Vols recruiting woes of the past

#1
VolFan4Life87

VolFan4Life87

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#1
I stumbled across this site - I'm certain this has already been posted and I know it's been discussed, but if I haven't seen it laid out like this then I know someone on here hasn't and thus I decided to share. The site is titled "Rivals Top 13 Recruiting Class Busts"
Here's a link: Rivals top 13 Recruiting Class Busts | TMB

Also, if anyone has a similar analysis for other Vols recruiting classes that ultimately led up to our 2005 season I'd love to see it.

1. Tennessee 2009
Class rank: 10th
The signees: Five-stars: RB Bryce Brown (No. 1 overall), CB Janzen Jackson (No. 17). Four-stars: WR Nu'Keese Richardson (No. 68), LB Jerod Askew (No. 79), RB David Oku (No. 97), WR James Green (No. 123), S Darren Myles (No. 133), CB Eric Gordon, LB Marlon Walls, OT JerQuari Schofield, ATH Marsalis Teague. Three-stars: CB Mike Edwards, OT Daniel Hood, DT Arthur Jeffery, LB Greg King, LB Nigel Mitchell-Thornton, LB Robert Nelson, ATH Nyshier Oliver, C Kevin Revis, WR Zach Rogers, DE Rae Sykes, RB Toney Williams.
What went wrong: All seven Rivals250 members from this class are no longer with the team. Brown stayed at Tennessee just one year before transferring to Kansas State. Jackson, a second-team all-SEC player in 2010, was kicked off the team last summer and ended up at McNeese State. Richardson and Edwards were kicked off the team in the fall of 2009 after being arrested in connection with an attempted armed robbery. Myles was kicked off the team in the summer of 2010 after being arrested on charges of assaulting a university police officer and resisting and evading arrest. Askew was dismissed for a violation of team rules in February 2011. Oku and Revis transferred, Green failed to qualify academically, and Sykes was dismissed for academic reasons. Nelson and Jeffery also have left the football program. Oliver remains with the team, but he has missed two entire seasons with injuries.
Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Mike Farrell's take: "This was Lane Kiffin and his dream team of recruiters and on paper this was a great class clearly, but there were some questionable takes here as far as off the field issues and academics. Kiffin and some of his guys bolting to USC as a year later didn't help I'm sure, but this is a classic example of some great players not having the guidance or direction to become ever better."
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6. Tennessee 2007
Class rank: 3rd
The signees: Five-stars: CB Eric Berry (No. 3), LB Chris Donald (No. 18), DE Ben Martin (No. 20), Kenny O'Neal (JUCO transfer), ATH Brent Vinson (prep school transfer). Four-stars: RB Lennon Creer (No. 57), ATH Gerald Jones (No. 87), QB BJ Coleman (Rivals250), DT Donald Langley (Rivals250), WR Ahmad Paige (Rivals250), OT Darris Sawtelle (Rivals250), S Nevin McKenzie, DT Rolando Melancon, DE Rae Sykes, LB Chris Walker, CB DeAngelo Willingham. Three-stars: ATH Anthony Anderson, S Deshaun Barnes, DT William Brimfield, WR Todd Campbell, RB Kevin Cooper, ATH Art Evans, CB C.J. Fleming, LB Savion Frazier, RB Josh Hawkins, WR Tyler Maples, ATH Denarius Moore, OT Cody Pope, RB Dennis Rogan, RB Daryl Vereen, DE Rufus Williams. Two-stars: DE Cory Hall.
What went wrong: Berry won the Jim Thorpe Award and was drafted in the first round, but the other four five-star prospects didn't work out nearly as well. Donald transferred to Chattanooga. Vinson was kicked off the team and ended up at North Alabama. O'Neal struggled with academics and eventually transferred. Martin remained at Tennessee for the duration of his career, but a pair of Achilles injuries limited his effectiveness. At least seven four-star prospects also left early or never arrived at all. Coleman transferred to Chattanooga. Creer and Paige moved on to Louisiana Tech. Langley transferred to a junior college before finishing up at Texas Tech. Coleman headed to Chattanooga. Melancon was unable to qualify and ended up at Texas Southern. Sawtelle transferred to Grand Valley State. Sykes went to a junior college and re-signed with Tennessee two years later, only to run into academic problems.
Farrell's take: "This was an important class for Phillip Fulmer because I thought his 2006 class was showing a slide in recruiting for the Vols. He responded with a monster class but as we can see only Berry lived up to the hype as a five star. Some was bad luck like the injuries to Martin and the academic struggles of O'Neal, while other problems were just guys not committed to being top players. This class can be looked upon as the one that might have sealed Fulmer's fate, fairly or unfairly."
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#3
#3
Add in a underwhelming 2008 class and all the attrition from 3 coaching changes and you have the answer to our talent problem.
 
