The future of college football by 2025

[JRVOL11]

College football future rankings: How the top 25 will look in 2025

High praise from 247, who thinks Tennessee will firmly be a top 6 program.

 

[Doctrippin]

We better enjoy it while it lasts. The NIL money with no rules or limits is going to change this game into a professional sport. There are already calls for a players union and you are going to see that happen at some point. The idea of the student athlete will be gone

 

[VolBricks]

To be a top 10 team every year our recruiting will have to become more steady. By steady I mean we have been up and down over the last 15 years. Take 2010 - 2023 below:
Year - Rank according to 247 - #of player in the class - Coach
2010 - 7 - 27 - Dooley
2011 - 14 - 27 -Dooley
2012 - 19 - 22 - Dooley
2013 - 25 - 23 -Butch
2014 - 7 - 32 - really large class - Butch
2015 - 4 - 30 - really large class - Butch
2016 - 14 - 23 - Butch
2017 - 17 - 28 -Butch
2018 - 21 - 22 - Cornbread
2019 - 13 - 22 - Cornbread
2020 - 11 - 23 - Cornbread
2021 - 22 - 17 - Heupel
2022 - 17 - 23 - Heupel
2023 - 9 - 25 - Heupel
I just put the coaches name on the class according to this website (List of Tennessee Volunteers head football coaches - Wikipedia) the actual class might be attributed to the next coach.
You can see the that Dooley kept dropping in ranking as classes went on.
Butch was a good recruiter but could not teach anything to the players.
Cornbread was average all the way around
Heupel took over a dumpster fire and has continually improved. If Heupel can keep his classes in the top 6-10 I think we can be much better going forward.

 

[honda50r]

We better enjoy it while it lasts. The NIL money with no rules or limits is going to change this game into a professional sport. There are already calls for a players union and you are going to see that happen at some point. The idea of the student athlete will be gone

In my opinion that ship sailed a while ago. Even the little things, for example, arriving in Orlando 2 days before their first game - they don't even try to act like these dudes are there for school

 

[508mikey]

We better enjoy it while it lasts. The NIL money with no rules or limits is going to change this game into a professional sport. There are already calls for a players union and you are going to see that happen at some point. The idea of the student athlete will be gone

it already has for the one and done in basketball

 

[Grand Vol]

I like where we are at...

Don't understand the love for Texas though.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

I like where we are at...
Don't understand the love for Texas though.

I do. Texas is an oil state, proud boosters, and I do mean PROUD, they have deep pockets and aren't afraid to use them.
With NIL figuring ever more prominently, Texas is going to play hard, fast, and dirty for recruits and transfers.

 

[Grand Vol]

I do. Texas is an oil state, proud boosters, and I do mean PROUD, they have deep pockets and aren't afraid to use them.
With NIL figuring ever more prominently, Texas is going to play hard, fast, and dirty for recruits and transfer.

At the end of the day throwing money at that program has not worked.

And at the end of the day, Texas gonna Texas.

 

[CINCYVOL]

We better enjoy it while it lasts. The NIL money with no rules or limits is going to change this game into a professional sport. There are already calls for a players union and you are going to see that happen at some point. The idea of the student athlete will be gone

The idea of the student athlete has been gone for quite some time.

 

[Vol in Buckeye Land]

When will the pundits stop taking the **** that is Texas and telling us it’s chocolate. Good grief.

 

[FBtime]

6. TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS

(Photo: Jonathan Bachman, Getty)
2023: Top 15 team
2024: Expanded playoff contender
2025: Expanded playoff contender
The word: The upcoming season is a prove-it opportunity for Tennessee third-year coach Josh Heupel, who will try and match last year's success with Joe Milton at quarterback, a revised collection of receivers and Joey Halzle as the Vols' new OC, replacing Alex Golesh (USF head coach). It's not time for Tennessee to unleash five-star freshman Nico Iamaleava jsut yet, but he'll be the No. 2 this fall and get plenty of reps in game action. All expectations are that he'll be a three-year player in Knoxville and approaching his junior campaign as a returning starter in 2025 as one of the nation's best at the position.
Tennessee hasn't recruited at a level in recent years that suggested 2022's notable success, but that's changing under Heupel. Winning brings national exposure and he's doing all he can for bank on a top 10 finish. He signed the No. 9 class in 2023 per 247Sports and has the ninth-best class for 2024 in the early going. That's what it takes — stacking elite classes — to win big in the SEC.
“Tennessee faced some legitimate challenges in recruiting during Heupel’s first year in Knoxville, from the overall perception of the program at the time to the unprecedented dead period for recruiting that didn’t end until more than four months into Heupel’s tenure — and, of course, the NCAA mess left from the previous staff," GoVols247's Ryan Callahan said. "Once the Vols finally moved past all of that and had some on-field results to sell to prospects, their recruiting started to pick up, and they took things to another level last year by putting together a 2023 class that ranked in the top 10 nationally. Iamaleava was the headliner of the class, but Tennessee signed potential impact players at virtually every position, particularly on defense.
“The Vols have continued to build on their momentum on the field since winning 11 games last season for the first time since 2001. They have started to win their share of big-time recruiting battles, and they’re now legitimately in the running for a number of the highly ranked players they have gotten on campus over the past several months. With a fast-paced offense putting up plenty of points and some impressive wins to show for it, Tennessee has convinced many recruits that it has a bright future under Heupel.”

