The perfect storm

#1
NEO

NEO

Eat at Joe's
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#1
TN has never been a hotbed for top recruits--until lately.

We have always had too pull a lot of recruits from other states and Memphis was basically not even in our state for recruiting purposes it seemed.

With the last few classes though, consisting of Hurd, Malone, Richardson, and so on, we are beginning to see a lot more of our class being filled with in state talent.

Where this really begins to make a difference is that we do not really have any other in state rival for top talent where they might want to go.

Alabama fights it out with Auburn.

Florida fights it out with FSU and Miami.

Georgia with Georgia Tech. *Edit*

USCjr with Clemson.

But we are in an instate battle with Vandy. Not exactly the same kind of battle FSU vs FL would have.

So as the in state talent continues to grow, we may see ourselves in a very nice position of continuing to get top 5 star athletes.

Just count how many 5 stars we have pulled in and compare to how many are from TN?

My point is, us having a top 5 class each year may become a norm and it may also become a lot easier.
 
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#4
#4
Encouraging this year because we flipped Richmond late. The last couple of years we lost 5 stars: Herron from Memphis to LSU, Ramsey from Nashville to FSU, Bars from Nashville to Notre Dame. I don't think Vandy will be competition for the top instates.
 
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#7
#7
I was with you until UGA and GS. I think you mean UGA and Georgia Tech.
 
#12
#12
NEOCON said:
TN has never been a hotbed for top recruits--until lately.

We have always had too pull a lot of recruits from other states and Memphis was basically not even in our state for recruiting purposes it seemed.

With the last few classes though, consisting of Hurd, Malone, Richardson, and so on, we are beginning to see a lot more of our class being filled with in state talent.

Where this really begins to make a difference is that we do not really have any other in state rival for top talent where they might want to go.

Alabama fights it out with Auburn.

Florida fights it out with FSU and Miami.

Georgia with Georgia Tech. *Edit*

USCjr with Clemson.

But we are in an instate battle with Vandy. Not exactly the same kind of battle FSU vs FL would have.

So as the in state talent continues to grow, we may see ourselves in a very nice position of continuing to get top 5 star athletes.

Just count how many 5 stars we have pulled in and compare to how many are from TN?

My point is, us having a top 5 class each year may become a norm and it may also become a lot easier.
Click to expand...

The Vol's continuing to have a top 5 recruiting class every year is unlikely.
 
#15
#15
photovol said:
The Vol's continuing to have a top 5 recruiting class every year is unlikely.
Click to expand...

Why? Having said that top 10 is just fine with me. We may not finish in the top 5 next year because of us possibly taking a smaller class, but I bet my bottom dollar that the quality of those recruits will be just as good or near as good as the last two classes we signed.

Would you then say that Alabama continuing to have a top 5 class every year is unlikely?
 
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#16
#16
I would say that GA Tech doesn't pose much of a challenge to UGA for instate recruits as the other examples. UGA is really the only Power program and can cherry pick the GA state players it wants each year. It would be nice for UGA to have a down turn so we could return to pillaging that state as we used to in the Fulmer Gardner duo days.
 
#17
#17
photovol said:
The Vol's continuing to have a top 5 recruiting class every year is unlikely.
Click to expand...

The idea of you basing that statement on any sort of logic is unlikely. If I'm wrong, at least expand on your comment and explain why you think that.

Like this:

Assuming they continue to improve, the Vols continuing to have a top 5 recruiting class is very likely. Butch has reeled in two consecutive top 5 classes coming off one of the most disastrous stretches of football in recent history. If he's able to recruit so well for a school that has been awful and hasn't been in contention for anything of note for almost a decade, he'll be even better when he has the results to back up his sales pitch. Recruiting doesn't get more difficult the better you get, it gets easier.

My guess is you either...

A.) Didn't think about what you said, just wanted to tell someone they were wrong,

or

B.) Don't like Butch and/or think the team is going to tank under him.

I'm going with both.
 