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#5
#5
Pretty much sums up how we got where we are. It's gonna take a few years to get back to the top of the sec.
 
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#6
#6
Don't forget surfer douche ran a bunch of players off on top of telling Taj Boyd he didn't fit. :loco: :crazy: Plus a good portion of his top recruiting class didn't pan out. :question:
 
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#9
#9
I think when people talk of our talent they discuss it in terms of recruiting class ranks and this sheds light on what really happened to some of our past classes. When classes don't pan out in droves, it doesn't just create a gap that is simply filled in the next class. Combine the gap with the coaching changes and you have a total loss of weight room/practice culture. The upperclassmen set the tone for the underclassmen and when there are such large voids eventually it translates to the field, JMHO.
 
#11
#11
The loss of players for whatever the reason from the past 4 seasons is sickening. Add in the poor player evaluation by Kiffin and Dooley for the ones that made it.....plus awful coaching under Dooley and this is how we got here.
 
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#12
#12
orangeluvr said:
Don't forget surfer douche ran a bunch of players off on top of telling Taj Boyd he didn't fit. :loco: :crazy: Plus a good portion of his top recruiting class didn't pan out. :question:
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Let's not also forget that loveable lane also told Bryce Petty he wouldn't fit into his system.
 
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#13
#13
orangeluvr said:
Don't forget surfer douche ran a bunch of players off on top of telling Taj Boyd he didn't fit. :loco: :crazy: Plus a good portion of his top recruiting class didn't pan out. :question:
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He did the same thing to Bryce Petty.
 
#17
#17
Vols recruiting successes of the past:

Palardy, Bray, Hunter, Rogers, Rivera, James, Stone, Fulton, Sapp, Richardson, Pig, McCullers, McNeil, Patterson.........
 
#18
#18
Wow, and some here are wondering about CBJ over-signing...looking at those classes I dont think thats possible. Good op.
 
#22
#22
DERELICK_MY_VOLS said:
The loss of players for whatever the reason from the past 4 seasons is sickening. Add in the poor player evaluation by Kiffin and Dooley for the ones that made it.....plus awful coaching under Dooley and this is how we got here.
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Don't forgot under dooley, players were allowed to check off S&C instead of actually doing it!

Just think how much better our athletes (especially O-Line/D-Line) would have been if they actually worked out on a regular basis.
 
#23
#23
Every school has had recruiting classes that didn't live up to expectations, for whatever reasons. If a program has two of these in three seasons, combined with coaching changes and questionable hirings, they will likely be where Tennessee is now (and not just in football).

Some people wonder why Auburn football could get back to the top so fast while the Vols appeared to be stagnant. One big reason is that the Tigers didn't have that big recruiting drop off. Another reason is that even though Chizik may have been a questionable hire, Malzahn obviously was not.

The last good season for the Vols, as we all remember, was 2007. Without a couple of ill-advised pick-6s from Ainge, Tennessee could have been in a BCS bowl game. But that was six long seasons ago. CBJ has the ball rolling on a very good recruiting class. With more of those, the Vols will be back. History is on our side.
 
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#24
#24
HollowaytoSeivers said:
Every school has had recruiting classes that didn't live up to expectations, for whatever reasons. If a program has two of these in three seasons, combined with coaching changes and questionable hirings, they will likely be where Tennessee is now (and not just in football).

Some people wonder why Auburn football could get back to the top so fast while the Vols appeared to be stagnant. One big reason is that the Tigers didn't have that big recruiting drop off. Another reason is that even though Chizik may have been a questionable hire, Malzahn obviously was not.

The last good season for the Vols, as we all remember, was 2007. Without a couple of ill-advised pick-6s from Ainge, Tennessee could have been in a BCS bowl game. But that was six long seasons ago. CBJ has the ball rolling on a very good recruiting class. With more of those, the Vols will be back. History is on our side.
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Auburn also had the personnel for Malzahn. When he left, Chizik tried to go to a pro-style offense with an undersized/quick spread type personnel. Once Malzahn came back, he already had his personnel there. I think if another coach comes in with a pro-style attitude, Auburn doesn't jump back quite as well.
 
#25
#25
CLCVol said:
Auburn also had the personnel for Malzahn. When he left, Chizik tried to go to a pro-style offense with an undersized/quick spread type personnel. Once Malzahn came back, he already had his personnel there. I think if another coach comes in with a pro-style attitude, Auburn doesn't jump back quite as well.
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It also helped that he went out and found a solid JUCO QB last year to run his offense. Wish we could do the same.
 
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