Recruiting Football Talk VIII

[Orange.]

Smokey123 and mr.checkerboards fahring Heupel 2 or 3 plays into the game. And then a boatload of basketweavers jump on board. Glad I skipped this forum during the game.

I changed my mind and will not read the game commentary even after games. Sick of it.

 

[Orange.]

He doesn’t make that play and we’re down three scores. It was a ridiculous pick. The WR had two hands on it.

I love having a bad azz cornerback. So much.

 

[gainesvol82]

He doesn’t make that play and we’re down three scores. It was a ridiculous pick. The WR had two hands on it.

Play of the year if you're a Vols fan. I am admittedly biased but McCoy is the best CB I have watched all year and one of the best portal pickups since it's inception. We wouldn't be discussing our playoff run without him. I would have said you're crazy 4 years ago to be talking about a playoff run. My apathy was nearly to the point of outweighing my fandom and I am so thankful to fully care and be invested again.

This staff is getting the most they can out of a roster filled with elite talent evaluations. Their hit rate on evals mixed with the development is elite. Fulmer had a ton of wasted talent during our modern glory years....we just didn't notice because of the excess of talent we had at the time.

I am so happy not to watch player after player come to UT and not reach their potential, get into off-field trouble or seemingly regress in ability as was common from 2003-ish all the way until Heupel.

 

[gainesvol82]

But so is Nico..

And Faizon and probably George. Future is blinding.

 

[gainesvol82]

I love having a bad azz cornerback. So much.

2 and McMurray and Harrison not far behind with Boo coming on quickly at Safety. Secondary quickly became loaded. Not sure I've ever seen a position group improve this drastically in one year.

 

[Orange.]

He doesn’t make that play and we’re down three scores. It was a ridiculous pick. The WR had two hands on it.

 

[Nash_Vol97]

I’m dumbfounded by Ohio St fans that have Ryan Day on the hot seat. 99% of other college football programs would love to hire Ryan Day.

Who can Ohio St hire that is proven to be better? The grass isn’t always greener.

Ehhh.. the man was born on 3rd base. Posted this chart below last year. ELO rating tracks a programs rating in a rolling 3 or 4 year period. Think of it like a recent success statistic. Since 2015, only a handful of HCs inherited a team that had similar ELO rating to OSU and not a single other HC had the roster talent that Day inherited. He was set up for success Day 1 to a degree that no other coach in the last decade has been.. and still:

No National Championship
1-4 against Michigan
All while OSU had to watch Michigan win a NC before them.

 

[Midas]

2 and McMurray and Harrison not far behind with Boo coming on quickly at Safety. Secondary quickly became loaded. Not sure I've ever seen a position group improve this drastically in one year.

What do you think happens next year when Jourdan Thomas comes back? Does he or Boo move to the back end? Harrison been playing well too but does he stay at nickel too? All three of them are good at nickel but we can’t feed 3 of them significant PT. Really good problem for the team to have for next year though.

 

[KB5252]

Ehhh.. the man was born on 3rd base. Posted this chart below last year. ELO rating tracks a programs rating in a rolling 3 or 4 year period. Think of it like a recent success statistic. Since 2015, only a handful of HCs inherited a team that had similar ELO rating to OSU and not a single other HC had the roster talent that Day inherited. He was set up for success Day 1 to a degree that no other coach in the last decade has been.. and still:

No National Championship
1-4 against Michigan
All while OSU had to watch Michigan win a NC before them.

I know we joke about Vandy, but I have to tip my hat to Clark Lea, he saw glaring issues with his team and it's ability to complete and did something about it.

It was the right move, what Lea has done given the current SEC landscape is much more impressive than what Franklin did.

 

[Weezer]

Looking forward to the coming week, we've got the early signing period starting on Wednesday. Biggest question of the week, will David Sanders honor his commitment to Tennessee? I sure as hell hope so. Other questions, will any of our current commitments flip to other teams? TOS has suggested that DL Darrion Smith will flip to Auburn. Haven't heard anything about anyone else (other than Sanders). So who might we add? DL Isaiah Campbell is set to announce on Wednesday. It's between us and UNC, and considering UNC just fired their HC, that should bode well for us. And we're also trying to flip LB Jadon Perlotte from USC and S Timothy Merritt from Miami. Those are really the only names I've heard mentioned, but it would be nice if they surprised us with the flip of a highly rated OL. But I don't expect that to happen.

The transfer portal opens on Monday, December 9th, and remains open until December 28th. My guess is we'll look for some OL and DL help in the portal. Maybe we look at WR based on who enters, but we seem set at most other positions. I suppose it's possible we look at adding a TE for depth purposes as Kitselman is graduating, but it's not really a "need". Probably the biggest question with the portal is if we have any guys who are unhappy and decide to jump in. I'd expect at least a few guys buried on the depth chart might go, but hopefully no big names jump in. Still unsure what the roster limit for next season. Is it 85 or 105? Either way, we have to be two under the number while we're still on probation.

 

[gainesvol82]

What do you think happens next year when Jourdan Thomas comes back? Does he or Boo move to the back end? Harrison been playing well too but does he stay at nickel too? All three of them are good at nickel but we can’t feed 3 of them significant PT. Really good problem for the team to have for next year though.

Agreed, very good problem. It's hard to say because I think Harrison and Boo can both play star or safety. I was really bummed when JT went down to start the season and thought it would be a problem.....turns out we are loaded with talent.

