My take on the SEC

#26
#26
volfan_28 said:
It’s crazy but Bama is in trouble. The Dynasty may finally be over. What would their record be without the defending heisman trophy winner? We will find out next year I guess
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5-4 with Ole Miss on deck , with LK having an extra week to prepare .
 
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#28
#28
I won't lie everyone, I am still slightly concerned about recruiting. Mostly because I talk on other message boards and people keep talking about it. We don't have Alabama/Georgia level recruiting classes right now and people are saying we won't compete with them regularly until we start pulling in those players.

We are also losing a lot of players last year. Until I dug into it, I didn't realize how many.

I can say Bryce Young, Hendon Hooker, Cedric Tillman, Bru McCoy, and Jalin Hyatt will all be gone. That is a lot to replace. I also think we lose a lot of defensive and offensive linemen. We could have a major step back next year.
 
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#30
#30
UTFanHades said:
Add UK to teams on the decline? Arguably played the best they have in the modern era recently with a disappointing year and no rise in sight next year.
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I could see Stoops to Auburn. He's done all he can at UK and the SEC West is going to be wide open as Bama continues to decline.

Someone is going to have to do something about UGA.
 
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#31
#31
volbound1700 said:
I won't lie everyone, I am still slightly concerned about recruiting. Mostly because I talk on other message boards and people keep talking about it. We don't have Alabama/Georgia level recruiting classes right now and people are saying we won't compete with them regularly until we start pulling in those players.

We are also losing a lot of players last year. Until I dug into it, I didn't realize how many.

I can say Bryce Young, Hendon Hooker, Cedric Tillman, Bru McCoy, and Jalin Hyatt will all be gone. That is a lot to place. I also think we lose a lot of defensive and offensive linemen. We could have a major step back next year.
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Just keep in mind the recruiting services follow the offers. They aren’t rating players because of their ability. They are rating players based on how heavily recruited they are by championship programs. Heupels guys haven’t earned their trust yet
 
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#32
#32
volfan_28 said:
Just keep in mind the recruiting services follow the offers. They aren’t rating players because of their ability. They are rating players based on how heavily recruited they are by championship programs. Heupels guys haven’t earned their trust yet
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No doubt that we’ve seen examples of 5 star guys who get down graded for choosing UT
 
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#33
#33
volfan_28 said:
Just keep in mind the recruiting services follow the offers. They aren’t rating players because of their ability. They are rating players based on how heavily recruited they are by championship programs. Heupels guys haven’t earned their trust yet
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Most prospects are rated prior to committing. Granted, I think we have a couple of underrated guys (all classes do).

Here is our current class. It is rated #12 in Nation and # 5 in the SEC behind Alabama (who is #1 in Nation), Georgia (who is #4 in the nation), LSU (who is #6 in the Nation), and Florida (who is #10 but I think they have some decommits coming). 2023 Team Rankings

Our big misses were Carnell Tate (although Cameron Sutton was a good underrated pick to make up for him) and Francis Mauigoa. We are probably etching near top 5 if we got both of them. We could have used a great Offensive Tackle.

We have lost 2-3 recruiting battles to Miami which is a BIG Surprise. Miami also has the most 5 stars.

One outside factor that might be hurting us is the impending NCAA sanctions and self-imposed penalties (thanks Pruitt).
 
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#34
#34
37620VOL said:
I could see Stoops to Auburn. He's done all he can at UK and the SEC West is going to be wide open as Bama continues to decline.

Someone is going to have to do something about UGA.
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Georgia will take a step back next year… people unfortunately don’t give Stetson enough credit for their success. Heupel has already beaten Saban as much as Kirby -once. Closing the gap a little in recruiting will do the trick. Kirby HAS to have that much talent to win -Heupel can out coach you.
 
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#36
#36
volbound1700 said:
Most prospects are rated prior to committing. Granted, I think we have a couple of underrated guys (all classes do).

Here is our current class. It is rated #12 in Nation and # 5 in the SEC behind Alabama (who is #1 in Nation), Georgia (who is #4 in the nation), LSU (who is #6 in the Nation), and Florida (who is #10 but I think they have some decommits coming). 2023 Team Rankings

Our big misses were Carnell Tate (although Cameron Sutton was a good underrated pick to make up for him) and Francis Mauigoa. We are probably etching near top 5 if we got both of them. We could have used a great Offensive Tackle.