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#18
#18
NEOCON said:
My point is, us having a top 5 class each year may become a norm and it may also become a lot easier.
Click to expand...

Not a top 5 based on recruiting in this state though, not even a majority of players will probably be from Tennessee. National recruiting has always been the focus and that probably isn't going to change anytime soon.
 
#19
#19
class #'s will come down, just due to volume. we won't be able to sign 25+ the next two cycles. so i do expect the recruiting rankings to slow down a bit. they will target who they want, be selective, but they won't get them all. so i can see the rankings hype dying down a bit....

as to TN recruiting, the state has had good 4 and 5 star players the last 10 years. we've seen top recruits in the state to go ND, USC, GA, Bama etc...in the last few years.

the problem was that for so long the state was devoid of talent, there just wasn't a ton of emphasis placed on in state relationships. that is changing. that's what will sustain closing off the borders. so far so good. getting guys like Barnett, Hurd, Richmond among others sends a strong message. we're putting the effort and time required to get those kids just like we do in GA, FL, NC, SC etc.....we have to now. and that's a good thing.
 
#20
#20
We've always done good in Tennessee but the talent is getting much much better and there's more of it so that's a good thing for us. We've also always managed to do good in Georgia North Carolina and Virginia, which traditionally have more talent than Tennessee. We will see more Tennessee players going to other schools because of the increase in talent, since they can't all come to Tennessee. As long as we keep the very best in State players coming to Knoxville I'll be happy. I think Tennessee is one of the more loyal states for in-state talent. You look at places like Georgia and Florida & there's not so much loyalty
 
#21
#21
The 17 class is absolulely loaded with instate talent.. All the guys they have listed on rivals which is 6 are ranked in the top 100 compared to 16 where we have 1 in the top 100 ..
 
#22
#22
Ernest T. Vol said:
Encouraging this year because we flipped Richmond late. The last couple of years we lost 5 stars: Herron from Memphis to LSU, Ramsey from Nashville to FSU, Bars from Nashville to Notre Dame. I don't think Vandy will be competition for the top instates.
Click to expand...

By no means is Vandy our chief competitor for Tennessee athlets. Of the top players we lose from instate, they go to Bama, Auburn, Ole Miss, UGA, and Arkansas. I hope we can limit the number of top rated players going to those States.
 
#23
#23
Fresnovol said:
The 17 class is absolulely loaded with instate talent.. All the guys they have listed on rivals which is 6 are ranked in the top 100 compared to 16 where we have 1 in the top 100 ..
Click to expand...

Yeah, it seems that 2016 talent is down quite a bit, unfortunately. Fortunately for us, Vandy is down - and probably still sinking - so Nashville should be our playground for a while. That is good, because Memphis is always going to be hard for us.

I still say we should concentrate on building relationships in GA, because someday UGA's run will be over, and we need to be there to scoop them up like we did in the '90's. Ga has always appeared to be much easier pickings for us than Memphis.
 
#24
#24
Neyland Law Vol said:
I would say that GA Tech doesn't pose much of a challenge to UGA for instate recruits as the other examples. UGA is really the only Power program and can cherry pick the GA state players it wants each year. It would be nice for UGA to have a down turn so we could return to pillaging that state as we used to in the Fulmer Gardner duo days.
Click to expand...

Georgia will get the lion's share of top talent in their state but I wouldn't call what they do cherry picking. Clemson, Tennessee, Auburn and someone else will usually land some top tier players that UGA wanted and this year was no different (Chuma Edoga, Mitch Hyatt and Preston Williams). It's not like the Goff and Donnan days for UT but Butch is well down there and should do even better once we start winning consistently.
 
#25
#25
jakez4ut said:
class #'s will come down, just due to volume. we won't be able to sign 25+ the next two cycles. so i do expect the recruiting rankings to slow down a bit. they will target who they want, be selective, but they won't get them all. so i can see the rankings hype dying down a bit....

.
Click to expand...
Class ranking by some services are based only upon the top 20 recruits. I don't think class size is a factor in the calculation
 
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