Recruiting Class of 2005

[First&Tenn]

2005 5 Star Busts

2005 5 Star Booms

2005 Underrated Players that Became Stars

These three articles are all from collegefootballnews.com, so they use scout rankings. I just thought it was interesting that UT got 3 5* prospects in the 2005 class and all 3 are on the "Busts" list. Of course, that means that we didn't have any recruits on the "Booms" list.

The other link (underrated prospects that became stars) also has no UT players. This prompted me to go look at the 2005 class, and I was amazed that nearly every player that saw meaningful time was a 3* prospect. We had an unusually large number of 4* prospects from that year that also busted or washed out of the program.

I think looking at these links will serve to show two things:
1. The complaint that CPF and staff didn't develop players well is completely justified and true.
2. A highly ranked class doesn't mean anything if you don't have the coaches to make the prospects live up to their potential.

I'm not trying to bash the former coaching staff here, but I thought it was worth getting some historical perspective this close to signing day.

 

[Jack Burton]

Not only can some of that be blamed on the previous staff, but also on the attitude that typically comes with a 4/5* recruit who thinks too highly of themselves. Some may be too conceited to work hard. Naturally there are exceptions, one being Eric Berry and his work ethic on and off the field.

 

[First&Tenn]

What frustrates me is that 2 of the 3 "Busts" (Coker and Morely) are not listed because of a lack of talent. Discipline must have been practically non-existent.

 

[General Jack]

That 2005 class was a HUGE disappointment. Not only did they fail to succeed, they managed to rack up the 2 of our 3 worst seasons in the past 30 years.