We were tied for 2nd in the nation for recruiting spending

[TNHopeful505]

According to this article on 24/7 sports, we were tied for 2nd in recruiting spending in 2022 at $2.98 million. Texas A&M spent the same as we did. Georgia spent $4.5 million, which shows you the gap to number 1.

This obviously does not reflect anything done by Spyre, but it does show that our athletics department is committed to going coast to coast to find the talent we need to, and give them a great experience when they come to visit.

Between this, Spyre, and the on field results we are seeing, I am positive that we are on the upward swing!

College football recruiting: Georgia, Texas A&M lead nation's biggest 2023 spenders (247sports.com)

 

[Adam Sandler]

According to this article on 24/7 sports, we were tied for 2nd in recruiting spending in 2022 at $2.98 million. Texas A&M spent the same as we did. Georgia spent $4.5 million, which shows you the gap to number 1.

This obviously does not reflect anything done by Spyre, but it does show that our athletics department is committed to going coast to coast to find the talent we need to, and give them a great experience when they come to visit.

Between this, Spyre, and the on field results we are seeing, I am positive that we are on the upward swing!

College football recruiting: Georgia, Texas A&M lead nation's biggest 2023 spenders (247sports.com)

And would love to see us spend more on recruiting in order to bring in the top talent from the get go. Georgia has shown a new coach doesn’t have to have the track record of a saban to get the top recruits, just has to be willing to spend the resources to do it. And when you sign 80% blue chip and 5 star recruits you can afford for them to not pan out and transfer, and not have to bring in transfers to fill holes.

I can only imagine how good Heupels teams could be if “his guys”, who seem to be very loyal and invested, we’re 80% and above blue chippers. It’s like we’re on the cusp of it. Hope we make the commitment to make that kind of leap in the next 2 years. On par with bama and tamu recruiting budget, and getting Heup to 9 mil annual, are good moves in the right direction.

 

[ShelbourneVol]

According to this article on 24/7 sports, we were tied for 2nd in recruiting spending in 2022 at $2.98 million. Texas A&M spent the same as we did. Georgia spent $4.5 million, which shows you the gap to number 1.

This obviously does not reflect anything done by Spyre, but it does show that our athletics department is committed to going coast to coast to find the talent we need to, and give them a great experience when they come to visit.

Between this, Spyre, and the on field results we are seeing, I am positive that we are on the upward swing!

College football recruiting: Georgia, Texas A&M lead nation's biggest 2023 spenders (247sports.com)

According to this article on 24/7 sports, we were tied for 2nd in recruiting spending in 2022 at $2.98 million. Texas A&M spent the same as we did. Georgia spent $4.5 million, which shows you the gap to number 1.

This obviously does not reflect anything done by Spyre, but it does show that our athletics department is committed to going coast to coast to find the talent we need to, and give them a great experience when they come to visit.

Between this, Spyre, and the on field results we are seeing, I am positive that we are on the upward swing!

College football recruiting: Georgia, Texas A&M lead nation's biggest 2023 spenders (247sports.com)

If my memory serves me correctly UT has always had a large recruiting budget . It’s a function of the talent level, historically, in the state of Tennessee. Long distance travel being expensive. Spyre and the rest of the collective/s are what need the money. They are the variable that the fans can control.

 

[Ned Ray McWorkher]

Recruiting budgets.

 

[sjt18]

And would love to see us spend more on recruiting in order to bring in the top talent from the get go. Georgia has shown a new coach doesn’t have to have the track record of a saban to get the top recruits, just has to be willing to spend the resources to do it. And when you sign 80% blue chip and 5 star recruits you can afford for them to not pan out and transfer, and not have to bring in transfers to fill holes.

I can only imagine how good Heupels teams could be if “his guys”, who seem to be very loyal and invested, we’re 80% and above blue chippers. It’s like we’re on the cusp of it. Hope we make the commitment to make that kind of leap in the next 2 years. On par with bama and tamu recruiting budget, and getting Heup to 9 mil annual, are good moves in the right direction.

