orangewizard98
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- Jan 23, 2005
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I have seen many Tennessee fans on various websites "complain" about how our recruiting is going. I haven't been on this site in a while, so I was wanting to get the thoughts of some of you on this board.
To me, its all about perspective. I can understand why fans may have negative thoughts about this class. They look at these prospects we have committed and they don't see "4/5 stars" beside their name, some don't have many offers other than the one from Tennessee, etc. When Rivals.com released their rankings for the state of Tennessee and fans saw that all of our guys were at least 3 stars, it seemed to "ease the tension" on some of the boards. All of a sudden, fans didn't feel as bad about those same recruits they were questioning so much before.
I have not worried about a single player we have decided to take this year, and here is why. First of all, our coaching staff has been doing this a long time, and while they certainly aren't perfect(we just went 5-6), they have had a lot of success here at the University of Tennessee. I know our coaches have a love for Tennessee and I know they still believe we are, and will remain to be, a program that has an opportunity to compete at the highest level on a yearly basis. I know they would only take players they feel can allow us that opportunity to be successful at the level we all expect to be at. If a player comes to our camp/s and is offered based on what our coaches witnessed/evaluated with their own eyes(in person), I have no problem wih us taking that kid. Our coaches may turn out to be wrong, but as fans, all we can ask is that our coaches get who they want. We are taking kids we have evaluated in person at our camps, in games, on film, etc. Our staff has evelauated every committment we have this year in person. The kids we are taking are kids we WANT because we(our staff) feel they are the type of players that we need to compete at the highest level of the SEC. I can promise you we aren't taking "fall back guys" or having to settle with secondary targets here in April, May, and June.
Knowing all that stuff makes it easy for me to accept who we are taking. Now our coahing staff may turn out to be wrong on these players. If so, we need a new staff here at Tennessee. But like it or not, they are the ones in charge right now and it their opinions that actually matter. All we can do as fans is hope that our coaches get who they want, hope they were right in their evaluations, and hope they do a good job in coaching them. Like I said, if they were wrong in their evaluations and/or can't coach them up, they need to be replaced. I believe they feel recruiting is going well so far because they are taking kids they have evaluated in person and kids that they want and feel good about. Again, they are not having to "settle" with guys in April, May, and June.
To me, its all about perspective. I can understand why fans may have negative thoughts about this class. They look at these prospects we have committed and they don't see "4/5 stars" beside their name, some don't have many offers other than the one from Tennessee, etc. When Rivals.com released their rankings for the state of Tennessee and fans saw that all of our guys were at least 3 stars, it seemed to "ease the tension" on some of the boards. All of a sudden, fans didn't feel as bad about those same recruits they were questioning so much before.
I have not worried about a single player we have decided to take this year, and here is why. First of all, our coaching staff has been doing this a long time, and while they certainly aren't perfect(we just went 5-6), they have had a lot of success here at the University of Tennessee. I know our coaches have a love for Tennessee and I know they still believe we are, and will remain to be, a program that has an opportunity to compete at the highest level on a yearly basis. I know they would only take players they feel can allow us that opportunity to be successful at the level we all expect to be at. If a player comes to our camp/s and is offered based on what our coaches witnessed/evaluated with their own eyes(in person), I have no problem wih us taking that kid. Our coaches may turn out to be wrong, but as fans, all we can ask is that our coaches get who they want. We are taking kids we have evaluated in person at our camps, in games, on film, etc. Our staff has evelauated every committment we have this year in person. The kids we are taking are kids we WANT because we(our staff) feel they are the type of players that we need to compete at the highest level of the SEC. I can promise you we aren't taking "fall back guys" or having to settle with secondary targets here in April, May, and June.
Knowing all that stuff makes it easy for me to accept who we are taking. Now our coahing staff may turn out to be wrong on these players. If so, we need a new staff here at Tennessee. But like it or not, they are the ones in charge right now and it their opinions that actually matter. All we can do as fans is hope that our coaches get who they want, hope they were right in their evaluations, and hope they do a good job in coaching them. Like I said, if they were wrong in their evaluations and/or can't coach them up, they need to be replaced. I believe they feel recruiting is going well so far because they are taking kids they have evaluated in person and kids that they want and feel good about. Again, they are not having to "settle" with guys in April, May, and June.