My guess is Boo is a safety and Harrison & JT rotate at star like we've seen with Boo/Harrison this year. We have seen Boo play a little safety this season and he looked good. No Will Brooks next year so need someone to step up. Boo has bigger frame but both are very physical DBs.

I've not seen JT really play any meaningful snaps so was he the most ready to start the season or the best overall? Given our offensive scheme preference to be tempo, I think we are more likely than usual to rotate two guys at every position in the back seven and 3-4 deep on DL if we have the players for it.

I have complete faith in the staff's evals and development so will be fun to see what happens. I would like to see us get another safety in the portal at least for depth in case of injury.

 

[orangemadam]

McCoy int. is the best I've seen in many years.

 

[gainesvol82]

Looking forward to the coming week, we've got the early signing period starting on Wednesday. Biggest question of the week, will David Sanders honor his commitment to Tennessee? I sure as hell hope so. Other questions, will any of our current commitments flip to other teams? TOS has suggested that DL Darrion Smith will flip to Auburn. Haven't heard anything about anyone else (other than Sanders). So who might we add? DL Isaiah Campbell is set to announce on Wednesday. It's between us and UNC, and considering UNC just fired their HC, that should bode well for us. And we're also trying to flip LB Jadon Perlotte from USC and S Timothy Merritt from Miami. Those are really the only names I've heard mentioned, but it would be nice if they surprised us with the flip of a highly rated OL. But I don't expect that to happen.

The transfer portal opens on Monday, December 9th, and remains open until December 28th. My guess is we'll look for some OL and DL help in the portal. Maybe we look at WR based on who enters, but we seem set at most other positions. I suppose it's possible we look at adding a TE for depth purposes as Kitselman is graduating, but it's not really a "need". Probably the biggest question with the portal is if we have any guys who are unhappy and decide to jump in. I'd expect at least a few guys buried on the depth chart might go, but hopefully no big names jump in. Still unsure what the roster limit for next season. Is it 85 or 105? Either way, we have to be two under the number while we're still on probation.

I think we need a DT and a LB from the portal. Depends on how many upperclassmen actually enter the draft. If Pearce AND Josephs both declare then would want another EDGE. Biggest need is a big body DT to replace Big O, Simmons and ONL.

Our ability to rotate quality depth is the biggest factor in the dominance of our DL, IMO. Not sure that guys like Moi and Jenkins are as elite as they have looked without coming in fresh against tired OL. Glad we have both of them.

 

[Weezer]

I think we need a DT and a LB from the portal. Depends on how many upperclassmen actually enter the draft. If Pearce AND Josephs both declare then would want another EDGE. Biggest need is a big body DT to replace Big O, Simmons and ONL.

Our ability to rotate quality depth is the biggest factor in the dominance of our DL, IMO. Not sure that guys like Moi and Jenkins are as elite as they have looked without coming in fresh against tired OL. Glad we have both of them.

I could see an edge, 2 DL, and 2-3 OL. I don't think we pursue a LB. I could be wrong, but that would make the LB room extremely crowded. Maybe if a couple of bodies transfer out from the room? JMO, but unless we lose guys, I think coaches are happy with LB and the secondary. I know people keep talking about WRs as well, but unless it's just some stud WR, it wouldn't surprise me if coaches are happy with who they have. Feel the same about RB. I think we definitely need OL help. And as I said previously, I could see them looking at TEs for depth, but not really sure it's a "need". Both lines are where the help will be really needed.

 

[Jackcrevol]

Fun fact: Getting old and just 'waking up', for no reason is something.

 

[knoxvol52]

This Flag Planting is the stupidest stuff I've ever watched, take your win and move on.

These young men need to act like they've won a game before, I understand the emotions of a rivalry game but acting like 10 year old kids isn't the right celebration to do.

 

[drvenner]

Their WRs and Judkins scare me a little tbh.

No easy games left. Round two of the playoffs. I get that we need a good matchup but we have to bring it every game, regardless.

 

[Jackcrevol]

This Flag Planting is the stupidest stuff I've ever watched, take your win and move on.

These young men need to act like they've won a game before, I understand the emotions of a rivalry game but acting like 10 year old kids isn't the right celebration to do.

We should never, ever lord over Andy.

A) They wake up everyday, and they're Vandy, they've suffered enough.
B) Legitimately, many of these kids knew of or knew each other in HS. They're all Tennesseans.
C) it's classless

 

[Jackcrevol]

For sure. I just wanted a spot in the playoffs. But now that we’re here, I’m really hoping we can at least win the first round. It would be sweet to have another week alive in the playoffs

if we have to play aOSU, so be it. But, would be amazing to play the Indiana's, ASU's, or Miami's of the World.

 

[drvenner]

For sure. I just wanted a spot in the playoffs. But now that we’re here, I’m really hoping we can at least win the first round. It would be sweet to have another week alive in the playoffs

 

[Glocker_Alum_2005]

Is is me or should ACC work out a trade with Big12: Cal , SMU, Stanford for WV, UCF, Cincy?

 

[Adam Sandler]

Best corner since Eric Berry freshman year

 

[jmacvols1]

Norvell's last act as FLA ST head coach....

 

[Adam Sandler]

Hahahaha

Poor animal he’s got him hooked by the nose

 

[Adam Sandler]

Oregon 30-20 and it won’t feel that close