The sad part of all that... is you're serious.

UGA has the best recruiting situation in the country plus an AD and fanbase willing to throw that kind of money into their program. They have a HSFB system that produces some of the best talent in the country... with A LOT of them growing up UGA homers and dreaming of playing in Sanford. UT like almost every other program will NEVER have the wide margin for error in recruiting that UGA does regardless of who the coaches are.

Cue Scar, "Life's not fair Simba".

And your notion that A) Heupel can't win without 80% "blue chippers" and B) only "blue chippers" have elite talent is just a rehash of the same old non-sense. Talent is talent whether there's a 5* label or a 2* label. Heupel has already demonstrated a high level ability to find and develop talent... that often doesn't have the "blue chipper" endorsement.

 

[Adam Sandler]

The sad part of all that... is you're serious.

UGA has the best recruiting situation in the country plus an AD and fanbase willing to throw that kind of money into their program. They have a HSFB system that produces some of the best talent in the country... with A LOT of them growing up UGA homers and dreaming of playing in Sanford. UT like almost every other program will NEVER have the wide margin for error in recruiting that UGA does regardless of who the coaches are.

Cue Scar, "Life's not fair Simba".

And your notion that A) Heupel can't win without 80% "blue chippers" and B) only "blue chippers" have elite talent is just a rehash of the same old non-sense. Talent is talent whether there's a 5* label or a 2* label. Heupel has already demonstrated a high level ability to find and develop talent... that often doesn't have the "blue chipper" endorsement.

First off I was born and raised in Georgia, still live there, and while there may be now, historically the state was not filled with as many homers as you suggest. Plenty of schools make a living taking the top talent from the state.

2nd I’m not saying you can’t win without the level of talent UGA has. And I’m not saying #2 in the country isn’t amazing and impressive.

All I’m saying is UGA has demonstrated how easy it is to win a national championship when you put the money towards having the most talented roster in the country. Only teams that could argue they have as much talent is bama and osu and it shows, and we don’t have the recruiting advantages they do. So if we really want to win a championship like we all do, let’s make the one time investment to recruit at the level that uga does and buy our way into the most talented roster in the country. If we can’t win under those circumstances, chances are less that we ever would have anyways.

And I’m not stupid enough to be lured into a “stars” argument. Get over it. Consensus talent raises the chances of the overall roster having a physical advantage both in the starting lineup and depth. There’s a parity issue in college football. If you’re not willing to recognize that then nothing I say will make sense to you. All I’m saying is you can be hopeful and idealistic or you can play the game like uga has and win multiple championships. We’re fortunate to be in a position where we even have the choice to play that game or not, as most schools would never sniff enough money to be able to make the decision to spend it or not.

 

[Vol423]

First off I was born and raised in Georgia, still live there, and while there may be now, historically the state was not filled with as many homers as you suggest. Plenty of schools make a living taking the top talent from the state.

2nd I’m not saying you can’t win without the level of talent UGA has. And I’m not saying #2 in the country isn’t amazing and impressive.

All I’m saying is UGA has demonstrated how easy it is to win a national championship when you put the money towards having the most talented roster in the country. Only teams that could argue they have as much talent is bama and osu and it shows, and we don’t have the recruiting advantages they do. So if we really want to win a championship like we all do, let’s make the one time investment to recruit at the level that uga does and buy our way into the most talented roster in the country. If we can’t win under those circumstances, chances are less that we ever would have anyways.

And I’m not stupid enough to be lured into a “stars” argument. Get over it. Consensus talent raises the chances of the overall roster having a physical advantage both in the starting lineup and depth. There’s a parity issue in college football. If you’re not willing to recognize that then nothing I say will make sense to you. All I’m saying is you can be hopeful and idealistic or you can play the game like uga has and win multiple championships. We’re fortunate to be in a position where we even have the choice to play that game or not, as most schools would never sniff enough money to be able to make the decision to spend it or not.

One time investment? Recruiting is an ongoing, every year process. It is not a one-time investment.

