Help me feel better about this

[DonDiego]

Missouri is the one that blows my mind. They should be recruiting on about a vAndy level. I'd accuse Drink of cheating, but there's no such thing anymore.

 

[MarcoVol]

Missouri is the one that blows my mind. They should be recruiting on about a vAndy level. I'd accuse Drink of cheating, but there's no such thing anymore.

Mizzou has generally consistently been a notch or 2 above Vandy in recruiting. NIL has given them more juice tho recently for sure.

 

[JCVol00]

I have admittedly paid alot less attention to recruiting this year than I normally do. Part of that is life events unique to me and part of it is the increased mobility of players making me feel like there is less of a point in keeping up with things until toe meets leather. That said, I've seen some good looking players commit here and on a Talkin Vawls. So color me surprised when I looked at the composite rankings and found us 8th in the 16 team SEC. I know we've got some folks who swear the rankings are irrelevant but I've followed them since the dawn of the internet era and I can't shake my long standing observation that over any considerable period of time the teams that recruit the best, generally tend to win the most.
View attachment 657184View attachment 657185
One good thing I see is our number of commits is on the lower end so we got room to grow if we can close stronger than those above us. So are we still in it/expected to land alot of big fish that will move us up? If so, who? The only one I know about is the Sanders kid. With kickoff around the corner, I'm starting to awake from my recruiting slumber and am behind.

Georgia beat writers are starting to wave the white flag for a lb commit they have and their top wr target, so theres that lol

 

[LittleVol]

I have admittedly paid alot less attention to recruiting this year than I normally do. Part of that is life events unique to me and part of it is the increased mobility of players making me feel like there is less of a point in keeping up with things until toe meets leather. That said, I've seen some good looking players commit here and on a Talkin Vawls. So color me surprised when I looked at the composite rankings and found us 8th in the 16 team SEC. I know we've got some folks who swear the rankings are irrelevant but I've followed them since the dawn of the internet era and I can't shake my long standing observation that over any considerable period of time the teams that recruit the best, generally tend to win the most.
View attachment 657184View attachment 657185
One good thing I see is our number of commits is on the lower end so we got room to grow if we can close stronger than those above us. So are we still in it/expected to land alot of big fish that will move us up? If so, who? The only one I know about is the Sanders kid. With kickoff around the corner, I'm starting to awake from my recruiting slumber and am behind.

“Generally “
- so we’re not done yet.
- House is a 3 star that Alabama/ Georgia wanted
- I have no idea why Redmond and Lewis haven’t been evaluated. Both were wanted by Ohio Star or Clemson.
- Dodson a 3 star WR wanted by UGA

We got Utu - who is a 5 star on most sites
Gmac- 5 star on most sites
Jackson- Top 100 WR
Dye- probably a 5 star guy- and was a 3 star

All of that is conjecture. Because what does UGA, Bama, Michigan, Ohio States needs have to do with Tennessees roster needs ???

- If Tennessee has a 5 star QB in his 2nd year, with speedy WRs and explosive RBs, Veteran Oline. A defense that can pressure the QB and stop the run. While covering is still suspect, then what does Tennessee truly need? Then you look back at 2024, 2023 class to see if these were addressed. Then you see what in 2025 can strength those same concerns.

You can’t just look at rankings plainly and assume we’re falling behind without examining the team needs.

If Nico will just let the ball go instead of paralysis by analysis then this team is built for a Playoff Run. As in National Championship Playoff Run.
And if you look at our cumulative rankings we’re at # 12 in recruiting the past 4 years. # 12 but not close to top 4 in the SEC. And probably the max is 4 SEC teams in the Playoffs.

So Heupel built a playoff caliber team with a recruiting average of #7 in conference…

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

Georgia beat writers are starting to wave the white flag for a lb commit they have and their top wr target, so theres that lol

If you are talking about that Perlotte kid at linebacker, he was never going to Georgia. Georgia gets about 1 out of every 100 prospects that come from Buford High School, whether they commit there or not. I knew when Raiola signed up to go there he would ghost Georgia in the end. Word is that their high school coaches steer kids away from there. Who is the WR though out of curiosity?

 

[MarcoVol]

If you are talking about that Perlotte kid at linebacker, he was never going to Georgia. Georgia gets about 1 out of every 100 prospects that come from Buford High School, whether they commit there or not. I knew when Raiola signed up to go there he would ghost Georgia in the end. Word is that their high school coaches steer kids away from there. Who is the WR though out of curiosity?

Idk who their #1 wr target is but he’s prob talking about Travis Smith

 

[rocketvol]

This should help...Michigan is the most recent National Champion. Here are their last 4 recruiting class rankings:
2023: 17th
2022: 9th
2021: 13th
2020: 10th

Proof you don't need a top 5 class to win it all. Does it help you be competitive year-in, year-out like UGA and Bama? Sure. Does it help overcome shortcomings from coaching? Also, yes. But at the end of the day, it's about the right talent and right fit for your team. That doesn't always equate to 5 stars and top 5 classes.

