"

I think they kind of jacked with Sampson's rating after the fact. I remember a time after he committed to UT when he was a 3*.

I think it is hard for some to understand but the recruiting sites intentionally hedge their bets. By awarding fewer 4/5* ratings as there are players who may well deserve it... they reduce their risks of missing. No one seems to hold them to account for underrating 3* guys.

Just off the top of my head to add to this article, I don't think Will Brooks played like a zero star. I think Telander played better than his 3* rating and especially as a Soph.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

High school recruiting isn’t the same as it once was now with the transfer portal. Big things can happen there.

High school recruiting is still far the most important. Many enter the portal because they aren’t getting playing time. Not every player entering the portal can help your team. Often times them players are struggling. Now you have to tap it when there are ones that can help you but it’s not the sure fire magic fix that some try to portray. GBO

 

[WillisWG]

On 247 we have 279 points. This gives us the 10th ranked class. The last three cycles that total points would have been 8th, 6th and 7th. Even though we are 10th this year we are only 27 points from first place class.

In previous years from the 8th, 6th and 7th position we would have been this far away from 1st place In points with 279 points.

First place in 2022 had 333 total (279 would have been 54 pts behind)
2023 - 328 (49 pts)
2024 - 318 (39 pts)

So this is data proof that talent is spreading out more among the top 10 so while we are 10th place now we really are as close to the #1 class in points as the 3rd-4th class from just a couple years cycles ago.

Combine this with our portal work and we definitely signed a class we can win a National Title with.

GB

 

[sjt18]

High school recruiting isn’t the same as it once was now with the transfer portal. Big things can happen there.

High school recruiting is still far the most important. Many enter the portal because they aren’t getting playing time. Not every player entering the portal can help your team. Often times them players are struggling. Now you have to tap it when there are ones that can help you but it’s not the sure fire magic fix that some try to portray. GBO

Couple of thoughts. I think you are both right. To add, I think this points to a couple of things UT is doing that are ahead of the game.

One, money ball. You don't want to assemble a list of the "best" players. You want to assemble players that create the best team. That includes raw talent but also culture fit, love of the game, commitment, personality, ego, etc.

Two, play'em. You aren't as likely to lose guys if you give them snaps. What UT is doing well on D and better on O is getting a lot of guys up to standard and on the field. I can imagine the recruiting conversation: Recruit "X university said that if I earn the starting role I'll get 65% of the snaps". UT recruiter "That's true but as soon as you are ready and even as a Fr you're going to get 20-35% of the snaps for us... over more games. And, you'll be able to play fresh and make more impressive plays while also avoiding injuries that come with fatigue." I'll be surprised if programs don't start copying what UT has done on D over the next several years.

 

[ShelbourneVol]

actually we have one of the best NIL programs in the country. We are going to spend our money in the transfer portal. We need at least 1-2 starting linemen and a top rated WR for next season

Do you have knowledge of this or is this hopeful projection?
We do have a strong NIL program and I contribute to it. I can also afford to and think any Vol fan, who can afford to, would want to contribute also as this helps build up the program.

 

[RandomUTfan]

Do you have knowledge of this or is this hopeful projection?
We do have a strong NIL program and I contribute to it. I can also afford to and think any Vol fan, who can afford to, would want to contribute also as this helps build up the program.

This really doesn't take a brainiac to figure out. The evidence is pretty vast that it's correct. That becomes knowledge. We land the best portal players in the country every year and our recruiting classes are top 10. You don't do that if you don't have a healthy NIL program. We retain all the players we want to keep. " "

The extent to which Peyton is funding UT sports goes completely unnoticed because he's not one who cares about getting credit for that sort of thing, but look at where Spyre Sports is headquartered. All you need to know. And he's not the only filthy rich donor funding our NIL program! We will never have the problem of not having enough $$ to win championships in ANY sport.

 

[Woodlawn VOL]

Couple of thoughts. I think you are both right. To add, I think this points to a couple of things UT is doing that are ahead of the game.

One, money ball. You don't want to assemble a list of the "best" players. You want to assemble players that create the best team. That includes raw talent but also culture fit, love of the game, commitment, personality, ego, etc.

Two, play'em. You aren't as likely to lose guys if you give them snaps. What UT is doing well on D and better on O is getting a lot of guys up to standard and on the field. I can imagine the recruiting conversation: Recruit "X university said that if I earn the starting role I'll get 65% of the snaps". UT recruiter "That's true but as soon as you are ready and even as a Fr you're going to get 20-35% of the snaps for us... over more games. And, you'll be able to play fresh and make more impressive plays while also avoiding injuries that come with fatigue." I'll be surprised if programs don't start copying what UT has done on D over the next several years.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. GBO

 

[ShelbourneVol]

This really doesn't take a brainiac to figure out. The evidence is pretty vast that it's correct. That becomes knowledge. We land the best portal players in the country every year and our recruiting classes are top 10. You don't do that if you don't have a healthy NIL program. We retain all the players we want to keep. " "

The extent to which Peyton is funding UT sports goes completely unnoticed because he's not one who cares about getting credit for that sort of thing, but look at where Spyre Sports is headquartered. All you need to know. And he's not the only filthy rich donor funding our NIL program! We will never have the problem of not having enough $$ to win championships in ANY sport.

I will ask you the same question , RandonUTfan, I asked of VolsBrick. Do you have concrete evidence of what you are saying or are you being your typical arrogant, rude, self? For the record we do not get all our targets, portal or otherwise. I wish we did.