'25 Portal Thread

[LaagerVol]

Two of our three best seasons since we won a national title and “this portal season will be very telling to the fans on how serious and dialed in this staff and admin is on really wanting to take that next step to get to a championship”

It’s always the same ones. That’s why I have a good portion of them on ignore. Life’s too short to be sifting through nonsense from clueless people who lack even a spec of logic

 

[jmacvols1]

 

[VolGee4]

It's funny. When other posters comment on how we need to recruit HS better, they're instantly attacked for "questioning" the staff.

They did this year. People get caught up in the actual rankings. #1 and #2 are one thing, but the difference between 4 and 8 is minuscule. We did well this year.

 

[LaagerVol]

Transfers are fools gold. We've relied on it too much to date and should far less going forward.

Transfers in the starting 22 by the team's ahead of us in the CFB Playoffs:

1. Oregon - 14
2. Georgia - 2
3. Texas - 6
4. Penn State - 3
5. Notre Dame - 4
6. Ohio State - 3

We have 8.

We need to recruit high school better and develop better. Not do more the portal.

Evaluation, development, competition, retention

 

[LaagerVol]

It's funny. When other posters comment on how we need to recruit HS better, they're instantly attacked for "questioning" the staff.

“Attacked” lol

We ARE recruiting better. It’s a process, and the process is trending up. What position in the team had recruting not gotten “better” over the last 4 years?

 

[TrippieRedd]

“Attacked” lol

We ARE recruiting better. It’s a process, and the process is trending up. What position in the team had recruting not gotten “better” over the last 4 years?

OL

Starters per class:
2021: 0
2022: 0
2023: 0
2024: 0

Hopefully 2024 changes to a 1 with Satterwhite. Luckily the portal has blessed us in that regard, so if you’re talking recruiting as in portal and HS, then it has been good!

 

[Adam Sandler]

Kaleb Webb transfers to Wake and Dave Clawson just stepped down. Hope the kid knew that was coming

I would assume he will be able to release himself from that transfer given the situation

 

[RiseToTheTop]

OL

Starters per class:
2021: 0
2022: 0
2023: 0
2024: 0

Hopefully 2024 changes to a 1 with Satterwhite. Luckily the portal has blessed us in that regard, so if you’re talking recruiting as in portal and HS, then it has been good!

This

 

[Daddy pants]

Evaluation, development, competition, retention

Well said.
I’m in no position of authority but I believe the current staff does a very good job with evaluation, development (hopeful the Oline checks that box next year), and competition. We will see on retention but can’t think of critical pieces we’ve lost that we wish we could have back (maybe Terry to OK but he has family stuff). When we need guys back (hooker, Tillman, dsamp, Bru) we get them back.
The retention is linked to NIL, and I feel like we do well there. The missing piece is NFL credibility and that is continuing to get better every year. Are we Uga and OSU in that sense? No. But I like our trajectory. We have NFL players on our roster.

 

[RandomUTfan]

Transfers are fools gold. We've relied on it too much to date and should far less going forward.

Transfers in the starting 22 by the team's ahead of us in the CFB Playoffs:

1. Oregon - 14
2. Georgia - 2
3. Texas - 6
4. Penn State - 3
5. Notre Dame - 4
6. Ohio State - 3

We have 8.

We need to recruit high school better and develop better. Not do more the portal.

Our best DB this year was a transfer. Our starting LT this year and for the immediate future was a transfer. I'm not even going to go further to illustrate the fallacy here because that is plenty of evidence you are wrong. Recruiting rankings among the top 10 are almost completely irrelevant at this point. Far fewer points separate those top teams than have historically. The difference between 1 and 10 is fewer points than I can recall in my time keeping up with recruiting. The trick is in having the ability to fill any holes that appear in your roster with elite transfers out of the portal. Had we not done that, we wouldn't be where we are positioned this year and well into the future.

 

[Adam Sandler]

Here's the Truth that few fans consider:

Just because some guys coming back who are poised to start/play major snaps next year aren't well known to us, that doesn't mean they aren't well known to the coaches. The coaches know what they have. They have a good idea who will develop and by how much. And if they determine that what they have and what those players will be in 2025 is better than what they'd get by going to the portal, they won't go to the portal...even if fans who don't know what UT has think we should.