 

[Devo182]

We better enjoy it while it lasts. The NIL money with no rules or limits is going to change this game into a professional sport. There are already calls for a players union and you are going to see that happen at some point. The idea of the student athlete will be gone

Yes because NIL has been terrible for us

Fwiw the amateurism angle has been a farce for decades. About time they got their share while their "amateur head coaches" made $10mm a year

 

[Devo182]

In my opinion that ship sailed a while ago. Even the little things, for example, arriving in Orlando 2 days before their first game - they don't even try to act like these dudes are there for school

...meanwhille student-athletes have higher graduation rates than non SAs... UT athletes have had great grad rates.

Yes they travel...believe it or not there is something called remote classrooms...emails...tutors...

 

[Ned Ray McWorkher]

At the end of the day throwing money at that program has not worked.

And at the end of the day, Texas gonna Texas.

The proper leadership will fix that, as it did for Tennessee.

 

[Voldog1998]

What if Heupel bales for Oklahoma?

 

[VFL-82-JP]

What if Heupel bales for Oklahoma?

But why would he?

His heart's not there. If you know his story*, you know that.

This isn't Johnny marching home again. It's not Kiffin to his dream job at USCw.

Heupel is far more Vol at this point than he is a Sooner. He's orange for life. Only way I could see him leaving Tennessee would be for the pros...but I think he likes college too much to want to go there.

He's going to be our longest-tenured coach in program history, I expect. Yep, longer than the General. And hopefully even more successful.

Go Vols!


* Two monumental facts of his life make Heupel & Oklahoma less of a "my heart will always be there" thing than, say, Peyton as a Volunteer.

(1) He attended and played football at three different colleges over his four years as a college student. This made his relationship to the schools more itinerant than many college players. Yes, he had great success, won a national title, was the Heisman runner-up, and was on a national stage at Oklahoma, which does tend to make the bonds stronger than, say, Snow College. Still, he was a bit of a gypsy as a college student and athlete. It's just different when it happens that way.

(2) Even with that, he might have become "Sooner for life" if his coaching career had melded him to the school. But it did just the opposite. By firing him even though he didn't deserve it, Bob Stoops made the relationship between Josh and Oklahoma transactional. Broke any emotional bonds that may have remained. It became just another school, just another job.

Does Josh Heupel feel more for Oklahoma than places he never lived or worked? Of course. Does he feel strongly about the Sooners? I doubt it. He'll say nice things about his experience there in interviews, but he's no Sooner.

 

[scooty_vol]

We better enjoy it while it lasts. The NIL money with no rules or limits is going to change this game into a professional sport. There are already calls for a players union and you are going to see that happen at some point. The idea of the student athlete will be gone

It will be interesting to see

 

[VFL-82-JP]

We better enjoy it while it lasts. The NIL money with no rules or limits is going to change this game into a professional sport. There are already calls for a players union and you are going to see that happen at some point. The idea of the student athlete will be gone

I agree that the nature of the college game is changing, and fast.

But let's don't oversell it.

As long as the players continue to also be college students, with academics as a significant part of their lives, this won't ever have the full flavor of a professional league.

And I don't think the schools have any intention of allowing the players to stop being students.

There might one day be a college somewhere that goes the route of IMG (a "high school" that pretty much allows the "students" to major in sports). Or maybe not. We'll see.

But as long as they remain student athletes, even if some of them are millionaire student athletes, it won't become "NFL Light."

 

[ShulerFan_21]

SEC 5 of the top 6 (with Texas) - that would create an utter meltdown in Big 10 country

 

[AllVolBallYall]

I like where we are at...

Don't understand the love for Texas though.

Yes, and I don't understand it for Beamer either. He lucked into two all-time bad performances from opponents last year, one from UT's defense and one from Clemson's QB. His team had very little to do with either of those things. And he's a supercilious punk.

 

[Remy]

We better enjoy it while it lasts. The NIL money with no rules or limits is going to change this game into a professional sport. There are already calls for a players union and you are going to see that happen at some point. The idea of the student athlete will be gone

Charles Barkley the other day said it was going to come down to 20 or 25 schools that would be competitive for championships due to NIL money.

As long as UT is one of those 20 to 25, I'm good.

 

[WoodsmanVol]

What if Heupel bales for Oklahoma?

 

[Manchester Vol]

What if Heupel bales for Oklahoma?

I hope he does. Just so that you can have a wonderful day.

 

[RDU VOL#14]

In my opinion that ship sailed a while ago. Even the little things, for example, arriving in Orlando 2 days before their first game - they don't even try to act like these dudes are there for school

Not that it matters, but wasn’t it Spring Break? Also, do you know how often Student Athletes that play non revenue sports miss class? Golfers, Tennis, soccer, etc… All miss time in class.

 

[NeverWe'llSever]

We better enjoy it while it lasts. The NIL money with no rules or limits is going to change this game into a professional sport. There are already calls for a players union and you are going to see that happen at some point. The idea of the student athlete will be gone

They ain’t here to play skool