Interesting article about recruiting

[pimo1]

I have always thought that the State of TN lagged behind most other states as far as sheer recruiting talent. Recently espn dropped an article that was a bit eye opening and a lesson on perspective.

Of all 50 states TN is tied for 10th (with south carolina).. higher than I thought but that's not where the story ends. 7 of those 11 are all SEC states. But even after that there is more story. It really comes down to 4 states.


Total recruits past 10 years from espn top 100
Florida 206
Texas 141
Georgia 113
California 103

Alabama 42
Louisiana 42
NC 33
Virginia 30
Ohio 28
Tennessee 22
South Carolina 22
Mississippi 20
Pennsylvania 20

That means on average half the top 100 each year are from 4 states And about half come from SEC States. The gap between those top 4 and everyone else is insane and the numbers Georgia puts out based on their total populations is also ridiculous.

Just thought this would be something interesting to look at and think about.
College football recruiting's true battlegrounds

 

[livefaith]

Someone did a great report several years ago by figuring the # of D1 recruits as a % of population density. Then marked the recruits hometown w a dot on a US map. The highest density was like a band that curved down from NC, SC, GA, FL, AL & MS. Much clearer seeing the density than separation by political borders. Very revealing.

I know TNs demographic changes are moving us up the charts tho. That's where "states" come in to play. Kids playing for their "home state" team is an advantage. How UTjr has not dominated CFB regularly by this principle is beyond me. Even if they have more than 1 team in state.

 

[1985Vols]

Someone did a great report several years ago by figuring the # of D1 recruits as a % of population density. Then marked the recruits hometown w a dot on a US map. The highest density was like a band that curved down from NC, SC, GA, FL, AL & MS. Much clearer seeing the density than separation by political borders. Very revealing.

I know TNs demographic changes are moving us up the charts tho. That's where "states" come in to play. Kids playing for their "home state" team is an advantage. How UTjr has not dominated CFB regularly by this principle is beyond me. Even if they have more than 1 team in state.

Losing the best players not only in your state , but in your own back yard each year doesn't help. We have lost Higgins, Rodgers, and Mays , all 4 and 5 star players just the past 2 years. They all lived within 10 minutes of the campus.

 

[overseasorange2]

Losing the best players not only in your state , but in your own back yard each year doesn't help. We have lost Higgins, Rodgers, and Mays , all 4 and 5 star players just the past 2 years. They all lived within 10 minutes of the campus.

Sometimes kids just want to get away from their hometown for college....I did...

 

[DiderotsGhost]

The national perception still lags behind the reality. In 2018, it's easier to recruit to South Carolina than it is to Michigan. Not to say that Michigan doesn't have "higher upside" due to its tradition, facilities, fan support, and brand, but the talent is in the Southeast, Florida, Mid-Atlantic, and California. Ohio is really the only exception (assuming we count Pennsylvania as "Mid-Atlantic").

Tennessee is a program with Michigan's resources, tradition, etc, but a much better natural recruiting footprint. We have all the ingredients, but a top-caliber coaching staff is still the most important ingredient, regardless of where you are. Even at USC, Miami, LSU, and Texas, if you have crap coaches, you're still a middling team in spite of all the other advantages.

 

[RollerVol]

the "big four" has been that way for years...Tennessee has some of the best players in-state, along with more numbers, than we have ever had...now is definitely the time to put a fence around it...and,

GO VOLS!

 

[Halph66]

Someone did a great report several years ago by figuring the # of D1 recruits as a % of population density. Then marked the recruits hometown w a dot on a US map. The highest density was like a band that curved down from NC, SC, GA, FL, AL & MS. Much clearer seeing the density than separation by political borders. Very revealing.

I know TNs demographic changes are moving us up the charts tho. That's where "states" come in to play. Kids playing for their "home state" team is an advantage. How UTjr has not dominated CFB regularly by this principle is beyond me. Even if they have more than 1 team in state.

Back when we played and lost to Wyoming, someone interviewed a Wyoming coach that said that there was on D1 player per populatin of 500,000 people. That meant that there was only one D1 recruit in the entire state of Wyoming. He had to travel a lot.

 

[pimo1]

the "big four" has been that way for years...Tennessee has some of the best players in-state, along with more numbers, than we have ever had...now is definitely the time to put a fence around it...and,

GO VOLS!

Tennessee is well ahead of most states not in the south but compared to other SEC states and especially the big 4 we are not even in the ball park. TN is averaging 2 top 100 guys a year over the last decade. Florida averages 20. Now, that's better than 39 other states...but it puts us about even with Mississippi and South Carolina and way behind Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Alabama. Start factoring in population and such and it gets even more interesting.

Also note they broke down the 10 biggest counties and that kind of highlights that it is definitely a demographics thing. The numbers have to be measured with a grain of salt since they only used the espn 100. It would be interesting to see this compared against other recruiting lists. Or even better just flat out D1 signees. But, that would be a lot harder to compile.

Maybe VN has some undergrad Majoring in statistics hungering for a topic for a paper.