'25 Portal Thread

[Jimmy Football]

* Spyre isn’t the issue, it’s our recruiting/development of those recruits. He seems to be adamant change needs to happen with our offensive staff.
* Defensive staff have kept guys who could make more $ elsewhere but they stay because they’re being developed.
* CJH development as a coach will be his willingness to adapt; includes staffing changes, offensive philosophy adjustments, etc.
* Don’t forget how far we’ve came the last 4 years…but still work to be done to reach the level we want.

Wise words from Swain.

 

[Checker_the_Shire]

No idk who tf you are talking about but it wasn't Jayson Swain.

I’m pretty sure someone in the RF posted a screenshot of a tweet he sent out about one of the crazy rumors. I’m not gonna go back and look but I feel confident I’m correct here. I don’t have twitter, but feel free to check. It could have also been a fake Swain account.

 

[InVOLuntary]

* Spyre isn’t the issue, it’s our recruiting/development of those recruits. He seems to be adamant change needs to happen with our offensive staff.
* Defensive staff have kept guys who could make more $ elsewhere but they stay because they’re being developed.
* CJH development as a coach will be his willingness to adapt; includes staffing changes, offensive philosophy adjustments, etc.
* Don’t forget how far we’ve came the last 4 years…but still work to be done to reach the level we want.

I wish his offense would regress back to 2022.

 

[Orange_Crush]

I wish his offense would regress back to 2022.

Man, we had receivers running wide open all year, and were among the elite in rushing O.

It's not philosophy. It's execution. If Nico can deliver on time and accurately and the receivers can catch the ball...

 

[Checker_the_Shire]

Wise words from Swain.

And 90% of VN

 

[KB5252]

I don't get the same "he gone" (shoutout to BGS) vibes some of yall get after reading the MM updates. As corny as it is, I'd assume by simply since he hid then restored all his Vols stuff on social media that he's sticking around. Not to mention he hasn't actually entered yet.

And I think is pursuing multiple receivers is not directly related to Matthews.

Sure we're bringing in four freshman, but you obviously don't want to rely on freshman anywhere during the window we have with Nico. You have to put your best foot forward.

I don't have a look at snap counts total each receiver played, but on average for the past three years (I didn't look at 2021 because that roster was like 50 players), we're averaging about 6 receivers getting a fair amount of playing time.

Currently going into 2025 we have three returning receivers.

Mike Matthews (calling that he stays)
Chris Brazell
Braylon Staley

Again, I understand we're bringing in three freshman but I sincerely doubt Nico, his dad, the coaching staff etc are heading into this year wanting to rely on freshman. Especially considering two of them (Jackson and Dodson) have great upside but aren't quite ready to contribute.

I'm not going to count Boo Carter because sure, he's going to get some PT on offense but I don't think it'll be a Travis Hunter role. I could see him getting packages, like jet sweeps or some snaps in the slot or backfield. But I definitely expect the lions share of his plays will be defense. So lets assume he gets 5-10 snaps per game. But even if its more and you want to count him, thats still only 4 guys.

So counting MM staying, we're still needing "a couple of guys" from the portal.

VQ not listing names is likely (a) they don't know - just looking at the numbers and coming to the same conclusion that we need bodies) or (b) can't report names because the players aren't in the portal yet.

Its early on Branch as he hasn't even indicated he'd visit, yet they reported his name. So we may be looking at guys who have yet to play a bowl or who's season hasn't ended yet.

TLR version..... relax MM is staying.

I'm not sure what you make of the MM situation, the fact is gone on this long can be either good or bad depending on how you look at it.

It seems things went dark initially then conversations took place and there was some reason for optimism.

But we're still waiting....... Again, not sure what to make of that.

Heard AP say this morning that the next 36 hours we will know where we stand. All we can do is wait.

Losing him would be a huge gut punch though.

 

[K87vol]

Begs the question as to why our 4 and 5 stars couldn't get on the field more this year especially in light of our struggles at the position?