We don't know what holes are "gaping." We don't truly know what our needs are. But the guys who recruited the current roster and coaches them every day...they know. Even if we don't.

So no, the activity or lack thereof in the portal says absolutely nothing about how committed this staff is to winning championships. To even consider that they aren't is absurd. The amount of portal activity will reflect how confident this staff is in the players coming back for 2025 and where there are immediate needs. That's it.

I was trying to figure out how to reply to the original (lengthy) post that I agree with the overall desire and sentiment but disagree with the majority of what was said as far as criticism and how to get where we want to etc etc.

You did it. Nice reply. Completely agree.

 

[RandomUTfan]

Wonder if Thompson or Suggs is the first to jump in or would we take both. Probably depends on Eason.

I think Eason is coming back and we're only looking for one DT.

 

[BigOrangeTrain]

Transfers are fools gold. We've relied on it too much to date and should far less going forward.

Transfers in the starting 22 by the team's ahead of us in the CFB Playoffs:

1. Oregon - 14
2. Georgia - 2
3. Texas - 6
4. Penn State - 3
5. Notre Dame - 4
6. Ohio State - 3

We have 8.

We need to recruit high school better and develop better. Not do more the portal.

Funny how the team with the most portal players are the only undefeated team.

 

[SouthKnoxVOL]

This portal season will be very telling to the fans on how serious and dialed in this staff and admin is on really wanting to take that next step to get to a championship. We clearly now have gaping holes/depth issues in certain position groups, no one can argue against that, so it will be interesting to see what we do.

I personally think the days of doing more with less and "winging it with what we've got" mentality Heup had the first few seasons has now expired, even though he did an excellent job. He has proven that they can do an above average job of recruiting out of high school and have filled some spots with portal players here and there, being careful of the existing team chemistry of the current roster and pay grades... Now though, with another season under our belt and seeing where we fell short in certain areas of the game and still weren't quite there talent wise against some teams, they will need to step up and really get aggressive to get who they want to not only fill the gaps, but have the mindset to make it UPGRADES, which is certainly doable if we are willing to pay and play the game.

We take a lax approach again and let talent get scooped up where it could have helped upgrade this roster, and IMO it sends the message of ehhh, we're doing pretty good right now, let's just see what happens. With the clear rising costs of tickets/concessions and everything in between compared to other SEC schools, this isn't gonna fly and again, IMO, is the wrong approach that could end up biting them in the ass. We lose a few games next year like we did at Arky because we didn't have the talent on the field and could have gotten it if we wanted, it won't take long for the fanbase to take a step back.

Really hoping with all the funds we have at our disposal, our program being on the rise, in the playoffs, and making plenty of positive noise across all sports, this is the time to take advantage of our brand and go get who we want and indeed take that next step. We shall see soon enough!

You are definitely one of the top 3 worst posters on this board.

 

[TrippieRedd]

Funny how the team with the most portal players are the only undefeated team.

Oregon is a little different…most of those transfers have been there multiple years.

RT - multiple years
LG - multiple years
WR Tez - multiple years
QB - multiple years
Burch multiple years

Etc etc.

Sure they have a ton of transfers, but they get the ones that have more than one year left. If anything it’s like they are getting JUCO kids that have multiple years to play and develop.

I’m in the “it depends camp”. Ole Miss was like 90% transfers and played well, but you also had FSU…they sucked.

 

[NighthawkVol]

I think Eason is coming back and we're only looking for one DT.

I’m not sure Eason coming back would preclude taking 2 DTs. Garner likes to rotate 6 true DTs. That doesn’t include moving guys like West or Jenkins inside for rabbit packages. If Eason comes back, you have Eason, Hobbs, Moi, Wallace. Robinson, and the incoming freshmen. They like Wallace.

I guess the question is, do you want Robinson or a freshman to be the 6th guy after you bring in a portal DT? If not, you bring in a 2nd portal DT. If you like Robinson or a freshman, keep it to 1.

