Recruiting Football Talk VII

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#67,277
#67,277
InVOLuntary said:
Nico will Nico. Despite this year, I don't have much concern with offense other than growing pains. The defense will be the reason we don't win games.
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I find this take so odd.... for 3 years we've gotten tons of complaints about our defense and how they keep loyal to older experienced guys that aren't as talented.

Now we finally see the youth movement getting it's shot. The LBs were lead by under classmen this season because of injuries, and despite all his growing pains Herring leads the team in tackles. Telander and Carter looked like they belonged as true freshmen and Jalen Smith got in for 4 games too.

The secondary is having a major purge via portal exits, and also because of injuries those younger DBs all saw lots of game reps.

Gibson III & John Slaughter both played in 12 games
Jourdan Thomas played in 11
Conyer played in 9
Jordan Matthews in 4

If we want to see the younger players play then we have to play them. I'm not saying next season won't have growing pains, because it will. But if the talent everyone has been clamoring for is the younger players then shouldn't they be able to overcome some mistakes and still win?
 
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#67,280
#67,280
volinexile17 said:
We went 11-2 last year with a worse defense. If we score more points, we’ll win more games.
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We'll not be that good on offense next year. I agree that we got to 11 wins despite the defense. I like our offense but it won't be as prolific next season breaking in a new QB. I expect it to be better than this past season without a doubt. JMO
 
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#67,282
#67,282
MoCo_Vol said:
I find this take so odd.... for 3 years we've gotten tons of complaints about our defense and how they keep loyal to older experienced guys that aren't as talented.

Now we finally see the youth movement getting it's shot. The LBs were lead by under classmen this season because of injuries, and despite all his growing pains Herring leads the team in tackles. Telander and Carter looked like they belonged as true freshmen and Jalen Smith got in for 4 games too.

The secondary is having a major purge via portal exits, and also because of injuries those younger DBs all saw lots of game reps.

Gibson III & John Slaughter both played in 12 games
Jourdan Thomas played in 11
Conyer played in 9
Jordan Matthews in 4

If we want to see the younger players play then we have to play them. I'm not saying next season won't have growing pains, because it will. But if the talent everyone has been clamoring for is the younger players then shouldn't they be able to overcome some mistakes and still win?
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It's not the players that worry me. 🤫
 
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#67,284
#67,284
volinexile17 said:
We went 11-2 last year with a worse defense. If we score more points, we’ll win more games.
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Also, true. An elite QB can take an 8-4 team to 10-2 with their play. I believe we have that in Nico. But our coaches should expect and want more from our defense. If you land a couple lock down corners and good safeties, it will change this entire defense.
 
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#67,287
#67,287
2022 we scored 46.1 ppg

If we had hit that average this season instead of going 8-4 we would have went undefeated... No team scored 40 on us.

31.5 ppg and the inability of our offense to score and make drives is why we took the step back this year...not the defense.

Defense gave up less 54.6 less passing yards, 2 less rushing yards, 56.6 less total yards and 0.8 less points per game. All that while having to deal with far more major injuries, best CB went down and missed last 5 games. Arguably our best ILB went down and missed 11 games.
 
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#67,289
#67,289
MoCo_Vol said:
2022 we scored 46.1 ppg

If we had hit that average this season instead of going 8-4 we would have went undefeated... No team scored 40 on us.

31.5 ppg and the inability of our offense to score and make drives is why we took the step back this year...not the defense.

Defense gave up less 54.6 less passing yards, 2 less rushing yards, 56.6 less total yards and 0.8 less points per game. All that while having to deal with far more major injuries, best CB went down and missed last 5 games. Arguably our best ILB went down and missed 11 games.
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Offenses weren’t nearly as good and we had the worst passing defense in the nation last year so it should be an improvement. And we were playing walk ons against Bama last year, we had a ton of injuries last year too.

They did improve though. But I think that is because the defensive line was dominant. When it wasn’t, the defense struggled. DL carried the defense. And it will next year too.
 
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#67,290
#67,290
InVOLuntary said:
2 losses doesn't guarantee a playoff spot. You're going to have to beat some highly ranked teams to make the playoffs.

We'll not lose less than 4 next year. Having not seen a schedule for 2025 can't really predict but if it's similar to 24, I would expect similar results. We're not recruiting at the level to compete with the upper echelon of college football.
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In the new SEC-stacked schedules, there'll probably be times that you'll have to beat some highly ranked teams to get to two losses.
 
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#67,292
#67,292
InVOLuntary said:
Money is pouring in like water over Niagara falls. Demand for season tickets has never been higher. Huge money from the SEC. As long as that's the case nothing will change. I'm just not convinced they have that "win at all cost" mentality. That's not a slap a Heuple. I think he's awesome. I'm just not sure he has the same level of support as the big boys. The problem I see is he'll continue to have us in that 8-9 win and people will fade away when we continue to lose to our rivals, AL and GA and they continue to win championships. Recruits will see it as TN is that good but not great team and recruiting will reflect that. Will fans continue to support that? I think TN is developing that reputation that you can't win there. (Championship level).

You have Texas and Oklahoma now entering and they've proven to be win at all cost. I just don't see a path where the Vols will enter that group.
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You're right-- we're not a "win at all cost" program and that's top-down. Our rivals are. You're also spot-on that UT is having to recruit around the perception that UT football is a next-tier down program-- not elite. They're having to chip away at this-- and proving it on the field is the path. The losses to UGA and Bama aren't as detrimental as losses to programs like UF and Mizzou. If UT had beaten UF this year, it would be a different narrative.

That said, I think recruiting reflects this staff's philosophy more than anything else. They prioritize keeping the players they have (and want) and bringing in guys who fit their profile and can be developed up the depth chart-- along with select plug-and-play portalers who fit very specific needs.


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