ESD is Over, Time To Put On Steam

#1
TNHopeful505

TNHopeful505

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#1
Coach Pruitt and Co. obviously had a great day today. For being on the job for a matter of all of about 12 days, and only two recruiting weekends, and a staff that isn't even fully complete, you have to be impressed with what happened today.

We started the day with a class ranked #61. We are now currently sitting at #28 at the end of the day. That's incredible improvement today.

Now, Early Signing Day is a double edged sword. Obviously, some prospects that we would have liked more time with took themselves off the board today. However, now, we can absolutely zero in on prospects from a smaller pool.

This absolutely benefits us in that we now can concentrate our efforts in evaluating and recruiting those that decided not to sign, instead of spending time recruiting the ones that signed today, be it to UT or elsewhere.

Our class now looks like this:
QB - 1
RB - 1
WR - 1
TE - 2
OL - 3
DL - 4
LB - 0
CB - 0
K - 1

These are absolutely guaranteed in the class. We have 13/25 spots filled. Concreting these in means that we can figure out who the remaining 12 will be.

Currently, we are 9th in the SEC. That certainly has to improve.

However, consider this:
Kentucky – Has 20 commits, only 16 have signed, have 9 spots left
Florida – Has 15 commits, only 13 have signed have 12 spots left.
Mississippi State has 21 commits, only 14 signed, has 11 spots left.
South Carolina has 23 commits, only 19 signed, have 6 spots left.
LSU has 20 commits, 17 signed, 8 spots left.
Auburn has 20 commits, 15 signed, 10 spots left.
Alabama has 18 commits, only 11 signed, have 14 spots left.
Georgia has 22 commits, only 17 signed, have 8 spots left.
Tennessee has 16 commits, only 13 signed, have 12 spots left.

(These are all according to Rivals, and probably haven't been updated, it said that Cade Mays hadn't signed with Georgia, just committed, so take all numbers with a grain of salt).

But looking at those numbers, we are in a great position. A lot of schools locked in a lot of players today, but also gave away a lot of flexibility. They will have to be picky with the spots that are left, and it's looking like there's not many left for some schools (UGA, SC, Kentucky to name a few).

However, these are players that are still in the game for us, not to mention the ones that our coaches will be evaluating and contacting in weeks to come:

4* CB Olajiah Griffin
5* CB Isaac Taylor-Stuart
3* JUCO Jahmir Johnson
3* JUCO Johncarlo Valentin
4* LB JJ Peterson
3* CB Rayshad Williams (who did NOT sign today)
3* WR/S Nikko Hall
4* WR Jacob Copeland
3* DL Jaevon Becton
3* TE Glenn Beal
4* LB Quay Walker (possible Bama flip)

And that's just who is on the board now. We will see more names pop up as time goes on.

I'm super excited with how this class is coming along. No, we didn't get everyone we thought we would, and some really hurt. BUT...still a lot of talent left on the board, and now we can focus our effort, get some guys to Knoxville that haven't been in January, and salvage a very respectable class.

I'm not at all discouraged after today. Pruitt managed to convince some big names to sign with UT, and even managed to flip a QB from the West Coast who didn't know Pruitt OR Helton two weeks ago.

It's going to be alright Vol Fans. We can rejoice today, and then rejoice again in February.

GBO.
 
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#5
#5
Our class now looks like this:
QB - 1
RB - 1
WR - 1
TE - 2
OL - 3
DL - 4
LB - 0
CB - 0
K - 1

i-want-my-corners.jpg
 
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#7
#7
butchna said:
It’s not over. Goes to Friday. :unsure:
Click to expand...

yep this one, but the other goes on Feb 7 to April Fool's Day...:)
got some time to make up some ground...many teams are still gonna be fighting to fill up...should be pretty interesting...in Coach P and staff, I trust...:)

GO VOLS!
 
#13
#13
I was hoping we would have a great CB or two in this class by now, but I know there has been a lot going on with the program and Pruitt has just been on the job for 13 days. I think we will end up with at least one elite CB and a couple more solid guys at that position. Plus I know we all assume Byrd will switch back to DB.

I also hope we get a stellar WR coach. I want to start attracting elite WRs and get back our title of WRU. Lately, we just have not been producing.
 
#16
#16
Ace said:
Dead period started this past Monday and goes through Jan 7 or so.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think dead period started Monday and goes till the week after the New Year. However, the early signing period ends Friday, so we may get one or two more early signees... at lest I hope so.

My thoughts thus far: for the dumpster fire they inherited from the the losses this season and the decommits, and the shenanigans of Haslam and Currie which made us the laughingstock of the NCAA, I think Coach Pruitt and his staff... with only thirteen days on the job have done an outstanding job! And, as I understand it, he doesn't even have all the guys he wants on staff yet. I can't wait to see this staff hitting on all cylinders!

After the dead period is over, I believe CJP and staff will be doing more evaluating and knocking on more doors. When all is said and done, we will have a very solid 2018 recruiting class considering what this program has been through. And with between 6 and 9 wins in 2018, and the coaches we have, other teams road better be watching their backs on the recruiting trail next year.

Go CJP ! ! ! Go VOLS ! ! !

:popcorn:
 
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