 

[MarcoVol]

First off I was born and raised in Georgia, still live there, and while there may be now, historically the state was not filled with as many homers as you suggest. Plenty of schools make a living taking the top talent from the state.

2nd I’m not saying you can’t win without the level of talent UGA has. And I’m not saying #2 in the country isn’t amazing and impressive.

All I’m saying is UGA has demonstrated how easy it is to win a national championship when you put the money towards having the most talented roster in the country. Only teams that could argue they have as much talent is bama and osu and it shows, and we don’t have the recruiting advantages they do. So if we really want to win a championship like we all do, let’s make the one time investment to recruit at the level that uga does and buy our way into the most talented roster in the country. If we can’t win under those circumstances, chances are less that we ever would have anyways.

And I’m not stupid enough to be lured into a “stars” argument. Get over it. Consensus talent raises the chances of the overall roster having a physical advantage both in the starting lineup and depth. There’s a parity issue in college football. If you’re not willing to recognize that then nothing I say will make sense to you. All I’m saying is you can be hopeful and idealistic or you can play the game like uga has and win multiple championships. We’re fortunate to be in a position where we even have the choice to play that game or not, as most schools would never sniff enough money to be able to make the decision to spend it or not.

Or we could see what Heupel can do with how things are. Maybe not come to the conclusion that we have to have the most talented roster in the country to win a NC after only 2 years, the most recent of which Vols went 11-2 with nowhere near the talent as a UGA. And one of those 11 was against Bama - a team you name that could argue being just as talented as UGA.

 

[sjt18]

First off I was born and raised in Georgia, still live there, and while there may be now, historically the state was not filled with as many homers as you suggest. Plenty of schools make a living taking the top talent from the state.

2nd I’m not saying you can’t win without the level of talent UGA has. And I’m not saying #2 in the country isn’t amazing and impressive.

All I’m saying is UGA has demonstrated how easy it is to win a national championship when you put the money towards having the most talented roster in the country. Only teams that could argue they have as much talent is bama and osu and it shows, and we don’t have the recruiting advantages they do. So if we really want to win a championship like we all do, let’s make the one time investment to recruit at the level that uga does and buy our way into the most talented roster in the country. If we can’t win under those circumstances, chances are less that we ever would have anyways.

And I’m not stupid enough to be lured into a “stars” argument. Get over it. Consensus talent raises the chances of the overall roster having a physical advantage both in the starting lineup and depth. There’s a parity issue in college football. If you’re not willing to recognize that then nothing I say will make sense to you. All I’m saying is you can be hopeful and idealistic or you can play the game like uga has and win multiple championships. We’re fortunate to be in a position where we even have the choice to play that game or not, as most schools would never sniff enough money to be able to make the decision to spend it or not.

Curious. Do you know if it is just recently or did this start before they started having success?

When you have about 40 4/5* players each year plus numerous others that become great CFB players... you don't need to be "filled" with homers. Just getting 40% of those players gives you a head start that no one else enjoys anywhere. The only thing comparable I've seen is when Carroll used to load USC rosters with kids within 100 miles of LA. He literally didn't have to spend a night in a hotel to load his roster. UGA is about the same plus there's no real instate rival for the top talent.

PS- you were stupid enough to MAKE a "stars argument" so there is that. There are plenty of teams that demonstrate the fallacy of "consensus talent" and several that defy it.

PSS- yes. UT has historically spent a lot of money in recruiting even when the results weren't there on the field. That's part of what has made this string of failed coaches so frustrating. Who argued there wasn't a parity issue? IMHO, they should dispense with the non-sense and create 4 16 team football divisions for CFB apart from the historic conference divisions. Teams like Vandy and Northwestern could compete at a level where success is reasonable. You could even reduce that to 48 teams with a level of support to actually compete.

 

[sjt18]

Or we could see what Heupel can do with how things are. Maybe not come to the conclusion that we have to have the most talented roster in the country to win a NC after only 2 years, the most recent of which Vols went 11-2 with nowhere near the talent as a UGA. And one of those 11 was against Bama - a team you name that could argue being just as talented as UGA.

