'25 GA S Lagonza Hayward (Florida)

[DaddyChad]

Not sure what is worse

Both pathetic imo

The decommitment idk if that’s the reason he got so much flack. Putting into question the integrity of the staff is a crappy thing to do when you’re making a change at the last minute bc of money.

I agree with you though will be hard for him to change his mind even if he wants to now. Recruits in the current class don’t really trust you when you’ve pulled this crap.

 

[DaddyChad]

Money and playing time. Auburn has both.

Oregon does have some from the east, but 10 of theirs are west coast players. Geography is still a variable in recruiting. UT would get more players right now if the state had more to offer.

I guess being a well paid loser is enough for some people.

 

[RandomUTfan]

I've got a feeling we get this guy back. Could be wrong. Just a hunch.

 

[Volpac Sackyou]

Unlike those guys, that’s what he’s doing. And bunny isn’t even a blue chip. We’ve won more the last three years since 98-2000 but whatever. Worry all you want. I’m going to enjoy this.

My man been off the site for awhile but your opinions always land close to mine. Good to see you still around.

 

[VolNash17]

“Make the decision. You’re either a Vol or you’re not.” -Tony Vitello

He had the best pitcher in the country walk out on him and did not care at all.

No one kid is ever bigger than the program. Life will go on.

Life will go on because Coach Vitello recruits top 3-5 every year

 

[headhunter15]

Life will go on because Coach Vitello recruits top 3-5 every year

This. Heupel needs be recruiting in the top 5-7 year in and year out to stay in the same lane as Bama, UGA, Texas, and what is looking like a resurgent Florida…

 

[fearsvols]

With how the transfer portal works now the days of stressing over what a recruit does should be long gone.

 

[Vol423]

This. Heupel needs be recruiting in the top 5-7 year in and year out to stay in the same lane as Bama, UGA, Texas, and what is looking like a resurgent Florida…

Really? Heupel hasn't done that yet. Not only has Heupel stayed in the same lane as those teams, but he has closed what was once a MASSIVE gap before his arrival on campus.

 

[MarcoVol]

This. Heupel needs be recruiting in the top 5-7 year in and year out to stay in the same lane as Bama, UGA, Texas, and what is looking like a resurgent Florida…

Y’all will keep saying this while he keeps on trucking with 8-12ish classes and winning 10 games per season to get into the playoffs

 

[KINGSVOL]

Y’all will keep saying this while he keeps on trucking with 8-12ish classes and winning 10 games per season to get into the playoffs

Yup, the NEGAVOLS will, all the while, Coach Hype will get the pieces he needs each year in the portal. We have the coach, the coaches, the players, the fanbase AND the MONEY to get to the playoffs every year!!!

 

[RandomUTfan]

This. Heupel needs be recruiting in the top 5-7 year in and year out to stay in the same lane as Bama, UGA, Texas, and what is looking like a resurgent Florida…

The new reality of college football has been a thing for several years now. There's absolutely no excuse for you having not figured it out at this point. Recruiting rankings are largely meaningless when you can go out and land elite players in the portal to fill holes in the roster every year. Top 10 is fine.

 

[Weezer]

The only way we’ll get to a different level in recruiting at this point is by hiring, developing or prioritizing coaches who are great recruiters.

we need coaches who can both coach and recruit.

 

[LotteryPick]

Heupel is a ~slight~ anomaly with recruiting rankings because he’s elite at recruiting the most important position …

His QB’s are going to be very good the vast majority of the time because his recruiting/evaluations are money, so I don’t buy that he can’t hang with the others even if his classes are slightly worse. Would it be nice to stack top 5 classes every year? For sure. Not worried tho.

 

[SmilezDavis]

Heupel is a ~slight~ anomaly with recruiting rankings because he’s elite at recruiting the most important position …

I think we can say positions because the defensive line is stacked.

 

[KingVFL]

I've got a feeling we get this guy back. Could be wrong. Just a hunch.

Not optimistic

 

[Weezer]

Life will go on because Coach Vitello recruits top 3-5 every year

I love Vol Baseball. Winning the title was great, and I hope Tony wins more. I love Vol Basketball, and I would love to see Rick and his team win a title. BUT, we will always be a football school first. Football drives the bus.

 

[Frosty]

Not optimistic

We saw the text, but do you know exactly what this kid was referring to?? Was this about Tim Merritt? NIL?

 

[Weezer]

Not optimistic

Will there be any good surprises. And by surprises, I mean names not even being mentioned.

 

[KingVFL]

We saw the text, but do you know exactly what this kid was referring to?? Was this about Tim Merritt? NIL?

I don’t know what that’s about.. we’re definitely not the ones who misrepresented anything in my opinion.

 

[Weezer]

I don’t know what that’s about.. we’re definitely not the ones who misrepresented anything in my opinion.

Maybe he was self-loathing since he's been lying to us.

 

[VolGee4]

We had both also, and Hugh Freeze finished 4th by average star his first year. Oregon has basically zero in-state talent. Tennessee is in the top 10 by state, plus we have Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and North Carolina all around us. Oregon basically only has Cali, Nevada and Arizona. Which Georgia has more talent then all them combined by number of 5 and 4 stars.

I’ve already discussed this. The difference between Auburn and us the last 2 years is minuscule. It’s not like they have outclassed us. We had two 5 stars and ten 4 stars while they had 1 and 11. We know Freeze can recruit with money. Plus, 7 of their top 10 in 2024 were from the state of Alabama and an 8th was from Mississippi.

Y’all have to do the research.

Chip Kelly recruited top 15 classes at Oregon, and Chip Kelly didn’t like recruiting. Dan Lanning can, and they can pretty much land elite talent out west. They also can do well in Texas. They’ve recently produced first round picks at OL, DL, CB, and QB. Herbert was from Oregon. Sewell was from Utah. Thibideaux was from California. Christian Gonzalez was from Texas. Nix was a transfer. They get talent.

 

[DaddyChad]

I don’t know what that’s about.. we’re definitely not the ones who misrepresented anything in my opinion.

Kids are naive. It’s likely someone told him we made a higher offer to another safety or something like that. And that they have another offer, a better offer lined up for him. Probably didn’t tell him what they were getting out of the deal.

 

[nashvol1]

Keep finding McCoys and Norman-Lotts in the portal and classes around 10 are fine.

 

[volKano]

I love a high ranked recruiting class but a handful of portal players with some maturity, experience and weight room time are hard to beat.

 

[SagginVawls]

Seeing how 100% a ton of our recruits seem to be in response to this decommit gives me hope for the future. Kind of makes me nostalgic of the era of kids coming to our university out of love for the Power T and what it offers instead of money. Good foundational group of young men.