Why do Tennessee HS prospects not commit early?

#1
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bowlinggreenvol

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#1
Just something I found a little interesting, but it seems as though TN high school prospects just don't commit early, not just when it comes to UT but to a certain extent period. I understand these other staffs have been in place for years and prospects know what they're getting when committing to them, but it still baffles me how/why this doesn't seem to happen with us and the guys we offer in-state. For example:

1) Meyer's first full class was 2006 and he had 6 guys committed before he coached a game, 5 FL and 1 NC (1-5*, 4-4*, 1-3*).

2) Miles first full class also was 2006, he had 8 guys committed before coachign a game, 7 LA and 1 TX (1-5*, 3-4*, 4-3*).

3) Saban's first full class at Bama was 2008, he had 17 guys committed before coaching a game there, 13 AL and 4 out of state (2-5*, 8-4*, 5-3*, 2-2*).

Yet we've offered 8-9 in-state guys and only one has committed anywhere (Downs). And in years past lcommits coming November or later include: Barrett Jones, Hightower, Chris Jordan, Marlon Brown, Teague, Gordon, Stone, etc. It seems as though TN kids pull the trigger later than most regardless of what school it is or who the staff is.
 
#2
#2
bowlinggreenvol said:
Just something I found a little interesting, but it seems as though TN high school prospects just don't commit early, not just when it comes to UT but to a certain extent period. I understand these other staffs have been in place for years and prospects know what they're getting when committing to them, but it still baffles me how/why this doesn't seem to happen with us and the guys we offer in-state. For example:

1) Meyer's first full class was 2006 and he had 6 guys committed before he coached a game, 5 FL and 1 NC (1-5*, 4-4*, 1-3*).

2) Miles first full class also was 2006, he had 8 guys committed before coachign a game, 7 LA and 1 TX (1-5*, 3-4*, 4-3*).

3) Saban's first full class at Bama was 2008, he had 17 guys committed before coaching a game there, 13 AL and 4 out of state (2-5*, 8-4*, 5-3*, 2-2*).

Yet we've offered 8-9 in-state guys and only one has committed anywhere (Downs). And in years past lcommits coming November or later include: Barrett Jones, Hightower, Chris Jordan, Marlon Brown, Teague, Gordon, Stone, etc. It seems as though TN kids pull the trigger later than most regardless of what school it is or who the staff is.
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Because lately, UT hasn't had the success that those schools have. Once UT starts becoming really competitive again for SEC titles, or more, then the in-state guys will be more likely to commit early imo.
 
#5
#5
wbeaver said:
Because lately, UT hasn't had the success that those schools have. Once UT starts becoming really competitive again for SEC titles, or more, then the in-state guys will be more likely to commit early imo.
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Alabama had not experienced success when Saban was pulling those players before he coached a single game.

BTW, My Spoon is too big!
 
#7
#7
were those commits all in-state or from tn or are you just saying they had commits?
*have*
 
#10
#10
Geography plays a role. UT is not centrally located, so it loses some of that "home team" glitter.
 
#11
#11
SamRebel35 said:
Alabama had not experienced success when Saban was pulling those players before he coached a single game.

BTW, My Spoon is too big!
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But they hired Nick Saban. That is enough. If Nick Saban would be UT's coach in 2010, we would have a lot more in-state commitments. So I guess it depends on who the new coach is and where the program has been recently before the new coach came in.
 
#12
#12
wbeaver said:
Because lately, UT hasn't had the success that those schools have. Once UT starts becoming really competitive again for SEC titles, or more, then the in-state guys will be more likely to commit early imo.
Click to expand...

UF had experienced 3 straight 5 loss seasons yet a coach with no ties to the state, conference or South in general managed to secure a great class early. Yes Saban obviously makes a difference in AL but there's no doubt that AL had little trouble recruiting before Saban got there. Classic example is the state of GA. Look how many UGA currently has and we have 3 players from there. I'm referring to UT more specifically about not getting our own guys but like I said the prospects from here don't commit early no matter who it is they ultimately end up committing to.
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#17
#17
Geography plays a big part. Florida, Texas and Louisiana are loaded with prospects. A lot of kids want to play for the home state flagship. West TN is closer to Ole Miss, Miss. St., Bama and Arkansas than Knoxville. Our recent downturn is also a big factor now. Even when we had the super teams in the 90s, we had to have recruiting success outside the state.
 
#18
#18
Not many SEC schools are located in the center of their respective states. Alabama= west, Auburn=east, Florida= north east, Tennessee= east, Vandy= yes, Ky= Kinda, South Carolina = yes, Ole Miss= Northeast(Memphis), Miss St.= Kinda, LSU=doesn't matter really, Arkansas= depends on where the game is that week, but kinda, Georgia= northeast.
 
#19
#19
volroadwarrior said:
Geography plays a big part. Florida, Texas and Louisiana are loaded with prospects. A lot of kids want to play for the home state flagship. West TN is closer to Ole Miss, Miss. St., Bama and Arkansas than Knoxville. Our recent downturn is also a big factor now. Even when we had the super teams in the 90s, we had to have recruiting success outside the state.
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My question/point/argument has nothing to do with the number of prospects or quality. We've offered 9 guys from in state and only 2 of those 9 have committed anywhere, and there's numerous others in the top 20 who haven't committed, and its seems as though the decisions will drag on for awhile.
 
#20
#20
bowlinggreenvol said:
My question/point/argument has nothing to do with the number of prospects or quality. We've offered 9 guys from in state and only 2 of those 9 have committed anywhere, and there's numerous others in the top 20 who haven't committed, and its seems as though the decisions will drag on for awhile.
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Couple of thoughts. 1)West Tennessee is about as far from UT as the middle of Mississippi and we have a lot of players we offer "way out there" around Memphis. Bama or Georgia or Auburn are more centrally located in their respective states. 2)They may be able to "offer" 35 or more players (within 200 miles) while we can only offer 9. Odds are better that some of those 30-40 players in their states will commit just from the numbers.

Just thoughts to consider.
 
#22
#22
There also aren't near as many average to great players in Tennessee, thus, there are fewer to commit early.
 
#23
#23
J. Smith awas our first commit.

We have had some sorry years with a lot of coaching changes. No one is going to just jump on board immediately. This will change when we start winning again.
 
#24
#24
Why does'nt Tennessee recruits commit early? Good question, but we must remember our coaches were a bit behind this year. Being new they had to lock in the 2010 class and clean up Lame's mess. So they showed up to the 2011 Tennessee recruits AFTER several other schools had already offered which slightly complicates things. Most of our Tennessee recruits either had already committed publicly or privately or were almost about to commit somewhere else. Also these recruits had already built relationships with other coaches. I still think we'll land all that we really want to land in the end.
 
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