 

[Weezer]

Oregon is a little different…most of those transfers have been there multiple years.

RT - multiple years
LG - multiple years
WR Tez - multiple years
QB - multiple years
Burch multiple years

Etc etc.

Sure they have a ton of transfers, but they get the ones that have more than one year left. If anything it’s like they are getting JUCO kids that have multiple years to play and develop.

I’m in the “it depends camp”. Ole Miss was like 90% transfers and played well, but you also had FSU…they sucked.

The key is finding guys that fit what you do while also fitting your culture. I would argue team chemistry is one of our greatest assets.

 

[LaagerVol]

OL

Starters per class:
2021: 0
2022: 0
2023: 0
2024: 0

Hopefully 2024 changes to a 1 with Satterwhite. Luckily the portal has blessed us in that regard, so if you’re talking recruiting as in portal and HS, then it has been good!

So you don’t think the 24 and 25 OL classes were better than 22 and 23? (21 doesn’t really even count)

 

[LaagerVol]

Well said.
I’m in no position of authority but I believe the current staff does a very good job with evaluation, development (hopeful the Oline checks that box next year), and competition. We will see on retention but can’t think of critical pieces we’ve lost that we wish we could have back (maybe Terry to OK but he has family stuff). When we need guys back (hooker, Tillman, dsamp, Bru) we get them back.
The retention is linked to NIL, and I feel like we do well there. The missing piece is NFL credibility and that is continuing to get better every year. Are we Uga and OSU in that sense? No. But I like our trajectory. We have NFL players on our roster.

That’s right. We are on a great trajectory. I don’t know why people think it should have been instant, especially considering the situation we were in and how far we had fallen. We were almost a complete afterthought to the top kids

 

[LaagerVol]

Our best DB this year was a transfer. Our starting LT this year and for the immediate future was a transfer. I'm not even going to go further to illustrate the fallacy here because that is plenty of evidence you are wrong. Recruiting rankings among the top 10 are almost completely irrelevant at this point. Far fewer points separate those top teams than have historically. The difference between 1 and 10 is fewer points than I can recall in my time keeping up with recruiting. The trick is in having the ability to fill any holes that appear in your roster with elite transfers out of the portal. Had we not done that, we wouldn't be where we are positioned this year and well into the future.

I don’t think anyone said we didn’t need to fill holes in the portal, just that it isn’t the best path forward now that we have re-established ourselves and have a good upgrade in talent and depth on the roster

 

[TrippieRedd]

So you don’t think the 24 and 25 OL classes were better than 22 and 23? (21 doesn’t really even count)

I did say “it should get better with the 2024 class with Satterwhite”

2025 is TBD, but it’s looking better with Sanders, he should start sooner than later.

 

[Vol423]

I did say “it should get better with the 2024 class with Satterwhite”

2025 is TBD, but it’s looking better with Sanders, he should start sooner than later.

We had the #1 ranked class of Olinemen in the nation in 2024, and you act like it's one player: Satterwhite.

 

[RandomUTfan]

I don’t think anyone said we didn’t need to fill holes in the portal, just that it isn’t the best path forward now that we have re-established ourselves and have a good upgrade in talent and depth on the roster

He said, "We've relied on it too much to date and should far less going forward," talking about the portal. What we have specifically done this point in the portal is address holes on the roster with elite transfers. He thinks we should do less of that. Do you understand my argument now?

 

[LaagerVol]

I did say “it should get better with the 2024 class with Satterwhite”

2025 is TBD, but it’s looking better with Sanders, he should start sooner than later.

Which is what I said, recruiting is getting better at every position. It’s a process and we are trending in the right direction. People are too impatient.

 

[LaagerVol]

He said, "We've relied on it too much to date and should far less going forward," talking about the portal. What we have specifically done this point in the portal is address holes on the roster with elite transfers. He thinks we should do less of that. Do you understand my argument now?

I guess I can’t speak for him. I think we relied on it because we had to at the time, and I fully believe it was the right thing to do and handled the right way, by not just throwing the bank at every shiny object in the portal. But I also believe it should be less necessary moving forward