I posted elsewhere that according to 247's roster composite... UT beat the 4 teams with supposedly more talent and two that were top 5 last fall.

Guys fixated on the recruiting rankings will hand wave... but not averaging a top 5 or even top 10 team is NOT a death sentence. Talent recognition on the part of a staff, development, and coaching apparently have more power than many assume.

And if I ran a recruiting site... I'd follow Saban, Smart, Day, and a few others around too. Rating their targets high is extremely safe. Plus... those fanbases are ones very likely to buy subscriptions or click on your posts/videos/social media.

 

[JohnWardForever]

And would love to see us spend more on recruiting in order to bring in the top talent from the get go. Georgia has shown a new coach doesn’t have to have the track record of a saban to get the top recruits, just has to be willing to spend the resources to do it. And when you sign 80% blue chip and 5 star recruits you can afford for them to not pan out and transfer, and not have to bring in transfers to fill holes.

I can only imagine how good Heupels teams could be if “his guys”, who seem to be very loyal and invested, we’re 80% and above blue chippers. It’s like we’re on the cusp of it. Hope we make the commitment to make that kind of leap in the next 2 years. On par with bama and tamu recruiting budget, and getting Heup to 9 mil annual, are good moves in the right direction.

It's ALWAYS been about the Money. CASH too.

 

[sjt18]

It's ALWAYS been about the Money. CASH too.

True. I am always amused by those who "hate" NIL. All NIL did was make it where you didn't have to be good at cheating in order to pay your players. The "best" programs have always paid players one way or another.

 

[lfvol]

According to this article on 24/7 sports, we were tied for 2nd in recruiting spending in 2022 at $2.98 million. Texas A&M spent the same as we did. Georgia spent $4.5 million, which shows you the gap to number 1.

This obviously does not reflect anything done by Spyre, but it does show that our athletics department is committed to going coast to coast to find the talent we need to, and give them a great experience when they come to visit.

Between this, Spyre, and the on field results we are seeing, I am positive that we are on the upward swing!

College football recruiting: Georgia, Texas A&M lead nation's biggest 2023 spenders (247sports.com)

Hopefully this pays off in 2024 as was anticipated in late 2022. We appear strong in state early but OOS is much less certain.

 

[DaddyChad]

A lot of people have zero idea what the recruiting budget actually means. They think if we just out spend Georgia we will outrecruit them. You have to have interest from more talent before you spend more as an AD. We have to be successful for more than a single year to get to that level.

 

[LittleVol]

Georgia's recruiting net is much larger than than just the state of Georgia.
They're killing it in the Carolinas all across the South.

It's actually suprising to me that they don't lock down more high ranked In-state guys.

Like LSU will offer a 2 star from Louisiana before Georgia would in their state.

Anywho...
Coaching and development trumps recruiting spending imo.

 

[DaddyChad]

Georgia's recruiting net is much larger than than just the state of Georgia.
They're killing it in the Carolinas all across the South.

It's actually suprising to me that they don't lock down more high ranked In-state guys.

Like LSU will offer a 2 star from Louisiana before Georgia would in their state.

Anywho...
Coaching and development trumps recruiting spending imo.

I think Kirby spoke on that topic and said something to the effect of Georgia spends a lot more time evaluating in state before offers. I’m guessing he’s trying not to burn any in state bridges with high school coaches by offering a bunch of kids they have no intent of taking unless several other options fall through. Interesting take compared to LSU’s approach to in state kids.

 

[VolinMichigan]

With UGA having sustained success from the Richt era to present day, the kids in GA grew up watching good UGA teams. They weren’t alive in the 90s when UGA was garbage. Plus being the only school in your state worth a damn in football helps a lot (sorry Ga. Tech). It probably is the easiest recruiting job in the country given the level of talent the state produces.

TN doesn’t have that luxury and has to go beyond our borders to get recruits. And it’s good that the AD is committing those kind of resources. It’s honestly welcomed change from the last few regimes at UT.