Because they were playing high school ball for the most part.

 

[RAVOL]

Mr Smith and Mr Jackson are both skilled talented WR both are 4+ rated top 100 players. Now for any WR in top 100 that doesn't guarantee anything at SEC Major College Level. Once they Start getting hit you see that some just don't have the heart and some get the yips but some raise their play. OL position is even harder to determine which HS Kid will have what it takes as well that is why many top 100 players never make it while the NFL is full of OL from directional schools. If star ratings meant individual success NFL would only be top 100+ players period. That is why stacking really good classes is so important because you have misses every class. In CHRIST Alone

 

[walkenvol]

It means MM hasn’t completed everything on his end, so the 48 hours has not started until then.

I’m confused why folks seem concerned about the timing of when a player submits paperwork to enter the portal? It’s obvious to me that most of these offers for high profile players are being done between collectives and the player’s agents and there’s no timeline restrictions there. MM’s agent may have been negotiating with his new team for months. The actual portal entry appears to be a formality.

 

[MarcoVol]

I'm not sure what you make of the MM situation, the fact is gone on this long can be either good or bad depending on how you look at it.

It seems things went dark initially then conversations took place and there was some reason for optimism.

But we're still waiting....... Again, not sure what to make of that.

Heard AP say this morning that the next 36 hours we will know where we stand. All we can do is wait.

Losing him would be a huge gut punch though.

Would suck but can’t be sure it would be a huge gut punch yet. I mean I think he’s gonna be good but until it happens…

 

[Jack Burton]

I never said I was unsure or scared. Nor did I ever compare Billy to CJH in terms of my worries. I am, however, confident he is a much better coach that Pruitt. At the same time, based on history of the series and how their season ended, I am also confident that we should be worried about them next year and not think we’ve turned the tide. Until we get the monkey off our back (ie beat them in the Swamp) I will always be worried about Florida.

I think UF will be greatly improved in 2025. It’s very tough to win in the Swamp but luckily we play them in late November. Finally we get a shot to win in nice weather rather than the old humid days in September.

 

[Geronimo]

Would be nice if we would invest in getting Nico weapons like UF does for Lagway

We need to recruit/buy lineman first. Nico has more rushing yards than he does passing in the last half of the season.

 

[Jack Burton]

We need to recruit/buy lineman first. Nico has more rushing yards than he does passing in the last half of the season.

Is that accurate? If so, that’s brutally bad.

 

[MarcoVol]

Would be nice if we would invest in getting Nico weapons like UF does for Lagway

The leading WR out of all those dudes in college had 315 yards receiving last season. Who knows how they all pan out. Our WR room is very similar.

 

[MarcoVol]

Is that accurate? If so, that’s brutally bad.

It’s not even close to being accurate

 

[Geronimo]

Is that accurate? If so, that’s brutally bad.

No. Dramatized for effect!

 

[Geronimo]

Man, we had receivers running wide open all year, and were among the elite in rushing O.

It's not philosophy. It's execution. If Nico can deliver on time and accurately and the receivers can catch the ball...

Agreed. I think most seem to forget we had several plays where receivers were 5 yards ahead of the defense and Nico missed or the receiver dropped it. Probably the reason we took less shots as the season progressed.
In 2022 we were taking 6-8 deep shots a game and connecting on over half.

This year it was like 1 or 2 and rarely connecting at all.

 

[Smokey'sHandler]

I never said I was unsure or scared. Nor did I ever compare Billy to CJH in terms of my worries. I am, however, confident he is a much better coach that Pruitt. At the same time, based on history of the series and how their season ended, I am also confident that we should be worried about them next year and not think we’ve turned the tide. Until we get the monkey off our back (ie beat them in the Swamp) I will always be worried about Florida.

Dude is 19-19 at a school that has been highly competitive in the last 15 years. Pruitt was sub .500 at a school that been around .500 for the previous 15 years. Both were part of regressions but Billy’s has been far worse at Florida.