We have lost 2-3 recruiting battles to Miami which is a BIG Surprise. Miami also has the most 5 stars.

One outside factor that might be hurting us is the impending NCAA sanctions and self-imposed penalties (thanks Pruitt).
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Miami spent major bucks to win those guys over. They can have fun being the Cleveland Browns of college football down there.
 
#37
#37
UTFanHades said:
No doubt that we’ve seen examples of 5 star guys who get down graded for choosing UT
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It’s not just us. They know they are judged by how how many of their 4 and 5 star players go to the NFL. Any program who isn’t putting players in the NFL is going to get poor recruiting ratings. Their job has been easy in recent yeare because Saban and Meyer only recruited NFL guys… times are changing and they don’t know who to trust
 
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#38
#38
Flipdaddy said:
It pisses me off when a first year head coach has this type success that Brian Kelly is having.
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I chalk it up to:
1. He’s got a lot of experience
2. Timing for entering a down year in west division is impeccable
3. LSU is always loaded (particularly at DB and DL) and always seem to be a solid qb away from being dominant. I feel like you could have a solid G5 or FCS program by just taking Lake Charles area high schoolers.
4. Donors paying out and three years removed from natty is still a lot of momentum
 
#39
#39
volfan_28 said:
It’s not just us. They know they are judged by how how many of their 4 and 5 star players go to the NFL. Any program who isn’t putting players in the NFL is going to get poor recruiting ratings. Their job has been easy in recent yeare because Saban and Meyer only recruited NFL guys… times are changing and they don’t know who to trust
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I feel like these guys are analogous to the credit rating services circa 2007-08 during the housing crisis. No accountability, no competition, and no reason to rock the boat and adjust the way things are.
 
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#40
#40
UTFanHades said:
I chalk it up to:
1. He’s got a lot of experience
2. Timing for entering a down year in west division is impeccable
3. LSU is always loaded (particularly at DB and DL) and always seem to be a solid qb away from being dominant. I feel like you could have a solid G5 or FCS program by just taking Lake Charles area high schoolers.
4. Donors paying out and three years removed from natty is still a lot of momentum
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You’re not wrong but it still drives me crazy. We’ve got to get some players. Our 3 stars have played their a$$es off but we saw today what real talent in 11 positions can do
 
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#41
#41
UTFanHades said:
Miami spent major bucks to win those guys over. They can have fun being the Cleveland Browns of college football down there.
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We will see but there was a clear talent gap today. Georgia's DBs, for example, were far more talented than anything we have seen this year yet.

Coaching can only take you so far. We might stand a far better chance against Georgia on a neutral field in playoffs but we will have to see.

The key with Saban was that he started pulling in top classes the first season he was in Alabama. Kirby Smart did the same thing at Georgia.

With our class, we can compete for #2 in the SEC East but we are still behind Georgia. Granted, even with that it is still way better than what we have done in the past.
 
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#42
#42
May the Gumps burn into a bottomless pit until the end of their days…then lose their first game back with a dude named Mike coaching their team
 
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#43
#43
First year head coach headed to Atlanta to represent the west with two loses. Makes me nauseous. Why does this never happen to Tennessee? Never mind, don’t answer that.
 
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#44
#44
Flipdaddy said:
First year head coach headed to Atlanta to represent the west with two loses. Makes me nauseous. Why does this never happen to Tennessee? Never mind, don’t answer that.
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Because every coach that took over at Tennessee had a decimated roster of under developed "talent" from the previous guy. LSU had tons of talent already there, brought in a big name, and he is just bringing their play to where it should be.

Even Kirby walked into a great situation at Georgia. Richt never recruited poorly. Kirby took it and just continued on and elevated the success.

No Tennessee coach (except maybe Kiffin) had the luxury of walking into a already talented roster. Especially not Heupel. He walked into a dumpster fire, and in year 2 has them looking at a chance for a CFP bid. Just imagine as we get more talent and depth what this this will be?
 
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