MikeHamiltonFan
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It is difficult to watch the All American games and not feel concerned. I believe that despite the fact that Alabama and Florida are going to have better classes at some positions than TN, that is to be expected and is not an indictment of our staff. I also believe that TN has superior coaching and we will beat some teams that have slightly more talent than we do.
Since the Ole Miss game some people seem to have lost faith in Monte Kiffin as a coach. That is idiotic. He is using a third string MLB, and Wes Brown was doing his best but was walking wounded who could not get a push.
If you look at Alabama, Keenan Allen, John Fulton, DeMarcus Milliner are all absolute studs in the defensive backfield and we would have been ecstatic to have any of them. Kiffin is around the country saying that we need help with Berry leaving and Edwards gone. We should get some with possibilities still out there like D Wright and A Dixon. That said, Alabama is playing for a national championship this year and they were well positioned to get their players, while Kiffin is trying to beat USC for a So Cal player and Big 12 schools for a kid from Texas.
Florida has Easley who looked like the best DE in the game switching to them, and Haden and Shaw look like future superstars in the secondary...so what? Brown, Christian, Riggs, Dunkley, Silberman, all guys we were on at one point, but they all (except M Brown) went in state which should not be a shocker. They are also coming off two National Championships in 3 years.
Being in a guys top 3 (as we have been on lots of people we missed on including Kenny Shaw who went to FSU) is not "another hat" it genuinely means that our staff did a good job and a kid really liked us. That good work is resulting in good relationships with HS coaches who will continue to have studs coming through their program.
We almost beat Alabama with a team starting two walk on offensive linemen and with a walk on MLB.
This staff is getting an offensive line that by 2011 will be much better than it has been at UT since the days of Cosey Coleman. This staff is getting DEs who can get to and sack the QB. This staff has gotten guys like Michael Taylor and Fulton who will do much better than their star rating would indicate.
The talent disparity between UT with a top 7 class this year and Alabama or Florida with a top 3 class is a very slight one. With superior coaching, if we get 2 more classes like this we should expect 2 losses per year as a maximum and we should expect to drill teams like the Auburn and UCLA teams we lost to this year.
The cupboard is not bare, but the best defensive player next year is probably Janzen Jackson who was recruited by Kiffin. The best offensive player if his hip heals fully is Bryce Brown. The best WR will be Kenbrell Thompkins. The best offensive linemen will be true freshmen like Chaz Green and JuWuan James and JC transfers like Cullen.
Give this staff another full class to close this gap some more. Then and only then should we begin judging them. Right now they are the equivalent of a basketball team trying to hit enough 3s to knock off a more talented team. Soon enough they will be pounding the ball inside and scoring off set plays with ease while locking opponents down defensively.
Since the Ole Miss game some people seem to have lost faith in Monte Kiffin as a coach. That is idiotic. He is using a third string MLB, and Wes Brown was doing his best but was walking wounded who could not get a push.
If you look at Alabama, Keenan Allen, John Fulton, DeMarcus Milliner are all absolute studs in the defensive backfield and we would have been ecstatic to have any of them. Kiffin is around the country saying that we need help with Berry leaving and Edwards gone. We should get some with possibilities still out there like D Wright and A Dixon. That said, Alabama is playing for a national championship this year and they were well positioned to get their players, while Kiffin is trying to beat USC for a So Cal player and Big 12 schools for a kid from Texas.
Florida has Easley who looked like the best DE in the game switching to them, and Haden and Shaw look like future superstars in the secondary...so what? Brown, Christian, Riggs, Dunkley, Silberman, all guys we were on at one point, but they all (except M Brown) went in state which should not be a shocker. They are also coming off two National Championships in 3 years.
Being in a guys top 3 (as we have been on lots of people we missed on including Kenny Shaw who went to FSU) is not "another hat" it genuinely means that our staff did a good job and a kid really liked us. That good work is resulting in good relationships with HS coaches who will continue to have studs coming through their program.
We almost beat Alabama with a team starting two walk on offensive linemen and with a walk on MLB.
This staff is getting an offensive line that by 2011 will be much better than it has been at UT since the days of Cosey Coleman. This staff is getting DEs who can get to and sack the QB. This staff has gotten guys like Michael Taylor and Fulton who will do much better than their star rating would indicate.
The talent disparity between UT with a top 7 class this year and Alabama or Florida with a top 3 class is a very slight one. With superior coaching, if we get 2 more classes like this we should expect 2 losses per year as a maximum and we should expect to drill teams like the Auburn and UCLA teams we lost to this year.
The cupboard is not bare, but the best defensive player next year is probably Janzen Jackson who was recruited by Kiffin. The best offensive player if his hip heals fully is Bryce Brown. The best WR will be Kenbrell Thompkins. The best offensive linemen will be true freshmen like Chaz Green and JuWuan James and JC transfers like Cullen.
Give this staff another full class to close this gap some more. Then and only then should we begin judging them. Right now they are the equivalent of a basketball team trying to hit enough 3s to knock off a more talented team. Soon enough they will be pounding the ball inside and scoring off set plays with ease while locking opponents down defensively.
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