 

[ntxVOL]

Recruiting on par with Missouri is disturbing.

Some say you gotta win to move up well, why is A&M sitting at number 4? It ain't all NIL either.

Heupel and Company must recruit better or else this program is just going to be an 8-9 win program year over year.

 

[ntxVOL]

This should help...Michigan is the most recent National Champion. Here are their last 4 recruiting class rankings:
2023: 17th
2022: 9th
2021: 13th
2020: 10th

Proof you don't need a top 5 class to win it all. Does it help you be competitive year-in, year-out like UGA and Bama? Sure. Does it help overcome shortcomings from coaching? Also, yes. But at the end of the day, it's about the right talent and right fit for your team. That doesn't always equate to 5 stars and top 5 classes.

Doesn't help much. They're not in the SEC, that team would not have won the SEC either.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

This should help...Michigan is the most recent National Champion. Here are their last 4 recruiting class rankings:
2023: 17th
2022: 9th
2021: 13th
2020: 10th

Proof you don't need a top 5 class to win it all. Does it help you be competitive year-in, year-out like UGA and Bama? Sure. Does it help overcome shortcomings from coaching? Also, yes. But at the end of the day, it's about the right talent and right fit for your team. That doesn't always equate to 5 stars and top 5 classes.

They had tons of 5th year covid guys back, that was really the core of their team, and they had over 50% blue chip anyway. The national champion has yet to have less than 50% blue chips, this is last year:

 

[Cosmo Kramer]

Recruiting on par with Missouri is disturbing.

Some say you gotta win to move up well, why is A&M sitting at number 4? It ain't all NIL either.

Heupel and Company must recruit better or else this program is just going to be an 8-9 win program year over year.

In the next 5 weeks TN is projected to get Five 4 stars and One 5 star. Smith, Gass, Hayward, Perlotte, Konanbanny, and Sanders. Also 5 star QB for 2025 Faizon Brandon. Hopefully TN gets them all.

 

[VolFreakJosh]

In the next 5 weeks TN is projected to get Five 4 stars and One 5 star. Smith, Gass, Hayward, Perlotte, Konanbanny, and Sanders. Also 5 star QB for 2025 Faizon Brandon. Hopefully TN gets them all.

Half of those will get dropped in the rankings since we’re not Bama or Georgia.

 

[GoodTimeVol]

Llet’s just ignore the fact that most of our commits were heavily pursued and wanted by the likes of Ohio state, GA, and Bama….let’s just ignore reason and objectivity for negative posters who don’t keep up with recruiting because “opinions” and hurt feelings over recruiting sites with clear bias this year

 

[DeepPurpleFloyd]

Brodie, I gotta ask......how did you manage to misspell 4/6 of those names, LMFAO??

**Shaedy (given name Lagonza)
**Jadon
**Smith
**Konanbanny

And of course Davis Sanders!

 

[LouderVol]

Typically Heupel seems to recruit the lower ranked guys early (spring) and then fills in with the stars in the summer and fall. I think they have a general strategy of taking guys who they like, but may not be the top of their list. IMO it seems like they do this so that they have a "base" they like and can fall back on, while they "reach" for the better guys.

Our Top 5 guys last year, 2024 recruits, all committed after mid to late June. 3 of our other 4* also committed after June. Thats 8 of our 11 4* or higher.

QB seems to be the one exception. Josh gets his dude early, and his dude is typically a stud. some local kids will also pop early, but most of our stars come later in the process. and they aren't leftovers.

whats encouraging is that we already have 8 four stars. same as last year, with plenty of big fish still to bring in, and room for them.

2022 showed we don't have to have top classes to COMPETE. as long as our classes are at or better than the year before we are improving.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

Transfer portal. Feel better now?

I'll be interested to see where we rank on the 247 Team Talent Composite. It usually comes out a few days before the season because it accounts for transfers in and out, etc. Last year we were ranked #16, which is about where we ended up.

 

[LouderVol]

I'll be interested to see where we rank on the 247 Team Talent Composite. It usually comes out a few days before the season because it accounts for transfers in and out, etc. Last year we were ranked #16, which is about where we ended up.

we were 19th in 2022,
we were 19th in 2021, but higher score than in 2022.
we were 15th in 2020
we were 16th in 2019

at least when it comes to TN the apparent talent we have doesn't ever seem to match up to our performance.

we got objectively worse in 2021 than we were in 2020 with all the transfers out, but played far better.

2022 we were thin, but coached up great.
2023 was a return to mean
I will be interested to see where we come out for 2024, but I wouldn't put a ton of stock into it. I would also be sure to pay attention to our score vs our ranking and compare it to the past. there is a chance we could have a better score but same or lower ranking.