I by no means am taking up for Pruitt he was awful as a coach here but Billy has lead the Gators to their only 3 year span of .500 or worse since the 70s for a program that was an SEC title contender with the previous coach.

The only thing you could point to where you could say I would have more trust in Billy is his record from his SunBelt days. If you’re selling that I got some Butch Jones CMU to sell as well.

 

[Orange_Crush]

Agreed. I think most seem to forget we had several plays where receivers were 5 yards ahead of the defense and Nico missed or the receiver dropped it. Probably the reason we took less shots as the season progressed.
In 2022 we were taking 6-8 deep shots a game and connecting on over half.

This year it was like 1 or 2 and rarely connecting at all.

This offense is designed to use tempo, wide splits, and deep balls to spread out and confuse defenses, thus opening up basically anything we want to do. We basically had to move away from two of those--tempo and deep balls.

CJH saw it and made a pretty radical adjustment. We became a downhill running team that chewed clock and won ugly. (And people are claiming CJH didn't make any offensive adjustments.)

I swear, VN posts are like this lion, prepared by a taxidermist that had never seen a lion.

 

[Carp]

I think UF will be greatly improved in 2025. It’s very tough to win in the Swamp but luckily we play them in late November. Finally we get a shot to win in nice weather rather than the old humid days in September.

UF is already losing 5 defensive starters. If Sapp declares like speculated, that makes 6 defensive starters gone. Their turn around on defense is largely what spurred their mid-season surge. Maybe Lagway improves dramatically and carries the team. But I don't see it. He'll need to outperform what Mertz did the prior 2 season to really move the needle offensively, and Mertz was a solid QB.

 

[Smokey'sHandler]

This offense is designed to use tempo, wide splits, and deep balls to spread out and confuse defenses, thus opening up basically anything we want to do. We basically had to move away from two of those--tempo and deep balls.

CJH saw it and made a pretty radical adjustment. We became a downhill running team that chewed clock and won ugly. (And people are claiming CJH didn't make any offensive adjustments.)

I swear, VN posts are like this lion, prepared by a taxidermist that had never seen a lion.

View attachment 710621

We have seen a different version of this offense each year based on our strengths. This year it certainly was our ground game which we were able to lean on. Next year you’re not going to have a Sampson. Your backs may be looking more like 2022 vs 2023 or 2024. It will be interesting to see what else they are able to bring in from a WR standpoint. I could see us leaning more on the passing game next year with Nico’s development.

 

[Smokey'sHandler]

The leading WR out of all those dudes in college had 315 yards receiving last season. Who knows how they all pan out. Our WR room is very similar.

And this may be an unpopular opinion on Vol message boards but Nico is far and away a more polished passer than Lagway and has a higher ceiling than Lagway.

 

[jvols1999]

And this may be an unpopular opinion on Vol message boards but Nico is far and away a more polished passer than Lagway and has a higher ceiling than Lagway.

Without a doubt. So far Lagway has been pretty overhyped IMO. They didn't win those last few games - against overrated teams (LSU, OM, FSU) because of him when you look at the stats and actually watch the games...

 

[Jackcrevol]

This offense is designed to use tempo, wide splits, and deep balls to spread out and confuse defenses, thus opening up basically anything we want to do. We basically had to move away from two of those--tempo and deep balls.

CJH saw it and made a pretty radical adjustment. We became a downhill running team that chewed clock and won ugly. (And people are claiming CJH didn't make any offensive adjustments.)

I swear, VN posts are like this lion, prepared by a taxidermist that had never seen a lion.

View attachment 710621

it's science.

 

[85SugarVol]

I wish his offense would regress back to 2022.

Hendon Hooker was clearly special - capable of handling the exotic sports car, and driving fast.

But just because you no longer have the QB that can run lightning fast tempo and check on the fly, it doesn’t mean you have to go base vanilla from a formation and play design perspective.

Good Defenses were just lining up, waiting to tee off on this Offense.

The Offensive regression has been totally un-fun to watch.