 

[unfrozencvmanvol]

we were 19th in 2022,
we were 19th in 2021, but higher score than in 2022.
we were 15th in 2020
we were 16th in 2019

at least when it comes to TN the apparent talent we have doesn't ever seem to match up to our performance.

we got objectively worse in 2021 than we were in 2020 with all the transfers out, but played far better.

2022 we were thin, but coached up great.
2023 was a return to mean
I will be interested to see where we come out for 2024, but I wouldn't put a ton of stock into it. I would also be sure to pay attention to our score vs our ranking and compare it to the past. there is a chance we could have a better score but same or lower ranking.

In all the years that the composite has existed, we basically have outperformed it once and once finished right on the number (last year). I don't think it's a coincidence that those two years we were at or above where we should be were under Heupel (the two years after his first year which is a throw away for basically every new coach). Heupel gets the talent out of our players and if he has a great quarterback he can get more.

We weren't bereft of talent in the Butch and Pruitt years those staffs just came anywhere close to maximizing it. I'll be interested to see whether our total team talent goes up or down though, because it factors in transfers in and out. Everyone says "we got transfers", well, you know what, everybody got transfers. It's kind of become the new thing to go with the old thing fans have about player improvement and experience, where they think from January to September that only our returning players are going to improve any.

I appreciate the people that have given good feedback here, like I said, I have kind of took this off-season off. These smart-azzes who are acting like it's stupid to even ask a question, by and large those are the same people that Butch and the Gump had fooled to the end. I am glad Heupel is a different breed.

 

[first time caller]

If we can consistently recruit top 12 which should hopefully keep us in the playoff system, I would be happy. Then, "to BE the man, you got to BEAT the man." That's all we can ask for.

 

[Volfan76]

Several of our coaches are mediocre recruiters. I know that will make the pumpers mad but it is truth.

 

[Orange_Crush]

It's July.

 

[ntxVOL]

Several of our coaches are mediocre recruiters. I know that will make the pumpers mad but it is truth.

I don't doubt this and is likely a reason we have struggled recruiting certain positions. Although I think we are seeing some improvement in some of those.

I know we don't want to overpay in NIL but I feel like we should shift some of that to positions of need. Maybe that's already happening.

 

[MarcoVol]

Several of our coaches are mediocre recruiters. I know that will make the pumpers mad but it is truth.

Which ones are part of the “several”?

 

[HuntlandVolinColo]

I have admittedly paid alot less attention to recruiting this year than I normally do. Part of that is life events unique to me and part of it is the increased mobility of players making me feel like there is less of a point in keeping up with things until toe meets leather. That said, I've seen some good looking players commit here and on a Talkin Vawls. So color me surprised when I looked at the composite rankings and found us 8th in the 16 team SEC. I know we've got some folks who swear the rankings are irrelevant but I've followed them since the dawn of the internet era and I can't shake my long standing observation that over any considerable period of time the teams that recruit the best, generally tend to win the most.
View attachment 657184View attachment 657185
One good thing I see is our number of commits is on the lower end so we got room to grow if we can close stronger than those above us. So are we still in it/expected to land alot of big fish that will move us up? If so, who? The only one I know about is the Sanders kid. With kickoff around the corner, I'm starting to awake from my recruiting slumber and am behind.

We don't have to play 3,4, 6 or 7.

Also, we have less commits than most.

 

[VolMarine1371]

I have admittedly paid alot less attention to recruiting this year than I normally do. Part of that is life events unique to me and part of it is the increased mobility of players making me feel like there is less of a point in keeping up with things until toe meets leather. That said, I've seen some good looking players commit here and on a Talkin Vawls. So color me surprised when I looked at the composite rankings and found us 8th in the 16 team SEC. I know we've got some folks who swear the rankings are irrelevant but I've followed them since the dawn of the internet era and I can't shake my long standing observation that over any considerable period of time the teams that recruit the best, generally tend to win the most.
View attachment 657184View attachment 657185
One good thing I see is our number of commits is on the lower end so we got room to grow if we can close stronger than those above us. So are we still in it/expected to land alot of big fish that will move us up? If so, who? The only one I know about is the Sanders kid. With kickoff around the corner, I'm starting to awake from my recruiting slumber and am behind.

247sports still loves Bama and like to inflate their numbers. Like it says we have 1 5* while Bama has 2 5* and that’s not the case. If you click on the link and actually look at Bama recruits on 247, you will notice they don’t have 2 5*’s. While they still do have a very good class right now, the numbers on the team rankings page doesn’t match what it actually is when you click on commits and actually see what they have. We have more 5*’s players right now than Bama does committed for 25. Hope that makes you feel better about the 2025 class. As you see below, they have 0 5*’s according to 247sports rankings.